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 continues the Priests preview articles. Enjoy!
Originally Posted By: Bryon | Date: 2006
Have you ever tried Chinese finger traps? The harder you pull your fingers apart, the tighter they grip your fingers. I’ve noticed that quarrelling is kind of like trying to pull your fingers out of a Chinese finger trap. Quarrelling people pull away from each other, holding tighter and tighter to their positions. Instead of convincing someone of your position, you just encourage him to hold tighter to his own. Paul knew this, and gave Timothy some keen instructions in his second letter. We would be wise to follow Paul’s advice.
We are sent to win the lost. Those who oppose us are caught in the trap of the Devil. We should not quarrel with them. If we quarrel, then they will remain trapped, and will hold ever tighter to the trap they are in. We should instruct them gently, so that they will come to their senses. Quarreling just encourages pride to take over, stifling their good sense (and ours as well).
Let’s translate that into Redemption lingo:
If the heroes in battle get their strength too high, they won’t be able to prevent evil special abilities anymore.
Here’s an example:
You begin a rescue attempt with Thaddaeus (8/8 white hero).
Your opponent blocks with Emperor Nero (10/7 evil character, “Immune to Lone Heroes.”). You play Blessings (2/3 white enhancement, “Negate all special abilities except this one.”). Your opponent uses Rain Becomes Dust (1/5 gray curse, special ability prevented by Blessings) as an enhancement.
You play Destruction of Babylon (4/1 white enhancement, special ability prevented by Blessings).
Your opponent plays False Peace (gray enhancement, “Search draw pile for any card.”) and searches for Christian Martyr. He plays it on Thaddaeus.
You protest, saying “Blessings prevents False Peace.”
Your opponent points at The Trap of the Devil in his territory and this is what you see:
The Trap of the Devil
Evil fortress
If the total strength of good cards in battle is 14/* or greater, special abilities on your evil cards cannot be prevented by good cards.
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct …that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil. II Timothy 2:25-26
Uncommon
“Next time I’ll be gentler,” you think to yourself.
Next turn, you make a rescue attempt with Strong Angel with a sword (totals 13/10 and prevents all special abilities except weapons and warriors).
Your opponent blocks with Emperor Nero again, but your Strong Angel is preventing his immunity. You need to get your defense higher, so you play Confused (3/3 silver/white enhancement). Your opponent plays Snare and captures your Strong Angel. You are about to protest when you remember that you forgot to be gentle. Strong Angel got too strong so he stopped preventing evil special abilities. When Snare was played, it wasn’t being prevented.
Next turn, you make a rescue attempt with Maharai (6/2 warrior class white hero, bands to certain heroes) banded to Ira (8/8, negates all special abilities except weapons and warriors). Your opponent blocks with Red Dragon (5/6 Crimson EC, “Immune to human heroes.”). You say, “Ira is preventing Red Dragon’s immunity, so you have initiative.” Your opponent says, “Ira is not preventing any evil special abilities. Six plus eight is 14. You have initiative.” You and your opponent both pass, the battle ends in a stalemate, and your heroes return to your territory dejected.
Next turn, you just send Ira by himself. During the battle you keep his offense at 13 or less, and your opponent’s special abilities are prevented for the whole battle. You successfully rescue the lost soul. “Yay!” you say, “I remembered to stay gentle.”
The Trap of the Devil is just one tool that players can use to keep their opponent’s “Fight by the numbers” heroes in check. It won’t help against an 8/8 hero on its own, so you’ll need other ways to beat those heroes. However, if your opponent tries to band to Captain of the Host or Shamhuth, or uses Gathering of Angels on Strong Angel, or uses Captain of the Host with his Sword with name-on-name bonus, or Three Angels, or many other possibilities, then this will help.
Type 2 players will appreciate that a Strong Angel with a Sword gains 1/1 after one successful rescue. Then he is a 14/11 and no longer prevents evil special abilities.
While artifacts such as Holy of Holies and Golden Calf and Asherah Pole are very helpful against Fight by the Numbers heroes in their own ways, a fortress is more attractive to most players. This is because it is not so easily discarded, and it can be active along with an artifact. Finally there is a more permanent solution to the problem of huge fight-by-numbers heroes and banding chains!
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