Desolation Row Gencon 2015 Top 4

published Aug 11, 2015 | | |
Card draw simulator
Draw: 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 all Reset
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

Vitzh 36

The Desolation Row Deck I piloted to top 4 at Gencon 2015. Starting posse as shown, except against clown or Deedslide I would trade out Allie for Fred.

Against shooters starting with two studs was incredible. Opponents will usually debuff or remove a single stud and so can I. Having the backup stud in that position was rather important.

Testing showed that Peacemaker was a problem for a similar reason. As shootout debuffs didn't work the only recourse the deck initially had was to Pistol Whip opponents home. This led to my own inclusion of both Peacemakers as well as swapping out Make 'em Sweat for Unprepared.

I'm not super happy about the second Yan Li's, B&B and or Sanford. B&B and Sanford are both really solid for the deck but are sadly off value. I would prefer to replace the second Yan Li with another on value one of but I didn't like any of my other options there.

5 comments
Aug 11, 2015 thaidiesky

I like adjustments you made from your other version. How did Bottom Dealin' work out for you? That card always bites me. Congratulations on the top 4 finish.
Aug 11, 2015 Doowa

Congratz on the fine placement. Clearly the deck works even with the notions you have... Why not run 4s instead of 2s then. You can still keep a few Peacemakers and 1 Bottom Dealin' + Fred Aims IMO and the rest is replaced by equal or better options at 4-value, no? Just an idea since you already have 6 cards at 4 :)
Aug 11, 2015 mplain

How did you deal with clown control? You only have 1x Ambush to enforce shootouts, and surely they have some way to deal with Fred Aims, don't they?
Aug 11, 2015 Rancord

Nightmare at noon will be evil for your starting dudes, until they get peacemaker
Aug 11, 2015 Vitzh

@thaidiesky Thanks! Bottom Dealin' was consistently better than Coachwhip! for a shoot out cheating resolution. The deck has a decent amount of off values(4s, 10s) which certainly helps. Still, I've been bitten by both it and This’ll Hurt in the Mornin’ in the past.

@Doowa Funnily enough 4s used to be ran instead of 2s. I didn't like the goods available to me there and the Dudes were mostly sidegrades. Though, I was still running 4 clubs at 2 then. 4 cheating punishment cards wasn't enough.

@mplain Mostly it's a long game. If I win lowball they can't really prevent Fred from starting the job and the deck should have good odds of winning lowball. Once the board has stabilized, I work towards putting them in check or finding other ways to force fights. At that point the Desolation Row job is also a great way to pull booted people out of town square.

@Rancord Oh yeah. I can try to switch out Make the Smart Choice for a single A Fight They'll Never Forget but I'm not sold on that being a good solution.