Lulaslide (Hartlepool, UK Deputy Winner 30/04/16)

2016 Deputy

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
Modern Lulaslide	3	1	4

DoomDog 983

Strategy writeup and report is over at the Gomorra Gazette

Edit: I've added it here too as some people are having trouble accessing the Gazette.

This deck went undefeated over four games to win in a nine player Deputy Event in Hartlepool, UK on 30/04/16.

Playing this deck has only reinforced my opinions on landslide - it's a fun-draining snoozefest of a negative play experience for both me and my opponent. I ended up with this as I was expecting to face some strong Den of Thieves hexslingin' decks and at least one Hot Lead Flyin' Eagle Wardens that had all placed well at the UK Outlaw event. I'd thought up more fun decks that could handle HLF but not hexes, and vice-versa, and overall they didn't feel good enough. I reluctantly decided avoiding shootouts altogether was the way to go, and as I'd been wanting to try out the new experienced Lula Morgan, Morgan slide it was.

I wanted something that could benefit from Lula's Noon income boosting trait. My initial plan was to go entirely clubless and use Ol' Howard to grab the R&D Ranch to get 3GR/turn from it with Lula's help, but that took up too much of my starting stash to make any reasonable kind of posse. I settled on starting the Gomorra Lot Commission and using Ol Howard to grab The Joker's Smile. The former allowed me to dump deeds I couldn't afford early on from my hand for a quick cash boost, and the latter allowed me to run Heretic's Jokers in place of something like Buried Treasure to gain two ghost rock and draw a card whenever they showed up in my play hand.

Other than that it's fairly standard. Make money, spend it wisely, try to stay awake. If you like this kind of thing I'd suggest adding a Shotgun or two to deal with opponents' Allie Hensmans.

Here's what my semi-conscious brain can dredge up regarding the games:

Game 1 vs Peter's Law Dogs

This was the first time Peter had played against this kind of deck, and while he soon cottoned on to the fact that he had to sit on my deeds to limit my income and stop me from simply walking across the town square to take control of his deeds it was too late to save the game. Constance was busy handing out warrants but I blitzed out deeds and ended the game before the bounty hunters showed up to collect.

Game 2 vs Ste's Den of Thieves hucksters

I suspected Kidnappin's here so switched the starting posse around. Out went Lula and Ol' Howard, in came Jake Smiley and Androcles Brocklehurst. I was surprised to see Ste only starting three influence. I made an early mistake in sending Irving to buy an out-of-town deed while Ste had Maria with Shadow Walk and a Soul Blast, but I got lucky as he pulled a Puppet for the Soul Blast and only sent Irving home. Ste put up a decent resistance but he wasn't seeing any of the Puppets, Paralysis Marks or dudes with influence that he needed to stay in the game and after I drew a hand full of two and three cost deeds it was all over.

Game 3 vs Jay's Fourth Ring

Back to the Lula/Ol' Howard start for this one. I wasn't expecting to see Jay playing a Fourth Ring deck as he'd been having a good run with a Den huckster deck. This game wasn't particularly interesting. I played dudes and deeds. Jay Paralysed them and had enough income to keep playing dudes. We both ended up with Nicodemus Whateley in play. We both wanted time to be called so it would end as neither of us like playing landslide. Eventually that happened and I won by having the larger pile of influence chips. Fun!

Game 4 vs Steve's Desolation Row

I went for the alternative starting posse again for fear of Kidnappin's. Steve also only started with three influence, but he also had Allie Hensman. I realised that I didn't have any reliable way of dealing with her and that this could be tricky. I got a couple of deeds out, one being Killer Bunnies Casino which Steve sent his Ulysses Marks to meaning I couldn't hide Clementine there. I ended up drawing nothing but dudes for a couple of turns which gave Steve the chance to get control points on Allie and Run the Desolation Row job enough times for a control point and a stack of ghost rock. He used this to start building up his side of the street while Shelby Hunt stood guard in the town square and I just managed to get enough influence in play to hang on. Things were still precarious for Steve as his only influence was from Makaio and Ulysses so if I got another deed out he'd be in trouble.

Steve upgraded Allie to her experienced version to get another influence and kept the pressure on me by playing more deeds and sending Allie after Androcles who I couldn't afford to keep. I screwed up a sneaky dash across town when there was an opening by sending Rico to his Dead Dog's Tavern, which Rico failed to control as he has no bullets. Next turn saw me get some more dudes but also a Rumors, which opened my movement options up a bit as Steve had to commit all his influence to sitting on my deeds. He sent Travis to run an Election Day Slaughter that I didn't contest (Rico stranded in the Dead Dog Tavern took the hit), and then tried to seal the win by running Desolation Row with Shelby for another control point. My hand full of dudes came to the rescue and I was able to walk across the now unguarded town square to take control of his deeds.

18 comments
May 02, 2016 Gozik Why do you play Gomorrah Lot? Don't you afraid for your booted Lula/Irving as they can be reached with right out of town deed? I saw your octgn game vs wizzwang. I don't understand why he did discard Jackson Strike but did not move to your booted Irving. I suspect that this can be critical. Is it worth to risk?
May 02, 2016 DoomDog Gomorra Lot Commission helped out my early game economy by letting me discard a deed I couldn't afford for 2 ghost rock (with Lula) and play more cards that turn. I didn't use the movement effect, or have it used against me. I'd say that the economy benefit it provided to help get the deck moving was worth the occasional risk when setting up an out-of-town deed. You can always remove the risk by using Lot Commission yourself before buying an out-of-town deed with the home ability. Perhaps because it's a new card, and one that a lot of people seem to have written off as not worthwhile, no-one at the Deputy thought about using it to get to my out of town deeds when a dude was there, though I can't remember if the opportunity for them to take advantage of it that way was ever there in any of the games. It was largely ignored. I think it was only used once by an opponent who wanted to cycle a card from his hand. I can't say for certain, but maybe in the game Vs Whizzwang he wasn't confident of winning the shootout. I know the deck he was playing needs time to degenerate before it becomes any good in a fight. There's always the possibility he forgot that it lets you move too :)
May 02, 2016 drkwizard What do you use Howard for?
May 02, 2016 DoomDog Howard grabs The Joker's Smile. This provides a saloon for Clementine from the beginning, and with Lula in play it lets you cycle Heretic Jokers for 2 ghost rock and a new card.
May 03, 2016 Kamacausey Now that the event is over what changes would you make if any? Maybe a couple shotguns to deal with Allie?
May 03, 2016 DoomDog As I said in the writeup, shotguns for dealing with Allie would be something worth including. Borrowing an idea from other slide decks I've seen and including Wendy would probably also help.
May 03, 2016 drkwizard For me, I can't get the link to the write-up to work, it just shows a blank page. Is there any one that can copy/paste into here?
May 03, 2016 DoomDog `@drkwizard`I've added it to the deck description for you :)
May 03, 2016 drkwizard Thanks! Being able to read this definitely helped me understand the deck :) Is slide less fun to play or to play against? It looks like it's more of a strategy style deck than a shoot it out deck.
May 03, 2016 DoomDog If I've built a deck expecting to face slide, I don't mind playing against it so much, but if I've not taken it into consideration it can be a hard game. It's an effective strategy for winning games, but it's not one I find very interesting or fun to play. Generally slide decks want to avoid shootouts and just focus on building deeds and hiring dudes. The game plan is to eventually overwhelm the opponent with the sheer number of control points while avoiding defeat yourself by keeping your influence high. There might be some movement involved in contesting deeds or taking opponents' deeds if they give you a chance to get across town without a fight, but otherwise it's a fairly static non-interactive deck. There are variants that use more action cards such as Pistol Whip and Make the Smart Choice that are a bit more interactive but no less annoying if you're trying to shoot them.
May 03, 2016 Whizzwang ..."I can't say for certain, but maybe in the game Vs Whizzwang he wasn't confident of winning the shootout. I know the deck he was playing needs time to degenerate before it becomes any good in a fight. There's always the possibility he forgot that it lets you move too :)"... Let's be honest - I was trying to bomb 50 influence as fast as I could and really didn't care about Irving :)
May 09, 2016 PaxCecilia When you get The Joker's Smile in your opening hand, Ol' Howard just does nothing, correct? Looks like a hell of a deck, though I'm not sure I agree on Slide being boring. I've been playing trying slide to get a better handle on understanding the board state, and I've been having a ton of fun.
May 09, 2016 DoomDog Pretty much. You could send him to call someone out or keep him around for opposing jobs, but he's not likely to succeed. I put the deck together the morning of the event and I didn't think about a backup plan for him. My experience with the deck was that I just sat my dudes at home and bought stuff, which wasn't terribly interesting. I prefer to play decks that feature plenty of manoeuvring and pack a few tricks.
May 12, 2016 Aeschere Doesn't Ol' Howard trigger before you draw a play hand? You put your starting posse down before you draw a play hand so you should be able to react when you play him. Would like to hear it if I am wrong and if so, where I can read more about it.
May 12, 2016 PaxCecilia No, all of the grifters use the same wording, and it would be silly for Travis to trigger before you draw a play hand.
May 12, 2016 Aeschere Ah, sorry...kinda missed the grifter keyword there :S
May 12, 2016 PaxCecilia Yeah, I tested this deck out. Holy shit it is mean unrelenting deedslide to the millionth degree. Everyone was digging frantically for their ways to call me out at home or influential dudes. No one got enough. 3 wins in a row, one of my games I started the final turn 25 ghost rock. Another one ended when I played Whateley and he didn't have a way to call him out while out-of-town. A few things I was thinking of changing up though, removing the Maza Gang Hideout and 2 CP deeds in exchange for a few Fool Me Once... and maybe Railroad Station or Carter's Bounties (pretty much any 1 CP 2/1 deed that isn't already here). I've been finding Fool Me Once is so incredible at getting more of the cards you need. In a deck where an extra deed or Joker in hand is worth 2 GR, I think it'd be worth it.
May 12, 2016 DoomDog Swapping Fool Me Once... in for the 1st Baptist Church might be worthwhile, as I put the church in for the extra hand size it gives you. Maza Gang hideout is another economy deeds it's safe to use with the Morgan home ability and can serve as a place to camp Nicodemus and friends if the Estate hasn't shown up. If I was going to juggle things around, I'd probably go for Gomorra Jail and Testing Range over Carter's Bounties or the Railroad Station. The station can be dangerous in a deck like this as your opponents can use it to move to your guys out of town and call them out.