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So I haven't played a T2 tournament game since '04 Nats, and very few T2 fun games, so I am definitely not a seasoned T2 player. What I want to know is, would "deck discard" type strategy work? Here's what I was thinking: 3x High Places, 5x Pagan Sacrifices, and Gold deck discarding characters and CBN/CBI battle winners (Wonders Forgotten, Failed Objective, Enslaved by Egypt, maybe a Spreading Mildew or two in case of JTower).

Basically, would this be viable? I could get to discard up to five cards from their deck on each of their turns, and depending on how many cards I can discard during battles, I can take out a significant chunk of their deck. And if I made a Luke/John offense (or maybe in combo with Judges), I could use 3x SWJ, and multiple WatW to fetch LS's from their deck to clear the way for PSacs. The questions I have are: would this necessarily have to be a big (150+) deck to be able to include enough battle winners in addition to deck discard? What types of things would I have to be especially wary of? When I come up with a decklist, I will post it in the other forum.

I was thinking the SWJs would be most helpful for getting LS's out of the way of my Pagan Sacrifices, with the potential side benefit of setting aside some cards they might need. I foresee the biggest problem with the strategy being that they would be very difficult to recur.

The best part of SWJ in T2 is setting aside unique characters they have doubles of, so that they cannot put them in play. In this way, it almost functions like a random hand discard whose potency depends on how many unique character dupes your opponent has.

I've always felt like deck discard wouldn't be as powerful in T2 as in T1. Not sure why. Maybe it would be better...is Huge Egyptian generic? If so, Overwhelmed is a good idea. Otherwise, the only benefit T2 will have in deck discard is multiple Pagan Sacrifices, and maybe Seemingly Insignificants.

No, Huge Egyptian is unique, unfortunately. My theory is, that if I could get 3 or 4 Pagan Sacrifices out fairly quickly, and then find ways to stall an opponent (with Failed Objective and Wonders Forgotten) I'll be able to cripple his deck by discarding a 3 to 4, or maybe 5 cards per turn.

Good point with the HT. I was thinking Sword against Sword with my Gold offense, but I might use some prophets in there I suppose. And the Archers+Spears would work well, especially if you finish off the banding chain with Huge Egyptian+EC&H+Wonders Forgotten.

Discard 5 heroes in a territory, 6 cards from the top of their deck, draw two cards, and end the battle, removing four discarded cards and discarding (probably) all heroes in battle as well, all for zero cost? Yes please.

Ah yes, I forgot about the Archers. That combo would be beastly-beast. Also, if you're doing HT, put a Wickedness Removed in there as well.

I think you could do this with 105 cards

Archers x5
Huge E x3
King So x2
Herod Argippa II x2
Herod Antipas
Herodias
Salome x2

Psac x5
E Horses x3
E Spear x5
Wonders Forgotten x5
Failed Objective x2
Rash Oath x2
Herod's Treachery

Given Over to Egypt x3

High Places x2
Pharaoh's Throne Room x2

As a very rough outline, that's 46 cards. So, maybe 120 cards or something.

Oh yeah...and I forgot things like Unknown Nation, Captured Ark, and KotW, so optimistically this would end up being about 55 cards...so yeah, it should probably be a 150+ card deck.

Oh! don't forget given over to egypt!

In reality I don't really see such a deck working as well as it does in theory.  The fact is that you will rarely, if ever, have more than 2 archers out at a time.  Same is true of Pagan Sacrifices.  I think you're better off relying on the battle winners and strong combos, using the deck discard as an annoyance that will sometimes hit hard.  I don't think relying on the deck discard as your primary strategy will lead to consistent success.  That said, even using it as a secondary strategy is good.  If you just use Given over to Egypt that's one card per turn and that one card can sometimes turn the tide of the game.  Accumulated over the whole game it can be a good chunk of your opponent's deck.  Add the fact that you will likely block with Huge Egyptian or Queen T every rescue attempt and you've got a really nice support strategy that, really, you don't even have to think about, it just happens.

I agree completely. That's why I'd be more likely to dispense with the Rash Oath and Herod segment and add a few more battle winners (like more FO's or some Enslaved by Egypt). I knew there was at least one more Egyptian deck discarder character, thanks for reminding me of the healthy hot energy boosting drink with lots of antioxidants! (you know, Queen T)...

Discarding two cards can be pretty useful, but I suppose it doesn't do much compared to all the PSacs and that big Archer band.

That's what I was thinking.

Herodias is helpful because she does 3 things: 1) She is able to discard a captured character in Dungeon, 2) She gives someone for Antipas to band to, and 3) she makes Salome CBN. Combining 1 and 2, you basically have an infinitely recurrable hero-discarding combo. However, if you aren't even going to use Rash Oath, you could make this deck a bit smaller by taking the Herods out altogether. You could also make the deck smaller by having mad skillz at deck-building.

1) I don't know if Dungeon would be that useful, how many male human heroes above 7 strength are actually used that can be captured more often than not? Prophets and Priests have protection from capture, and NT offenses are all about the ladies. I guess it would do well against all of those Red offenses...
2) Antipas bands to her, and now there's a 13/11 combo that is susceptible to anything...not seeing the benefits.
3) This is probably the only reason I would actually use her if I did, but even then I don't know how helpful it would be. The only reason it would come in handy is if they attacked with a BTN guy.
3+) I do have mad skillz at deck-building, so it shouldn't be a problem.

And when I said King So, I meant whichever one has the first strike ability. I don't like it when I accidentally discard a LS, and the other guy's ability only works if you win anyway.

Ah right, I forgot that Shishak was made in an era when special abilities let you discard LS's from your opponent's decks. I agree that So would be better.

BTW, I also forgot to put Spreading Mildew in that little rough outline...

EDIT: instaposted x3

Indeed. I would need at least 2, if not three of those.