Author Topic: Genesis & Rome 2012 (Read 4525 times)

TimMierz · « **on:** June 23, 2012, 11:54:45 PM »

Some things never change... 4 years later, still playing with Genesis and Rome. This deck went 4-1 at NE Regionals, getting the highest score/LS differential.

Heroes: 8
Asher
Benjamin
Eve
Jacob
Joseph
Rachel
Simeon
Zebulun

Good Enhancements: 8
Abraham's Descendant
Answer to Prayer
Forgiveness of Joseph
Jacob Buries the Foreign Gods
Joseph Before Pharaoh
Journey to Egypt
Obedience of Noah
Reuben's Torn Clothes

Evil Characters: 7
Ahithophel
Emperor Galba
Emperor Nero
Emperor Vitellius
Pontius Pilate
Sabbath Breaker
The Entrapping Pharisees

Evil Enhancements: 7
Balaam's Disobediance
Expelling the Jews
Heavy Taxes
Lurking
Namaan's Chariot and Horses
Night Raid
Romans Destroy Jerusalem

Artifacts & Curses: 6
Chariot of Fire
Denarius
Household Idols
Captured Ark
Confusion of Mind
Unknown Nation

Sites: 4
Caesarea Philippi
Chorazin
Golgotha
Hormah

Fortress: 1
The Trap of the Devil

Dominants: 7
Angel of the Lord
Grapes of Wrath
New Jerusalem
Son of God
Christian Martyr
Falling Away
Mayhem

Lost Souls: 7 + 1
Discard from Deck
Discard from Hand
Remove from Site
Female
N.T.
Revealer
Cannot Be Prevented
Hopper

While the deck can (and likely) will continue to be tweaked, I'm very happy with this version of things.

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #1 on:** June 24, 2012, 12:27:50 AM »

Overall, I think this is a really solid deck (particularly in the hands of a skilled player such as yourself, not to mention someone with 4 years experience playing it).

However, I do have a few questions:
1. Judah is often really helpful for retrieving Ben or Joe from capture or discard. Why not throw him in?
2. Unholy Writ is also a consistently great art for a low cost. Why not include it?
3. How often does Corazin really matter to the games that you play?
4. How often does The Trap of the Devil really matter to the games that you play?
5. Since your deck is NOT really on the fast side, is Hopper really that important? It seems like you could wait for their LSs to come out. Which would allow you to replace Hopper with another LS, and then add in Burial to make it a 57 card deck (which would be virtually the same speed as your current deck, but would have that extra dominant.)

TimMierz · « **Reply #2 on:** June 24, 2012, 09:38:29 AM »

1. To me, Benjamin and Joseph are nice but not super-crucial. Rachel, Asher, and Chariot of Fire can already get those two from the discard pile anyways, and I certainly don't mind attacking with Simeon, Zebulun, Jacob, etc.

2. Unholy Writ is great, sure. It could easily go in. Back in 2008, during the height of Zerubbabel's Temple's popularity, it didn't do much. Now, it's more likely to be helpful, but my artifact slot is already in high demand with Confusion of Mind, Household Idols, etc. But there's no real reason it's out.

3. Chorazin is a nice utility card. With that and Caesarea Philippi, territory destruction is hard to pull off, adding extra defense against The Garden Tomb. The curse activation ability rarely comes into play, despite my having three great curses in the deck. And honestly, just having sites ended up being quite nice during the tournament, because very few decks I faced were super-prepared for sites. Held off for a couple turns, which is critical in tournament play.

4. The Trap of the Devil was a last minute addition, discussed in the hotel room. Matt Stupienski especially loved the idea of it. It's wonderful against Fight By Numbers Banding chains, but somehow despite Samuel's prevalence, I didn't encounter any of those. It ended up being a wasted card during the tournament, and it will probably leave the deck soon, but it has its uses.

5. I feel that the Hopper has plenty of uses. My defense is great for a while, but it's not like a Philistine defense that can block practically indefinitely - it's too enhancement-heavy. I can't wait too many turns, and the Hopper ended up being great against some of my soul drought-y opponents. Burial I've ended up liking less and less over the years - if I were to add another dominant, it'd probably be Guardian of Your Souls.

Thanks for the comments, definitely good to have extra critical thinking on this!

Warrior_Monk · « **Reply #3 on:** June 24, 2012, 10:22:51 AM »

With the new rule about Son of God, Prisoner Transfer is a great card. Not sure what to drop...maybe Emperor Nero? I've never been a fan of him. Problem being it throws off your ratio.

Red Wing · « **Reply #4 on:** June 24, 2012, 01:38:10 PM »

Quote from: Ring Wraith on June 24, 2012, 10:22:51 AM

With the new rule about Son of God, Prisoner Transfer is a great card. Not sure what to drop...maybe Emperor Nero?

I think Lurking could probably go.

I'm surprised not to see Seven Years of Plenty.

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #5 on:** June 24, 2012, 01:57:12 PM »

Quote from: Ring Wraith on June 24, 2012, 10:22:51 AM

With the new rule about Son of God, Prisoner Transfer is a great card.

Also with the new rule about SoG, Burial becomes even better than it has been in the past (when you started disliking it).

Quote from: Red Wing on June 24, 2012, 01:38:10 PM

I'm surprised not to see Seven Years of Plenty.

I also agree with this. Drawing those extra 7 cards is probably going to help you more often than say "Jacob Buries the Foreign Gods". Sure it's another battle winner (although negatable), but you have better battle winners, and plenty of ways to recur them.

Based on what we've talked about I would take out at least 3 of the 4 of Corazin, Trap, Hopper, and Jacob Buries, and replace them with Burial, 7 yrs Plenty, Unholy Writ, and another LS.

CJSports · « **Reply #6 on:** June 24, 2012, 02:22:17 PM »

Quote from: Red Wing on June 24, 2012, 01:38:10 PM

Quote from: Ring Wraith on June 24, 2012, 10:22:51 AM
With the new rule about Son of God, Prisoner Transfer is a great card. Not sure what to drop...maybe Emperor Nero?
I think Lurking could probably go.

I'm surprised not to see Seven Years of Plenty.

Lurking is the best counter to CTB in the game and it can do other things, interrupt and bring in a new character to block when they've already used they're main enhancement.

Red · « **Reply #7 on:** June 24, 2012, 02:44:59 PM »

Will you be at nats tim? And did this deck win first? I'm assuming it did just making sure.

CJSports · « **Reply #8 on:** June 24, 2012, 07:43:21 PM »

It would've tied for first with me but then the head-to head argument came in and he dropped to 4th unfortunately.

megamanlan · « **Reply #9 on:** June 24, 2012, 07:48:57 PM »

I thought differential comes before head to head...

Red Wing · « **Reply #10 on:** June 24, 2012, 07:50:20 PM »

With such a plethora of Artifacts, Uzzah would probably be a good fit.

Minion of Jesus · « **Reply #11 on:** June 24, 2012, 09:44:55 PM »

Quote from: Red Wing on June 24, 2012, 07:50:20 PM

With such a plethora of Artifacts, Uzzah would probably be a good fit.

Definitely. Why Ahithopel? Pardon me if I say this is a bit strange. Why not one of those wimpy kings who are 1/1?

Red · « **Reply #12 on:** June 24, 2012, 09:49:05 PM »

Quote from: Minion of Jesus on June 24, 2012, 09:44:55 PM

Quote from: Red Wing on June 24, 2012, 07:50:20 PM
With such a plethora of Artifacts, Uzzah would probably be a good fit.

Definitely. Why Ahithopel? Pardon me if I say this is a bit strange. Why not one of those wimpy kings who are 1/1?

He's not of a royal family?

TimMierz · « **Reply #13 on:** June 25, 2012, 10:58:50 AM »

Answering a lot of posts in one:

Prisoner Transfer
Too highly variable for my tastes. I see what you're saying, but it seems like it wouldn't be as useful as any of the other enhancements I have.

Emperor Nero
Nero's great!

Lurking
It's actually a very nice enhancement. Interrupt + band is very useful, like a variant on Unknown Nation, either when losing a battle or just to get multiple EC abilities to fire. I use it in at least half the games I play to good effect, if not more.

Seven Years of Plenty
I've considered it, but getting one extra card for several turns just isn't that important to me. I'd rather a card that I can actually use to win a battle than something that just gets me other cards. If I were just trying to deck out I'd have a 50-card deck instead of 56.

Nationals
I will not be attending Nationals, not least because it's during the same weekend as my wedding!

Winning Regionals
The issue of who won is currently under debate, but I did tie for best game score and LS differential. Some weird head-to-head stuff muddies the issue, and I was declared as fourth place, but there's still debate as to what the correct outcome was. In any case, I had a very good Redemption day.

Uzzah
I'm morally opposed to Uzzah. And 6 is a plethora?

Ahithophel
So, Ahithophel was sort of grandfathered in. My criteria were to be low numbered for Choose the Blocker, to still be able to use him to block, to be unique for Namaan's Chariot and Horses, and to be non-royal to be able to block King David (who I encountered a ton in 2008). He was the best for those criteria, but I'm willing to replace him. Right now, the top candidates are Lying Spirit and Proud Pharisee. Neither of whom I'd want to pick for a blocker, but both would be helpful defenders.

STAMP · « **Reply #14 on:** June 25, 2012, 12:23:00 PM »

Quote from: TimMierz on June 25, 2012, 10:58:50 AM

And 6 is a plethora?

Not in my book.

2 is a couple.
3 is a crowd.
4 is a few.
5. 5 dollar. 5 dollar foot long...
6 is incomplete and evil.
7 is complete and good and desirable.
8 is a week's worth (according to the Beatles)
and 9 is a plethora.

By the way, nice deck.

Professoralstad · « **Reply #15 on:** June 25, 2012, 07:18:57 PM »

I would definitely use Proud Pharisee over Ahithophel. If you have TEP in play when you block with him, then you get to draw 2 and play next, but even if you don't, you still get to play next. Unlike Lying Spirit, who you would never want to choose as blocker, PP is only useful to your opponent if he's using gray enhancements (and only n00bs use gray enhancements...

).

Did Nero really help much in the tournament? If so, that's great, but rather surprising. Honestly, I would choose Augustus over him, just for the fact that Augustus can beat any FBTN Hero one-on-one. If your opponent isn't banding/negating ECs, he's got an interrupt/battle winner, or AotL. But hey, I can't argue with results.

TimMierz · « **Reply #16 on:** July 09, 2012, 10:02:16 AM »

I've since made the following changes:

Out:
Ahithophel - he's stuck out like a sore Ahithophel since this deck was made
Emperor Nero - upon further reflection, Augustus is probably more reliable
Chorazin - an expendable site
Jacob Buries the Foreign Gods - a solid but uninspiring battle winner
Denarius - rarely did I encounter people with big enough hands for this, plus the artifact slot is too precious for this

In:
Unholy Writ
Emperor Augustus
Proud Pharisee
Captain of the Host (Warriors) - for Jacob or an occasional walk in
Benefiting from Troubles - it's now a battle winner that works against virtually any EC! now I just have to explain it to every opponent I face

I kept Trap of the Devil because it's my main recourse against By the Numbers Banding, I kept the Hopper because I don't like waiting and it's harder to get locked out, I didn't do the extra soul plus Burial because I have a couple captures anyways and I don't think I'll be able to lock out effectively. Still not seeing the huge draw for Seven Years of Plenty - I'll rarely use this to close to full potential, games just aren't that long, and I have other drawing.

Still open to more ideas.

Master Q · « **Reply #17 on:** July 09, 2012, 12:20:00 PM »

Bearing Bad News is really great on Ahithophel, or on any of your Romans (if you can play it).

I seem to remember seeing Chains in your deck before, why cut out such a great card!?

With HHI and CoM in your deck, you shouldn't have to worry about Fbtnb as much; therefore, you could cut Trap and add in something that will actually help you.

TimMierz · « **Reply #18 on:** July 09, 2012, 01:03:33 PM »

Chains was in for a long while, during the height of Zerubbabel's Temple, because no one protected from it. Now that it's far rarer, I'm much happier having Night Raid.

Bearing Bad News... meh. Ahithophel is out now, and my other unique ECs have high numbers, making its use very limited.

Trap of the Devil is certainly the next card I'd cut. Some contenders to replace it: a Pharisee card (like Self-Righteous Prayer or Tenants Kill the Son), False Peace, Numerous as the Stars, Abraham's Servant to Ur, Seven Years of Plenty

Professoralstad · « **Reply #19 on:** July 09, 2012, 06:29:45 PM »

Seven Years of Plenty would easily be my choice. False Peace would be second. Abe's Servant is passe; there really is no place in high level decks for good FBTN enhancements anymore, as every brigade ItB/Winners that are much more effective. TktS is nice as a CBP card vs. FBTN heroes, but with only two pharisees (one of which is already good vs. FBTN Heroes not named TSA) I don't know if it's necessary. If you did want a nice card to use with Pharisees, Just A Hireling got a huge boost from the new rule about rescuing LSs.

RTSmaniac · « **Reply #20 on:** July 09, 2012, 06:31:21 PM »

I'm expecting to see alot of FBTNB at Nats so it may not be a bad idea unless your not going...

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Author Topic: Genesis & Rome 2012 (Read 4525 times)

Warrior_Monk