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.
This is the last of the Kings preview articles. Enjoy!
Originally Posted By: Bryon | Date: 2003
The southern kingdom of Judah had some evil rulers. Perhaps most wicked of all was King Manasseh, who worshipped foreign gods and encouraged the rest of God’s people to do the same. He built altars to Baal, put an Asherah Pole in Solomon’s Temple, and rebuilt shrines that his father, King Hezekiah, had torn down. Manasseh “sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord…” Unfortunately, Manasseh’s son, King Amon, was not any better. The Bible records that “he walked in all the ways of his father; he worshipped the idols his father had worshipped…”
Fortunately for the people of Judah, King Amon’s son, Josiah, rejected the ways of his grandfather Manasseh. Josiah was faithful to God. However, Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, continued the wicked traditions began by his great-grandfather Manasseh, and as a result only reigned for three months! Pharaoh Neco put him in chains.
In The Kings, the evil kings of Judah are spread across 5 evil brigades. We will look at those in the black brigade in this article.
Manasseh (6/6 black evil character from The Prophets) has been a little-used character in Redemption…until now. In The Kings, we meet his copy-cat son, King Amon (3/4). King Amon has decent initiative numbers, which perfectly complement his unique ability: retrieving an evil enhancement with an O.T. reference from holder’s discard pile. If Manasseh is in your discard pile when you block with King Amon, you can retrieve Net if you have initiative or Devourer if you don’t. Other possibilities are Danites Attack, Hunger, Babel, and any other O.T. enhancement you would like to use again. This card will not retrieve Wrath of Satan, because it has a N.T. reference, and Joseph in Prison is removed from the game when it is used, but all the other possibilities make including Manasseh and King Amon in your deck a good idea.
In The Kings, some kings with very short reigns are given very short stats. The three month reign of King Jehoahaz is symbolized on his card by his incredibly low 1/1 stats! This guarantees initiative against almost any hero in the game. This powerful benefit doesn’t come without a cost, however. If Pharaoh Neco is in play when you block with King Jehoahaz, you have to discard Jehoahaz after the block.
One of the idolatries practiced by the evil kings of Judah, probably including Manasseh and Amon, was the Worship of Milcom. Worship of Milcom is one of the best evil set-aside cards in Redemption. After a set-aside period of 3 turns, the evil character returns as a 1/1 or 12/12. The player must announce the stats on return from set-aside area. This is an incredible versatile card! Are Captain of the Host and Shamhuth giving you trouble? Make your Lot’s Wife a 12/12. Is Lois not giving you initiative? Make Simon the Magician a 1/1. If you are including Manasseh in your deck to activate King Amon’s special ability, you might want to make him more useful by using Worship of Milcom to make him a 1/1 or 12/12 depending on the strategy your opponent is using. There are tremendous possibilities with this when you cross brigades as well. Three turns to make Job’s Wife a 12/12 is a good deal, and a 1/1 Korah might not be bad.
Black has been a perennial favorite for tournament players, and it surely isn’t going to stop now. Manasseh and his awful offspring might make the black brigade a little more evil this year.
Here is an evil side of a deck that uses Manasseh and his regurgitating evil:
Sodom x3
Manasseh x2
* King Amon
* King Jehoahaz
Lot’s Wife
Herod the Great
Simon the Magician
Prince of Tyrus
Demon in Armor
Bera, King of Sodom
*Worship of Milcom
Net
Devourer
Hunger
Danites Attack
Foolish Advice
Joseph in Prison
A Look Back
Babel
Goliath’s Spear
Wrath of Satan
King Amon can take any of the black enhancements in this deck from the discard pile, except Wrath of Satan. This deck would work well combined with a green offense. Midwives can revive any male heroes you lose if you have to play Wrath of Satan in a pinch. Edge of the Sword can discard your opponent’s access to your Sodom sites.
Sword of the Lord could set up a cool little combo: make your King Amon fight Bera, King of Sodom. If your opponent is playing Red, you can capture one of his heroes with Bera’s ability, and then pull an enhancement out of your discard pile with Amon’s ability. If you pull out Hunger or Danites Attack, you can use it and still have your evil characters stalemate. Your evil characters return unharmed to their territory. Your opponent lost another site or perhaps another hero or two. These guys are evil!
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