Black Widow

Introduction:

I personally really enjoy taking offensive themes that are seeing lesser play and trying to optimize them to be competitive. Red has seen little play especially with the brigade being retired. This Red offense I believe can be competitive for several years to come. This build has been piloted by a playgroup member of mine for years and has been refined for several years now. Israel's Inheritance provided it with new support via Purple cards.

Therefore I present to you the deck. This deck is called Black Widow due to the strong synergy between Red and Black in this deck with cards like Goliath’s Sword.

Summary:

Objective 1- Turn 1 Benaiah:

For a while Benaiah has been a force to be reckoned with regarding Red banding offenses. Derek Tirado piloted a deck during 2021 Nationals to a 2nd place finish that was able to get David, Outcast’s Refuge to Benaiah turn 1 quite reliably. However, once the Reserve rule hit getting Benaiah out turn 1 became more of a challenge. That was the case until this deck. This deck has 10 ways to get Benaiah out on turn 1: Crowd’s Choice, Buckler, David’s Harp (to Covenant with David to Zion), Covenant with David (to Zion), Zion, The Angel of the Winds, Benaiah himself, Reverence and Awe (to Zion), David’s Descendant (to Zion), and I Am Refuge (to Covenant with David/David’s Descendant to Zion). Zion is the key consistency piece for getting to Benaiah turn 1 and the deck has 6 ways to a Royal Hero turn 1 to make Zion work since there are 5 royal heroes in the deck and Darkness LS can tutor for Manasseh. This deck build is just about as consistent as can be in a 1 TCE per turn meta at getting a desired hero out. Getting Benaiah out turn 1 is amazing and with all the banding heroes in the deck who can band to Benaiah of which there are six he has plenty of support.

The offense naturally is aiming to push a Benaiah band into battle backed by The Cross, Coliseum, or Shields (on the hero directly banding to Benaiah), or I Am Refuge (on a Purple Hero banded to Benaiah). Main deck there are plenty of negates to back up the band such as Goliath’s Sword, Builder’s Sword, Great Plunder, Three Woes, and Chronicles of the Kings. David’s Chariots and Joab’s Spears in Reserve are additional negates that work with Benaiah and can be played on a Purple/Red hero who is banded to Benaiah.

Objective 2- Resiliency:

Typically a deck build like this could be viewed as a bit of glass cannon being all in supporting one hero: Benaiah. That is a valid concern and therefore the deck seeks to have contingency. If Benaiah gets discarded then New Covenant (Ezekiel) is an easy way to recur Benaiah that can be grabbed by Storehouse. Eternal Covenant is superior but after testing Storehouse is the better option in contrast with Good Seed or House of Prayer which would be needed for grabbing Eternal Covenant. The hand, deck, and Reserve protect is vital in this meta and also being able to grab evil cards with Storehouse is very nice as well. New Covenant (Ezekiel) gets the job done for recurring Benaiah and can be grabbed by Storehouse and therefore is the right choice. If Benaiah gets captured then David, OR can band to Captured Kinsmen from reserve and release Benaiah.

Worst case scenario if Benaiah is gone for good having a big red band with Coliseum, The Cross, or Shields support or even backed by a negate is nothing to scoff at. Buckler is good for help with getting an additional soul. Hananiah being able to equip Shields from deck and band if Benaiah is missing is a great rescue as well.

Overall the deck is resilient then being able to get Benaiah back if he is dispatched. Also if the opponent places Three Woes on Benaiah then you use Jehoshaphat to bounce Benaiah to clear him so he is not negated once he is banded in.

This deck interacts well with threats the opponent has due to Joshua the Conqueror. How nice it is to have Joshua the Conqueror to get rid of annoying threats like Confusion of Mind, Holy of Holies, Golgotha, Sheol, etc. Chronicles of the Kings is also good for dealing with troublesome artifacts.

Objective 3- Neutralizing Matthew:

This deck has 8 ways to seek to neutralize Matthew turn 0 and if the deck goes first then it has 9 ways to stop Matthew due to Storehouse. The turn 0 ways to interact with Matthew are: Hunter LS (to Outcry LS), Outcry LS, Herdsmen of Gerar, Darkness LS (to Herdsmen of Gerar), Deceiver (to Herdsmen), Philistine Armor Bearer (to Herdsmen), Crowd’s Choice (to Herdsmen), and Stricken (star ability). This deck therefore is able to interact well with what is one of the biggest threats in the meta: Matthew.

Objective 4- Resiliency against Soul Hide:

Soul Hide has been a threat in this meta and cards like “Lost Souls” LS, Orphans LS, Captive Princes, and Captured Kinsmen help this deck stay afloat against soul hide. Captive Princes is amazing in particular since not only does the card create a soul to rescue but it also provides an additional royal hero for Zion and provides a nifty hand spy.

Objective 6- Resiliency against Good Fortresses and annoying Artifacts:

This deck build seeks to interact with the above threats as much as possible. The deck has six ways to interact with good fortresses such as Herod's Temple (Crowd’s Choice to Three Woes, Three Woes, Darkness LS to Outsiders (B/G), Outsiders (B/G), Goliath’s Curse, and Foreign Spears). The deck has 13 ways to deal with artifact counters (Crowd’s Choice to Chronicles of the Kings, Chronicles of the Kings, Buckler to Joshua, Three Woes, Humble LS, Hunter to Humble LS, all of the tutors to Zion and Zion itself to Joshua which is 6 total ways, and Goliath’s Sword (equipped pre-battle).

Speed:

This deck build is quite consistent but without intentional effort at adding speed it is slow. To remedy this Denarius, Prosperity LS, Philistine Chariots, Outsiders (B/G), and Herdsmen of Gerar are all included for draw power. Beyond this Mayhem is fantastic in this deck since there are actually very few cards which cannot be played down from hand (6 in fact).

Offense:

The main gist of the offense has already been explained. One thing to note is the precise selection of the banding heroes. Caleb in my opinion is superior to heroes like Mighty Men, Phinehas, and Joab since his band is CBI. Also his ability to dispatch Goliath is quite nice. Eleazar is needed to have another hero to play Solomon’s Dream on outside David, Jehoshaphat, and Josiah. Mighty Men is the best banding hero not included here due to the negate and draw on Mighty Men but the royal banding heroes are more important to help make Zion work and Caleb, Hananiah, and Eleazar all have reasons why they are better. Hananiah is amazing since he can tutor for Shields providing a great rescue option if Benaiah is not around.

Covenant with David is helpful since not only can it be a Benaiah tutor but also it is able to on the artifact side tutor for David, Outcast’s Refuge, Manasseh, and Jehoshaphat.

Defense:

The black defense is the right choice since Herdsmen is a must with Reverence and Awe being included in the deck build. Overall Black is a great choice to pair with this offense due to Goliath’s Sword working with both. The defense is fairly straightforward with the only more technical things to keep in mind being that Mayhem/Foreign Wives is a fantastic chump block and both Herdsmen and Saul of Tarsus can grab Lurking from Reserve along with Storehouse. I really like Lurking to Foreign Wives in this build and even against a big band Lurking to Saul of Tarsus. Lurking is an underrated battle winner and is quite potent overall.

Also don’t forget Lost Anointing not only can aide the offense but also the defense if there is a problematic hero that needs to be discarded. On this note Covenant with David on the artifact side can tutor for Emperor Nero adding additional consistency.

One other cool thing is Emperor Nero is able to tutor for Coliseum to add great support for the offense.

Maybe Board:

Cards that have been in and out of this deck or heavily considered include Expelled from Heaven, Spears, Lost Anointing, Lingering in Sodom, Awake LS, Angel of the Lord, Crowds LS package (Crowds LS and Escape LS), Damascus (cut for Captive Princes. It provided another way to a royal hero turn 1 since it can tutor for Manasseh and offers draw potential. Lingering in Sodom can tutor for it as well which is nice), Sword of the Spirit (Reserve), Babel (this was cut for Expelled from Heaven which is the right choice to have extra battle support for the offense), The Amalekite’s Slave, King of Tyrus, The Chief Priests, Supercilious Scribes, Emperor Claudius, The Priest of Zeus, Blood Avenger, Plot to Kill, Broken Covenant, Harvest LS, Judean Garrison, Temple Spears & Shields, Pentecost, Builder’s Spear, Betrayal, King Jehu, Hopper LS, Distressed LS, Lawless LS, Mighty Men, Phinehas, Son of Eleazar, Joab, Josiah, Eternal Covenant (House of Prayer would need to be run instead of Storehouse to grab it from Reserve), Shipwreck, Golgotha, Concealed Riches, Helmet, Israel’s Bow, and The Mighty Warrior.

Conclusion:

Overall this deck is a blast to play and is likely the optimal build for a Red banding offense due to its consistency in getting Benaiah out turn 1. It is not a deck that is top tier but is definitely competitive and able to hold its own. My encouragement in light of this deck build is to be creative in deck building. Don’t just stick to the offensive themes everyone is using that seem to be the strongest but rather explore some of the lesser used themes. Perhaps you will discover something really cool like a build that can reliably get Benaiah out turn 1. Hope you enjoy this deck build and happy deck building.

Change Log:

(01-30-2025)

Deck-

Cut Expelled from Heaven and added Great Plunder

Cut Lingering in Sodom and added I Am Refuge

Reserve-

Cut Spears and added David’s Chariots

Cut Lost Anointing and added Joab’s Spears

Explanation-

Who would have thought that a deck focused on the Red brigade would get new tools in the newest set Israel’s Inheritance? Well since the deck does have the Purple brigade on many of the characters some new cards are available. Great Plunder is a significant upgrade over Expelled from Heaven being a stronger battle winner and offering draw power. I Am Refuge is a superior card to Lingering in Sodom in every way for this build. Lingering in Sodom was in the build solely as a way to Zion to get to Benaiah. Well I Am Refuge can get to Zion via tutoring for Covenant with David or David’s Descendant. Further, I am Refuge has significant utility in bolstering rescues as well if it is not needed for tutoring for Zion. I should not unlike Lingering in Sodom I Am Refuge also provides an additional way to Storehouse since it tutors for Covenant with David or David’s Descendant. Further I Am Refuge can tutor for David himself directly which is helpful. I Am Refuge and Great Plunder are both excellent upgrades over the previous cards they replaced.

In terms of the Reserve David’s Chariots and Joab’s Spears are exactly what the build has been needing. Extra negates that work with the Benaiah band. Their are plenty of Purple characters in this build who can band to Benaiah and therefore use these two enhancements which work with Benaiah. David’s Chariots is a straight upgrade over spears working not only against Evil Characters but also Evil Enhancements and it offers draw power. Joab’s Spears is better than Lost Anointing offering more in battle utility.

(02-15-2024)

Deck-

Cut Angel of the Lord (I) and added Buckler (ROOTS)

Cut Awake LS and added Humble LS

Cut Escape LS and added Hunter LS

Cut Crowds LS and added Outcry LS

Cut Harvest LS and added “Lost Souls” LS

Cut The Chief Priests and added Goliath’s Curse [L]

Cut Storehouse (Promo) and added Storehouse (IR)

Cut The Amalekite’s Slave and added Philistine Armor Bearer (LoC)

Cut King of Tyrus and added Outsiders (B/G)

Cut Foreign Wives and added Goliath (FoM Promo)

Cut Plot to Kill and added Foreign Spears

Reserve-

Cut Broken Covenant and added Philistine Chariots [L]

Cut Emperor Claudius and added Foreign Wives

Cut Supercilious Scribes and added Saul of Tarsus

Explanation-

This update seeks to help the deck be more resilient against Nazareth and Holy of Holies. Goliath’s Curse helps the deck against Nazareth and fits well. The Chief Priests is not ideal in a meta with Nazareth and Holy of Holies being threats. Hunter LS/Outcry LS are in instead of Escape/Crowds since being able to get Goliath or Herdsmen and moving a high brigade count card out of hand like Reverence and Awe is nice. Crowds LS is nice against Nazareth but Herdsmen gives good chances as well of getting around Nazareth. “Lost Souls” LS is superior to Harvest LS especially with Hunter LS being added. Cutting Awake LS is tough to do since that is a way to Herdsmen through Outcry LS but Humble LS is necessary with Holy of Holies being a threat. The new version of Storehouse is better especially with how reliant this deck is on Benaiah and getting him back from the discard pile if he is discarded. Philistine Armor Bearer feels better than TAS in this build being able to get draw power with the new Philistine Chariots as well as being an additional black character for Lingering in Sodom now that The Chief Priests is gone. Being able to get Goliath/Herdsmen back is great as well. Outsiders (B/G) provides another way around Nazareth and is a solid blocker. Goliath is a great fit with Outcry LS and Foreign Wives shifts to Reserve easily enough and lowers brigade count. Foreign Spears gives another way around Nazareth which is key. Philistine Chariots provides card draw like Broken Covenant but does not clog up the artifact slot which often is filled with The Cross. Foreign Wives is better than Claudius overall and now that The Chief Priests is gone Saul of Tarsus is superior to Supercilious Scribes.