First I want to say it is good to be back. I know it has been awhile since I’ve been able to contribute to Land of Redemption but I am excited to be in a situation that will allow me to be involved again.

It used to be when you sat down and your opponent revealed disciples you knew exactly what to expect from their offense. Since the release of the Disciples set and The Garden Tomb, disciples offenses have been built around using Thaddeus and ignore to win games. The offense proved its strength with a win at Nationals in 2014. While this old standard type of build is very good, recently released cards have given disciples some serious versatility.

Trying to discern the strongest variation of disciples is very difficult in today’s game. Offenses have moved towards 17-20 slots instead of 22-28 in 50-56 card decks. I am not going to do that for you but will give you some interesting disciple variations to consider playing and testing.

1. Clay Tossciples
This version does exactly what you think from the name. It seeks to use Peace as an alternate battle winning ability. This version includes cards like Peter (TEC), Reassuring Angels, Coming of the Spirit, The Holy Spirit, Preaching at Pentecost, Passover Hymn, Matthias, Faithfulness, Goodness, Peace, and I am Holy. This deck will focus on winning battles through tossing large X strength enhancements and recurring the Fruits of the Spirit discarded by I am Holy. It also has some inherent protection via Peter.

2. Pseudo-FBTN Disciples
This version plays Shield of Faith on John and focuses on having negates that will work with him. Shield of Faith negates many evil enhancements on its own including almost all chump blocks and the interrupt removals like Korah’s Rebellion. The goal of this deck would be to have access to interrupts like Passover Hymn, My Lord and My God, Faith as a Mustard Seed, Reach of Desperation, and Sons of Thunder. This style of disciples may also play a fight by the numbers evil character like Sapphira who can be converted and healed into a purple hero with Love. You will also want to use Reassuring Angels to get John or James, Son of Alpheus running. Faithfulness is great for stopping Scattered. While running a FBTN-type offense having a Covenant active just makes sense to stop the CBP Lost Soul. The New Covenant is an obvious answer.

As you consider what parts of these variations appeal to you remember that disciple’s strength still tends to lay with the amount of them in play. It is difficult to fit all of these pieces into a deck and have it work cohesively. Even if you could fit all the pieces you would be unable to block. Good luck finding the right combination, I’ll be searching right along with you.

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By Josiah

Josiah and Jerome are brothers from Pennsylvania. Jerome started playing Redemption in 2010 and Josiah in 2011. Thanks to Jerome's ability to analyze cards and with help from other players and leaders like Jon M. and Chad Z., the brothers quickly became competitive players on the national circuit. Both have enjoyed getting connected with the nation wide Redemption community and greatly appreciate the friendships which have been cultivated through Redemption. Josiah and Jerome both have a love for Redemption and are excited to forward the game in any way possible.