Throwback Thursday is a common theme on sites and blogs where you hearken back to something interesting or random from the past. On Land of Redemption, our current Throwback Thursday trend is re-posts of preview articles from years and sets past.
This week we continue with the Faith of Our Fathers articles. Enjoy!
Originally Posted By: Bryon | Date: 2007
Note: In the NIV, Asnappar’s name is spelled “Ashurbanipal.” Since Redemption uses the KJV on the cards, it was decided to use “Asnappar,” which we will use in this article.
According to historians, the last great king of Assyria was Asnappar, who reigned from 669 B.C. to about 627 B.C. Early in his reign, he fought against Egypt and Syria. He is named only once in the Bible, although he may be the unnamed Assyrian king of II Kings 17:24. The Bible verse about Asnappar says that he had captured many people, and had deported them from their homelands and sent them to other lands.
These few known facts about Asnappar were factored into his special ability. His special ability gives you two choices: you may capture an Egyptian or a Syrian (occasionally useful), or you may transfer a captured character from your territory to opponent’s Land of Bondage (very useful).
The second option is a two-edged sword. Not only does it lower the number of lost souls you have to defend, but it also increases the number that is available for you to rescue. However, this ability only works if you have a captured character (good or evil) in your territory. There are many ways for your pale green defense to put a character in your land of bondage: Women as Snares, capture enhancements (including a new one in this set), King Tiglath-Pileser III, or perhaps a prior use of King Asnappar.
To guarantee a successful prisoner transfer, you need more than a prisoner. You need to ensure that King Asnappar’s ability works. The primary obstacle is a hero with “negate all” ability, which would prevent the prisoner transfer. To nullify that threat, you could use an artifact like Holy of Holies, or perhaps Assyria’s Tribute. The benefit to using Assyria’s Tribute is that, as soon as your Assyrian evil character enters battle, Assyria’s Tribute negates the special abilities on all heroes and enhancements in battle. This can negate the abilities on banding heroes, territory snipers like Jephthah and The Destroyer, deck raiders like Gabriel and Amasai the Raider, and can cause general frustration for users of 1/1 heroes like Seraiah the High Priest, Naharai, Joel, and the others.
King Asnappar may have been mentioned only once in the Bible, but he may see more play in Redemption. His ability might turn the tide of lost souls in your favor. Will he help your Assyrian deck?
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