NOTE: Depending on the response, I may or may not replace Lionheart with Hashashin in the Dark Ages contest.
Hashashin
The Crusaders had come, and only the Man on the Mountain had a plan to stop their advance once and for all. Abducting several talented warriors from the cities of the Holy Land, he drugged them, and when they awoke, they found themselves in a garden paradise, with fountains of flowing milk and honey. Dozens of beautiful women tended to their every need -- and desire -- for hours. Then, they were drugged again, and brought to the Mountain.
Told that they had been given a glimpse of heaven -- and that more awaited them if they completed God's work -- the warriors were trained in the arts of poison and pain. Success meant a dose of hashish -- another tiny taste of heaven, they were told. Failure meant a quick death. They were the Crusader's nemesis, called assassin's in the enemy tongue -- but in their own, they were named after their personal heaven: the hashashin.
One such warrior was a man of faith -- much more faith than a mere mustard seed. That man found that the Man on the Mountain himself couldn't stop him. The Crusader army had no chance. One by one, fortified by the essence of the Mountain itself, he strode through their defenses, slew their leaders, and escaped virtually unscratched.
Mission by mission, his belief in his own glorious future grew. With every dose of toxic death he left burbling in his victim's throats, his faith blossomed. And when he finally died -- at the footsteps of the Pope himself -- his inner surety manifested himself in a way that he could never have expected.
It was not heaven that awaited him -- it was Godhood. The powers of the Mountain and the toxins of his profession infused via his faith into very fibers of his being, the Hashashin introduced himself to his new world the only way he knew how: by bringing death, slow and painful, to all who crossed him.
718 718 718 718 718 718 71a 71a 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 77c 77c 77i 77i 77k 77k 77k 77k 77k 77k
Hashashin is an 'edgy' god, like Divine Glory or Octane. His trick is simple and overwhelming: he stacks dozens of poison counters on you while stacking hundreds of HP on himself. With enough Protect Artifacts to cover his weapon, his shield, and his pillars -- and no creatures or other permanents whatsoever -- he mocks attempts at control. And with potentially over a thousand HP due to Granite Skin, he's almost impossible to outrush if you don't get a very strong start on him.
That said, his weaknesses are equally obvious: if he doesn't draw his Protect Artifacts, his limited supply of permanents make even a dash of PC very effective. If you can deal enough damage to get him to start spamming Granite Skins before they're terribly effective, you can drastically reduce their power. And quanta denial in any form is a serious blow to his defenses.
On top of all of that, he has only 23 turns to kill you, so adequate healing will lead to an easy deckout, particularly if you pack Purify and/or Arsenic doesn't come out early.
Is Hashashin a very tough God? Yes. Is he impossible? Hardly. Would he be a fun and cool addition to the pool of False Gods? You decide.
