Cactus Game Design Message Boards

So I played in my first T1-2P tournament in several months last Saturday, and this was the deck I used. After two games I was 0-2 with -5 LS differential, and my two opponents' combined ages was about equal to my age. Obviously the deck needs help, so here I am looking for how to fix it.

Cards: 63

Lost Souls:
Demon Discard
Shuffler
Shame
Female
NT
Exchanger
2-Liner
Revealer

Artifacts:
Urim and Thummim
Chariot of Fire
Holy of Holies
The Bronze Laver
Magic Charms
Lampstand of the Sanctuary

Covenants:
w/ Levi
w/ Phinehas

Fortresses:
Wall of Protection
Zerubbabel's Temple
Gates of Hell

Good Doms:
SoG
NJ
AotL
Grapes
Guardian of Your Souls
Harvest Time

Evil Doms:
DoN
CM

Heroes
Joiada, Son of Eliashib
Jaddua, Son of Jonathan
Eliashib the High Priest
Abiathar
Phinehas, son of Eleazar
Joiakim, Son of Joshua
Joshua the High Priest

Good Enhancements
Scapegoat
Trumpet Blast
Zeal for the Lord
Filling Zerubbabel's Temple
Burning Incense
Jehoiada's Strength
Holy Unto the Lord

Evil Characters
King of Tyrus
Prince of this World
Evil Spawn
Wandering Spirit
Trembling Demon
Fallen Angel
Spirit of Temptation
Astrologers
Damsel with Spirit of Divination
Enchanter
Seven Sons of Sceva

Evil Enhancements
Evil Armor
Destructive Sin
Worshipping Demons
Deafening Spirit
Pride Before Calamity
Two Possessed by Demons
Sinning Hand
Forgotten History
Divination
Death of Unrighteous
Confusion

Any suggestions are welcome!

First of all, in a 63 card deck, I would take out Guardian, and since you don't seem to have much site access, I would replace that with Priestly Crown, especially with Lampstand and another access artifact in there.

And am I missing something with Joiada? The only thing he can recur is Scapegoat, which removes itself when used anyway. I would replace him with Priests of Christ, to give access to the NT LS.

Holy Unto the Lord is a card that I would definitely not put in such a defense-heavy deck, especially with absolutely no protection. However, your offense seems to lack initiative, so I would replace it with Jordan Interrupted.

And although I know there is no such thing as too big a defense, if there were, you would be very close to that line. If you wanted, you could pretty easily make it 8/8 instead of 11/11 and bring the deck down to 56.

Quote from: BubbleBoy on February 10, 2010, 12:16:03 PM

First of all, in a 63 card deck, I would take out Guardian, and since you don't seem to have much site access, I would replace that with Priestly Crown, especially with Lampstand and another access artifact in there.

Site Access wasn't too much of an issue, and I figured the one access art and Lampstand would be fine. I'm wary of taking out Guardian, simply because my offense is not terribly fast. Pretty much the only quick rescues I get are when they don't have defense early, and I get a free LS. Also, Guardian prevents Falling Away and 2-Liner from making me make 7-8 rescues.

Well, obviously site access isn't an issue most of the time. It's only an issue when your opponent has sites. Luckily, I don't think many of the people in our playgroup use sites, so it might not be a big deal most of the time, but when you do run into sites, it's nice to have lots of ways to get through them. When it comes to site access, I usually like to go all or nothing. I mean, a single Crucify Him could completely shut you out. However, site decks usually don't have many ways to get around lots of artifacts, so having two site access arts is a strength that only teal has which I think you should utilize.

Against Guardian, I would say the lack of speed would make you less likely to put it in, because your opponent will probably draw FA first. Also, you know, you do have lampstand.

Quote

And although I know there is no such thing as too big a defense, if there were, you would be very close to that line. If you wanted, you could pretty easily make it 8/8 instead of 11/11 and bring the deck down to 56.

The biggest problem in my first game was my inability to draw defenders, as ridiculous as that sounds. In the 6 or 7 turns the game lasted, I drew 2 out of 11, and one of them was Seven Sons of Sceva. I suppose I could take out maybe two of each, but I think 8 blockers is too few for my playing style.

Well since most of your characters are of the auto-block type, maybe you could do a 9/7 or even 9/6, since I just realized that you don't have a very important curse in your deck.

why is UN not in there? ???i think it would help.

I think Unholy Writ and Burial Shroud both need to go in there... you can take out Urim and Thummim... seeing a hand is nice but so is stopping rescues.

Thanks for the suggestion, but Urim and Thummim is absolutely non-negotiable in a deck with High Priests.

With so many artifacts, put in Uzzah. He'll almost always buy you time to draw more defense.

Not a bad idea, that might work.

I agree with Soulseeker and BB.  I would trim the defense a bit and/or add a few drawing feasts.

Also, you need some sort of female or NT access.  I Am Salvation, PoC, Zacharias.  Take out Joiakim or Eliashib for PoC, maybe.

Burial?

bring it down to 56. 63 favors heavy defense or super-turtles. chariots is unnecessary, you wont be losing heroes alot with ztemple/cov w phin, and chariots is pretty much only useful to decks that have a specific hero/s that is absolutely detrimental towards the deck. add writ. add amariah, he belongs in any mono-teal deck. add at the very least pentecost, recurrable via joiada.

Good suggestions...any suggestions to trim it down?

I agree with Soulseeker and BB.  I would trim the defense a bit and/or add a few drawing feasts.

Also, you need some sort of female or NT access.  I Am Salvation, PoC, Zacharias.  Take out Joiakim or Eliashib for PoC, maybe.

Burial?

I find the exchanger is just fine to get access to the Female only. I'll probably add PoC to get access to the NT.

I find Joiakim + Eliashib to be extremely helpful near endgame, when we've both used the majority of our battle winners. A 17/16 band that can't be captured or removed is nice.

I find Burial to be less and less useful. With everyone (including myself) seeming to use Lampstand these days, it just wastes space most of the time.

Then the 2-liner seems just as less and less useful.  I'm not arguing putting burial in but maybe consider taking the 2-liner out.

I disagree. At worst, it just provides one extra Lost Soul to rescue, and since this deck is not highly concerned with hiding LS's, that's not a huge deal. At best, it can be rescued once, shuffled, drawn, and must be rescued twice again before it counts for anything. Since I have two cards that can shuffle it (the LS and DoU) I think it's worth it.

FWIW, in the first game I lost, I was able to Confusion his SoG so my opponent ended up having to make 6 rescues, since I gave him half the 2-liner and he couldn't SoG the other half. Obviously it didn't make a huge difference that game, but if I had been able to actually draw defense, I would ahve been in much better shape.

All that said, which LS would go better with this deck do you think?

Cards: 56

Lost Souls:
Demon Discard
Shuffler
Shame
Female
NT
Exchanger
2-Liner
Revealer

Artifacts:
Urim and Thummim
Chariot of Fire
Holy of Holies
The Bronze Laver
Magic Charms
Lampstand of the Sanctuary

Covenants:
w/ Levi
w/ Phinehas

Fortresses:
Wall of Protection
Zerubbabel's Temple
Gates of Hell

Good Doms:
SoG
NJ
AotL
Grapes
Guardian of Your Souls
Harvest Time

Evil Doms:
DoN
CM

Heroes
Joiada, Son of Eliashib
Jaddua, Son of Jonathan
Eliashib the High Priest
Abiathar
Phinehas, son of Eleazar
Joiakim, Son of Joshua
Joshua the High Priest

Good Enhancements
Scapegoat
Trumpet Blast
Zeal for the Lord
Filling Zerubbabel's Temple
Burning Incense
Jehoiada's Strength
Holy Unto the Lord

Evil Characters
King of Tyrus
Prince of this World
Evil Spawn
Wandering Spirit
Trembling Demon
Fallen Angel
Spirit of Temptation
Astrologers
Damsel with Spirit of Divination
Enchanter
Seven Sons of Sceva

Evil Enhancements
Evil Armor
Destructive Sin
Worshipping Demons
Deafening Spirit
Pride Before Calamity
Two Possessed by Demons
Sinning Hand
Forgotten History
Divination
Death of Unrighteous
Confusion

cut more for access and speed!
feast of trumpets is good for your offence (drawing, access) and defence but it helps your opponent out too
need another hero? add the one that bands and searches for z temple
pentacost first fruits are good but beware Darius Decree
I took out DoU b/c of the overuse of Philistine Outpost
You need to stop Three Nails
good luck practicing this deck on simulator (it hates orange)
still needs access x3 at least (preferable one that doesnt clog art pile) hopper maybe

then when you do all that- try to make it at least 52 with 2 access sites minimum

oh yea- i left holy unto the lord in there b/c i think its a saucy card for a saucy deck- teal AoC!

needs PoC and I am Salvation too <-----always wins a LS

this would make a great multiplayer deck

soulseeker is right: needs HoH