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, we’ve started our Throwback Thursday trend with re-posts of preview articles from years past.

Enjoy another nostalgic trip back through time!

Originally Posted By: Bryon | Date: 2003

“The king of Assyria sent … the Rabshakeh.” II Kings 18:17

After Solomon’s death, Israel split into two kingdoms.  For a little over 200 years the northern kingdom of Israel repeatedly disobeyed God.  So, in 722 B.C., God delivered them into the hands of the Assyrians.

Assyria was a prosperous nation from along the northern part of the Tigris River.  In the 700s and 600s B.C., they expanded their rule over most of the Middle East and Egypt.  It was during this time that they conquered Israel.  Assyria then tried to conquer the southern kingdom of Judah as well.  The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh (field commander) along with a great army to Jerusalem.  But God had not given up on Judah yet, because they had occasionally been faithful to God.  So God protected the faithful King Hezekiah by sending an angel to defeat the Assyrian army.

The Assyrians make their Redemption debut in The Kings.  The four Assyrian evil characters and eight enhancements – two of which are weapon-class – are part of the Pale Green brigade.  All the Assyrian characters have high stats, with strength ranging from 8 to 10 and defenses ranging from 7 to 11.  Aside from having strong numbers, they have helpful special abilities, mighty weapons, and their prosperity is staggering.

The Rabshakeh (8/9) is the Assyrian field commander.  He holds his own against the typical 8/8 by-the-numbers hero, but his special ability shows his real might: weapon class enhancements used by him cannot be negated or discarded during battle.  Pale Green gets three weapon class enhancements in this set.  Let’s look at one now.

Two Thousand Horses is probably the best weapon class enhancement in the game.  The 2/2 stats are lower that average, but the ability to interrupt the battle, draw two cards and play an enhancement is very powerful – especially considering a player can do this every time that character blocks.  Talk about prosperity!  This creates excellent card flow.  On a typical evil character this enhancement could be negated or discarded, but this cannot be discarded from The Rabshakeh.  In fact, The Rabshakeh can even use this ability in a by-the-numbers battle.  An 8/8 by-the-numbers hero is going to have trouble against the 10/11 Rabshakeh that draws two cards every time he blocks.

A deck type that currently dominates many tournaments is banding combined with a by-the-numbers element.  Heroes banded to Captain of the Host, heroes banded to Claudia to Ethiopian Treasurer followed by Abraham’s Servant to Ur, Transfiguration, piles of Elders of Jerusalem with Blessings, heroes banded to Shammah, Strong Angel with Gathering of Angels ability, and others are very difficult to stop.  Those decks will meet their match when The Rabshakeh Attacks.  The Rabshakeh Attacks, a 5/0 enhancement (or 10/0 with name-on-name bonus if used by The Rabshakeh), discards all but one hero in battle.  This cannot be negated if used by an Assyrian!  Against banding with numbers decks, this will almost always guarantee a successful block, and will often leave your opponent with a shortage of heroes for a while, while you hopefully rack up the rescues on your turns.  In non by-the-numbers battles, this enhancement will almost always transfer initiative back to your opponent, giving your opponent the opportunity to negate.  Although this might be worth the risk when using this card on Prince of This World, it is usually best used by an Assyrian, so that negates are not a threat.

All three of these cards are going to be popular this year, as will other new Pale Green cards.  Pale Green has been a fairly popular choice for top players, and I expect that will continue.  Here is a sample evil side of a deck that uses these new Assyrian cards:

Tartaros

Assyria site x3

*The Rabshakeh
Frog Demons (immune to Purple)
Prince of this World
Beast from the Sea
Messenger of Satan
Women as Snares
Witch of Endor (prophets, so she can block Widow)
Hermogenes

*Two Thousand Horses (weapon)
*The Rabshakeh Attacks
Darkness
Achan’s Sin
Land Made Waste
Confusion
Stocks
Pierced Heart
Foolishness of Five Virgins
Disobedience
Table of Demons

This deck would work well with a gold/white combo on the good side.  Eve is a good choice when Women as Snares is in a deck.  Zaccheus can get Tartaros.  Eunice and Timothy can band and use the 1-2 punch of gold (strong verses humans) and white (strong verses demons).  Vengeance of Eternal Fire can be used as often as you need (by using the helpful “search discard pile” abilities of white and gold) to keep your lost souls in the Assyria sites and out of your opponent’s Land of Redemption.

To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!

By Scott

Scott was a bit of a latecomer to the Redemption scene, starting after the Angel Wars expansion released. Having a passion for games of all kinds, but especially card games, Redemption has been of special interest to him. While Genesis and Prophets are his favorite themes, his most enjoyed aspect of Redemption is theoretical card design. Coming up with new card ideas and mechanics has always been exciting for him (having thought up ideas for other TCGs as well)