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2022 Oregon State T1-2P 1st Place- Once Upon a Time in Zion
CtheTree:
Introduction:
Building T1-2P decks for the Rotation format has been an interesting journey for me. When rotation/reserve rule were first instituted in the fall I took decks I had built for T1-2P Classic that had only a few non-rotation cards in them and tried to modify them for the Rotation format. I ended up with 9 different Rotation deck builds that were unique. Out of these builds I fully fleshed out four of them and then identified which three I felt were my best builds. Then I tested these three builds out in the first Lackey Grand Prix which I managed to finish 5th in just missing Top Cut. Two of these builds yielded the best results and so I decided to focus on both of them in my testing and then focus on my favorite out of the two at our local play group and in local tournaments.
Then the combo craziness of The First Combo and The Ephesian Widow Combo hit the meta like a freight train and I was left with two builds that would have been strong in the prior meta but were outdated in the combo meta. However, right before the 2022 Oregon State Tournament the rule limiting activations of instant abilities to 4 per tun was instituted making my best two deck builds in my mind viable in the meta again.
This deck is my favorite one that I have been playing with and testing quite a bit. I have the other deck build that I feel is strong and I am still working on it but this one has been by main focus. It is in my opinion a unique, consistent, and solid list. This deck has had good results and is able to achieve its intended lines of play quite consistently. I would even go so far as to say this is a Rotation Throne deck. I am not saying this deck is as good as Throne decks were in Classic but The Throne of David is important in this deck and it runs many royal heroes which have synergy with it.
Without further ado I present to you...
Once Upon a Time in Zion (50 cards):
1 Son of God (2020 Promo)
1 The Second Coming (CoW AB)
1 Angel of the Lord (2020 Promo)
1 Ride on Victoriously / Awesome Things (LoC)
1 Three Woes (RoJ AB)
1 Crowd’s Choice
1 Mayhem (FoM)
1 Lost Soul (Awake)
1 Lost Soul (Prosperity)
1 Lost Soul (Imitate)
1 Lost Soul (Escape)
1 Lost Soul (Distressed)
1 Lost Soul "Darkness" (Job 30:26) (Promo)
1 Lost Soul (Lawless) (Promo)
1 Zion
1 The Throne of David (LoC)
1 Storehouse (Promo)
1 Majestic Heavens (Promo)
1 Denarius (I/J+)
1 The New Covenant (I/J+)
1 Covenant with David (PoC)
1 The Angel of the Winds (Promo)
1 David, Heart After God / David, the Contrite (LoC Plus)
1 Jeshua, the Restorer (LoC)
1 Solomon, the Wise / Solomon, the Idolater (LoC)
1 Jehoshaphat, the Seeker / Jehoshaphat, the Meek (LoC)
1 Josiah, the Restorer / Josiah, the Righteous (LoC)
1 Bathsheba, the Helper / Bathsheba, the Prostrate (LoC)
1 Asa, the Upright / Asa, the Blameless (LoC)
1 Hezekiah, the Devout / Hezekiah, the Repentant (LoC)
1 Achim, the Compiler / Achim, the Talmid (LoC)
1 Jotham, the Mighty / Jotham, the Upright (LoC)
1 Noah, the Righteous / Noah (Rest and Comfort) (LoC)
1 Jeremiah, Hope Bringer
1 Solomon's Dream (LoC)
1 Triumphal Entry The Lord's Prayer
1 Zerubbabel's Plumb Line (LoC)
1 Faith
1 The Emmaus Road
1 Impartial Judgment (LoC)
1 David's Descendant (LoC)
1 Reverence and Awe David's Harp
1 Delivered
1 Profane Daughters
1 The Amalekites' Slave (FoM)
1 The Lying Prophet
1 Emperor Nero (Promo)
1 Foreign Wives
1 Balaam's Prophecy
1 Balaam's Disobedience (FoM)
Reserve:
1 Faith of David (CoW AB)
1 Covenant with Adam (PoC) The Coming Prince
1 Oath of Purity (LoC)
1 Temple Spears and Shields (LoC)
1 Royal Parade (LoC)
1 Faith of Barak (CoW)
1 Unsuccessful (PoC)
1 Fire Foxes (CoW AB)
1 False Prophecy (PoC)
1 Scattered (Promo)
Note: I will be updating this list periodically based on changes I have made to the list post the Oregon State tournament 2022. I will occasionally update the write up below to reflect these changes as well.
See below for Deck Summary...
CtheTree:
Summary:
Premise-
This deck is a turbo Impartial Judgment list that seeks to break parity through Zion, Jeshua package, and David, Heart after God. Remember a little card called I Am Creator in the classic meta? Well Zion is the closest thing to that card in the Rotation format. It allows for tutoring whichever hero you want. The beautiful thing is as long as you have one royal hero you can use it. Since it is an instant ability you plop down one royal hero in territory, tutor the hero you want with Zion, and then move on from worrying about unity. Once rotation and the reserve rule hit I tried to find the most consistent way to get an early Impartial Judgment play early and then I realized this build was it (this was all before Ephesian Widow combo stuff which may still be faster even after the rule change with the build Mr. Hiatus posted recently on YouTube). This deck sets up an early Impartial Judgment play fast due to the large number of meek heroes and the fact I can get Jeshua out through Zion on Turn 1 and I can run all the premium Jeshua cards with this deck build. Royals support Triumphal Entry, Zerubbabel's Plumb Line, and Solomon's Dream very easily. I also am able to run The Emmaus Road and New Covenant for further consistency to get one of the cards which Jeshua wants. Delivered also gets me to Emmaus to get a key tutor. Of course I have Balaam's Prophecy as well. Why the Jeshua package? Well Jeshua is there to get Awesome Things or generate meek heroes or snag David, Heart after God. The way I set up an early Impartial Judgment is by nabbing one combo piece through Jeshua/tutors and the other through David, Heart after God. David can get Awesome Things or Impartial Judgment directly.
This deck goes off for an Impartial Judgment play turn one of 4-5 fairly consistently. I very consistently have the ability to play Impartial Judgment turn two for 4-5. The advent of Crowd's Choice, Denarius, and New Covenant helped a fair amount with achieving this. Prior to those cards I found I got a turn one Impartial Judgment for 4-5 fairly consistently but many times I was waiting till turn 2 to play Impartial Judgment. My turn 1 line of play was to grab Angel of the Lord with David, HAG and band to one of my meek guys (to avoid a Martyr block or other stuff) for a very strong turn 1 rescue. Then on turn 2 I wanted to have Jehoshaphat (very easy to get) to reset David and grab the combo piece I needed for the Impartial Judgment play. This version of the deck did quite well since the Angel of the Lord rescue worked almost all the time on turn 1, Impartial Judgment rescue worked very well turn 2, and then I have a good number of ways to close out the game turn 3 or 4 post Impartial Judgment. Now though with the new tutors and speed from Denarius turn 1 Impartial Judgment is more common in this deck. If I do not have a solid turn 1 Impartial Judgment (I normally want at least IJ for 4) then I just go into battle with David, snag Angel of the Lord, and band to a meek hero in territory to keep me safe from Falling Away or Christian Martyr. I find I rarely have an issue getting Jehoshaphat turn 2 to bounce David and reuse him due to cards like The Throne of David, The Angel of the Winds, and even The Emmaus Road which gets him directly. Triumphal Entry (with Jeshua), Plumb Line (with Jeshua), New Covenant, and Solomon’s Dream are other ways to snag Jehoshaphat.
I personally feel in Redemption often Turn 1 is a weaker rescue for most decks. This deck is not that way. I either rescue with a band backed by Angel of the Lord or I am doing a big Impartial Judgment play. This deck is very linear and I know what lines of play I am going for. I know what rescues I am aiming for depending on how the game goes. I have had several games where my opponent happens to have five evil cards in hand when I play IJ for 4 or 6 cards in hand when I play IJ for 5 and I have still won those games due to the very solid rescue options in this deck.
Continued below...
CtheTree:
Rescue Package-
Once I have played Impartial Judgment I am looking to seal the game through several solid rescues I have depending on the match such as: a Noah rescue with Royal Parade which is quite hard to stop if you really think about it, Jeremiah rescue with Royal Parade or Covenant with Adam, Jeremiah with Faith of David+Temple Spears and Shields on a royal hero combo, also Jeremiah with Faith of David+Asa or Noah are situationally sneaky plays, Temple Spears and Shields band protecting my royal heroes rescue, and against a big banding defense- meek David or Bathsheba with Faith of Barak (very underrated battle-winner) rescue. I use Solomon's hand spy to determine which rescue will be best after I have done Impartial Judgment and Angel of the Lord rescues. I really like the ability to know what my opponent has in hand with the various rescue options this deck has. Covenant with Adam is so good as a consistent reusable negate and is also a sneaky cheese rescue on the artifact side with Bathsheba’s CTB ability. Oath of Purity lets me reset my guys as does Jehoshaphat.
Also if my opponent knows my deck and they plop all their evil characters down in territory after they go first then I can shift from playing Impartial Judgment pre-block with Awesome Things to playing David's Descendant pre-block with Awesome Things to wipe out their evil characters in territory which is a tribute back to the old Ethiopian Treasurer pre-block Authority of Christ Promo play.
Continued below...
CtheTree:
Consistency-
I personally find this deck to be more consistent than postexilics were in the Classic meta for Type 1-2P as an Impartial Judgment centric deck. There are a few reasons for this. First of all is Zion. I have Covenant with David, David's Descendant, Reverence and Awe, Solomon's Dream, and Crowd's Choice all as ways I can grab Zion for the unity play. The reader should note Delivered, New Covenant and Emmaus Road while they can get to Zion through David's Descendant do not work for the unity play since they require a non-unity character to be played. I used to run a false prophets defense to have False Peace as another way to get to the unity Zion play but I feel I would rather have the ability to utilize Delivered to Denarius or to New Covenant to get Emmaus Road to get tutors since it helps me to get to my combo pieces (meek heroes, Impartial Judgment, and Awesome Things) just as well as false peace and really helps with having speed post combo to get to rescue options for the later turns. It also makes the deck more resilient when things go south by having diversified ways to get some speed. In addition Delivered to New Covenant to Emmaus Road to Solomon’s Dream has essentially the same impact and can do even more than Zion can do.
Here is the thing though: many deck builds have Delivered to New Covenant to Emmaus Road to Solomon’s Dream or Delivered to New Covenant to Spirit as a Dove. That being said my deck has that same consistency and then I also get the perk of Zion which in my mind breaks parity. Zion is so good because I get just what I need hero wise. If I draw Jeshua I get David with it. If I get both I grab Achim, Jehoshaphat, or a meek hero for combo with it. This deck definitely gets Jeshua faster than a postexilic deck. The other factor to this deck is David, HAG. There are so many ways to get him in this deck and if you have him you have half of your combo. He gets Impartial Judgment or Awesome Things whichever you need. Postexilics has no such tool. Also if I am not ready to combo he grabs Angel of the Lord and bands to a meek hero to ensure Christian Martyr or Falling Away do not nerf my rescue. Or if I need another OT card and have a battle winner in hand he grabs something else. I reuse him easily with Jehoshaphat who is quite easy for me to snag.
Additionally, The Throne of David is superior to Zerubbabel's Temple. It's star ability grabs David, HAG directly. In addition it can grab meek kings directly for a boosted turn 2 IJ play. It can grab Jehoshaphat directly if I did not have the IJ play turn 1 and did Angel of the Lord with David, HAG and need to reset him for a turn 2 IJ play. And also The Throne of David helps with consistency with its look and take. It also under decks cards I do not want on the top of my deck to get to better stuff.
For card draw Mayhem is so consistent in this deck and often is netting me 4-6 cards. Denarius adds really good card draw and is far superior to Pentecost which is what I ran in the deck prior to Denarius being released. The Lying Prophet is a great way to draw cards being CBP.
My lost soul package I believe is quite speedy since I can Imitate Lawless over and over again for speed. This deck is built to be speedy so I run a fast soul package. Awake is in for soul gen with Imitate or to tutor for Imitate if I draw into Lawless. Escape is there to get Lawless or Awake if I draw into Imitate or to get Imitate if I draw into Lawless or Awake. Darkness is important to get evil characters out since I have a lean amount of evil characters in the deck. Distressed is in here as a card I feel still is important for dealing with TC negate neutral characters and cards like Thomas the Twin.
For reserve access Storehouse is very good for getting out what I need as is Majestic Heavens which paired with Jeshua is great for both OT and NT cards due to my diverse soul package on that end and lastly Faith is great for getting Faith of David and Faith of Barak out. Jotham is a good way to get battle winners from reserve as well. I do miss False Peace at times for reserve access but there is enough to get by here.
The Throne of David, Storehouse, and Majestic Heavens are all important for consistency and due to all the ways I have to get Zion out I have a lot of ways to get them out early too.
Here are some important stats- There are 13 ways to get David, Heart after God directly from deck turn 1. Zerubbabel’s Plumb Line and Triumphal Entry are two bonus ways if I get Jeshua which is likely. There are 10 ways to get Jeshua out directly from deck turn 1. There is a large mass of meek heroes and ways to get meek heroes out from deck in this build.
Continued below...
CtheTree:
Defense-
If you recall Jayden’s Type 1 Postexilic speedy boys deck in T1-2P last tournament season this defense is similar to what he did in that deck. It is very small and just enough to get blocks. That being said I found that it blocks sufficiently. Prior to Denarius being released I ran an evil prophets defense that allowed me to run False Peace. As I mentioned earlier I prefer Delivered over False Peace due to the versatility of being able to get the 4 cards off Denarius or get anything I want in the deck through Delivered to New Covenant to Emmaus Road to Solomon’s Dream.
Which EE battle winner you run main deck is really a meta call. Personally I have found in this meta Balaam’s Disobedience to be a very consistent block but if decks like I Am Bread's Angel Party become more prevalent I could see a case for running Unsuccessful main deck and changing Profane Daughters to Supercillious Scribes who can grab any of my evil battle winners from reserve (or even a good card from reserve if I already have an EE battle winner in hand). I kept Profane Daughters over Supercillious Scribes for Delivered (with her I have 6 characters to play Delivered on) and the fact I have found the good Dominant restrict on her to be very helpful once she blocks. Also if you want to deck stack after IJ I could see False Prophecy being main deck instead of Balaam’s Disobedience.
Mayhem+FW is still a really good block. Fire Foxes is solid. Scattered, Unsuccessful, and False Prophecy are all good. I can play any of the enhancements in the deck and reserve on Emperor Nero so he is more than just an afterthought to be able to use Denarius and especially with big banding chains being a thing he often has a chance to get initiative and being protected from Dominants in that situation makes him a good block choice. I am not a fan of splashing cards in a deck if they just do one thing and I see that happening a lot with Nero in defenses he does not belong in just to be able to play Denarius. He really does fit here fine.
So yeah it is a small defense but it gets the job done at the end of the day in my experience. With how fast this deck seeks to win the game only a few blocks are needed and this deck has 6 potential blocks not to mention situational blocks like Nero against a lone hero and Lying Prophet against a lone prophet.
The biggest problem with this defense is that The Cross is seeing more and more play and all the battle winners are CBN except Unsuccessful. However, I have ways around The Cross which I will explain in a minute. I do think there is a chance the defense may need to change if The Cross really becomes super prevalent. But that is an easy enough shift to make. The only problem is it likely will make Emperor Nero more of an awkward card since unless you are running meek LS's most solid gray battle winners are CBN. There is however the High Priest Annanias, Goliath, KoT, Outsiders (Black/Gold), Foreign Wives, and Nero defense with Plot to Kill and Lurking that could work in this deck and is probably what I would shift to if I feel The Cross is becoming too much of a problem. I am not at that point quite yet though.
Other Factors-
For soul gen Awake/Imitate, The Amalekite’s Slave, and Majestic Heavens provide just enough soul gen in my experience. Part of me thinks Hopper LS would be a good add but I do not really want to cut anything for it.
The greatest problem for this deck is its vulnerability to counters. Counters are prevalent in this meta. The Cross is a big problem for this deck since it shuts down Awesome Things, Angel of the Lord, and shuts down most of my blocks due to the EE package mostly being CBN. Coliseum is bad too for the defense. Golden Calf is very bad for this deck as well as it shuts down Jeshua and my plethora of Territory Class cards. Noah I have found is a very important way to deal with these counters. He can get rid of all of them with his shuffle and then he is a solid rescue after dealing with the counter. Achim nerfs The Cross which is great. Josiah is a sneaky way to deal with Golden Calf and Coliseum. I also like to get Three Woes early and slap it down as evil as a way to deal with The Cross, Storehouse since that nerfs IJ, and other pains like Moses (CoW). There are a lot of ways to get Three Woes in this deck.
Despite this weakness to counters I have been surprised by the resiliency of the deck. I definitely do have some ways to deal with counters but not many. That being said due to the consistency of the deck I tend to have a way to get to a counter solution fairly well. Also I have varied non TC ways to get to these counter solutions with cards like Zion, Crowd’s Choice, and The Angel of the Winds. I have found with careful play I can at times get around counters but they are a problem for this deck without a doubt.
Continued below...
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