Here is the latest edition of the Starstruck combo deck I built several months ago that packs a punch if it pulls off the combo. It seeks to utilize the Starstruck consistency engine I discovered to turbo to Numerous as the Stars to set up a nasty board state with Nazareth.
Starstruck 3.0 (Nazareth Version):
Deck (50 cards)-
1 Son of God "Manger" (Promo)
1 New Jerusalem (2019) (Promo)
1 Ride on Victoriously / Awesome Things (LoC)
1 The Resurrection (GoC)
1 Three Woes [Fundraiser]
1 Crowd's Choice (GoC)
1 Mayhem (FoM)
1 Lost Soul "Prosperity" [Deuteronomy 30:15]
1 Lost Soul "Grumbled" [Exodus 15:24 - K]
1 Lost Soul "Shepherds" [I Samuel 25:7 - L]
1 Lost Soul "Lawless" [Hebrews 12:8]
1 Lost Soul "Awake" [Ephesians 5:14 - TPC]
1 Lost Soul "Crowds" [Luke 5:15] [2016 - Local]
1 Lost Soul "Lost Souls" [Proverbs 2:16-17]
1 Lost Soul "Hopper" [II Chronicles 28:13 - RR]
1 Manna (PoC)
1 Four-Drachma Coin (GoC)
1 Denarius (I/J+)
1 Send the Helper (GoC)
1 Fishing Boat (GoC)
1 Nazareth (Roots)
1 The Woman with Child (RoJ)
1 John the Forerunner (GoC)
1 John, the Fisherman / John, Son of Thunder (GoC)
1 Moses, Friend of God
1 Saint Patrick (GoC)
1 Matthew the Publican / Matthew (Levi) (GoC)
1 Simon Peter / Peter, the Rock (GoC)
1 Judas Iscariot / Judas, the Betrayer (GoC)
1 Simon the Zealous / Saint Simon (GoC)
1 Zaccheus, the Repentant / Zaccheus, Tax Collector (GoC)
1 Enosh, the Worshiper / Enosh (Mortal) (LoC)
1 Numerous as the Stars (PoC)
1 No Need for Spices (GoC)
1 Transfiguration (GoC)
1 Virgin Birth
1 Bearing Our Sin
1 Offering Your Son
1 Sign of Jonah
1 The Ascension (GoC)
1 Love One Another (GoC)
1 Authority of Christ (GoC)
1 Bless the Nations
1 Emperor Nero (Promo)
1 Moths (Roots)
1 Foreign Wives
1 Fire Foxes
1 The Woman of Thebez (II)
1 Stricken
1 Scattered Sheep
Reserve:
1 Eternal Inheritance
1 Untouchable (GoC)
1 Baptism of Jesus (GoC)
1 Spirit as a Dove (GoC)
1 Faith of Samuel
1 Blood Avenger
1 The Forgiven Woman / The Shamed Woman (GoC)
1 Stolen Seed (GoC)
1 Elijah in Glory (GoC)
1 Faith of Barak (CoW)Summary:
After Nationals I evaluated my results with Starstruck 2.0. The deck build performed as expected by consistently getting to around 20 cards or less on turn 1 via getting to Mayhem turn 1 through the turn 0 consistency package and then trying to go to Resurrection band that draws 4 off Zechariah/John and then playing Star of Bethlehem for further card draw.
One problem with the deck build I realized is that while it is a very fast and powerful deck build it does little to hamper the opponents game plan. This led to me considering how I could utilize the turn 0 consistency package better. As I was thinking about other powerful things this turn 0 consistency package could tutor for I realized Numerous as the Stars would be a great card to aim to acquire turn 1 with the star/soul based consistency package by top decking Crowd’s Choice and getting it to hand and going from it to Numerous.
In considering what heroes to try and tutor for with Numerous as the Stars I decided Judas, Enosh, and Matthew would all be excellent targets.
Further I decided going for The Woman with Child to set up a turn 1 Nazareth via The Resurrection would be great as well. Having Judas, Nazareth, and Enosh to hamper the opponents ability to draw, search, and use neutrals feels quite good for hampering their game plan and then using Matthew to set up my own offensive game plan feels good. Zacchaeus is great in this offense banded in alongside John the Fisherman in a capacity to remove the lone blocker.
This deck build features all the same key consistency tools for turn 0 as the other Starstruck builds but also has Saint Patrick who can top deck Numerous as the Stars directly for one of the several ways to get it to hand turn 0 to do so and also Transfiguration which I recently discovered can topdeck a good Dominant from deck (Lackey does not have the star ability noted for searches). Manna is another addition that helps with consistency since it gives another way to draw a topdecked Crowd’s Choice. Moses (PoC) helps with having another character to play Numerous on but also his star ability adds further consistency in getting things set up as well as aiming to get more star cards in hand for a big Numerous play. Bless the Nations also is a nice consistency piece in this build due to its star ability. Matthew due to his draw is a nice tool as well to get the card I I top decked to hand if I happen to have him in hand.
This deck build is close to as fast as Starstruck 2.0 with much draw power. The offense seeks in addition to the aforementioned John/Zaccheus rescues to band in Judas to draw an additional two cards. I utilize Simon the Zealous Authority of Christ and then Ascension or Bless the Nations to band in John/Judas/Zaccheus for strong rescues. Fishing Boat is important for add to battle and Saint Patrick offers utility against Glory of the Lord.
The defense is a chump defense. My evil characters in Reserve are both tutorable if the opponent gets around Nazareth with Send the Helper, Virgin Birth, or No Need for Spices making them accessibly with not running The Deceiver (more on that later).
Off Numerous as the Stars at a minimum I want to get Judas/Matthew/The Woman with Child and if possible Enosh. My goal is then to rescue with The Woman with Child to play Nazareth from my deck, John the Fisherman, and band to Matthew/Judas to draw cards.
Overall I seek to have deck build function seamlessly with Nazareth live since it impacts me as well. One thing I noticed about a lot of Nazareth builds I saw last season is the often at some point wanted to turn their own Nazareth off to be able to execute certain abilities.
I think this is not the right approach. To run a counter that hits both players effectively I think the deck really needs to be built so that counter never needs to be turned off. I do think for a build seeking to turbo to Nazareth than New Jerusalem is the right choice over The Second Coming.
This means you can play the Big 2 without needing to turn Nazareth off. The New Covenant after turn 1 is a dead card with Nazareth live so I would rather have Bless the Nations which has a helpful star ability for accelerating turn 0 consistency and is a key card for banding in John/Judas/Zaccheus for my value/cheese rescue stuff.
Book of the Covenant will not do much turn 2 with Nazareth live so Send the Helper is needed better main deck as bounce utility for my heroes. Also if the opponent turns off Nazareth it is good for getting a resource from Reserve for a rescue. The other changes in Reserve just add more battle winners for if Nazareth is turned off that can help the offense in a pinch. I do not run The Deceiver because with Nazareth live he is a dead card.
Maybeboard:
Here are cards I have considered for this deck build-
Bethlehem Stable, Wall of Protection, Good Seed, The Great Commission, Shipwreck, Angel of the Lord, Glory of the Lord (winner promo), Generous Giving, TSC, Blood of the Lamb, YWR main deck, Good Seed main deck, Ride On Victoriously/Awesome Things, The New Covenant, Noah’s Ark (Ark of Salvation), Herod’s Temple, Patmos, Twenty Shekels, and Achim over Enosh.
Conclusion
Overall I think this is perhaps the best build in the format for Nazareth since the deck generates so many resources prior to playing Nazareth and draws so many cards each turn on the banding rescues after putting Nazareth down.
If the deck goes first and gets set up it will be hard for other builds to catch up. It has its weaknesses and is definitely a combo type deck but I think it is viable in the meta but it is a bit of a glass cannon. If it goes first and combos it will likely win. If it goes first and does not combo or goes second and the opponent gets set up it will likely struggle.
Change Log:
(01-30-2025)
Deck-
Cut Wall of Protection and added Transfiguration
Cut Bethlehem Stable and added Manna
Cut Shipwreck and added Ride on Victoriously/Awesome Things
Reserve-
Cut Good Seed and added Faith of Barak
Cut The Great Commission and Elijah in Glory
Explanation–
These changes are centered on discovering that Transfiguration has a star ability which can topdeck a Good Dominant from deck. Lackey does not show this when you search for that star ability and I happened upon it by chance. I also realized this is a combo deck plain and simple. Adding Manna in gives another star for Numerous as well as another way to draw a topdecked Crowd’s Choice. Ride on Victoriously/Awesome Things gives a way with the turn 1 Resurrection band to play an enhancement to try and get around The Woman of Thebez and gives more add to battle support for the offense.
Faith of Barak is good against Thieves defense and Elijah in Glory is a nice fit in Reserve now that Transfiguration has been added.
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