The 12 Paragons of Christmas

Are you almost ready for Christmas? It's less than a week away! In case you need a break from holiday preparations, here's some Redemption reading for you.

I have picked out twelve paragons that I hadn't featured yet but that I think you should consider trying. There should be a fun option for every kind of player.

Here they are in Biblical order:

1. Eve, Paragon of Motherhood

If you want to try a deck built around women, Eve is the Paragon for you. There are fun female options for her in several different brigades. Eve's ability to play humans represents her status as the mother of all people, and her ability to search for a good Dominant allows you to find Son of God, her promised Descendant.

Card Suggestion: Cup of Wrath

2. Abraham, Paragon of Faith

Speaking of descendants, Abraham has a similarly-themed ability. You can trace the leadership of Israel from the patriarchs to the judges to the kings to Jesus. Judges and kings both come in several different brigades, good and evil, so there are plenty of ways to build an Abraham deck.

Card Suggestion: Melchizedek, Bread Giver

3. Miriam, Paragon of Praise

Miriam is one of the most unique Paragons because she uses the "mill" strategy. This would typically be very weak in multiplayer, but Miriam's ability provides both the means to mill and a great payoff for doing so. She is also a great option for players with limited collections, because the newest starter decks have plenty of white and pale green Exodus cards.

Card Suggestion: Pithom

4. Phinehas, Paragon of Zeal

Miriam's great-nephew Phinehas has two thematic abilities. He gives your characters first strike, which represents his quick action and calls back to his original Hero version. He also gets a "draw 1" reward every time you discard an Evil Character or banish an Artifact, which represents how God rewarded him for his zeal; this synergizes with Phinehas the Zealous, Zeal for the Lord, and many other cards.

Card Suggestion: Israel Turned Away

5. Rahab, Paragon of Kindness

If you have a good collection of Israel's Inheritance cards, then Rahab is a great option for you. She rewards you for playing Joshua cards and Canaanites. Her ability to avoid harm is obviously thematic, and her ability to bounce characters you own is a great substitute for the "Relatives" Lost Soul, which you can't use in the format (because you don't put any Lost Souls in your deck).

Card Suggestion: The Woman of Thebez

6. Jephthah, Paragon of Deliverance

If you enjoy the classic Judges strategy of discarding all your opponents' evil cards, Jephthah is the Paragon you want. His ability to topdeck good cards from Reserve is generally useful, but it can also be used to set up what you discard off the top of your deck with the Jephthah Hero. If you discard a Hero, then your opponents will start to run out of evil cards.

Card Suggestion: Huge Egyptian

7. David, Paragon of Bravery

A well-built David deck will be a very thematic list that tells the story of his life. His ability is not difficult to keep active, because there are plenty of Heroes, Evil Characters, weapons, Fortresses, and Artifacts from I and II Samuel. There are also plenty of cards with "David" in the title for you to take as rewards.

Card Suggestion: David's Servants

8. Esther, Paragon of Courage

Esther's Paragon ability provides another payoff for all the new Persian reserve effects. Purple and brown are also fun together due to all the cards that are designed for that combination (cards like Defenestrated, Joab, and Hadassah). The Hadassah (Esther) Hero is perfect for the deck, not only because she is a Persian Queen, but also because her territory class ability is extremely powerful for avoiding all the worst Evil Dominants in multiplayer.

Card Suggestion: Peres

9. Daniel, Paragon of Insight

Unsurprisingly, the Daniel Paragon is probably the best way to use all your new Times to Come cards. Looking at opponents' hands is extremely helpful for strategic planning, though on your turn you won't know which opponent is going to block you (unless you use the new Daniel Hero to choose the blocker, of course). The primary evil brigade is orange, but you can still easily make it a Persian and/or Greek deck due to all the multi-brigade demons and the low orange requirement.

Card Suggestion: The Ram with Two Horns

10. Malachi, Paragon of Warning

There are not many minor prophets or postexilic Heroes available in the format, but the Malachi Paragon brings them together in a fun way. You can band together a group of green and gold Heroes, draw extra cards, and amass an impressive collection of Fortresses. Note that Malachi himself is postexilic, even though his Hero card lacks the printed identifier.

Card Suggestion: Baruch, Son of Zabbai

11. John, Paragon of Witness

John has one of the most straightforward Paragon abilities, but that does not mean it is weak. Built-in banding allows you to devise all sorts of fun multi-brigade strategies. There are not many N.T. humans available in the format, but even raw numbers can be helpful if the banding character is someone like The Strong Angel or King of Tyrus.

Card Suggestion: The Strong Angel

12. Titus, Paragon of Order

Titus' ability to play N.T. humans from each deck loosely represents how he was instructed to appoint elders, but it is particularly meant to give the Titus Hero targets for choosing the blocker. As Titus is Greek, he also has a draw ability that ties into that theme. Even when you don't have any draw-punishing effects in play, his ability to choose who draws is great for multiplayer politicking.

Card Suggestion: Abomination of Desolation

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a very merry Christmas as we celebrate the Savior's birth.

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