Join CtheTree for his most recent deck build. He feels this might be his best new deck build he has made in years.
NO DECK PICTURE CURRENTLY DUE TO WAITING FOR THE NEW PROMOS TO BE IN LACKEY.
Deck (50 cards)-
1 Son of God "Manger" (Promo)
1 The Second Coming
1 Guardian of Your Souls [2024 - National]
1 The Resurrection [UR+] (GoC)
1 Angel of the Lord (I)
1 Crowd's Choice (GoC)
1 Three Woes (RoJ)
1 Lost Soul "Prosperity" [Deuteronomy 30:15]
1 Lost Soul "Shepherds" [I Samuel 25:7 - L]
1 Lost Soul "Grumbled" [Exodus 15:24 - K]
1 Lost Soul "Lawless" [Hebrews 12:8]
1 Lost Soul "Orphans" [Jeremiah 22:3]
1 Lost Soul "Lost Souls" [Proverbs 2:16-17]
1 Lost Soul "Harvest" [John 4:35]
1 Lost Soul "Hopper" [NT Version]
1 The Cross (GoC UR+)
1 Twenty Shekels
1 The New Covenant (I/J+)
1 Nazareth (Roots)
1 Fishing Boat (GoC)
1 Wall of Protection (Promo)
1 Patmos (RoJ)
1 The Angel of the Winds
1 Reassuring Angel (EC)
1 Angel from the Sun (RoJ)
1 Matthew the Publican / Matthew (Levi) (GoC)
1 Simon the Zealous / Saint Simon (GoC)
1 Thaddaeus / Judas (Thaddaeus) (GoC)
1 Bartholomew (Nathanael) / Bartholomew the True (GoC)
1 Judas Iscariot / Judas, the Betrayer (GoC)
1 John, the Fisherman / John, Son of Thunder (GoC)
1 John the Forerunner (GoC)
1 Virgin Birth
1 Bearing Our Sin
1 Spirit as a Dove (GoC)
1 Transfiguration (GoC)
1 Reach of Desperation (GoC)
1 Testing Solomon (Roots)
1 Boanerges (GoC)
1 My Lord and My God (GoC)
1 The Deceiver (RoJ)
1 The Judean Mediums
1 Foreign Wives
1 Prince of the Air (Promo)
1 Red Dragon (RoJ)
1 The Fallen Star
1 Prince of this World (GoC)
1 Did God Really Say?
1 Deafening Spirit (GoC)
1 Blindness (PoC)
Reserve:
1 Moses in Glory (GoC)
1 His Sacrifice (GoC)
1 Authority of Christ (GoC)
1 Walking on Water (GoC)
1 I Am He (GoC)
1 Good Seed (GoC)
1 Life in the Son (GoC)
1 Necromancer
1 Herod Antipas (GoC)
1 Contagious Fear (GoC)
Introduction:
This deck build has been the main build I have been working on since mid-December. The idea for this build arose after I revised my Soul Surfer article after I won a Lackey Grand Prix with Soul Surfer in December 2024. You see when I went to revise that article it had two Soul Surfer lists in it: my typical Clay Soul Surfer build and a Purple Soul Surfer build. I had built that Purple Surfer deck last spring when the Guardian of Your Souls (Nats promo) was spoiled since I realized that the Purple Disciples are not phased by GoYS. Well that experimental Purple Surfer build really was not necessary since GoYS sees so little play. Also the Purple version just did not fit as well with the Soul Surfer shell as the Clay version so I abandoned it.
However, when I was revising my Soul Surfer article in December I realized the Purple offense in Purple Surfer is actually a pretty decent offense and I had a revelation of sorts. For months I had been working on Starstruck builds that sought to lock the opponent down with a bunch of counters after tutoring for them via Numerous as the Stars. One version sought to get Nazareth out and Judas. These builds proved too fragile when going second and when they did not combo going first. However, regarding the Nazareth version I thought about how nice it would be to tutor for The Resurrection turn 0 off the Starstruck consistency package and then play it out on my opponent’s turn when they go first to give me a better chance if they go first. The problem with that approach though is that I would shoot myself in the foot with piloting the Starstruck Numerous builds since I need to tutor for Numerous on my turn in order to have any realistic chance of winning. Nazareth played on my opponents turn hurts me just as bad or worse than them in those builds.
With this information in mind here is the revelation I had in light of seeing my Purple offense from Purple Surfer: the Purple offense I had crafted is the optimal offense to pair with the Starstruck consistency engine to set up playing The Resurrection and Nazareth on my opponent’s turn when they go first. The reason for this is when I play The Resurrection on my opponent’s turn when they go first I can play out John the Fisherman as well and the Purple offense I have built runs a bunch of solid Purple battle winners main deck that John can use solo. This means I lock my opponent down on their first turn by playing Rez to Nazzy/John and then I rescue with John on my first turn drawing 2 cards and having strong rescue potential.
Incidentally I also realized the Purple offense is arguably the best offense in the game to pair with Nazareth whether my opponent goes first or I go first. The reason for this is when I go first I try to go to Matthew and play Rez to Naz and band in John and if available Judas. I draw a bunch and lock down my opponent. But what is so great is I can reuse Purple Matthew the next turn without needing a way to bounce him. This makes Purple a superior option in my mind to Clay to pair with Nazareth since less resources are required to keep drawing cards with Matthew as well as using any other character like Simon the Zealous over and over again. Clay needs bounce support to reuse characters with Nazzy live and that can be hard to guarantee without searching. Purple does not have that issue.
So with this big picture account considered now lets get into the nitty gritty of this decks features.
Feature #1- Turn 0 Resurrection/Turn 1 Resurrection:
This build uses the best parts of the Starstruck consistency engine to tutor for The Resurrection turn 0. This build is not as all in as my other Starstruck builds in terms of cards that topdeck a good Dominant from deck/cards that get that topdecked Dominant to hand. I realized the other builds while uber consistent sacrifice too many card slots to be so consistent. Overall this build has 6 ways to a turn 0 Nazareth and 6 ways to get it to hand if the needed card is topdecked. The 6 ways are: The Resurrection, Crowd’s Choice to The Resurrection, Fishing Boat (star) to The Resurrection, Transfiguration (star) to The Resurrection, John the Fisherman (star) to The Resurrection, and John the Forerunnner (star) to The Resurrection. The 6 ways to get the needed top decked Dominant to hand by the star abilities that topdeck it are: Virgin Birth (star), Bearing Our Sin (star), Prosperity LS, Grumbled LS, Shepherds LS, and Lawless LS (Crowd’s Choice is topdecked if Lawless is the option available).
I have found that while this is not as consistent as the other Starstruck builds it is consistent enough without causing the deck build to be a glass cannon due to taking up so many slots with cards primarily used for turn 0. Also the cards that topdeck a Good Dominant from deck for turn 0 used all fit seamlessly in this build. John the Fisherman, Fishing Boat, and Transfiguration are all great with the Purple Offense. Fishing Boat I found with other versions of Starstruck is one of the very best add to battle cards in the game. It is at its best in this Disciple offense build. It is stronger than Good Seed and the like since it works when the opponent plays Christian Martyr and the like without and EC in battle. John the Forerunner works as well due to unity Gospel on the Purple heroes and since I run Twenty Shekels he is a strong rescuer. The 6 cards which can get the topdecked Dominant to hand are all good outside turn 0 with Virgin Birth being the weakest due to not working with Naz live but still worth it due to how strong its Star ability is.
Overall this is the best deck I have built this season in my mind that uses my Starstruck consistency engine since it is well rounded and more balanced than the Starstruck Numerous builds.
I should note if I am going first Spirit as a Dove and The New Covenant (to Spirit as a Dove) provide two more ways to The Resurrection meaning I have 8 total potential ways to The Resurrection if I am going first. Also I have three additional ways to get the topdecked The Resurrection that was topdecked by the star abilities that do so if I am going first: Matthew, John, and Judas. That means 9 total ways to get that topdecked Resurrection if I am going first. This build is quite consistent at getting to The Resurrection to play Nazareth turn 0 to play on my opponents turn when they go first and even more consistent turn 1 if it is my turn. Even if I don’t get to The Resurrection before battle on my first turn having Matthew, John, and Judas gives further chances at drawing into it.
Turbo Matthew is certainly a goal of this build. I have 8 ways to Matthew turn 1 and if you factor in the star abilities that topdeck a good Dominant from deck that can topdeck Crowd’s Choice that is potentially 12 ways. Uber consistent getting to Matthew which helps turbo to Nazzy in a game where I do not get it one of the other ways. Some might say running three searcher angels is bad in a Nazzy build but to me the value of getting to Matthew fast makes them worth it. Also the fact I can turn off Nazzy on just my turn with DGRS? and Deafening Spirit means I can use these searcher angels to go to a hero I am wanting to rescue with. Reassuring Angels in particular is good with Nazzy live since it can exchange to hand and give Clay brigade to one of my Purple Disciples. More on that will be explained in the section on offense.
I truly believe this build is the best turbo Nazareth build in the game due to the ability it has to get to it quickly without sacrificing too many card slots to do so while also having an offense that has remarkable synergy with Nazareth in the Purple offense beyond any other offense I have seen.
Feature #2: Synergy-
I have already mentioned how well the Purple offense works with Nazareth active.
In addition to this synergy I realized I think the best Defense for this build is Orange. Originally I was running Herods but Orange works significantly better. The reason for this is three fold. 1) Running Orange has natural synergy with Judas who is Orange and great support to the demon defense. 2) Orange has in my mind the best synergy with Nazareth out of any defense in the game since I can turn off Nazareth on my turn only with Did God Really Say? or Deafening Spirit if I need to tutor for something on my turn but do not want my opponent to be able to do so on their next turn. This is key also for being able to play The Second Coming. I can negate Nazzy on my turn only and play TSC to get SoG back. 3) Orange allows me to have additional search counters if my opponent deals with Nazareth due to The Fallen Star and Blindness being solid search counters in that situation.
This third point leads to an additional example of synergy in this build: layered counters. Aside from having layered search counters this build also of course has the draw counter of Judas to support Nazareth. Beyond this I also realized something else: I built this Purple offense originally to test in my Soul Surfer shell in the event Guardian of Your Souls were to start seeing significant play since this Purple offense works through GoYS. The thought then crossed my mind as I was crafting Purple Heart: why not run GoYS in this build? The build definitely wants resiliency against chump blocks like The Woman of Thebez/Moabites since they are quite good against Matthew/John rescues. Furthermore when I am facing NT offenses I do not want my opponent banding to and converting my Disciples to meek. I want them to stay Purple. GoYS helps to protect my Disciples from being converted to meek so they stay Purple so I can keep using their abilities. GoYS is also a solid counter against the Clay Goodstuff offense and so I figured it was worth testing out. Lastly running Guardian of Your Souls provides great resiliency against Soul Hide builds. If I am facing a Soul Hide build I will often try to tutor for Guardian of Your Souls rather than The Resurrection turn 0. I do believe the offense has enough power to win the game without a battle winning Dominant in the slot GoYS occupies and due to the multiple levels of synergy GoYS has in this build I think it is worth the slot.
Paired with running GoYS and only running two battle winning Dominants main deck, the last counter I want to mention is The Cross. The card slot The Cross is in had been previously occupied by Herod’s Temple and then Destructive Sin. Herod’s Temple is good here but not as necessary as in other builds since I am running straight Purple (aside from John the Forerunner who is used situationally) and therefore I am not as vulnerable to choose the attacker. I do like the toss ability on Herod’s Temple for dealing with initiative situations and do wish I could fit Herod’s Temple in the build but I found I was not using it all that much in games. This led me to explore other options. Destructive Sin is a great draw counter and from an ability standpoint might be the best counter to draw in the game. However, it is really easy for most top tier offenses to navigate since Joshua has Captain of the Host, Nativity has Gabriel/Chamber of Angels/Mary, Holy Virgin, and Gospel Good stuff has Mary, Holy Virgin. This led me to looking for a better option. One thing that kept happening to me is I kept getting blocked by Dominants with Naz live. If I got to Fishing Boat I would be ok but that was my only main deck way to deal with Dom blocks. I have Good Seed in Reserve which with Simon CTB gets around Dom blocks by bringing an EC into battle so if they Dom block I can use Good Seed due to an EC in battle, but with Nazzy live I am not getting to Good Seed. Also I got tired of Angel of the Lord being used on Red Dragon. This led me to realize The Cross has great synergy in this build. I only run two battle winning Dominants and I usually use The Resurrection on my first turn leaving just Angel of the Lord for the rest of the game. I run very few CBN enhancements and most of the time am not using the ones I do have. Both the offense and defense like the support of The Cross. It has good synergy with both.
Overall this build fits so well together even beyond the layered counters. Another key point of synergy is the star abilities that topdeck a good Dominant from deck pair quite well with Purple Disciples by helping with having a good Dominant on hand to reveal to use their abilities. Wall of Protection has strong synergy with the offense by stopping my opponent from banding to my heroes to get back into the game by drawing cards/also stopping them from banding to them and then converting them to meek while also making the offense resilient against choose the attacker effects. Wall of Protection also has synergy with the defense by stopping the opponent from being able to choose my evil characters to block. Another point of synergy in this build is in connection with Twenty Shekels. Twenty Shekels is excellent with the offense supporting Simon the Zealous, Thaddeus, and John the Forerunner rescues. Twenty Shekels is also good for the defense since Judean Mediums and Fallen Star don’t coexist well if Judean Mediums survives battle since they ruin Fallen Star’s unity. Twenty Shekels allows me to bounce Judean Mediums to hand in my next preparation phase after blocking with Judean Mediums so on my next block I can use either Fallen Star or Judean Mediums based on what works best. This is just another example of the synergy that exists in this deck build.
Now here are some notes on how I pilot the Offense/Defense.
Offense Analysis:
The Purple Disciple offense does not have as much raw power as Clay however I do believe it has enough power to win even with only two battle winning Dominants. Angel of the Lord is still in my mind the most powerful offensive battle winning Dominant in the game and is particularly strong in a build running Twenty Shekels backed up by choose the blocker (Simon), board control (Thaddeus), and John the Forerunner limiting who the opponent can even block with being able to clear out tiny ECs that get around John, the Forerunner.
Beyond Angel of the Lord of course I have The Resurrection which is very strong. Having run Matthew in Soul Surfer for years now I have realized in order for a turn 1 Matthew rescue to work you want plenty of battle winning power to back him up. Disciples across the board want battle winning support. Testing Solomon, Boanerges, and My Lord and My God are all solid main deck battle winners. Reach of Desperation helps me dig for resources. I should also note this build can often utilize The New Covenant as an enhancement in battle. With wanting to play Nazzy out on my opponents turn when they go first along with John the Fisherman I want to have enough battle winners for John to draw into to back him up. I think you really have to pack enough power to win the game on offense main deck in a Nazzy build and cannot rely on the Reserve. Though main deck, I do not count Transfiguration in this because it requires a search to work. If Nazzy is turned off or dispatched by the opponent (or me) then Transfigruation to Moses (GoC) is a strong rescue backed by an additional battle winner creating a CotK type rescue where only my good battle winners will work. I can’t count on that though with Nazzy live and despite this Transfiguration is main deck due to its star ability which is totally worth it.
The heroes main deck appreciate this stout GE battle winner support. John the Fisherman backed up by Boanerges, My Lord and My God, Testing Solomon, and Reach of Desperation is quite good. Bartholomew paired with Boanerges, My Lord and My God, and Walking on Water to His Sacrifice or even Authority of Christ when Nazzy is not live. Every Purple hero in the deck likes this battle winner support. Life in the Son in Reserve by the way offers bounce support for if I play a character as meek for Spirit as a Dove use or happen to convert a character to meek.
Another key feature of this offense is Twenty Shekels abuse. My Starstruck Nativity build which I ran most of the rounds at this past Nationals proved the value of Twenty Shekels abuse to me. In that build I paired it with a main deck John the Forerunner and got several rescues with him by getting all of my opponent’s ECs into their territory and keeping my hand down to cruise in with John the Forerunner. Mary, Holy Virgin in that build paired with Twenty Shekels also proved quite strong to play an opponents only good blocking option from hand and then reserve it with her. In this build I run John the Forerunner as well and he works due to my Purple heroes all being Gospel. Thaddeus in this build is a poor man’s Mary, Holy Virgin and works in a similar manner to her paired with Twenty Shekels. Simon the Zealous also really likes Twenty Shekels support since I can play out a suboptimal blocker with it and then choose that character to block with Simon. I really like Twenty Shekels in this build.
Beyond this I aim to utilize Simon the Zealous in a couple ways. First: Reassuring Angels can give Clay brigade to a hero they exchange to hand with. I am able to do that exchange with Nazareth live since Nazareth does not impact hand. This means I can roll in with Simon, not convert to meek, and still use Clay enhancements. I like granting Simon Clay on his Purple side with Reassuring Angels, choosing a fat character to block, and playing Spirit as a Dove and then Boanerges or My Lord and My God CBN. I also like if Nazzy is not active doing this same thing but tutoring for His Sacrifice from Reserve and playing it CBN. Lastly Simon converted to meek paired with Authority of Christ when Nazzy is not live is of course very good.
I Am He offers great support to any rescue in the deck protecting my heroes and lost souls from evil cards.
Overall this offense is not the most powerful in the game but it is potent enough I believe to get the job done and has fantastic synergy within itself and with this build overall.
Defense Analysis:
Mono Orange demon defense has received a bad rap as of late. BaboonyTim ranked it in the lowly D tier on his recent tier list article. Tim is a significantly better Redemption player than myself and our reigning National champion and in general I agree with many of his thoughts on the game. However, I do think the Mono Orange defense especially in a build where it fits with synergy is at least a B tier defense currently and in this particular build an A tier defense. The addition of the new Prince of the Air Promo really helps the Orange defense out quite a bit. Originally I was running Herods in this list and I have been primarily running Herods for several years now in Soul Surfer and my other significant build I ran in tournaments last season which is Starstruck Nativity version. Those are the two main decks I have had success with in recent years and both ran Herod defenses. Lets compare mono Orange demons with Herods.
Herods typically run The Deceiver, Herod’s Guard, Herod the Great, Herod Agrippa I, Herod Archelaus, Herodias’ Daughter, Outsiders (B/G), and a flex spot that can contain Foreign Wives/Emperor Claudius/or another character. Reserve will often have Herod’s Executioner/Foreign Horses and Antipas and a battle winner. And of course we must not forget the killer main deck battle winner options of Abandonment, No Straw!, Futile Inquisition, and Contagious Fear. All of this is backed up by Herod’s Temple support.
When you compare the Orange defense I have crafted it is a poor man’s version of Herods but in a Nazareth environment I believe it is better than Herods would be due to superior synergy. Both builds run The Deceiver and Foreign Wives. In place of Herod the Great this build runs The Fallen Star. Herod the Great struggles in a Nazareth build since he cannot play out Herod’s Temple. The Fallen Star with his Goliath like blocking ability is fantastic in a Nazareth build being great solo. In place of Herod Agrippa I this build has Red Dragon. Red Dragon is a stronger blocker in a vacuum than Herod Agrippa I due to being protected from lone heroes whereas Herod Agrippa I is only protected from multiple heroes in battle. Red Dragon’s weakness is being able to be killed with Angel of the Lord and to Michael but the Angel of the Lord weakness is minimized with the help of Judas and The Cross. Prince of this World is in place of Herod Archelaus for a straight swap. In place of Outsiders (B/G) Prince of the Air is run. Prince of the Air is better than Outsiders in my mind due to not needing board advantage to underdeck opponent’s card(s). In place of Herodias’ Daugther this build has Judas, the Betrayer who provides great support to all the demons in the build by restricting Dominants. In place of Herod’s Guard this defense runs The Judean Mediums. And this is where my disagreement with Tim arrives. I do think Herods are a stronger defense than Orange demons especially with Herod’s Temple support as he mentions in his tier list. However, this defense is not D tier in my mind because of The Judean Mediums. The Judean Mediums granting CBN to Red Dragon, Prince of the Air, and The Prince of this World is fantastic. Furthermore this is not a one hit wonder since many times The Judean Mediums does end up surviving the initial battle and if The Judean Mediums dies then Necromancer in Reserve can provide The Judean Mediums effect again. In terms of Reserve slots Necromancer is great giving the ability to reuse The Judean Mediums or Foreign Wives. Herod Antipas to Contagious Fear fits well in this defense since Herod Antipas gets reserved by Contagious Fear and therefore does not ruin unity for The Fallen Star on future blocks.
In terms of battle winner support Herod’s certainly have the better battle winners. That being said in a Nazareth build having negates to back up the protected characters is often quite effective due to the limited resources the opponent will often have available. Orange has superior negates in Blindness and Deafening Spirit to what Evil Gold has. Also as I mentioned earlier Did God Really Say? and Deafening Spirit being able to be used to turn Nazareth off for my turn only so I can search for a battle winning resource for my game plan is quite helpful.
This defense is not as good as Herods but in a Nazareth build I feel it is a better fit with superior synergy. In a build like this a defense really just needs to offer enough blocking power for the offense to stave off the opponent so the offense can win the game. This defense does that and offers premium synergy with what my build is seeking to do and also the natural synergy between Orange/Purple due to Judas.
Lost Souls:
Prosperity LS, Grumbled LS, Shepherds LS, and Lawless LS are all here for synergy with the topdeck a good Dominant from deck star abilities.
With Nazareth live the opponent is slowed down quite a bit so soul gen can be an issue. Harvest LS, Lost Souls LS, and Hopper LS help with this.
The offense is vulnerable to lost soul based chump blocks so Orphans LS is run to supplement the support provided by Guardian of Your Souls in this department.
Maybe board:
Here are some cards I am considering for this build-
Royal Parade, Herod’s Temple, Chronicles of the Kings, OT Hopper LS, Glory of the Lord (winner promo), Destructive Sin, Bethlehem Stable, Untouchable (Reserve), Sent Two by Two (Reserve), Simon Peter/4DC, Gabriel, Mouth of God, Grapes of Wrath, Mayhem, Shipwreck, King of Tyrus (PoC), Blood Avenger, The Serpent, Sabbath Breaker (Orange/Gray), Abaddon, the Destroyer, Seven Sons of Sceva (Reserve), The Sordid Spirit (main)/Beelzebub (Reserve), Mask of Worldliness, Blasphemies, The Gates of Hell, Distressed LS, Crowds LS, Humble LS, Accusers LS, Darkness LS, The Ends of the Earth, Achim, Bethlehem (LoC), Life through Christ, Temple Veil, Magic Charms, and Golgotha.
Conclusion:
Overall this is my favorite new deck I have built in years. The Starstruck deck building saga was of use since this in my mind is the best home I have found for that consistency engine which I discovered mid 2024. This build has excellent synergy and is my favorite turbo Nazareth build in the game. I do believe this build is meta relevant and the form it is in now is the result of things I have experienced piloting it thus far seeing what worked well and what did not work well. I even think this deck might be the best deck I have built since Soul Surfer. Do you have any feedback on how to make this build better or any thoughts on it in general?
Change Log-
(03-11-2025):
Deck-
Cut OT Hopper LS and added NT Hopper LS promo.
Cut Royal Parade and added Wall of Protection.
Cut Chronicles of the Kings and added Angel of the Lord.
Cut King of Tyrus and added Prince of the Air promo.
Reserve:
Cut Untouchable and added I Am He.
Explanation:
Piloting Purple Heart has had its ups and downs so far. I have won plenty of games but have lost four games with the build. These losses to be fair were with various versions of the build testing certain potential changes. The list overall though was just different in a few card slots across these four losses so the losses represented to me some changes needed to be made to the build. I have lost twice to BaboonyTim’s “Big Clay” build [a 3-5 loss and a 2-5 loss I believe], once to Zach Glibaugh’s Joshua/Black build [1-5 loss], and once to Jayden’s Joshua’s Banishment build [4-5 loss]. I have won plenty of games with the build yet the losses are concerning since each of the players I lost to are top players and I lost to top builds.
This led me to reevaluating some things. In the loss to Jayden I had the ability to get to 5 souls as I was up 4-2 but misplayed on my turn where I could have rescued the fifth soul. The two losses to Tim and the loss to Gilbaugh did not feel particularly winnable. I am not sure if these changes will be enough to push the deck over the top against those builds but I have done my best to find a way to get it there.
With that in mind here is a summary of the changes. The first change is slotting in the new NT Hopper LS over the OT Hopper LS. This to me is a trade with one drawback only: this decreases the number of OT Lost Souls in the build to trigger “Lost Souls” LS for token generation. That being said I believe the positives of NT Hopper LS outweigh that drawback in that NT Hopper LS makes the build far more resilient against the Moabite defense that protects OT lost souls from rescue and the annoying Subdued LS which shuffles all OT lost souls in an opponent’s Land of Bondage but would not shuffle NT Hopper. This build already has Harvest LS which creates NT Tokens which get around Subdued and the Moabite defense but the extra option is nice in NT Hopper for dealing with this. I am testing this change and if I find that I really need the extra OT lost soul for triggering “Lost Souls” LS I will shift back to OT Hopper but for now I think this is the right call.
Another change is cutting King of Tyrus for the new Prince of the Air promo. This is a no brainer. KoT is nice against OT offenses but is dead against Clay and Nativity. The new Prince of the Air is one of the best evil characters in the game offering strong blocking potential as well as offering speed while being able simultaneously to deal with annoying counters the opponent might have out.
The final three changes are all centered on the offense with one that helps the defense too. One thing I realized in my losses to Tim Estes using Big Clay is it is very annoying getting off to a good start and the opponent banding to my Purple Disciples to draw cards and get back into the game while also if I don’t have Guardian of Your Souls out converting them to meek so I can’t use them. I was contemplating Wall of Protection for quite a while as an addition to Purple Heart as it was in my maybe board card list in this article since I knew NT offenses banding to my heroes could be an issue. I just could not figure out how to fit it in. After my second loss to Tim he mentioned this weakness of the build since he banded to my heroes in the game we had to his benefit/my detriment and I knew I needed to fit Wall of Protection in. Another option to help with this issue is Temple Veil since I can bounce my heroes after the opponent bands to them to convert them to meek but this is weaker than Wall of Protection since my opponent can still reveal a Good Dominant from hand and band to my heroes to draw cards to generate resources. Wall of Protection stops the opponent from banding to my heroes while also supporting the defense by stopping the opponent from choosing my evil characters to block. Another bonus is it makes my offense more resilient against Herod the Great and the like that choose the attacker. I had a brutal time figuring out what card to cut though for Wall of Protection. The deck list is very tight/refined at this point so fitting in Wall of Protection was a challenge.
What I finally came to ratio wise is realizing I have a heavy emphasis on Good battle winning enhancements main deck. This is by design since if I play The Resurrection during my opponent’s upkeep when they are going first to play out Nazareth/John the Fisherman I want plenty of battle winning power to back up John, the Fisherman on my first rescue the next turn. I also want plenty of battle winning support for a turn 1 Matthew rescue. However, I realized that I could cut one Good battle winning enhancement from the main deck, add in Wall of Protection, and maintain similar battle winning power overall with one other change: cutting Chronicles of the Kings for Angel of the Lord. Angel of the Lord was in earlier versions of Purple Heart but I cut it for Chronicles of the Kings since Chronicles of the Kings offers more overall utility for both offense/defense and is able to deal with annoying artifacts my opponent might have in play. With all the good battle winners I was running main deck I liked playing Chronicles of the Kings pre-block to negate all of my opponent’s evil enhancements for the whole phase while allowing my good battle winners to still work. Also I felt the defense really could use the extra support of Chronicles of the Kings being able to provide a similar effect toward good enhancements when blocking. Lastly I felt the build was vulnerable to Overtaken and therefore I felt it necessary to have Chronicles of the Kings to deal with that. The build is vulnerable to Overtaken but with the rule change on the horizon announced by RedemptionAggie that once an artifact or fortress is removed from play its ability will cease immediately Thaddeus now is a solid answer to Overtaken. Confusion of Mind is still an issue but I have His Sacrifice in Reserve to deal with that. Regarding the support Chronicles of the Kings offered to the defense: the defense now has Prince of the Air and more universal blocking power due to that. Due to this I decided to cut Royal Parade for Wall of Protection and cut Chronicles of the Kings for Angel of the Lord.
Angel of the Lord has more individual battle winning power offensively than Chronicles of the Kings and therefore offsets a significant amount of the loss of the battle winning power from cutting Royal Parade in my mind. Angel of the Lord also has strong synergy with Twenty/Shekels and John the Forerunner strategies for picking apart the opponents defense and that is something I have missed not having it in the list. Losing Royal Parade makes the offense weaker against banding defenses such as the Thieves defense but having Angel of the Lord is helpful against banding defenses actually paired with Twenty Shekels since I can play out an EC that does not band and kill that EC with Angel of the Lord. The Reserve has nice options still against banding defenses such as Authority of Christ and Walking on Water to His Sacrifice. One additional draw back to cutting Royal Parde is I do have less battle winning power for when I have The Cross active but I think I should be ok. In my experience I tend to have to discard a good battle winner from hand on turns 2-4 in the game during my Discard phase to get to 8 cards and Royal Parade is typically what I choose since My Lord and My God/Boanerges are key with Bartholomew since he makes them CBN and Testing Solomon is very important against Foreign Wives. Due to how much I have had to discard a good battle winner from hand in my Discard phases in games I do not think losing this extra battle winner for when The Cross is active is going to be that big of an issue. Overall I believe these changes allow me to add in Wall of Protection which is very necessary without losing too much value in the process. Another perk of Wall of Protection is it makes me stronger in the mirror match against Purple Heart not allowing my opponent to band to my heroes.
The final change is going back to I Am He in Reserve over Untouchable. I originally had I Am He in earlier versions of the build but switched to Untouchable when I added The Cross in over Herod’s Temple since I like being able to toss Untouchable off The Cross. However, I did not use Untouchable once since I can only tutor for it with The New Covenant, which I cannot activate and then activate The Cross, and then Spirit as a Dove/Crowd’s Choice. Furthermore it is hard to use Untouchable well with Guardian of Your Souls/Nazareth out having to exchange to hand with Reassuring Angels to gain Clay brigade. I Am He is such a strong card soul protection and making my offense more resilient against battle winning Dominants such as Christian Martyr beyond The Cross/Fishing Boat.
Also a personal note tied to this set of changes (kudos to a private conversation with John Hendrix where I wrestled with not sharing my latest revisions to Purple Heart to help me possibly do better personally at tournaments through gaining a potential edge and a comment he made got to me): I realized that at this point since I passed the keys for Land of Redemption off to Tim Estes my main contributions to the community are what I do with my play group (which is by far the most important contribution) and my deck building articles. My main gift in terms of Redemption as a player is deck building I think and when we have gifts God has given us we should use those gifts to benefit others not just ourselves. I am not as good at game play as I am as a deck builder I think. Currently I share my deck builds and decided this past summer not to keep any deck builds secret after I had kept Starstruck secret before Nationals. However, I still was going to keep certain revisions to my deck builds secret till after big tournaments to get an edge. Moving forward I am not keeping things to myself at all. As I test changes and find things that work I am going to update my deck building articles with those changes once I think they are actually the right change and not wait to use what I found for personal benefit in tournament play. Also what I do with my play group receives such generous support from the community through people giving toward the drawing fundraiser to help teens from my play group go to Nationals. The least I can do is give back my first fruits in terms of what I find in my deck building endeavors for the benefit of the community that is so supportive toward the play group here.
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