Golgotha Article

GOLGOTHA - PLACE OF A SKULL
by Bryon Hake

There are a lot of things to like about Redemption: The quick play, the balance of initiative vs. strength and toughness, the variety of strategies and deck options, the sneaky ways you can lose battles and still unravel your opponent's plans, etc.

Of course my favorite parts of Redemption are the meaningful aspects to the game: - heroes play offense, attempting to rescue the lost at any personal cost - little-known heroes can make a huge difference in expanding the kingdom of God

- game play aspects of cards often reflect the Bible stories the cards portray

The last point is illustrated in the Golgotha site from The Disciples:

Golgotha White Site SPECIAL ABILITY: Anytime during battle, you may place a skull icon card from hand or discard pile on Golgotha: N.T. characters of that brigade cannot be ignored. Return that card to its previous location at end of turn. SCRIPTURE: And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull. Matthew 27:33 CARD NUMBER: 27 of 115

ARTIST: James Tissot

If you read the reference on the card, or are already familiar with the reference, you will likely notice that the special ability contains a play on words with the meaning of the word Golgotha: place of a skull.

But there is more significance in the special ability than a minor manipulation of a phrase.

Of all the places in all of the Bible, there is one place that could not and cannot be ignored. It is the pivotal point on the planet, and it held the hinge-event of history. The disciples and the women who followed Jesus wished it could have been avoided. There Mary, Jesus' mother, had her soul pierced with grief as with a sword. Jesus himself wished that he could skip that place. But Golgotha and the evil people there could not be bypassed. In obedience to His Father, Jesus went and faced the place of a skull, and the evil that He knew it held. Golgotha was the place where Jesus fulfilled his purpose for coming to earth in the first place.

In fact, God planned what would happen at that place way back in Genesis. When God declared the consequences of the sin in the garden of Eden, God promised that Eve's Descendant would someday crush Satan's head, but that Satan would strike His heel. It was at Golgotha where both of those happened.

Jesus did not avoid the evil at Golgotha, but faced it and endured it. And in Redemption, Golgotha makes evil characters similarly unavoidable. N.T. evil characters that match a brigade on the skull icon card (curse or evil enhancement) on Golgotha cannot be ignored.

Once Golgotha is set up, it is not that easy to avoid its effect. If you try to use DragonRaid or some other method to discard the evil card on Golgotha, the "anytime during battle" ability on Golgotha will allow your opponent to put that skull icon card right back on the site. It applies to N.T. evil characters owned by any player, so its effect is far-reaching, especially in multi-player.

Probably the simplest way to counter Golgotha is by discarding it or taking it (and not using it). This would be simple enough, except that there is a site in The Disciples with the following as its second sentence: "Protect sites in your territory from opponents' cards." Since that card also protects itself, it is going to be very difficult to get rid of Golgotha once that other site is in play.

With Golgotha and Ca..., er, that other new site, players who use N.T. evil characters will have little to fear from ignore abilities. Miriam, Widow, Zebulun, Watchful Servant, Jacob plus Reuben's Torn Clothes, and The Garden Tomb won't be able to stop N.T. evil characters from blocking, as soon as you have a skull icon card of matching brigade on Golgotha. And yes, a multi-color enhancement like Lying Unto God or Torment will grant all N.T. evil characters "cannot be ignored" status. However, since the benefit is granted only to N.T. evil characters, The Garden Tomb will continue to pester players who "splash" Old Testament evil characters like Uzzah, King of Tyrus, Philistine Garrison, and Women as Snares.

You probably have noticed that this "anti-ignore" ability is on a site that is white, the brigade most known for ignore abilities, and whose characters include two* of the Garden Tomb female heroes (*make that four once The Disciples set releases). This was done intentionally, to make the sites more well-rounded. A site is primarily useful if it is of a brigade your opponent is not using. But what if your opponent is using that brigade? Wouldn't it be helpful if the site had a special ability that countered an ability that is common in its brigade? All five sites in The Disciples do just that.

You have seen what the white site does. Here's a peek at the purple site:

Purple Site SPECIAL ABILITY: Each time an opponent uses a discard ability, you may something something.

Purple is known for its drawing and discard abilities. Early in testing, this purple site triggered each time an opponent used a draw ability, but it was changed to discard, so that it could also trigger on dominants like Angel of the Lord, Burial, Christian Martyr, and Destruction of Nehushtan. Purple's Authority of Christ is a very popular card, and it will trigger the special ability on this site. Purple also has discard abilities on Cast Out Demons, Glittering Sword, and others. Additionally, at least a half-dozen purple cards in The Disciples have a discard ability.

I'll leave you with a little game. See if you can guess the brigade colors on these site previews. One further clue: all the sites in The Disciples set are different brigades. For an extra challenge, see if you can figure out the references and the site titles for the first two cards.:

Guess my title guess-my-color Site SPECIAL ABILITY: Protect something from conversion. Something else. SCRIPTURE: something something they would have repented something Guess my title guess-my-color Site SPECIAL ABILITY: Protect something from shuffle by an opponent. Protect something from search abilities. SCRIPTURE: something something A prophet is not without honour, something

guess-my-color Site SPECIAL ABILITY: Protect something from capture and discard abilities on opponent's cards. Something else.

Aren't those sites something?