Redemption’s newest theme is going to be referred to by many people as “that word I can’t pronounce”. Just give it your best shot. What’s more important is what it means for game play. Who does it include? Why does it matter?

Antediluvian is a term used to describe any character who lived before the world wide flood of Genesis 7.This year we’ve primarily focused on the evil antediluvians (who happen to be pale green). We’ve left our options open so that we can create cards for the good antediluvians some day too.

The wheels for the evil antediluvian theme have been in motion for some time now, but the opportunity to build out the theme has only just now presented itself. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the classic card Death of Unrighteous. More recently we were given The Serpent. There was even a time when Disobedience saw play. Maybe it will again?

Non-Stop Evil

Enough about the old antediluvian themed cards. You’re here looking for new ones, right?

Genesis 6:5 tells us that the intent of men’s heart was evil continuously. People were violent, wicked and corrupt.

Violent Men are designed to take on fight by the numbers Heroes with a combination of “first strike” and “cannot be prevented”. When they enter battle another character will meet a violent end unless a Hero runs away. They aren’t the right blocker for every situation, but when they work they work very well.

If you’re looking for initiative to pull off your Death of Unrighteous, this is your guy! But maybe you’d rather keep him around in territory for his abilities. Non-stop protection from conversion? Check. A non-stop flow of evil Enhancements? Check. So what does he get back for you? As I mentioned above, there’s Disobedience. There’s also three new Enhancements below.

This character represents another Redemption first from Cloud of Witnesses. Never before has a character’s strength and toughness relied on the number of cards in your hand. Use him in a deck that draws a lot as a blocker with big stats. Want to pair him with a Genesis offense that relies on Zebulun? He makes an excellent initiative character.

Did I mention he can take out an opposing Gamaliel’s Speech (or another Enhancement in play) and draw 2 cards in the process? He also gives a nice “cannot be prevented” bonus to several other cards in theme.

After Cain Murdered Abel and God sent him away, God declared that anyone who kills Cain received vengeance seven fold. We tried using an ability that caused a 7 card discard if the opponent discards Cain. In the end that was difficult to trigger but game winning when it did. We settled on an easier to trigger, more balanced ability.

Forcing a player to give you an evil card or an Artifact is pretty wicked. That portion of the ability even works on any character that can use this card. But if you play it on a Genesis Evil Character it also becomes a battle winner. That’s pretty strong for a card that you can potentially recur several times!

We intentionally chose to use Genesis Evil Character instead of antediluvian on this card. Because the antediluvian theme is so small, players might be inclined to use other pale green Genesis Evil Characters alongside the antediluvians like Nimrod, the Mighty, Laban, Egyptian Magicians or even the old Esau, the Hunter.

With only 5 Evil Characters in the theme it only makes sense that an Enhancement called Continuous Evil is able to keep the Evil Characters coming. Like Corrupt People, if you find the right things to combine with this defense, you can discard things to feed it all day long.

This is the transition piece between the evil antediluvians and their opposition, the “flood survivors”. It’s an extremely powerful card if played at the right time. But it’s also an equal opportunity destroyer, so you must be careful of when you use it.

In part 2 we’ll discuss the good antediluvians, focusing mainly on a a powerful subset of the theme called “flood survivors”.  Then in part 3 I’ll share one of my favorite play test decks, the one based around the antediluvians.

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By Gabe

Gabe has been playing Redemption since early in 2006. While life has changed a lot since that time, his love for Redemption has not. He hosts a playgroup and assists with the design and development of upcoming set releases and even plays competitively on occasion.