Join Chad for a unique new deck build utilizing some of the new cards from the brand new Israel’s Inheritance set that interestingly enough has the feel of decks from vintage eras of Redemption.
Avengers! Assemble:
Deck (50 cards)-
1 Son of God (2019) (Promo)
1 The Second Coming [Fundraiser]
1 Angel of the Lord (I)
1 Crowd’s Choice (GoC)
1 Three Woes [Fundraiser]
1 Chronicles of the Kings (LoC)
1 Mayhem (FoM)
1 Lost Soul “Prosperity” [Deuteronomy 30:15]
1 Lost Soul “Aimless” [Exodus 14:3]
1 Lost Soul “Darkness” [Job 30:26]
1 Lost Soul “Dread” [Exodus 15:16 – K]
1 Lost Soul “Humble” [James 4:6 / Proverbs 3:34 – RoJ]
1 Lost Soul “Distressed” [Zephaniah 1:17]
1 Lost Soul “Lost Souls” [Proverbs 2:16-17]
1 Lost Soul “Hopper” [II Chronicles 28:13 – LR]
1 Endless Treasures (Errata)
1 The New Covenant (I/J+)
1 Joshua’s Covenant (II)
1 Lacking Prophecy
1 Patmos (RoJ)
1 Storehouse [IR]
1 Wall of Protection (Promo)
1 The Angel of the Winds
1 Captain of the Host (Roots)
1 The Strong Angel (Roots)
1 The Victorious Being (II)
1 Medad
1 Stone Carriers (II)
1 Moses (FoM)
1 Jairus (GoC)
1 Zaccheus, the Repentant / Zaccheus, Tax Collector (GoC)
1 Angelic Guidance (I)
1 Army of the Lord (Roots)
1 Expelled from Heaven (GoC)
1 Holy Ground (II)
1 Teaching in Parables (GoC)
1 Amazing Faith (GoC)
1 Ehud’s Dagger (Roots)
1 The Deceiver (RoJ)
1 The Amalekites’ Slave (FoM)
1 The Herdsmen of Gerar (LoC)
1 Sisera, the Commander (Roots)
1 Outsiders (Black/Gold) (RoJ)
1 The Woman of Thebez (II)
1 Fire Foxes
1 Moths (Roots)
1 Goliath’s Curse [L]
1 Betrayal (PoC)
1 Stricken
1 Scattered Sheep
Reserve:
1 You Will Remain
1 Jairus’ Daughter (GoC)
1 Plague of Frogs (GoC)
1 Scarlet Line
1 Talitha Kum! (GoC)
1 Wastelands (Roots)
1 Foreign Wives
1 Philistine Chariots [L]
1 Go Away! (LoC)
1 Struck and Scattered (II)
Note: A big thank you to B-Swan, cnakeeyes, and Aiden R. for trading me the necessary cards from Israel’s Inheritance to assemble this deck build in paper. I have not opened any packs of Israel’s Inheritance yet and so it was very kind of them to trade Israel’s Inheritance cards with me for cards from older sets.
Summary:
Background-
The Captain is here and is ready to assemble his team of avengers! The inspiration behind this deck came as I was looking through the pictures of the cards in the new set Israel’s Inheritance I noticed right away the abundance of ways to Captain of the Host (Roots) in the new set namely Joshua’s Covenant, The Victorious Being, and perhaps most importantly Stone Carriers. Stone Carriers in particular provides a huge consistency boon to getting to Captain of the Host since Stone Carriers is a Wilderness hero. This means cards like Aimless LS and Medad can tutor for Stone Carriers to Captain. Additionally Stone Carriers means The Angel of the Winds can get to Captain of the Host as well. Stone Carriers is an incredible card in that it brings Captain of the Host into battle post block which is quite powerful against protected characters such as Herod Archelaus (GoC) and Red Dragon (RoJ).
And then there is one other card that really helps a turbo Captain approach: Holy Ground. This card gives Captain of the Host (Roots) enough CBP/CBN battle winners to be able to be a solo rescue option. Beyond this it also gives The Strong Angel (Roots) enough CBP/CBN battle winners to be able to be a solo rescue option. Lastly Holy Ground being both Silver/Gold means Moses (both CoW and FoM) along with Jairus (GoC) can fit in a deck build with CotH and TSA quite well. I was excited realizing all of this as at Nationals this summer I realized in TEAMS just how powerful solo FBTN heroes still are. This is a vintage approach to rescuing in Redemption and is still good today. I had been using a deck build at one point this past season that ran The Twenty Four Elders and found that hero to be quite strong. Then at Nationals this past summer deck I piloted in TEAMS contains Moses (CoW), Jairus (GoC), and Noah (LoC) as solo FBTN rescues and those simple but strong rescues were quite effective. Having experienced that when I saw what I did in the new set I had to give building a deck build around solo FBTN rescues featuring Captain of the Host and his team of avengers an attempt. The above deck build is what resulted. After I crafted this deck build and started refining it several folks posted their Joshua deck builds and all of them I have seen run the Prophecies of Christ/Israel’s Inheritance version of Captain of the Host. Those builds are strong too and have a slightly different approach. I personally like this FBTN approach and I think it creates stronger rescues. Those builds are faster though and have some more weapons for picking apart the opponent. I lean toward this build but definitely respect those other builds which use the other version of CotH.
I am not going to say this deck build is currently a top tier deck in the meta since it is slower than many of the best decks in the meta but I do think it can hold its own. It is quite consistent at achieving its objectives. I would like to share some of the ins and outs of the deck build.
Stone Carriers/Captain Abuse-
Stone Carriers to Captain of the Host (Roots) is a very strong rescue for the aforementioned reason of bringing in Captain of the Host post block to negate strong abilities on evil characters. This is great against protected characters but also is very good against chump blocks such as Fire Foxes and is also very good against cards like Saul of Tarsus negating their tutor. It is quite hard to block this rescue. This deck build seeks to turbo to a turn 1 Stone Carriers to Captain rescue. The deck build has 8 ways to Stone Carriers turn 1: Aimless LS, New Covenant (to Angelic Guidance to Angel of the Winds), Joshua’s Covenant, The Angel of the Winds, Medad, Angelic Guidance (to Angel of the Winds), Crowd’s Choice, and Stone Carriers itself. This is very consistent.
After a turn 1 Stone Carriers to Captain of the Host rescue is completed the deck build seeks to cycle this rescue. You see Stone Carriers can only exchange to deck or Reserve so once Captain of the Host is in territory or hand then Stone Carriers cannot exchange to CotH. This deck build seeks to utilize Endless Treasures/Goliath’s Curse to underdeck CotH so Stone Carriers can exchange to CotH again and again. In a Joshua unity offense this is not as necessary since Stone Carriers can exchange to characters like Joshua and Caleb in deck or reserve who can band to CotH in territory but in this build the Endless Treasures/Goliath’s Curse approach is necessary. I also feel solo FBTN is slightly better than banded FBTN since banded FBTN is quite vulnerable to cards like Scattered and Reap the Whirlwind. It is harder to block solo FBTN than banded FBTN. I like that Endless Treasures/Goliath’s Curse have great individual card quality outside of this cycling purpose with the Stone Carriers/CotH rescue. Goliath’s Curse is fantastic in this meta for dealing with annoying good fortresses and the like in the opponent’s territory.
Abundance of Solo FBTN Rescues with Ammo–
As I mentioned earlier I feel solo FBTN rescues are quite strong with few options around them. This deck build seeks to have an abundance of solo FBTN rescue options in CotH, The Strong Angel, Jairus (GoC), and Moses (FoM). Basically if I do not have the Stone Carriers/CotH option I am quite happy to enter battle with one of these other solo FBTN heroes. It is important to note Moses (FoM) is a wilderness hero so all the ways that can get to Stone Carriers can get to him too (aside from Joshua’s Covenant but The Victorious Being can get to him giving the same number of ways). Overall turn 1 I have 14 ways turn 1 to a solo FBTN rescue in this deck build. I will not list all of these ways but believe me they are there.
One key is having appropriate ammo to back these solo FBTN characters up. There are CBP enhancements and characters which can get around solo FBTN rescues so ammo is nice to have on hand to backup these rescues. There are 3 GE’s main deck that each of these characters can use aside from TSA who just has 2. For CotH he has Holy Ground, Army of the Lord, and Expelled from Heaven. I want to note how Army of the Lord is particularly strong in this build. I want to use it to band in TSA or to band in The Victorious Being who exchanges to Moses (FoM). If I already have Moses (FoM) in hand or territory Goliath’s Curse is useful for putting him in deck so The Victorious Being can exchange to him after being banded in by Army of the Lord. I include Patmos in this deck build to help me to get to TSA faster so if I have Captain/Army of the Lord I am more likely to have one of the two angels I want to band to with Army of the Lord: TSA or The Victorious Being. New Covenant/Angelic Guidance also aid with getting one of the two Angel warriors for Army of the Lord to band to.
For Jairus/Moses Holy Ground, Amazing Faith, and Ehud’s Dagger are all good backup ammo for their FBTN rescue attempts. Scarlet Line in Reserve also backs them up well.
Lastly TSA solo can be backed up by Holy Ground and Expelled from Heaven. I should note New Covenant to Expelled from Heaven and Joshua’s Covenant to Holy Ground give a solo TSA more consistency in having a battle winner ammo piece.
New Covenant being able to go to Expelled from Heaven/Amazing Faith and Joshua’s Covenant being able to go to Holy Ground and Army of the Lord really helps these solo FBTN rescues to have ammo backup more consistently.
Chronicles of the Kings and Three Woes are both very good to backup solo FBTN rescues as well.
Choose the Blocker Support–
Zaccheus is nice to have as a way around annoyances to the FBTN solo rescues and he provides great rescue diversity. He works well with Angel of the Lord, Amazing Faith, Plague of Frogs, and Talitha Kum!. Zaccheus using Talitha Kum! in a meta saturated with so many Gospel heroes can often generate quite a bit of value and pull off a successful rescue attempt. Also a nice potential cheese rescue is if I block with The Woman at Thebez and then she ends up in her opponent’s territory I can choose her to block and the opponent cannot use her ability since they will not own and control her.
An Attempt at Speed–
A build like this is consistent for sure but in terms of draw power it is lacking. Mayhem, Prosperity LS, and Plague of Frogs (played on Moses in territory) seek to add a bit of draw power.
And then most important of all for speed is the Defense.
Chump Based Defense-
I worked really hard to refine this defense. As I was looking at the pictures of the cards in the new set Israel’s Inheritance a couple cards in the Black defense really caught my attention. I do not necessarily think the Black defense in this set is the strongest defense in the set but I do think some of the cards it provides the Black brigade with helps the Black brigade to be a pretty strong defense. Also I believe with how the meta shifts due to Israel’s Inheritance the Black defense could be one of the better defensive options. This is conjecture of course but I want to test it out. I still think, despite the thoughts of some folks otherwise, that Herod’s are the top defense in the meta even with Israel’s Inheritance considered but I have been primarily running Herod’s pretty much every since they came out and have only really explored Black/Gray as an alternate defense in a couple deck builds. It is good to test something new out. I do think going straight Black is better than splashing in the Gray characters at this juncture.
This defense seeks to provide speed that the offense lacks. The Herdsman of Gerar, Outsiders (B/G), Betrayal, and Philistine Chariots all provide speed support. The deck build has 7 ways to the Herdsmen of Gerar turn 0: The Deceiver, The Amalekite’s Slave, Dread LS to The Amalekite’s Slave, Amazing Faith (star) to Dread LS to The Amaekite’s Slave, Darkness LS, Crowd’s Choice, and The Herdsmen of Gerar itself. This is helpful as there are quite a few meta decks that typically draw quite a few cards like Nativity and GoC good stuff so I can feed off their speed with The Herdsmen of Gerar.
Further the deck build seeks to utilize chump blocks. Black has a great ability to chump block especially with the addition of a new character: The Woman of Thebez. She is a fantastic chump block since she removes herself from battle and goes to the opponent’s territory. This makes her harder to interact with. Fire Foxes, Moths, and Foreign Wives are all solid chump blocks as well. Yes you can interact with chump blocks but they have had a strong presence historically in Redemption and I think they are worth running again. They put quite a bit of pressure on the opponent.
With this deck build being a bit slower Outsider’s (B/G) often is able to do some damage to the opponents territory/characters in battle and offers draw power.
Sisera, the Commander is an underrated card. Folks liked Nicodemus a bit in last seasons meta at points and Naaman a little bit but I think Sisera is a good option as well as a Black brigade EC in the game that makes EE’s CBN. Black has some great OT EE options for him to make CBN especially a new card: Struck and Scattered. With Daniel and Nativity offenses doing big protected bands that are CBN due to Star of Bethlehem and Faith Unbowed having an EE that dispatches all ECs in battle regardless of protection is really helpful. Sisera makes Struck and Scattered CBN which is even better. Go Away! and all the main deck EEs are made CBN by Sisera. IMPORTANT NOTE: Sisera’s special ability is non-targeted meaning he makes ALL OT enhancements CBN including both good and evil enhancements. So if he is facing an offense running OT enhancements on offense primarily then great care is required in blocking with him. I feel the meta will still be primarily NT offenses and many OT offenses band a decent amount like Patriarchs/Daniel/Joshua/David’s Mighty Men meaning that he will often get initiative meaning his non-targeted modifier is not often going to be an issue. Still important to keep in mind though.
Interaction with Threats-
This deck build has 7 ways around Nazareth main deck: Three Woes, Crowd’s Choice to Three Woes, Outsiders (B/G), Darkness LS to Outsiders (B/G), Teaching in Parables, Goliath’s Curse, and Betrayal. I think every deck has to be built with 6+ ways main deck around Nazareth since it is so powerful.
This deck build has 8 ways turn 0 to interact with Matthew due to the aforementioned 7 ways to The Herdsmen of Gerar turn 0 and the Star ability on Stricken.
This deck build is designed to be able to interact with Defensive threats. Lacking Prophecy is important for dealing with Dom blocks like Christian Martyr. You Will Remain also helps with this. Fire Foxes and Wastelands can both dispatch Golgotha which is annoying for an FBTN offense to deal with. Angel of the Lord is important for getting rid of annoying ECs like Nicodemus (or Sisera if other folks start running him too). Chronicles of the Kings and Wastelands help with dealing with annoying artifacts like Holy of Holies. Overall the deck build does a decent job of interacting with threats to its strategy.
Wall of Protection is key since cards like Simon the Zealous can pick off the defense. It also stops folks from using my FBTN heroes against me.
Maybe board-
Cards I am considering for this build include…
Twenty Shekels (great card with Zaccheus and Woman of Thebez), Prisoner at Gaza (really good with both the offense and the defense and additional soul gen), Good Seed (Reserve), Lost Coin Found (Reserve), Offering of Wrongdoing (additional Stone Carriers tutor), Falling Away, Glory of the Lord (Winner Promo), Buckler, The Long Day, The Emmaus Road, Life Through Christ (to tutor for Jairus/Zaccheus), Great White Throne, I Am Sustainer, Joshua (II), Caleb (II), The Bearers of the Ark, Broken Covenant (Reserve), Feast of Booths (Reserve) (as draw power), Covet LS, Grumbled LS, Shepherds LS, Awake LS (to Dread LS), Disoriented LS, Complacent LS, Color Guard LS, Harvest LS, Blood Avenger, Mask of Self Glorification, Abandonment (EC or RR), Goliath, Philistine Armor Bearer, High Priest Ananias, Not Among You, Bringing Fear, Foreign Spears, Abraham’s Deceit, Goliath’s Spear, High Priest’s Plot, Sheol, Tenants Kill the Son, Denarius/an Emperor, Saul of Tarsus/Unsuccessful in Reserve, David, HAG, Faith of Samson, Oath of Purity, Reverence and Awe, The Cross, Ark of the Covenant, Peter’s Curse, Fall of Man, Pot of Manna/Solomons Temple, Protection of Angels, The Child is Born, God is With You, Herod’s Temple, Image of the Beast, Man with a Withered Hand, Idol of Poor, Who is Without Sin?, Lost Anointing, and Priest of Zeus.
Conclusion:
Overall this deck build hearkens back to former eras of Redemption years ago where FBTN rescues on offense and chump blocks on defense were prominent strategies. I am enjoying working on this deck build and while it has taken a shape I am pleased with I am sure there are improvements that can be made. If you have any ideas for this deck build on how it could be better feel free to reach out to me.
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