The Robin Hood snipe deck serves as the premier starter deck in Origins TCG, built to break enemy barriers through direct chip damage and board-wide board clears. In Origins TCG, games take place across three distinct locations where both players place units simultaneously into three spaces per lane. Destroying one enemy barrier resets its shield from 20 to 40 health, requiring you to break a second, fresh barrier to secure victory. The Robin Hood archetype excels at forcing direct barrier damage via the Snipe keyword, ignoring opposing blockers to close out games before late-game engines can stabilize.
Robin Hood Leader Mechanics and Core Decklist
In Origins TCG deckbuilding, every deck features 1 Legendary card and 12 base cards running two copies each, creating a total deck size of 25 cards. Robin Hood functions both as your playable 8-cost unit and as an active passive commander from the very start of the match.
- Robin Hood (Legendary Leader): Costs 8 mana with 4 Power and 4 Health. Alignment is Good. His passive adds a 0-cost Bullseye to your starting hand (discounting the standard 1-cost spell by 1 mana). When played onto the board, his On Reveal effect deals 2 damage to all enemy units, paired with Snipe 3.
- Bagheera: 1-cost 1/2 unit. On Reveal: gains +1/+1 (becoming a 2/3) when deployed into the middle space of a location. Some playtest versions feature a +2/+2 middle buff.
- Itsy Bitsy Spider: 2-cost 3/2 vanilla aggressive body used for early trades.
- Scarecrow: 2-cost 1/2 unit. On Reveal: draws one card from your deck to cycle your hand.
- Golden Egg: 3-cost 0/1 unit. On Death: hatches into a 5/5 Golden Goose token on that space.
- Black Knight: 3-cost 2/2 unit. On Reveal: deals 2 damage directly to the enemy unit placed across from him.
- Wicked Stepsisters: 3-cost 3/4 vanilla unit that acts as an early defensive stat check.
- Christopher Robin: 4-cost 5/4 high-power unit without additional card text.
- Maid Marian: 4-cost 3/4 unit featuring Snipe 2.
- Sir Galahad: 5-cost 4/3 unit. On Reveal: gives all other allied units +1/+1.
- Paul Bunyan: 7-cost 10/10 massive finisher body designed to slam uncontested lanes.
- Bullseye (Spell): 1-cost fast spell that deals 3 damage to any character.
- Axe Throw (Spell): 2-cost fast spell that deals 4 damage to any character.
Core Keywords and Combat Rules
Combat in Origins TCG resolves automatically from left to right across the board. Understanding how mechanics interact during simultaneous resolution determines whether your attacks reach the barrier or stall out.
| Keyword or Mechanic | Exact Rule Interaction | Tactical Deck Application |
|---|---|---|
| Snipe (X) | When this unit attacks, it deals X damage directly to the enemy barrier at that location, even if blocked by an opposing character. | Marian (Snipe 2) and Robin Hood (Snipe 3) chip down secondary barriers without requiring an empty lane. |
| Reveal Priority | The player with priority reveals cards and activates On Reveal effects first. Priority strictly alternates between players every single round. | Hold Robin Hood's On Reveal board wipe for turns where your opponent reveals first, catching newly deployed units before they trade. |
| Simultaneous Turns | Both players lock in their mana spending and placement at the same time before resolving left to right. | Predict lane commitments to avoid walking small units into opposing heavy hitters. |
| Barrier Reset | The first barrier destroyed at 20 health resets to 40 reinforced health. | Never chase the 40-health lane; pivot immediately to breaking an untouched 20-health flank lane. |
| On Death | Effects that trigger when a unit's health reaches zero during combat or via removal. | Target your own Golden Egg with Bullseye on deployment if you need to pop a 5/5 body instantly. |
Early Curve and Mulligan Strategy
Players begin round one with 2 mana, gaining +1 maximum mana each turn. You receive exactly one mulligan phase at the start of the match to replace unwanted high-cost cards.
- Hard mulligan for low drops: Toss Paul Bunyan, Robin Hood, Sir Galahad, and removal spells back into the deck.
- Prioritize turn-one stability: Look for Itsy Bitsy Spider or Bagheera. If you hold Bagheera, position him in the middle space of your chosen location to trigger his stat buff.
- Establish card velocity: Keep Scarecrow to cycle through your deck on turn two. Because hand sizes deplete rapidly when deploying low-cost cards, drawing extra cards early maintains resource parity against control lists.
- Bank the free Bullseye: Robin Hood grants a 0-cost Bullseye at the start of the match. Resist the urge to fire this spell on turn one against harmless tokens. Save it to eliminate high-value engine pieces, such as Sandman or draw engines, or to clear a blocker in front of Maid Marian.
Mid-Game Board Control and Lane Pivoting
Between rounds three and six, the primary goal is locking down one lane while setting up the kill on a second. Because games require two destroyed barriers, focusing all resources into a single zone leads to a stalled board when that barrier resets to 40 health.
Maximizing Snipe and Removal Sequences
Maid Marian provides guaranteed value against defensive walls. Her Snipe 2 triggers during her attack swing regardless of whether the blocker survives or kills her. If an enemy deploys a 4-health defender across from her, combine Marian’s lane attack with a targeted Axe Throw or Bullseye before combat begins. Removing the defender allows her base 3 attack power to strike the barrier alongside her 2 Snipe damage, dealing 5 total damage to the target zone.
Board Swarms and Sir Galahad Buffs
When your board state has two or three surviving units across adjacent lanes, Sir Galahad swings tempo. Playing Galahad on turn five grants +1/+1 across all other active allies, pulling units like Wicked Stepsisters or Golden Goose out of range of enemy 3-damage and 4-damage spells. Always sequence card drops properly: if you play Marian and Galahad in the same turn, play Marian first so Galahad's On Reveal applies to her upon entering the field.
End-Game Finishers: Robin Hood vs. Paul Bunyan
Closing the match depends on tracking which lane can reach lethal first.
Paul Bunyan represents 10 raw damage for 7 mana. He functions best when placed into an opposing lane that your opponent has abandoned or where their defenders have been wiped out by previous trades. A single unblocked swing from Paul Bunyan removes half of a fresh 20-health barrier.
Robin Hood arrives on turn eight as the ultimate reset tool. His On Reveal deals 2 damage to every enemy unit across all three locations. Against swarm archetypes that flood lanes with low-health bodies—such as Queen of Hearts zombie tokens or Three Little Pigs boards—Robin Hood clears the opposing board entirely. If you have reveal priority, deploy him to execute weak tokens; if your opponent reveals first, his 2-damage arrow volley will strike the units they just deployed, nullifying their turn investment before resolving his Snipe 3 swing.
Community Matchups and Tournament Tech
Origins TCG playtests and early competitive community tournaments (such as the Crimson Cup) highlight clear strengths and vulnerabilities for the Robin Hood deck:
- Vs. Swarm and Token Decks (Queen of Hearts / Legion of the Dead): Highly favorable matchup. Robin Hood's On Reveal board wipe and Bullseye single-target removal hard-counter go-wide token boards. Conserve your 0-cost Bullseye to snipe key buff units like Glinda or Kanga.
- Vs. Big Body and Ramp Decks (Three Not So Little Pigs / Mowgli): Even to unfavorable matchup. High-health bodies can absorb 3-damage spells and trade cleanly into Marian and Stepsisters. Use Golden Egg to trade into big threats, and force damage through using Snipe rather than contesting raw stats head-on.
- Vs. Spell and Control Decks (Merlin / Van Helsing): Favorable if played aggressively. Control lists look to drag games out to turns eight and nine to cast expensive board resets like Forbidden Knowledge or Obliterate. Curve out aggressively with Huck Finn, Stepsisters, and Marian to break the first barrier before turn five, forcing the control player onto defense.
Origins TCG Robin Hood Deck FAQs
Does Snipe deal damage if the attacking unit is destroyed during the clash?
Yes. Snipe activates as part of the attack declaration against the barrier at that location. Even if the opposing defending unit deals lethal counter-damage to your sniper, the printed Snipe value hits the barrier.
Can you destroy the same barrier twice to win the game?
Yes, but it is rarely optimal. The first barrier destroyed at 20 health resets to 40 health. Dealing 40 additional damage to the same lane takes significantly more resources than pivoting your units to deal 20 damage to an untouched flank lane.
Why does the free Bullseye sometimes cost 1 mana in my hand?
Robin Hood's passive ability grants a copy of Bullseye with its cost reduced by 1 at the start of the match. Any additional copies of Bullseye drawn naturally from your 24-card deck retain their original 1-mana casting cost.
How does turn priority work with Robin Hood's board wipe?
Turn priority alternates each round between players regardless of who is ahead. When your opponent holds priority, their units reveal first. Robin Hood's On Reveal triggers when his card flips, dealing 2 damage to the units your opponent just placed during that turn.
