Chess Spurs

published May 29, 2016 | | |
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Western Chivalry - Santa Clara Sheriff 2 1 0
"...And Behold, an Ashen Horse..." 2 0 5

jordan caldwell 374

Round-robin'd this neat little deck in a small 5-person Deputy tournament in Burlingame, roping 2nd place.

The sheer card-cycle potential and it's nearly unrestricted movement capability combine to make a deck that, punching in on the the Morgan timeclock, gets rolling pretty durn quickly creating it's own opportunities to outmaneuver and confound your slower two-footed foes all the while biding time to put together the cards you need to finish the game. In style! Playing a deck like this reminds me that Doomtown is simply a superior (if less popular) game in terms of character, mechanics, and strategy, as compared to other LCGs out on the cattle market.

Before the curtain rose, I was running 9's instead of 8's trying to get Wendy's Teethkickers to work, and finding that I didn't have enough money (and thus time) to do what I wanted to do: Have fun joy-riding around Gomorra! Then one day Maggie Harris showed up sporting a shiny pair of Espuelas, teethkicked out the 9's, and the fun started flowing out of the Stables faster than Doris Powell could bloodlet a pox boil.

It fielded four aggressive decks: an Oddities Shotgun-twister (Ron), a 108 Rabbit Rose-flusher (David), and a Desolation Sun-n'-gun (Drew), losing only to the formidable Warden Blockade (Rich) which stormed the tourney undefeated.

That said, I consider this deck to be in need of further tuning (because I think it might have some horsepower against Slide - though this is an untested speculation), so any suggestions or feedback is appreciated.

If you'd like to step up your game mastering the movement rules - even inasfaras trying to view shootouts as merely an extension of them (!) - I recommend playing this deck against your friendly neighborhood meta or riding it through your local OP Kit tourney. Did I mention it's really fun to play?

5 comments
Jun 08, 2016 Kahkalack

As a slide player (cue the hate), I think that there are a couple options that would help against a slide deck. You don't have to do all of these (or any for that matter), but I've had success with slide and these are things I wouldn't be happy to see hitting the other side of the table.

1) Run 1 epidemic laboratory off-value. Along with Hunter Protections, they can really make it easier for you to keep up in CP.

2) Instead of either Doris or Warren, run Max Baine as an off-value dude. He's a huge INF bomb that can keep you in the game and give you an extra CP.

3) I've never had much luck with Rope & Ride, and since it's off-value already, you could pretty much replace it with anything. I'd suggest Election Day Slaughter, Establishin' Who's in Charge, or possibly even This is a Holdup. All three are going to really put slide decks into a rough spot.

Jun 08, 2016 Kahkalack

As a slide player (cue the hate), I think that there are a couple options that would help against a slide deck. You don't have to do all of these (or any for that matter), but I've had success with slide and these are things I wouldn't be happy to see hitting the other side of the table.

1) Run 1 epidemic laboratory off-value. Along with Hunter Protections, they can really make it easier for you to keep up in CP.

2) Instead of either Doris or Warren, run Max Baine as an off-value dude. He's a huge INF bomb that can keep you in the game and give you an extra CP.

3) I've never had much luck with Rope & Ride, and since it's off-value already, you could pretty much replace it with anything. I'd suggest Election Day Slaughter, Establishin' Who's in Charge, or possibly even This is a Holdup. All three are going to really put slide decks into a rough spot.

Jun 09, 2016 jordan caldwell

Doris Powell is a powerhouse in this deck - I can usually ramp up 3 CP with her without much trouble (often simply by booting home a dude with both Mustang and Espuelas and Tradin') - ideally after playing cat and mouse a little bit (ie. throwing a bait shootout, etc), then dropping her for a quick and likely unstoppable burst in control.

That said, I agree that the two Rope and Ride's are the "extra" space (I really really like that card and even consider this deck to be an ideal vehicle for it) - but I would add Arvid Mardh to the "extra" list before Warren Graves (because Legendary Holster is hot right now, as has been mentioned).

You are right to point at that the deck is a little control light - curse of the 7's and 8's which are otherwise strong values for almost any deck. There is a Hunter Protections in there though, and combined with the deck's 17 dudes and superior maneuverability, the deck takes good advantage of it.

I don't think that Epidemic Laboratory is a good choice as there are only two scientists, but after reading your comment I will strongly consider Max Baine - there are 3 ranch's after all.

Cheers!

Jun 10, 2016 Orris

Played two games with this deck recently. It's really nice and fun to play. Espuelas is something this deck was waiting for. I like that A Piece of the Action works well with many dudes like James Ghetty and Warren Graves.

Jun 11, 2016 Devogenes

It's hard to beat this deck even if you manage to outpower it considerably. Slippery.

You're slippery, Caldwell.