Join CtheTree as he reflects on lessons he learned from Redemption Nationals the three years he has attended.

Introduction:

This year was my third Redemption National tournament I had the privilege of attending and the second Nationals where I was able to play the main category of Redemption T1-2P. This was the first National tournament where I was able to be at all three days of the tournament as the prior two years I could only be at one day. Overall it was a wonderful time and I particularly enjoyed being able to spend so much time with the folks of this community that is so dear to me. In particular I enjoyed seeing two teenagers and one adult from my local playgroup who were with me at the tournament having fun and enjoying the experience. My favorite part of Redemption is running a local Redemption play group and seeing folks of all ages learn and enjoy the game.

I will be honest though: I do aspire to be the best I can from a competitive standpoint at Redemption. This tournament season I had aspirations of giving my best shot at winning T1-2P at Redemption Nationals. I had performed well in Lackey Grand Prix online tournaments winning 2 of them this tournament season if I recall correctly bringing my total of Lackey Grand Prixs won to 4 which is the current record number won. The. I won the NW Regional tournament against a fairly strong field of competition/was ranked 2nd in the Threshing Floor Power Rankings after that win at NW Regional. Lately I ended up with a total of 90 RNRS ranking points for the season (the maximum you can attain) and was the top ranked player in the Nation along with Brian Jones and Jay Chambers who also accrued 90 RNRS points. The three of us ended up tying for 1st in RNRS points for the season even with Nationals results factored in. I have never had this much success in a tournament season before leading up to Nationals. Due to this success I thought I had a legitimate shot at contending for the T1-2P title this year at Nationals more than any other year before. I will admit I became a bit arrogant in my heart due to this success and overconfident.

Then something happened shortly before Nationals which humbled me and was a significant trial: I found out in April that I was going to have to have spine surgery on May 3 just a mere three weeks after the NW Regional tournament. The surgery I had is a major surgery and one that requires 6 months post-surgery to be considered “healed” and 1 year of physical therapy. Beyond the physical limitations the recovery process involves mental fatigue for 3+ months after surgery. After my surgery I struggled focusing on much of anything including Redemption. From May-July I spent much less time on the game than normal as I needed the little energy I had to do my job and be with my wife/kids. My mind is something that has always been sharp and having mental fatigue like this was really hard for me. I was rejoicing that the surgery was successful and my back was getting better but I really struggled with my brain not working like it normally does. For instance my normal office work I was do for my job was taking me twice as long as normal after the surgery. In light of all of this I told my wife before Nationals my goal was not to win but rather to place in the top 20.

Then something happened at Nationals that humbled me even further. I made a mistake.

Mistake: I thought I knew my main deck Soul Surfer well enough so after Regionals I deviated from playing/working on the “Soul Surfer” deck I knew so well and had much success with and started working on a secret deck build called “Starstruck”. One mistake with this was keeping Starstruck secret. I have posted in the community before how I believe in transparency regarding deck builds and I typically share all of my deck builds once they get to a refined state. This one I greedily kept secret and it did not really help things. I was hypocritical to a point in this regard. To right this matter I have shared Starstruck in this article here. Starstruck is a unique deck build that is powerful but I had limited experience piloting it and those who I go to for advice about the game said I should stick with Soul Surfer for Nationals. I checked both decks and I ran Soul Surfer the first two rounds going 1-1 with a 4-5 loss to Josh Potratz and then ran Starstruck after that for the remaining 5 rounds. I went 3-2 with Starstruck in those round with two 4-5 losses. Pivoting to running Starstruck was a mistake as I knew Soul Surfer better and could pilot it better. Running Soul Surfer all seven rounds may not have changed my result much as the field of competition was very strong and there were many players who are better than me who were playing. That being said I do think it would have given me a better chance at success due to the piloting experience I have with that deck build. Most of all I realized due to one of my mentors in the game (Gabe Isbell) asking me after the category why I switched decks that I had pridefully gone against the sound advice of those who kindly took time to give me helpful insights on my deck builds. To say the least I learned several important lessons about the game from this experience.

In fact each year I have been at Nationals I have learned valuable lessons about the game and competing in it. This year in particular though I learned several important lessons. I want to thank Gabe Isbell and Tyler Stevens who I consider to be mentors to me regarding the game of Redemption as some of these lessons I learned due to advice they gave me. They are both a treasure to our community and wonderful individuals who love God and love our community. I respect both of them quite a bit. They have given me helpful advice not just about the game of Redemption but also about growing in my character as a person/a follower of God. I am thankful for both of them.

I am thankful as well for the opportunity I had to play in the Teams category on Saturday at this Nationals with a good friend of mine from my church named Aaron Reisenbigler who is also from my playgroup. He is new to the game having started playing in fall 2023 as his son plays and he wanted to see what it was all about. He nor I had any aspirations of doing well in Teams as he is still learning how the cards work but I wanted to play with him as he is my friend and I wanted to help him learn more about the game through the experience. That to me was more important than trying to win Teams. The only goal we had was to have fun together and we just wanted to win against his son Aiden Reisenbigler and his best buddy Allen Gonzales if we faced them in a round. We shockingly managed to place 2nd in Teams and were playing for first place at the top table in the final round. We were the only team able to defeat the power team consisting of 2024 T1-2P National Champion Tim Estes/2nd place finisher Jake Antonetz. We were utterly shocked when we won that game.

It is interesting that the category I had no expectations of doing well in ending up being one where there was success and beyond that a whole lot of fun. I enjoyed playing Teams much more than I did T1-2P at this Nationals and I think it had a lot to do with my expectations I had of it in my heart. Aaron and I just went into Teams wanting to have a good time together as we are friends and boy did we have that and more. There is a lesson in that I think compared with the ambitious attitude I had all year long about T1-2P.

With all of that considered here are some specific lessons I have learned from the experience I have had at the three National tournaments I have attended.

2024 Nationals Lessons Learned:

Categories Played/Results:

T1-2P (58 players)- 19th place. 12 game score and +5 differential.

Teams (with Aaron Reisenbigler) (13 total teams)- 2nd place.

1. It is important to find a deck build that is strong which can hold its own against most every deck build in the meta if played properly. Test deck builds during the early stages of the tournament season to find a deck build like this. It may take time to find such a deck build. Keep building new deck builds and testing them out until you find one meeting the above criteria. Once one is found and if it is indeed able to win in the meta in a broad fashion stick with that deck build and refine it to the point it is close to optimized. Play that deck build consistently to learn the ins and outs of it. Practice with the deck build till the lines of play are second nature. Run it in every tournament you can both in person and online. Then take this deck build to Nationals. Only deviate from the deck build if a change happens in the meta that makes the deck truly a bad option/obsolete in the meta. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
2. Practice, practice, practice. Try to get as many games in with your best deck build before Nationals as possible to be prepared as best as you possibly can to pilot it competently with minimal misplays. Against the top players one or two misplays can cost you the game. I lost two close 4-5 games against players who top cut where misplays were a factor.
3. Check only your best deck build at Nationals. Do not check multiple decks as it is too easy to vacillate and over think things in a scenario where multiple decks are checked. The best deck build is the one that is your strongest that you are able to pilot the most competently. Perhaps you might have a deck build you think is more powerful but you do not have as much experiencing piloting that deck build. Do not run that deck build but default to the one that is your strongest deck build that you have the most piloting experience with.
4. Pay attention to the whole board state before going for a rescue attempt/block and while executing a rescue attempt/block. Take a moment to make sure you are not missing any abilities on Lost Souls, numbers or abilities on characters that impact the rescue you are seeking to do, or other abilities on cards such as fortresses, sites, or artifacts. In one game I lost 4-5 in T1-2P at this tournament I misplayed my second rescue not paying close enough attention to all the cards on the board. It was a winnable rescue if I paid better attention.
5. Err on the side of caution regarding soul gen. The last thing you want is to get off to a dominant start in a game but to stall because there are no lost souls available to rescue. Better look at it than for it with regard to soul gen. I lost a game 4-5 where I was up 4-0 at the end of the third turn with Son of God in my hand and three cards left in my deck. My opponent had four lost souls left in deck and proceeded to soul drought me for 4-5 turns after that it ai recall correctly and they won the game as I had no way left at the end of turn 3 to generate a lost soul to rescue with my Son of God.
6. Winning a battle is of primary importance. Even if more resources can be generated in a less stable rescue attempt or block tend toward that which gives the best chance at achieving a block or rescue. In one of my games in T1-2P that I lost 4-5 I went for resources with my rescue attempt when I had a clear way that would have won the battle. I ended up losing that battle and my opponent won the race to 5.
7. Deck builds need to be designed considering mirror matches and need to be designed with contingency in mind. Avoid deck builds that are a glass cannon. Try to design deck builds to be resilient in a variety of matchups with meta relevant deck builds including mirror matches.
8. If you think a deck build needs to be kept secret to win at Nationals then it probably is not a deck worth running there with very rare exceptions. A truly strong deck build will be able to be public knowledge and will be able to win with being a known commodity in the meta. Piloting experience and knowing lines of play is so important to minimize misplays and to be able to refine a deck build to being close to being optimized. Accross many rounds of play against stiff competition you have to know your deck inside and out and you want to know how it fares against threats in the meta in practice rather than in theory. If it needs to be kept secret to win then it probably is a novel deck build but not all that resilient in actuality. Test what you think is your best deck build as much as possible to see if it really is all that good. Do not keep it secret.
9. Listen to and seek advice on deck builds/play from seasoned folks in the game who understand what it takes for a deck build to succeed at the highest level of competition at Nationals. Experience is a great teacher and we do well to listen to those who have wisdom from experience. Be teachable and do not lean on your own understanding. Two are better than one. Seek advice from others who are more experienced/knowledgeable than you and actually take their advice. Don’t let their advice be in one year and out the other but rather take their advice and put it into practice.
10. Don’t lose focus or grow overly discouraged after one or two losses at Nationals. Evaluate what went wrong pick up and move forward to the next round determined to improve.
11. Have fun, enjoy the experience, and above all seek to glorify God. It is a privilege and a blessing to enjoy the game of Redemption and the community of wonderful people who are in it. Seek to glorify God in the attitude you have win or lose. Seek to show good sportsmanship and remember Redemption is just a game. The relationships built through the game via the fellowship with other believers from around America and things learned about the Bible/God through the cards via the Scriptures on them are far more valuable than winning. Don’t forget that. It is good to do your best to be competitive and fine to try to win but don’t let that become an idol of the heart.

2023 Nationals Lessons Learned:

Categories Played/Results:

T2-2P: (10 players): 6th place.

1. Playing 7+ rounds at Nationals is very different than playing up to 5 rounds at local through Regional tournaments. The level of competition at Nationals is incredible and there are likely at some Nationals 15+ players playing who are capable of winning the T1-2P title if they have the right deck build for the meta and pilot it with precision. For Type 2 there can be 3-5 players who go can win the Type 2 title if they have the right deck build and pilot it precisely. Realize going into Nationals that much success throughout the regular tournament season does not guarantee success at Nationals. Do not underestimate any opponent. Anyone can beat you that is at Nationals. Take every game seriously and every opponent seriously. Prepare diligently and do not grow complacent if you win a lot during the regular season. Continue to feel to refine your main deck build.
2. Due to the great amount of focus required to succeed at Nationals a certain amount of physical/mental stamina is needed to be able to maintain sharpness/to minimize misplays. Being physically fit and having proper sleep/nutrition/hydration is important to maximize chances of performing well at Nationals. Those who are out of shape or have mental fatigue due to physical trials should limit the number of categories they play in to be fresh for the categories they want to focus on. Most (but not all) who have won T1-2P/T2-2P at Nationals are not obese and have decent physical fitness. Realize where you are at physically/mentally and adjust accordingly.
3. Being able to read the meta correctly is critical. Trying to be able to recognize the what is working and not working in the meta as the months get closer to Nationals is very important. Be objective and be willing to think beyond your own deck building preferences if they are not optimal in the meta. Be willing to adjust a bit if necessary.

2021 Nationals Lessons Learned:

Categories Played/Results:

T1-2P (23 players)- 5th place. 13 game score and +10 differential.

1. Avoid decks that are a glass cannon. Yes they might be explosive, super powerful, and fast but if they crumble due to a counter showing up then they are unlikely to win a closed category at Nationals. Resiliency is needed in a deck build for it to succeed. The best deck will be strong, interact well with the threats in the meta, and be resilient toward threats against it.

Conclusion:

I hope some of these lessons I have learned from experiencing Nationals three times might be of help to others in the community. I am thankful for this community and this game. It is a blessing to me and the members of my playgroup.

May we all seek to learn and grow as people and as Redemption players. We never have arrived during our life on this earth but always have room to grow.

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By Chad

Chad played Redemption in high school but took close to a 10 year hiatus from the game until 2019 when he came back to the game as a collector. He realized when he came back that he quite possibly never knew how to play the game correctly and so in early 2020 he set out to learn how to play the game. Since the return he has in addition to collecting been learning how to actually play Redemption and is enjoying every minute of it! He started and runs a play group and especially enjoys deck building/competitive play.