Where there's a mill, there's a way, or something like that. "Mill" is a strategy in card games that seeks to eliminate your opponents' resources straight from their deck. In Redemption, a player doesn't lose when they run out of cards in deck so mill has never really been considered a top competitive strategy, but with the extra love the theme has gotten in recent sets, it has progressed from unplayable to casually competitive while remaining a fun and appealing strategy all the way through. This deck was designed by Jayden Alstad, a multi-National tournament winner of several categories.
See bottom for recommended cards you can purchase separately to help boost this deck’s theme!
DominantsSon of God (I/J)
New Jerusalem (I/J+)
Angel of the Lord (I/J)
Pillar of Fire (L)
The gods of Egypt (IR)
Murderous Command (K)
Lost Souls
O.T. Only (FoM)
Wicked (FoM)
Oppressed (LoC)
Famine (IR)
Deck Discard (LR) (PoC)
Dread (K)
Foreigner (PoC)
Artifacts/Covenants/Curses
Samaritan Water Jar (GoC)
Manna (PoC)
Marriage Covenant (LoC)
Fortresses/Sites/Cities
Raamses (FoM)
Pithom (Roots)
Wilderness of Sinai (L)
Dual-Alignment Cards
Pharaoh's Daughter (FoM)
Slaves in Egypt (FoM)
Heroes
Amram, Moses' Father (Roots)
The Chosen Warriors (IR)
Moses, Friend of God (PoC)
Jonah (PoC)
Zipporah (IR)
Eldad (IR)
Nashon, the Blacksmith / Nashon, the Oracle (LoC)
Hur (PoC)
Oholiab, the Engraver (IR)
Good Enhancements
Lost Child Found (GoC)
Steady till Sunset (IR)
The Exodus (PoC)
Plague of Hail (GoC)
Plague of Frogs (GoC)
Plague of Blood (PoC)
Evil Characters
Huge Egyptian (Roots)
Pharaoh Shishak (Roots)
Egyptian Wise Men (IR)
Egyptian Warden (IR)
The Dreaming Pharaoh (IR)
Egyptian Horsemen (K)
Captain Potiphar (IR)
Pharaoh's Baker (IR)
Pagan Sailors (PoC)
Evil Enhancements
Send for Egyptians (IR)
Cupbearer's Complaints (IR)
Pharaoh's Dream (IR)
Famished (IR)
Slave to Egypt (IR)
Reserve
Given Over to Egypt (Roots)
Pharaoh's Curse (K)
Egyptian Army (PoC)
Pharaoh's Cupbearer (IR)
Begging to Go Back (IR)
Gathering Soothsayers (K)
Egyptian Chariots (K)
Israelites Delivered (IR)
Four Horns (Roots)
Brother's Conflict (FoM)
Deck strategy and tips:
• OVERVIEW:
• In order for this strategy to work, your offense and defense will have roughly the same goal early in the game: mill as much of your opponent's deck as you can and maybe win some battles along the way. Even if your opponent gets a lead, you may be able to eliminate some key elements of their strategy in hopes that they don't win before running out of gas. "May" is a key word here though, as most of the milling is done through random discard, which guarantees that every game is going to be different and probably exciting as a result. Since most decks these days can access their resources quickly, one key to success with this deck is going to be activating as many abilities as you can each turn, which means banding, extra Artifact activations, side battles, bouncing cards for reuse, battle extension, and so on are going to be your friend. Because the focus is mill, that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for speed, so the name of the game here is going to be patience and attrition. When deciding to upgrade the deck, I would prioritize cards that add value and consistency without taking away from the mill aspect too heavily.
• THE OFFENSE:
• As alluded to in the Overview, use a lot of banding to get incremental deck discards. The longest built-in chain is Nahshon (can activate Manna, Given Over to Egypt, or Samaritan Water Jar) to Amram to Zipporah to Moses to Hur, which hits up to four cards with every attack. Other cards like Marriage Covenant, Israelites Delivered, and Pillar of Fire can be used to bring Heroes in after your opponent has blocked, which may keep them safer than a large initial band.
• Plague of Hail is the heaviest hitting mill effect in the offense, so we've included a few ways to maximize the punch. One way is to play Plague of Hail during battle to discard their top five and then follow it up with Lost Child Found to bounce it during battle for another use. Another way is to recycle PoH from discard pile with the Foreigner LS. Because a lot of the defense is built around the Genesis Egyptian themes, you'll want to Pharaoh's Daughter as an Evil Character in most cases in order to have fodder for PoH. Slaves in Egypt can be used the same way.
• Jonah doesn't fit the main brigade, so you do have to be mindful of "choose the rescuer" abilities, but he can use the Plagues and he does fit well in the mill theme because he can put your opponent's best cards back in their deck to be milled.
• Brother's Conflict can be pulled from Reserve with The Chosen Warriors and used in concert with your defense to cause some milling chaos and often win the battle in the process.
• THE DEFENSE:
• As with the offense, a lot of the defensive milling will happen through getting multiple characters involved in each battle. This is why the defense has a lot of banding and add to battle effects. A few of the characters have band abilities, but more often you'll probably want initiative to play some discard Enhancements before playing Send for Egyptians or Gathering Soothsayers to band in ECs with mill effects. Cupbearer's Complaints and Murderous Command can be used in a similar fashion without needing initiative.
• Pagan Sailors will help alongside Nahshon to get extra Artifact activations. Normally you'll want to activate an Artifact with a mill effect, but later in the game it may be useful to band or add Pagan Sailors into battle and activate Four Horns. Once your opponent begins to run out of cards to mill, shuffling everything back into their deck can be the reset button needed to continue getting value from your mill effects. Pagan Sailors does not count as Egyptian anywhere except in play, so be sure to put it down before trying to band it in.
• In most cases it will be best to save Murderous Command for pulling Egyptian Army from Reserve and adding it to battle directly, or via Pharaoh's Baker, for a big mill, but do be aware that Egyptian Army does ruin your unity for Four Horns. Once you get your one use from Egyptian Army, Plague of Hail is a great option for restoring your Pale Green unity.
• You will almost always want to use Raamses as a Site to get the mill effect. Combined with the Deck Discard LS and Lost Child Found to bounce Raamses, you get to mill four cards in one fell swoop. Any other cards to reset Raamses or evacuate the Lost Soul will let you trigger another mill. The Fortress side of Raamses can be helpful in some cases, however, and is another option to retrieve Brother's Conflict from Reserve.
YTG recommends the below cards as other viable options for this deck’s theme for Type 1 constructed play. You can view and purchase them by searching for them here!
Egyptian Magicians
Moses, the Servant
Shipwreck
Three Woes
The Second Coming
Egypt
Foreign Horses
Revolt
Pharaoh's Throne Room (IR)
The Tabernacle (Promo)
Delivered
Lawless LS
Dull LS
Wanderer LS
Distressed LS
Forty Years
Angel of God
Harvest Time
Endless Treasures
The Deceiver
Covet LS
Mount Sinai
You Will Remain
Lurking