Join Chad (CtheTree) as he reveals the current version of his prized Once Upon a Time in Zion deck build that is now more potent due to GoC phase 2. In this deck a novelty combo is featured that you don’t want to miss!
Introduction:
During the last tournament season I ran a deck called Once Upon a Time in Zion that sought to power out a big turn 1 Impartial Judgment play. You can read about it here. Well when Jeremy Chambers found the Numerous as the Stars/Fifth Seal interaction (Numerous can grab Fifth Seal) I realized very quickly the consistency package of Jeshua/Zion that I used to set up the big IJ play turn 1 in my deck was sub-optimal and so I sought to replace it with a Numerous consistency package. The deck that arose from that shift is what I call Zion’s Scion.
Well there is something else that happened too: GoC phase 2 was released and this made the turn 1 IJ play deck even more feasible/consistent by providing the meek clay/green Simon Peter and John.
And then something very special happened for Zion’s Scion. GoC phase 2 made a special novelty combo I discovered around a year ago finally relevant. I found this combo and believe me have tried over and over again to make it work but it just did not quite pan out. Well GoC phase 2 provided exactly what I needed for it to be feasible.
The Novelty Combo:
For a long while pre-block plays have been some of the strongest in the game. Pre-block IJ with Awesome Things is the premier one left. Many of the “play” abilities are now relegated to the Classic format. However, I found a really cool “play” ability close to a year ago once Rotation had hit: Temple Guard (RoJ). Converting this character to a hero with a card like Love, Holy Grail, or Blinding Light turns it into a literal powerhouse with the good banding enhancements that exist. I realized hand control was probably the strongest way to utilize this pre-block “play” ability that enables me to play a banding enhancement pre-block so I explored using cards like Eliud, Jeremiah, and even experimented with Zephaniah. I found a way to infinitely recur Marriage Covenant to play off Temple Guard by playing Ruth Meets Boaz pre-battle and then using Elders of the City to get Ruth Meets Boaz back to get Marriage Covenant back in discard phase. Of course Noah shuffling the banding enhancement is a back up plan but this is stronger since you guarantee it in hand right away. The deck build I came up with actually used Numerous to set up and was fun but required too many pieces to be truly viable in competitive play as I needed Temple Guard, a way to convert Temple Guard, Marriage Covenant, Ruth Meets Boaz, and Numerous all together for it to really work.
Well then GoC phase 1 and 2 hit and it gave me exactly what I needed. Martha and Simeon entered the scene and complement Eliud perfectly to hit the opponent’s hand for 3 pre-block. Martha and Simeon are SO MUCH better than someone like Zephaniah who I was trying to use before. Then The Magi enables me to infinitely recur Gathered Together as the banding enhancement for Temple Guard to use since I can shuffle Gathered Together with Noah and then grab it from deck immediately with The Magi. This is way better than Elders of the City/Ruth Meets Boaz/Marriage Covenant (EDIT: Silly me… I realized from writing this article David, HAG can work instead of The Magi to recur Gathered Together after the Noah shuffle and if you have a bounce effect like Oath of Purity this can be infinite too. That would have worked pre-GoC phase 2…). John the Fisherman fits great with this rescue concept to toss the next EE. Beyond this Concealed Riches means I can grab all the pieces I need turn 2 in one fell swoop to set up the big pre-block hand control rescue with a converted Temple Guard.
With this background in mind here is the deck itself:
The Deck:
Zion’s Scion (50 cards):
1 Son of God (2019) (Promo)
1 The Second Coming
1 Harvest Time (GoC)
1 Ride on Victoriously / Awesome Things (LoC)
1 Crowd’s Choice (GoC)
1 Three Woes (RoJ)
1 Mayhem (FoM)
1 Lost Soul (The First)
6 Lost Soul Luke 15:15-16 (J)
1 High Places (LoC)
1 The New Covenant (I/J+)
1 David’s Harp (Promo)
1 Four-Drachma Coin (GoC)
1 Concealed Riches (GoC)
1 Three Nails (GoC)
1 David, Heart After God / David, the Contrite (LoC Plus)
1 Martha, the Diligent & Martha of Bethany (GoC)
1 Noah, the Righteous / Noah (Rest and Comfort) (LoC)
1 Zerubbabel, the Chosen / Zerubbabel, the Builder (LoC Plus)
1 Eliud, the Revolutionary / Eliud, the Pious (LoC)
1 The Magi (GoC) (EDIT: David, HAG can serve a similar purpose so Obed, the Servant is possible)
1 John, the Fisherman / John, Son of Thunder (GoC)
1 Simon Peter / Peter, the Rock (GoC)
1 Saint Patrick (GoC)
1 Father Abraham / Faithful Abraham (LoC Plus)
1 Mary of Bethany / Mary, the Attentive (GoC) (EDIT: If Obed is run Jesse, the Ephrathite is better here)
1 Numerous as the Stars (PoC)
1 Offering Your Son
1 Love Righteousness
1 Fifth Seal, Justice Seekers (RoJ)
1 The Lord’s Prayer (GoC)
1 The Emmaus Road
1 Solomon’s Dream (LoC)
1 Spirit as a Dove (GoC)
1 Life in the Son (GoC)
1 Impartial Judgment (LoC)
1 Delivered
1 The Gate Keeper Maid (GoC)
1 Malchus (GoC)
1 Emphatic Incriminators (GoC)
1 Foolish Shepherd
1 Abimelech, King of Gerar (LoC)
1 The Wages of Sin (FoM)
1 Surreptitious Scheme (GoC)
1 Scattered Sheep
Reserve:
1 Love (EC)
1 Temple Guard (RoJ)
1 Gathered Together
1 Simeon, the Devout (GoC)
1 Go Away! (LoC)
1 The First Sacrifice
1 Teaching in Parables (GoC) (EDIT: If David, HAG is utilized for The Magi effect Oath of Purity can be placed here)
1 Fire Foxes
1 Supercilious Scribes (GoC)
1 Just a Hireling (GoC)
The Strategy:
This rescue concept pairs super well with a turn 1 IJ play. So basically the deck seeks to get to Numerous to set up a huge turn 1 IJ play and make sure I grab Noah, David, The Magi, Martha, Zerubbabel, and Fifth Seal off Numerous. Then I use Fifth Seal to get a tutor for Impartial Judgment or Awesome Things. Then I enter battle with David, HAG and grab whichever of IJ or Awesome Things I am missing, band to meek Noah, Eliud, or Zerubbabel (for playing IJ on with Awesome Things) and hit my opponent’s hand for massive damage. I make sure to plop Mary of Bethany down if at all possible to protect Concealed Riches on turn 2.
Then on turn 2 I use Concealed Riches to grab Love, Temple Guard, Gathered Together, Go Away!, and Simeon. It is important to note I often can grab Gathered Together, Love, and Temple Guard with other tutors from my deck to minimize how many cards I need to get with Concealed Riches. Go Away! bounces anyone I had down as meek for the big IJ play and then I use Love to convert Temple Guard and cruise into battle with Temple Guard to play Gathered Together pre-block to band to Zerubbabel who converts to meek and plays Eliud from deck, then band Eliud in, to Martha, to Simeon, to John if I have him, to Noah to shuffle Gathered Together, and to The Magi who grab Gathered Together from my deck (EDIT: Once again, I realized from writing this article David, HAG can work instead of The Magi and if you have a bounce effect like Oath of Purity this can be infinite too). Boom. Can you imagine something much better than that after a huge Turn 1 IJ? Pretty killer… I can then do this again turn 3 and supplement it with The First Sacrifice and Teaching in Parables both of which I have tons of ways I can get to them due to New Covenant, The Emmaus Road, and The Lord’s Prayer. I should also note Mary of Bethany is great in this band as well since she restricts evil Dominants. The band potentially is removing three evil cards from opponent’s hand, tossing the next EE, preventing cards, drawing 5 cards (Papa Abe can draw 1), and restricting evil Dominants. That is pretty darn good especially after a big IJ play.
Consistency:
In terms of consistency I have sought to maximize the number of star abilities in my deck. You will notice I have many, many of them. Also I have sought to maximize consistency in getting my giant turn 1 IJ play pulled off with all of my heroes having a meek side. Due to my hero color palette I am able to run pretty much all the premium tutors in the game including both Spirit as a Dove and Solomon’s Dream. Amazingly I have at least five characters to play every single tutor in this deck on turn 1. Offering Your Son to David’s Harp to Love Righteousness is fantastic/often overlooked and being able to run that further enhances my consistency. Additionally, my deck is VERY consistent at getting to The First Combo turn 1. I have 14 ways (15 if you include The Second Coming) to both High Places and Harvest Time on turn 1 including themselves. This I believe boosts the consistency of this deck beyond even Numerous Nativity builds. Yes those might have a bit more potent draw power by seeking to draw with Star of Bethlehem twice but my deck build gets The First Combo more consistently than they get the draw of Star of Bethlehem. It is very fun to goldfish this deck and is so, so consistent.
Resiliency:
The deck certainly is a bit of a glass cannon I will not lie. That being said I do include certain cards that aim to protect my objective. One big issue is when I do the big Turn 1 IJ play if my opponent happens to get a negate neutral character active then I can’t utilize Concealed Riches on my second turn. Mary of Bethany is key in being able to get active on my turn and negate their negate neutrals character(s). Also getting to Three Nails is a BREEZE in this deck build and I have 6 characters I can play Delivered on. I have a whopping 14 ways to Three Nails including itself on turn one in this deck (15 if you include The Second Coming). This provides resiliency to the deck if my opponent goes first.
Defense:
In terms of defense the defense is able to get the necessary blocks with a Scattered Block, Just a Hireling block, and a Fire Foxes block being enough usually to take care of business. It is important to note both Fire Foxes (due to Offering Your Son) and Just a Hireling (due to Wages of Sin) are quite easy for me to get from Reserve.
Considering:
I do wish I had room for another bounce effect like Oath of Purity in reserve and contemplate cutting Teaching in Parables for it. An additional bounce effect would be nice so when I do my big Temple Guard band I can not only shuffle Gathered Together with Noah but also convert him to meek to prevent cards.
Mayhem’s Dominant slot could be Christian Martyr, Vain Philosophy, Burial, Shipwreck, Chronicles of the Kings, The Resurrection, or Angel of the Lord. Christian Martyr would be great for dealing with threats like a negate neutral hero and for blocking especially with Gate Keeper maid. Angel of the Lord would provide rescue resiliency for when games go south. Vain Philosophy is just incredible for turn 0 interaction and Mayhem further aids my speed and consistency. Burial is good for blocking and for hiding The First if I draw it with no meek souls out. Shipwreck is great for annoyances like Babel and Sheol. The Resurrection is good for getting Simon Peter or John out on turn 1 to have an extra way to play Numerous or other key tutors. Also it has in battle utility. Chronicles of the Kings is good for Golden Calf which is a problem for this deck and annoyances like Hate the Light.
I originally had Adam, the Exile in here instead of Mary of Bethany. He is great since he can tutor for Noah and band him in or Eliud (who Zerubbabel can band in) if my Numerous play was a bit shy. He is great in this offense for grabbing a hero I am missing. Mary of Bethany though I felt is more important for shutting down opponent’s annoying territory class threats especially negate neutral characters.
King Jehu/Jehu’s Sword do provide an additional hand control boost but I felt they are superfluous since after a big IJ play hitting the opponent’s hand for three and maybe even 4 with TFS or TiP is plenty. Also Jehu/Jehu’s Sword are the most cumbersome to assemble out of the hand control pieces.
Denarius/Emperor Nero would be great here but I don’t like having to include Nero since he is not a star. Denarius is better than Four-Drachma coin in terms of setting up a solid start though so it is worth considering fitting them in. I feel the deck has enough speed/consistency to be ok though and Four-Drachma coins is better after a big The First Combo draw since I can activate it on Peter.
Enosh or Obed should probably be run and if I did then Jesse would slot in over Mary. In reality Forsaken is a threat to this deck as is Golden Calf so having a negate neutrals character is sharp. What to cut is the hard part. EDIT: After writing this article I realized as long as I have a bounce effect for David, HAG like Oath of Purity that Gathered Together, David, HAG, and Noah can have the same infinite recursion effect that Gathered Together, The Magi, and Noah have. Due to this I feel The Magi is superfluous and I would probably be better off running Obed in that slot. The Magi is good like Adam, the Exile for being able to grab any of my heroes I need from the deck. I would switch Jesse with Mary if I did this change since Mary would negate Obed. I would miss Mary’s restriction of evil Dominants though!
Betrayal, Distressing People, Royal Parade (Reserve), Stricken, Virgin Birth, Gamaliel’s Speech, and Noah’s Ark (Ark of Salvation) are other cards I have considered for various reasons.
Conclusion:
Overall I am quite proud of this deck build. I was able to take what I did in Once Upon a Time in Zion and I feel even make it even more consistent with the Numerous consistency suite. Then my novelty combo with converting Temple Guard and playing a banding enhancement pre-block off him to band in hand control and other strong pre-block heroes finally found a home in this deck and is better than ever with The Magi/Noah creating an infinite recursion of Gathered Together for Temple Guard to utilize. There may be a better Turn 1 IJ deck utilizing Numerous as a consistency engine out there that does not rely on this novelty combo rescue turn 2 and following (in fact I have a version without the combo built myself) but I doubt you will find a more fun version to play than this. I had not planned to share this deck till later but seeing folks like Tyler Stevens posting hand control decks using Simeon, Martha, and Eliud made me want to share what I have worked so hard on as it is similar yet definitely unique in several ways. Also Rob Smith sharing his novel Dominant shuffle combo inspired me to share my own novel combo that I had found and been sitting on for a while. I feel the approach of this deck with regard to hand control is arguably more consistent and maybe even stronger than others I have seen. I also wanted to share this deck build before someone else stumbled upon what I had discovered here. Enjoy and as always happy deck building!
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