Hello all! Where we last left off, I revealed the decklist and gave a basic rundown on my latest casual deck, “The Musical Chariot”. In this article I will be breaking it down even further and cover all the combos that I have found. So without further ado, let’s dive right in!
The Synergy Breakdown
In the last article, I mentioned how it is important to draw Chariot of Fire as early as possible. This is not as hard as it sounds, thanks to the help of ramp cards in the deck such as Triumphal Entry, Search, Golden Cherubim, and Micah. The reason why CoF is a priority is because you want Elisha to come into play to maximize Chariot for a potential 2 redeemed souls, and to start triggering his ability often by starting battles. When combined with Hidden Treasures, this doubles the deck discard ability, or allows me to play an enhancement right off the bat. What if Elisha is harmed by an opponent, you ask? This is where By His Wounds and City of Refuge come in handy, to protect Elisha from harm. If the opponent has deck/hand protection, it could really suppress his ability…but the Assyrian defense already has that covered. Cards like Siegeworks, Razor, and Assyrian Siege Army can shut down pesky enemy artifacts and fortresses, such as ones providing protection. Plunder and Pillage is also an artifact-discarding card, but if the opponent already has an artifact in their discard pile I can steal that one instead. If their deck/hand protection comes from a hero, Assyrian Laborers with Confusion of Mind is ready to cancel it out, as well as any other annoying hero abilities.
Meanwhile, Jonah and Music Leader sit in the territory and trigger searches/territory shuffles whenever an opponent searches or draws from a card ability. When they get targeted, City of Refuge brings them in safely and even keeps their territory-class abilities active until they return to territory next turn. The fun artifact Golden Cherubim also acts as ramp, letting me search whenever the opponent uses a draw ability. Temple Dedication grabs Cherubim from the deck, while Haggai seeks out and retrieves Zerubabbel’s Temple to give it a cozy place to stay active in. Once Micah enters play, he draws up to 3 cards every time he enters battle depending on how many of your minor prophets are also in play, such as the Haggai, Joel, and Jonah that are in this deck.
While all of these great green brigade combos are going on, let’s look back at Music Leader and the white brigade. His search gets to pull out music-related cards, which happens to include about 80% of the white cards in the deck. Once he pulls out Ethan, Heman, and Asaph, things get serious for the musicians. Heman’s ability lets me band Ethan and Asaph into battle with him, and thanks to Asaph all music enhancements become CBN. Ethan’s ability also lets me retrieve a discarded music enhancement, which works perfectly to bring back Temple Dedication to use one final time to protect my musicians in battle before banishing it.
As for the remaining evil side of the spectrum, Assyrian Siege Army has a devastating CBN ability that targets opponent’s neutral cards in territory for discard. His high stats of 12/12 can be difficult to win a battle with, but when combined with Two Thousand Horses to interrupt and grant initiative it can prove to be a daunting block. King Sargon II lets me search my deck for Assyrian Camp, which protects my evil characters in territory from discard, convert, and capture. Last but not least, Assyrian Survivor is a low-numbered blocker that is protected from discard abilities, and if defeated, captures to opponent’s LoB instead.
Oh and let’s not forget that the City of Refuge also saves my O.T. evil characters from harm…which happens to include every Assyrian in the deck. 🙂
While this deck has a lot of synergy as it is, it’s no meta super-deck…but for the casual scene it’s definitely got room to compete.
- Jesse
FAQ
Q: Why not just add Elisha straight into the deck if he’s as important as you say?
A: You definitely could do that! Personally, I tried it a few times but it felt harder to pull off the combo with Chariot of Fire than if I just left him in the Reserve. If I put him in the deck and I draw him before I draw Chariot, it wouldn’t fully combo since he has to be in reserve or in a pile when Chariot is played. When running Elisha in the deck I have to either make sure I DON’T draw him first, or I have to get him discarded before I use Chariot.
Q: You DO know there are better cards you could use, right? Even just updated versions of the ones you are already running…take the new Haggai, for example.
A: Yes!! I have seen many great new cards I could add to the deck. I’m on a student budget so I was only able to grab a small handful of newer cards for this deck, but I definitely plan to add the better cards as I can afford it, such as the new Miriam, Haggai, and Joel. The Second Coming would also be ideal to fully maximize Chariot.
To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!
Simon M.
I was surprised to not see Isaiah (FooF #21) in the deck, considering that he’s both a musician and a prophet that makes Siegeworks, Razor, and By His Wounds CBN.
Jesse S.
Thank you for reading and commenting Simon! I skimmed right over Isaiah…I thought he could be OK in the deck, but I did not realize that he was a musician (guess I should’ve checked the ORDIR haha) nor did I notice that Siegeworks, Razor, and BHW were Isaiah references. Appreciate you pointing it out, I think I’ll add him in!