Excited for the upcoming new Redemption set: The Gospel of Christ (GoC)? Well check out this sneak peek at the Clay and Black brigades in GoC. This is the second in a six part series giving an introduction to this upcoming set. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the articles in this series!
Spoilers ahead! If you’d rather wait for your first impression of the clay and black brigades in GoC to come when you open up those brand new packs, then turn back now! However, if you’d like a sneak peek behind the curtain at the thought process that went into creating our favorite game’s next expansion, then you’ve come to the right place!
The Church:
The clay brigade, first introduced in “The Early Church” was created to represent those who have received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost or afterwards. Since that event happened after the Gospels, which is what The Gospel of Christ is based on, how can we have clay in GoC?
Many of the Heroes that play a key role in the Gospels were also alive and played a key role after Pentecost. We’ve used the two-sided design seen commonly in LoC to give the appropriate Heroes a clay side in addition to a side containing their other appropriate brigade(s). Many of the clay Heroes will be meek on the clay side since true meekness is only achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There are many times in the Gospels that events are attributed to the Holy Spirit or that Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. We’ve used these instances as opportunities to create clay cards that make being meek worthwhile! Like in John 16 when Jesus promises to “Send the Helper” has become the first single brigade clay Covenant!
Earlier in the Gospels, in Matthew 16 Jesus speaks of establishing His church. As a result clay churches have received what is possibly the most powerful tool to date to help them grow their numbers in the form of a fortress that creates Hero tokens which belong to a specific church! While most of the church Heroes in the Gospels belong to Jerusalem, don’t underestimate what this could do for other powerful church themes like Colossae, Philippi and Corinth!
With the power of God’s Spirit on display at the “Transfiguration”, when the “Authority of Christ” calmed the storm and at “The Ascension” you can be sure that we’ve tried to represent those things well for clay in GoC. Sometimes so well that they need unity!
The Holy Spirit is also noted for taking part in events like “The Annunciation” and at the “Baptism of Jesus”. Can you think of any other instances where the Holy Spirit took part in the Gospels?
Clinging to Power:
Sadducees were the ruling party of the religious during the time of the Gospels. The high priests of that era all came from their sect. They’ve worked closely with the Pharisees in the past, maybe even more so now with over a half dozen black/gray cards encouraging a mix of the two for your defense. One such card, “Crucify! Crucify!” will be good in Type 1 and limited formats, but could be absolutely devastating in Type 2!
The ruler’s thinking was best described by “Caiaphas the Conspirator” in John 18 when he prophetically suggested that it was better for one man (Jesus) to die for the good of the people. Caiaphas will represent a “new breed” of evil character found in GoC that grants “regardless of protect abilities” to all evil enhancements he uses.
The Sadducees’ agenda was to hang on to the status they achieved as “lords” over the people. We’ve represented that by having the Sadducees gain strength when their “subjects” are in play – represented by meek Lost Souls. Some will have bonuses to their abilities, others will protect their followers or hide them, but they will all cling desperately to keep them from opponents!
This class will also be joined by a couple of new characters that were not included in the past. “The Gatekeeper Maid” (aka “High Priest’s Maid”) and “Malchus” will join the Sadducees via a REG update around the time of the set’s release.
In the introductory article I mentioned that several good cards will draw additional power by revealing a good Dominant from hand. Since the “High Priest’s Plot” was to get rid of Jesus (represented by the good Dominant “Son of God” in Redemption) you’ll find a number of cards in black that go after a good Dominant hiding in the opponent’s hand. Other cards, like “Surreptitious Scheme” can benefit greatly from the number of good Dominants the opponent has used.
But Wait, There’s More!
While this concludes the sneak peek at the meekness of clay and black’s clinging to power in GoC, we still have eight other brigades to cover! If you’d like to hear more specific information about the remaining brigades and how they are used in GoC, be sure to check back soon!
To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!
