HOLDER'S HEROES

Hello all. I know that for many of you I am going to be a new face, and some of you are going to wonder what rock I decided to crawl out from under. For those that don't know me, my name is Nick Goodner, although on the old EZ boards some of you might remember me as Thestrongangel. I started playing Redemption when Womens was the first set released, and I do have some old high placing finishes from back in the 2000-2002 era of Redemption, mostly in Closed Two player and Type One two player. These happen to be my favorite formats, and the ones that I discuss the most.

The theory of Redemption. I think several definitions from Mr. Webster define Theory quite well. I will simply use two: Firstly, a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact, and Secondly simply put, contemplation or speculation. This in a nutshell defines how I see theory. My intent over a series of writings is to offer ideas on how to think and possibly play differently, based on thoughts, feelings, convictions, and just random wackiness upon occasion. Take what I say for what it is, and what it is worth. All I ask is to give these theories a fair review, and compare them to your own thoughts and play style.

As a veteran of many CCGs across many spectrums, I have to say that Redemption is one of my most favorite. It is rather simple to learn and play, but the strategies involved are as complex as you want them to be. Many people when they start to play and build decks look at a favorite color, or a favorite card/combo, or some other small factor and build around it. After playing in other games, you begin to learn something called the metagame, the game outside the game if you will. To define the term, the metagame is simply the players and their decklists, without actual table time. For instance, suppose a local event of 10 players. 4 players are using some form of Speed deck, 2 players are using Site Lockout, One player is using Heroless, Two have opted for a 3Nconversion strategy, and one is a Fight by the Numbers. Your metagame is then defined as Speed/Lockout/Heroless/Conversion/FBN. It is very possible to tell from just a couple of cards played by your opponent what he is playing, and what plays you need to make to be able to win. As a tournament player, you should have experience with each deck type, how it is played, what its weaknesses are, and how to exploit them. Something else to consider, the larger the tournament, the more decks and deck types you have to contend with. So how to construct a deck.

In deck construction, I would suggest a few ideas in building. First thing to do, build a testing gauntlet. I think no playtest gauntlet should be without a Speed deck of some form, a FBN deck, Site Lock deck, and perhaps a conversion strategy. Some might ask why I don't include things like TGT, and my response is simple, The Garden Tomb is very powerful, but also limited. It is a single card in a deck of most likely 56 at least, and to hinge a deck around a single card is not advantageous. It is possible to lose a game and still not have drawn half your deck. It is possible that your opponent can destroy the Tomb, and then you would be without the card that you need to keep going. Better to construct a deck that has a method of winning on its own, and is empowered by the Tomb, rather than depending on it. Keeping that in mind, take the decks that have done well, those that have placed highly in large tournaments, and even if you dont have the cards on hand, grab some paper, and make proxies. Just write the name of the card and any relevant abilities that you would need, and then place it in front of a random card in a card sleeve. This lets you play the best decks out there, without having to actually spend big money on them for playtesting with your friends.

So now we have our testing gauntlet. What next? Take your deck, the one you like to play and want to play, and practice against each deck in your gauntlet. Keep track of wins and losses, note any plays that your deck makes that really put pressure on your opponent, and also any plays your opponent makes against you that hurt your deck considerably. One or two games is not going to be enough. Play five, ten, twenty, fifty games. Play as much as you can. Understanding what happens when playing different archetypes and how to counter them is essential to deckbuilding. Also, be flexible to change. Perhaps a certain combo doesn't always come together the way you want to, or doesn't change the game the way you want it to. If that's the case, be willing to remove it and try something different. At the end of the day, a successful deck many times is not the list you first conceived in your mind, but something that morphed several times before you settled on it.

In the next few articles, I am going to try and create a deck, using what knowledge is available out there, to build a deck with everyone. And maybe, just maybe, it might actually be a good deck, but no promises.

If you have any comments, please feel free to email me at thestrongangel at yahoo dot com.

Until next time.

My dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

If some of you used to play some of the occultic games of the secular world, games such as D & D, YuGiOh, Pokemon, Shadowfist, MTG and many others... I'd imagine some of you would be familiar with the magazine support that was out there for strategy, deck building tips, and so on.

Well, not that long ago it's just been getting deep in my spirit that there really needs to be some type of publication or magazine out there that'll feed God's children. All the heathens out there have magazines dedicated to praise and honor their games of lies and fairy tale while there isn't something out there to bring Glory to God.

I happen to be a helps minister for a Nation Wide Discipleship Ministry and God has helped me to be very resourceful. It seems right to contribute to the production of a Redemption dedicated & centered magazine where deck building tips, strategies, tournament resources, price guide, articles, and so on would be the contents of it. So fellow Christians have something to bring to their local hobby shops, schools, churches, homes, and so on. I happen to play at a heathen owned hobby shop so the harvest to convict the lost is great and the more I play with my brother there... the more it sparks the interest of the unbelievers with The Bible and exactly what is "Redemption" is all about. It would seem right to add another resource for gamers to use to for fellowship, fun, witnessing tool, or just t be informed.

Now I'm not a professional writer and nor am I anointed to be but I know of a source that can professional print magazines without all the large costs as main line magazines do. But if you have a heart to bring Glory to God, see the lost get saved, or just to appreciate something like this feel free to email me at delarosa.drew@gmail.com . I would like some feed back from some people or if there are people open (such some of the good writers on here) to contributing to something like this; let me know.

Much blessings,

Drew

Type 2 multiplayer deck - 1st place Nationals 2008

“Sea monkey of doom” - named after the last living sea monkey from my sons’ sea monkeys. So we follow the instructions, after a few days it’s swimming with the little brine shrimp. There is one that is much larger than the others. We feed them per the schedule and almost all of them die. Except the ‘sea monkey of doom’ who survives for a long time. (he/she eventually died-RIP). So to honor his/her memory, I decided to name the deck after the little critter.

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When Priests was first introduced, teal caught the world by storm. It had crazy battle winners, powerful Heroes, and many interrupts. Teal became even more powerful with FooF with Zerrubabel's Temple. With only 2 cards, many Priests became protected from discard, capture, conversion, and removal from the game. However, with RoA, teal became a lot less played with the introduction of Garden Tomb and other strategies. However, I want to show that teal is still, in my opinion, the most powerful offense out there.

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This year, I was blessed enough to be able to attend my first ever National Redemption Tournament, and I had a blast. Besides meeting a whole bunch of great people and getting to play a game I love, I managed to take first place in Type 1 2-Player with a deck pretty much out of left field: Genesis and Rome.

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I love playing Booster Draft! Lately I've made arrangements with tournament hosts to exchange my judging services for the opportunity to play only this one category free of charge. It's a great deal; I get to play my favorite category and pick up some new FoOF cards and the host gets to play 2 or 3 categories.

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Ok, first let me say this is my first time ever posting a deck on here so be nice to me.

So this is the deck that I went 3-0 with at a MN local. I know I know, it's not a great record but what can I say, it was a small tourney. But hey, Justin Alstad was there (notice I don't mention that he was playing or not). The person who came in 7th at MN states was there, and yes, he was playing.

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We’ve had several months now to explore Faith of Our Fathers (FoOF) and the impact it will have on Redemption. Players have found all kinds of fun ways to use and abuse the cards from this new set. With the big, season end tournaments right around the corner, I’d like to take time to go over the Faith of Our Fathers tins to share some of my favorite uses for FoOF cards. I’ll inevitably miss many great uses, so please feel free to comment and add your own favorites.

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We’ve had several months now to explore Faith of Our Fathers (FoOF) and the impact it will have on Redemption. Players have found all kinds of fun ways to use and abuse the cards from this new set. With the big, season end tournaments right around the corner, I’d like to take time to go over the Faith of Our Fathers tins to share some of my favorite uses for FoOF cards. I’ll inevitably miss many great uses, so please feel free to comment and add your own favorites.

Read more »

We’ve had several months now to explore Faith of Our Fathers (FoOF) and the impact it will have on Redemption. Players have found all kinds of fun ways to use and abuse the cards from this new set. With the big, season end tournaments right around the corner, I’d like to take time to go over the Faith of Our Fathers tins to share some of my favorite uses for FoOF cards. I’ll inevitably miss many great uses, so please feel free to comment and add your own favorites.

Read more »

We’ve had several months now to explore Faith of Our Fathers (FoOF) and the impact it will have on Redemption. Players have found all kinds of fun ways to use and abuse the cards from this new set. With the big, season end tournaments right around the corner, I’d like to take time to go over the Faith of Our Fathers tins to share some of my favorite uses for FoOF cards. I’ll inevitably miss many great uses, so please feel free to comment and add your own favorites.

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So you have those new FoOF cards. You might be saying "FoOF? What's FoOF!?!?!?" Well my friend, FoOF is a set of 100 new cards, all of which are very useful, arranged in groups of ten predetermined cards which are sold in tins continaing the 10 FoOF cards and 5 booster packs (Unlimited, Prophets, Apostles, Kings, and Priests). FoOF tins are commonly used around Redemption Nation for the booster draft category at tournaments as well. Today we will be focusing on the Sitelock portion of FoOF's addition to Redemption strategem. So, let's get going!

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Hey again! This article shall be about...Cake...moist delicious....No wait...That isn't it...O yes it was Dominants.

Abnormal uses and how to thwart others Dominants, to be exact!

First lets see each Dominants and it's basic function.

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With the release of the Priests expansion came the addition of Curses, the evil equivalent of Covenants. We've had a full year plus some to see how this new card type would affect game play, and I am of the opinion that Curses are now one of the most important parts of any defense. This holds especially true in Type 2, where Curses can come in twos and threes. In this short guide, I hope to enlighten you on some of the ins and outs of Curses, how to play them and how to counter them.

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I used this musical offense to win third in the Ironman tournament at 2007 Nationals. I shall now dissect it and show YOU how to build, use, and win with this very fun offense!

This type of offense was introduced in the Priests expansion, so most of the cards will be from there, and most of them are un/common so it is fairly easy and inexpensive to make this offense.

This offensive strategy is very easy to understand but can be difficult to pull off due to the three Heroes needed. I will add suggestions to help it out.

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