See bottom for recommended cards you can purchase separately to help boost this deck’s theme!
And check out these videos to find out more about this deck!
Deck overview and intro
Live online Local tournament gameplay using budget-free version of the deck
Dominants
Angel of the Lord (J Deck)
Bound in Battle (TtC)
New Jerusalem (I & J+)
Son of God (K Deck)
Forces Arise (TtC)
Perplexing Vision (TtC)
Vain Philosophy (J Deck)
Lost Souls
Lost Soul (Daniel 9:5) ''Covenant Breakers'' (PoC)
Lost Soul ''Hormah'' (Judges 1:17) (Roots)
Lost Soul ''Idolaters'' [Daniel 3:7] (TtC)
Lost Soul ''Contempt'' [Daniel 12:2] (TtC)
Lost Soul ''Stubborn'' [Daniel 9:6] (TtC)
Lost Soul (Psalm 78:22) “O.T. Only” (FoM)
Lost Soul (Jeremiah 22:3) “Foreigner” (PoC)
Artifacts/Covenants/Curses
Idol of Nebuchadnezzar (TtC)
Seventy Weeks (TtC)
Self-Made (TtC)
Fortresses/Sites/Cities
Kingdom of the Divine (TtC)
Babylon (TtC)
Dual-Alignment
Measured Mien (TtC)
Heroes
Abed-nego (Azariah) (PoC)
Daniel, the Treasured (TtC)
Daniel's Guardian (PoC)
Eternal Believers (TtC)
Gabriel, Sent by God (TtC)
Meshach (Mishael) (TtC)
Servants by the River (PoC)
Servants of the King (Sky) (TtC)
Shadrach (Hananiah) (TtC)
The Interceder (TtC)
Good Enhancements
Given from God (TtC)
Prayer over Power (TtC)
Rescued from Lions (TtC)
Seeking Compassion (TtC)
Shattered and Scorched (TtC)
Swift Beings (Roots)
Evil Characters
Arioch the Bodyguard (TtC)
Ashpenaz (TtC)
Babylonian Wise Men (TtC)
Belshazzar's 1,000 (TtC)
The King's Henchmen (TtC)
Nebuchadnezzar (PoC)
The Amalekites' Slave (Roots)
The Babylonian Merchants (PoC)
The Depraved (Crimson) (TtC)
The Overseer (TtC)
Evil Enhancements
Besieged by Babylon (TtC)
Bound Before the Fire (TtC)
Seized for Servitude (TtC)
Told to Take (TtC)
Reserve
Abomination of Desolation (TtC)
Cut Off (PoC)
Axe (TtC)
Destroying Bands (LoC)
Head of Gold (TtC)
Swift Horses (Roots)
Threatening Sword (II)
Benefits from Believing (TtC)
Four in the Fire (TtC)
Servants of the King (River) (TtC)
Deck strategy and tips:
OVERVIEW:
- Utilize the offensive flexibility of large protected bands or calculated solo rescues.
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Seek to land punishing defensive counters early to control the board and take the early advantage.
THE OFFENSE:
- Banding is a central component of the offense and can be very strong when you have layered protection from Daniel and Servants by the River, but sometimes solo attacks to get initiative will allow to you generate more value or have a better chance at a successful rescue. Daniel's "choose the blocker" ability can make solo rescues incredibly enticing.
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In order to keep the price tag on this deck at a reasonable amount, The Ancient of Days and Michael, the Guardian were not included in this version, but if you have them already or are willing to spend a little extra, they will greatly improve the strength and consistency of this deck. Michael, Chief Prince is a reasonable alternative if you only have that version, but I would prioritize acquiring The Ancient of Days and then Michael, the Guardian to really unlock this deck's full competitive potential.
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Meshach is one of the speed engines in this deck, so attempt to find him early. Even if you use his band ability instead of his draw, his protect ability is often very impactful, especially early in the game when players are trying their best to accumulate resources and locate their strongest tools.
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An early Gabriel can really do some damage throughout a game. Prioritize discarding Evil Enhancements that are strong against banding and Hero protection.
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Bound in Battle is a great way to undo some Evil Character abilities and prevent or undo their Evil Enhancements. You can also use it to band to your opponent's O.T. angels and borrow some of their offense if available.
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The Interceder is a very strong Hero to have to back up your attacks. After your opponent plays their battlewinner, you can add The Interceder to battle and then reserve it right away to negate their battlewinner and bring your original Hero(es) back.
THE DEFENSE:
- The defense is all about capturing. Most of your capture abilities only target Heroes, but some like The Babylonian Merchants, The Depraved, and The King's Henchmen can also capture Evil Characters. Utilize the ability to capture their defense if your offense needs a little support.
- The Babylonian Merchants, Idol of Nebuchadnezzar, and Babylon all create passive opportunities to interfere with your opponent and getting all of them online as early as possible will help secure an advantage. Remember that Merchants and Idol can both target characters in battle if triggered during the battle phase, and remember that Idol also triggers when Heroes and Territory Class Enhancements with "negated" in the ability are played in territory. Forces Arise is nice to use as a block with Abomination of Desolation in Reserve, but you can also use it early to activate Idol of Nebuchadnezzar and tutor The Babylonian Merchants.
- The Overseer is another character who can capture Heroes directly from battle if he's triggered during the battle phase. He is especially good when you use another Evil Character or Enhancement to capture a Hero not in battle and then use The Overseer to capture the Hero in battle. This puts your opponent in Special Initiative to negate The Overseer, which can be more challenging because an "interrupt the battle" ability won't work while The Overseer is sitting in territory. While you often want him in territory, don't underestimate his "negate Heroes" ability. You may need this to negate some protection, drawing, banding, etc. that your opponent did, even if he's not the strongest blocking option.
- Use Self-Made and Besieged by Babylon multiple times in one battle by playing them before using a draw ability, like Measured Mein or Told to Take to band in a Character that draws. If you add The Ancient of Days to the deck, you can also topdeck them and then play AoD to get them back right away and guarantee the repeat.
- Use Told to Take to capture a Hero in territory (or one of multiple Heroes in battle) and then band in Nebuchadnezzar (to toss their next Enhancement) and The Depraved (to capture their Heroes in battle). Because their next GE will be tossed, they won't be able to play anything in Special Initiative. Also works when you band with Destroying Bands or use Babylonian Wise Men instead of The Depraved.
- A similar effect with Nebuchadnezzar's toss can be achieved using Perplexing Visions to add The Depraved or Babylonian Wise Men to battle after blocking with Nebby and before they play any Enhancements.
- Use The Amalekites' Slave to set up a chump block with Ashpenaz (who can target captured characters in your opponent's territory), or to get Belshazzar's 1,000 to activate Idol of Nebuchadnezzar from deck, which lets you take Babylonian Wise Men from deck. Belshazzar's 1,000 can then band to Babylonian Wise Men to discard Amalekites' Slave and discard a Hero. Belshazzar's 1,000 can also be use to activate Abomination of Desolation from Reserve and create another difficult-to-deal-with instance of Special Initiative.
YTG recommends the below cards as other viable options for this deck’s theme. You can view and purchase them by searching for them here!
Michael, the Guardian (TtC)
The Ancient of Days (TtC)
Daniel's Prayer (Promo)
Faith Unbowed (LoC)
Crowd's Choice (GoC)
Three Woes (RoJ)
The Second Coming (CoW)
Lost Soul (Job 30:26) “Darkness” (RoJ)
Lost Soul ''Color Guard'' (Jeremiah 13:10) (Roots)
The Deceiver (RoJ)
Lost Soul (James 4:6/Proverbs 3:34) “Humble” (RoJ)
Lost Soul ''Lost Souls'' [Proverbs 2:16-17] (Roots)
Lost Soul (Hebrews 12:8) “Lawless” (CoW)
Raiders' Camp (2025 Promo)
Babylonian Siege Army (PoC)
Virgin Birth (PoC)
Conjurers (PoC)
Sheol (PoC)