Jayden is back with the next iteration of Ashkelon, this time less focused on getting the combo turn one, but instead built for more resiliency.

The biggest Lackey Grand Prix of all time is plugging along and my win in Round 1 put me up against Dave “smittyseveneyes” Smith for Round 2. With the somewhat limited time I had to prepare a deck, I decided that the Ashkelon combo could use some further testing at a different pace. Rather than go for the turn 1 combo, I modified the deck to aim for a turn 2 or 3 combo to give it a little more resilience in situations where the combo got disrupted and I cut some of the consistency pieces that didn’t have much impact on the game outside of the combo.

If you’re not sure what combo I’m talking about, go check out my article (and video) from two weeks ago titled, “Need a Hand? That’s Too Bad…” Both of the games I’ve played with the combo deck now have been a little strange for different reasons, so it’s hard to use these data points alone to say one version is better than the other, but I do give some speculation in the deck overview portion of this video. Definitely interested to know the thoughts of others so check out the deck list, watch the game, and let me know what you think in the video comments!

Deck: 50

1 Lost Soul "Darkness" [Job 30:26] [2019 - 1st Place]
1 Lost Soul "Displeased" [Exodus 21:8 - K]
1 Lost Soul "Distressed" [Zephaniah 1:17 - Fundraiser]
1 Lost Soul "Dull" [Hebrews 5:11] [AB - CoW]
1 Lost Soul "Lawless" [Hebrews 12:8] [2021 - 1st Place]
1 Lost Soul "Lost Souls" [Proverbs 2:16-17]
1 Lost Soul "Wanderer" [Ezekiel 34:6 - Fundraiser]
1 Lost Soul "Hopper" [II Chronicles 28:13 - LR]

1 Crowd's Choice [Fundraiser]
1 Three Woes (RoJ AB)
1 Out of Their Hands
1 Son of God [2023 - 1st Place]
1 The Second Coming (CoW AB)
1 Shipwreck (Promo)
1 Vain Philosophy (PoC)

1 Storehouse [IR]
1 Ashkelon
1 Raiders' Camp [2023 - Seasonal]
1 Sheol

1 Joseph's Silver Cup (PoC)
1 Stocks (Roots)
1 Twenty Shekels
1 Covenant with Noah (PoC)

1 Delivered
1 Avenged!

1 Father Abraham / Faithful Abraham (LoC Plus)
1 Jacob, Follower of God / Israel, Retainer of God (LoC)
1 Joseph (CoW AB)
1 Noah, the Righteous / Noah (Rest and Comfort) (LoC)
1 Gad, the Retaliator
1 Issachar, Burden Bearer
1 Judah, the Leader / Judah, the Substitute (LoC)
1 Zebulun, the Steadfast

1 The First Sacrifice
1 Faith of Noah (CoW AB)
1 Judah's Intervention (LoC)
1 Virgin Birth

1 Pagan Sailors
1 Philistine Soothsayers
1 Philistine Armor Bearer (LoC)
1 Philistine Commanders (LoC)
1 Saph (I)
1 The Herdsmen of Gerar (LoC)
1 The Deceiver (RoJ AB)

1 The Wages of Sin (FoM)
1 Stricken
1 Tenants Kill the Son (GoC)
1 Betrayal (PoC)
1 High Priest's Plot (GoC)
1 Surreptitious Scheme (GoC)

Reserve:
1 Fortress of Antonia (Roots)
1 Reuben, the Preeminent
1 Abraham's Descendant (LoC)
1 Reserved for Famine
1 The Dove Returns (CoW AB)
1 Goliath's Curse [L]
1 Goliath [2018 - Regional]
1 Foreign Spears (LoC)
1 Go Away! (LoC)
1 Goliath's Spear [L]

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By Jayden

Jayden started playing Redemption around 2004 when his brothers taught him to play and he attended his first National Tournament in 2005. Since then, he has become a competitive (mostly Type 2) player with a few National titles and, more importantly, has acquired many great friends and mentors through the game. However, in the years leading up to 2020, there has been a downward trend in attendance at some of the big tournaments, Nationals included. As a result, Jayden wanted to start doing something that would help pique and maintain interest in Redemption and he decided to do so in the form of a YouTube channel called Redemption with Jayden, which he started in June 2020 shortly after graduating college. He loves being able to share decks, games, and strategies, and hopes that the channel can be a useful resource for players at every level of the game.