When fully armored with the Armor of God a Hero can become nearly unstoppable.  A fully armored Hero is protected from all evil brigades, capture abilities and Dominants, negates Evil Characters from 6 evil brigades, prevents Enhancements with a toughness less than 6, protects 6 souls from opponent’s cards, possibly plays an Enhancement after your opponent blocks, generates Lost Souls, has Site access, increases 6/6, and adds a card to hand each battle.  How can you possibly stop a Hero like that from rescuing souls?

The best way to counter Armor of God is the stop the initial setup. Darius Decree and Covenant with Death make it so your opponent cannot play play their Armor of God Enhancement unless an Evil Character is in battle. This neutralizes Paladin’s play ability and the ability to play the Enhancements during their preparation or discard phase. Covenant with Death also has the added bonus of negating Christian Soldier’s search ability.

You can can also protect or restrict your opponent from searching their deck for an Armor of God with Christian Soldier (Nazareth, Hezekiah’s Signet Ring), or restrict your opponent from searching their discard pile for an Armor of God with Saint of Virtue (Hezekiah’s Signet Ring).

Another counter is to discard the Armor of God after it has been played (King’s Pomp, Silly Women, Rebellious Spirit or Deluders). King’s Pomp is obviously the best option as you can discard all the armor in play with one Enhancement. You can also shuffle in King’s Pomp with Shrine of Artemis for additional uses.

Another counter is to be immune or protected from the armored Hero. This will likely have to be a cannot be negated or cannot be prevented ability due Breastplate of Righteousness and Shield of Faith. Balaam’s Disobedience and Emperor Claudius are solid options.

A final type of counter is utilizing Evil Characters with a special ability that grants cannot be negated or cannot be prevented modifiers to Enhancements (Simon the Magician, Nergalsharezer, Naaman, Sisera, etc.) or the cannot be prevented lost soul. If you play an Enhancement qualifying for this modifier with an interrupt the battle ability you can target the armored Hero. For example, blocking with Simon the Magician (provided Peter or Philip the Evangelist are not in play) or Sisera and playing Joseph in Prison can be a brutal play against Armor of God decks.

Another solid option is The Rabshakeh and Two Thousand Horses and Scattered. Demetrius and Seized by Rioters is another solid option. Wickedness of the Tenants, Bringing Fear, The Rabshakeh’s Threats are all cannot be prevented options. Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride, Imprisoned, Expelling the Jews, Devourer, Achin’s Sin, Korah’s Rebellion can all become counters with cannot be prevented or cannot be negated modifiers.

Playing a cannot be negated or cannot be prevented regardless of protection Enhancement might also do the trick. One option is a female Canaanite and Stone of Thebez. Another option is The Roman Jailer and Arrest in Jerusalem (if the CBP Lost Soul is active).

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas to counter the Armor of God decks you’ll definitely see this season.

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By Mitch

I've been playing Redemption since 1999 with friends. We build really bad decks and didn't know how to play correctly then. After attending Joey Shiver's tournaments and playing Redemption on AIM (old school before RTS or Lackey) I learned how to play properly. Redemption has led to many great friends and great memories over the years.