I was asked recently (I believe by doctoryes) if I had a modified Human starter deck similar to the modified Kej deck I made awhile back. I took this as an indication that people are still interested in that kind of thing, and got working. I’ve done the same thing as last time: any card I take out will be replaced by a common. First, let’s look at the original Human starter.

The Original Human Starter Deck

Origin Deck: 40 cards, 4 Order 3 Life

2 Border Guard 2L

This guy is a decent enough card, especially in a conqueror deck like this, but is designed for defensive play, making him much more of a Silica card. Replaced with Landing Party.

2 Fleet Admiral Velazquez (Adaptable Strategist) 4O 2L

I used to dislike Velazquez a great deal, because his conqueror ability can be dangerous more often than helpful. Recently I’ve taken a liking to him, because his 3 Leadership opens up many military opportunities, especially with Veteran Leader. Stay.

3 General Infantry 1O 1L

Many people dislike this card, with fairly good reason. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that Humans have many, many better cards for industrial influence. Replaced with 3x Courier.

2 Gorvinium Power Module 4O 1L

This card is a game winner, as are many other jump boost cards. Usually used to speed up your cruisers, it can also be used on scouts on a map with many long jumps. Increasing by 1 to 3x.

2 Harilon Manufacturing Center 3O 1L

This card is just amazing. Even without any industrial boosts, it lets you produce a cruiser every third turn instead of every 4. With a +1 production boost, you can build one every second turn. Yes please!

2 Ion Arc Scout 2O 3L

I actually prefer this card to Phoenix Transport, but I wanted to get a bit more power into the deck so I shifted this out for 2 Human Cruisers.

2 Ion Matrix 3O

A great defensive card mid- to late-game. Stay.

2 Lap of Luxury 3O

Not the best Destiny producer in the world, especially in a deck without cheap speed boosters or remote conquering cards like Probe. Replaced with Metropolis.

3 Magnetic Shielding 1O

Always been good to have defensive cards early game, especially with all the cheap beam boosts out there. However, as the Vanguard ability may be a bit too complex and invisible to new players, I have replaced this with 3x Aegis Shields.

2 Mark of Order

The deck that I’m designing is definitely high Order, so this guy stays.

3 Merchant Mariners 1O

My second favorite of the one-cost conquerors, this guy is one of the best turn one plays in the game (in my opinion). Boosted by 1 to 4x.

3 National Prosperity 2O

A great industry booster, especially against non-conqueror decks, and con be used to fortify as well. Stay.

2 Nomadic Horde 3L

My deck has enough Influence cards, and the Tech progression encourages Order early game, when this would be most useful. Replaced with Aegis Engineers.

2 Phoenix Transport 3O 2L

More power is always good, and the Lifeboat ability can be essential to grab that planet your just HAVE to have. Stay.

2 Propagandist 1O 2L

A very nice Destiny earner in a conqueror deck, and a cheap voter to boot. Stay.

2 System Assignment 1L

My least favorite card in the original deck, this card forces you to play defensively and loses you the offensive edge. Replaced with Baby Boom.

2 United Purpose 2L

A great card in draft, a bad card in constructed. This deck does need Destiny, however, so I replaced it with 2 Archaeologists.

2 Veteran Leader 3L

One of my favorite new cards. It always boosts the target hero’s Leadership by an odd number (1 or 3), which is perfect for both the heroes in the deck we’re constructing.

The New Deck

Now that we’re done switching in and out cards, let’s look at what we’ve got.

Modified Starter: 42 Cards, 4O 3L

2 Aegis Engineers 3O
3 Aegis Shields 1O
2 Archaeologist 2L
2 Baby Boom 2O 3L
3 Courier 1O 1L
2 Fleet Admiral Velazquez (Adaptable Strategist) 4O 2L
3 Gorvinium Power Module 4O 1L
2 Harilon Manufacturing Center 3O 1L
2 Human Cruiser 3O 3L
2 Ion Matrix 3O
2 Landing Party 2O 1L
2 Mark of Order 
4 Merchant Mariners 1O
2 Metropolis 2O
3 National Prosperity 2O
2 Phoenix Transport 3O 2L
2 Propagandist 1O 2L
2 Veteran Leader 3L

Since I find that 45 card decks are a nice, comfortable number, I’m going to add one more of each of the best cards in the deck: Landing Party, Metropolis and Archaeologist. This increase is OPTIONAL, keeping it to 42 slightly increases your chances of drawing Harilon early.

Total deck: 45 cards, 4O (84) 3L (47)

Discussion

Q: What is this deck good at?

A: Everything. It has 5 Destiny boost cards, 6 Production boost cards, 4 ships, and 8 cards that increase your influence on the board. It also has lots of defensive cards useable both early and late game. The Humans in Star Chamber are known as all-rounders, and this deck is the epitome of that idea.

Q: What techs do I take? In what order?

A: Focus on Order early game. Only 6 cards out of 45 go to 3L, and none are essential to early game play.

Q: If I can win any of the three ways with this deck, which should I try for?

A: Whatever your opponent is ignoring. If your opponent is playing a military powerhouse, be conservative with ship movement and use lots of influence and defensive cards to hold him off for the Destiny/Political victory. If he’s going Political, get your production rolling and crank out the cheap cruisers. It’s also possible to win 2/3 categories in each vote with this deck, but don’t try to be clever. Just vote for what will actually help you win.

Q: What’s with Baby Boom?

A: If you’re cranking the cruisers, you don’t have time for building citizens. This card gives you another alternative.

Q: What is this deck’s greatest weakness?

A: Lack of de-modifier cards like Forbiddance. Without them, opponents can avoid you with Infinity Drive, destroy you with weapon mods up the wazoo, etc. If you’re having problems with these things, I’d recommend removing the 2 Ion Matrixes and replacing them with Bergauldt Rays or Forbiddance.

Q: Veteran Leader is awesome at war! When should I vote for it?

A: Probably not a good idea to vote for war against any Entropy race, or any deck packing Infinity Drive. Otherwise, war can be very helpful. Also, if you’re closing in on an enemy’s homeworld with Velasquez and a nice fleet, by all means vote for War and hit Velasquez with Vet Leader. 6 Leadership is always great, and the activated ability isn’t too shabby either.

Q: What do I play Courier on?

A: If you have Courier in your opening hand, the traditional build is 2 scouts 1 cit turn one, and leave your Hero behind on the first move. This lets you play Courier on the hero turn two and lets you spread in three directions. In general, play Courier on cards that don’t have Influence already, like the conquerors. Landing Parties are also nice targets, since they can’t be bombed. DO NOT try to vote with Courier influence, it doesn’t work that way.