Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Since I haven’t posted this yet, here it is. Earlier versions of this deck across all 4 tournaments I've been to this year (counting the local before Regionals) had 2 full losses thanks to suboptimal decisions in one game and a slower start in another; 2 time out losses (one of those I consider a full loss- thanks Justin, the other was a guaranteed win given more time); and 1 time out win thanks to soul drought. This version has only played 5 games at MN state, but at least it won those games outright. The goal of this deck is to shut down throne and set up decks while not being too committed yourself.

LS: 7
Humble
Darkness
Hunter
Prosperity
Exiles
Remnant
Lawless

Doms: 7
SoG
TSC
AotL
Valley
3 Woes
CM
FA (w)

Support: 7
Endless Treasures
YWR
Storehouse (p)
Sheol
Coliseum
Treacherous Land
Ends

Heroes: 10
Moses (CoW)
AutO
Samuel
King Saul (CoW)
David, the Psalmist
Elijah
Isaiah
The Prophetess
Amos
Paul

GE: 6
Faith of Samuel
Gathered Together
Offering Your Son
Eve’s Descendant
The Coming Prince
Light in the Darkness

DAC: 1
Delivered

EC: 8
The Deceiver
Necromancer
Balaam
Tubal-Cain
Assyrian Archer
ASA
Nimrod, the Mighty
Mounted Forces

EE: 4
Incurable
Balaam’s Teaching
Distortion
TKH


Reserve: 10
I am Creator
Imprisoned Prophet
Unknown Nation
Flying Scroll
Unsuccessful
Covenant with Death
The Fall of Man
Wicked People
Razor
Capture & Seize


It goes like this:

IaC turn 1 to get Auto + Sam rolling. Helps get Moses and Coliseum out ASAP.

On the opponent’s turn, block with Tubal Cain to activate Endless Treasures and whatever curse is most beneficial to that battle. Or, block with Nimrod to set up Sheol or Storehouse.

Turn 2 continue to grab Heroes and do lots of banding and lots of abilities. Have YWR up for attacks while Tubal Cain/Delivered can set up a different curse for defense.

By then you should be good to go for the rest of the game. It can be very fast, but it doesn’t need to be all the time. This can outlast most other decks if it comes down to it thanks to Isaiah & the DACs, Light in the Darkness, and ET grabbing TKH from discard. I’ve locked out offenses more than once.

If you get a decent start and shut down the opponent’s territory it can quickly snowball. The key is knowing when to grab CwD and when to keep it up. Moses + CwD are problems enough, but when you also factor in Coliseum and Sheol the layers can really add up. Treacherous Land & Sheol are great for getting multiple Exiles (to recur * cards), Prosperity, and Lawless triggers when you have CwD or if Moses is Woes’d. Ends is perfect for Isaiah’s recursion and Paul’s missionary status to negate opposing Sheols/Gates.

The other two versions of this deck did not include YWR and Coliseum and focused more on the Isaiah DACs and Shrine to Artemis to shuffle in Woes and Sam’s cohorts. Once I made a few tweaks (adding YWR & Coliseum, shifting the curses and the DAC to the reserve, etc) it really made a difference since this version is far superior to those in my mind.

This deck used to run Faith (in deck) & Faith of David (in Reserve), as well as David, God’s King and Daniel (p). But I’ve found that The Coming Prince (Faith’s replacement) was just better most of the time for less investment.

Be honest now, the reason Faith got cut was because of my turn 1 Damsel against you... 

Joking aside, this deck looks like a ton of fun to use. I honestly thought about asking you for the list to use at Nats, but I decided to go with all 3 copies of my 57 deck.

Well I've definitely been sleeping on Tubal-Cain. Kinda surprised to see Distortion in here, has it actually been consistently useful?

Kinda surprised to see Distortion in here, has it actually been consistently useful?

I put it in at the beginning with the idea that I would eventually gravitate towards a pale green/grey defense with Plunder & Pillage, the new Nero; stuff like that. It was mostly just to see how good it was for that route. But having something that can redirect most of the multicolored cards from this set and a bunch of great older stuff is surprisingly versatile. I've redirected a bunch of the RoJ Bowls, Overcome, Death of Firstborn, and even other negates like War in Heaven (to discard the angel it's played on) with success. Since the idea is I want my guys to live, pale green really doesn't have many better options (Did God Really Say negates, but doesn't negate the numbers; Achan's Sin kills my guys and is prone to being played around). So, I've found it very consistent. Not always, but it's usually enough to be valuable.

When you say "even if I have to paralyze my own offense with Incurable for a block" explain to me what you mean?

And tubal-cain allows you to activate the artifact you get over the one that is already active?

In one game I played Incurable and the opponent played Deborah's Directive to band in my Heroes. I did get the block, but they were paralyzed for 3 turns.

Tubal-Cain does allow you to activate that Art right away, as long as the opponent used a draw or search ability that turn. Chances are high that they will.

Quote from: Kevinthedude on August 08, 2019, 02:01:45 PM

Kinda surprised to see Distortion in here, has it actually been consistently useful?

I put it in at the beginning with the idea that I would eventually gravitate towards a pale green/grey defense with Plunder & Pillage, the new Nero; stuff like that. It was mostly just to see how good it was for that route. But having something that can redirect most of the multicolored cards from this set and a bunch of great older stuff is surprisingly versatile. I've redirected a bunch of the RoJ Bowls, Overcome, Death of Firstborn, and even other negates like War in Heaven (to discard the angel it's played on) with success. Since the idea is I want my guys to live, pale green really doesn't have many better options (Did God Really Say negates, but doesn't negate the numbers; Achan's Sin kills my guys and is prone to being played around). So, I've found it very consistent. Not always, but it's usually enough to be valuable.

Quote from: SiLeNcEd_MaTrIx on August 08, 2019, 02:17:58 PM

When you say "even if I have to paralyze my own offense with Incurable for a block" explain to me what you mean?

And tubal-cain allows you to activate the artifact you get over the one that is already active?

In one game I played Incurable and the opponent played Deborah's Directive to band in my Heroes. I did get the block, but they were paralyzed for 3 turns.

Tubal-Cain does allow you to activate that Art right away, as long as the opponent used a draw or search ability that turn. Chances are high that they will.

  Okay gotcha that makes more sense.  I thought I'm missing something very important on this card's strategy but gotcha haha.

Why would you not want to go to Nats?

Quote from: Sean on August 08, 2019, 06:06:23 PM

Why would you not want to go to Nats?

Wasn't interested in playing 2p booster, T1 2p with no card creation prize, or driving 12 hours. 3 strikes right there, I'm afraid. 

Plus, Jonesy and his reputation with booster draft...it was a good choice for Master Q to stay home this year, I’m afraid.