For New Redemption Players

who have played Magic: the Gathering

Please share this information with anyone you know who plays Magic: the Gathering:

Many people have converted from playing Magic: the Gathering to Redemption, for several reasons.  Redemption is more fun and less expensive.  It is easier to collect and has a much better point to it.  Redemption is based on the characters, artifacts, sites, and attributes from the Bible.  It has been available since 1995.  An original set and 4 expansion sets have been printed.  New 2nd Edition Starter Decks have been released.  So far, there are over 800 different cards in the game (and growing).  It is a superb game.  It has an incredible amount of variety in deck construction and plays very well even with a starter deck.  The game is growing and builds in complexity and excitement with each new expansion set.  I heartily recommend it (in case you hadn't already discovered that).
  
Following is an attempt to compare the game mechanics of Redemption to those of Magic the Gathering:
 
In Magic, you try to decrease your opponent's life points from 20 to zero.  In Redemption, you try to be the first to rescue 5 Lost Souls (or 7 in a long game).
  
In Magic, you basically play one army, with which you attack and defend.  In Redemption, you play two different armies: a hero army and an evil army.  On your turn you use your hero army to try to rescue a lost soul.  On your opponent's turn, you use your evil army to block your opponent's hero army.
  
In Magic, there are 5 different "colors".  In Redemption there are 7 different hero colors (called brigades), and 6 different evil brigades.
  

In Magic there is a "casting cost" to play a card.  In Redemption, there is no casting cost.
  

Both Magic and Redemption can be played 2-player or multi-player.

In Magic and Redemption there are #/# abilities for strength and toughness.
  
Both Magic and Redemption have special */* cards whose abilities vary by situation.
  
Both Magic and Redemption have Artifact cards.

  
There are "first strike" cards in Redemption, which is a term also seen in Magic.

There are also many unique abilities in Redemption, which are described in the rulebook.
   

Here are some comments from a former Magic: the Gathering player:

"I am used to playing magic the gathering, but my wife and other church
friends have aversions to it. I understand why, just couldn't find another
game out there that was fun and morally fit for me. I have now found
Redemption.
   
"I was a heavy magic player, also another little known one called ultimate
combat. Magic is very versatile and far more complex ( you have over 14,000
cards to use for decks, if you can afford them). I have been playing
Redemption for a couple weeks and found it to be simple and direct. I only
have a couple hundred cards so far but I love the principle. I am also
recruiting the youth of my church to play with me. Redemption is like a tag
team game. You have good and bad guys in your deck. Hero's and villains.
Hero's attack to try to rescue a "lost soul" card. The villains of course are
there to prevent that. There are hundreds of variations in enhancement cards
to play on your hero or villain to pump them up, beat them down, and remove
them entirely. It is very strategic and worthwhile. And it is cheaper right
now than MTG . . ."