Johnny Goes to Town

This was a deck I originally created to accompany the article I wrote on Hank Ketchum. Since I hadn't played it that much, and I needed a deck for the Ranger 2020 tournament, I decided to use it there.

The deck also fit with my plan to try out how Hank works when combined with some of the new big dudes from recent PBE sets, bringing this deck to the Ranger event and Mason the Ranger to GenCon. The description of that deck mentions some of the similarities between the decks. Compared to the Mason deck, this one has more dudes and deeds, being built on a 16-16-SF structure.

The tournament games, as far as I recall, went as follows:

Game One vs. LastWalter, The Spiritual Society

As best I remember, we built a bit of town, then I used the Desolation Row job to get Johnny home after chasing an opposing dude of my deed. However, the deed was then squatted again and, with my Hustings occupied as well, I was worried that if I booted Makaio, my last mobile dude, my opponent would play another deed to seal the win. So, instead, I sent Makaio to fight, backed up by a Sun in Yer Eyes and a hand full of Cheatin' Resolutions. He survived the first round, but then fell hard, meaning I lost the game pretty early, based on my fear of a CP on a deed that actually wasn't there.

Game Two vs. shekky ducky, Desolation Row

We spent a few days building the town, placing bounty on our dudes and my opponent placed some CP on Allie. I also got hit by both a Fool Me Once... and an Inner Struggle. My goal of getting Johnny wanted was slowed by my opponent squatting at my B & B Attorneys - since shekky ducky wasn't really playing deeds of his own, he spent a lot of time squatting on mine. Finally, the game ended in a day with a lot of skirmishing around town. First, Johnny went to one of my deeds to evict Fred Aims, only to be Pistol Whiped home. Then Ramiro Mendoza showed up in my home to Kidnap Johnny, but my whole gang managed to send him off to the discard. After this, I was able to move a couple of dudes to Town Square to eliminate a booted Allie, then continue to my own deed, to take care of Fred as well. At this point, my opponent only had Lawrence left, so he conceded the game.

Game Three vs. DrCthulhu, 108 Gracious Gifts

This game was recorded, and has been uploaded to YouTube. Long story short, the town grew pretty quikly, and being unable to hire any new dudes, my Outlaws lost any chance of controlling it.

Game Four vs. Deputy Way, Oddities of Nature w/Hank Ketchum

This game was short and brutal. On the first day, I ran the DesRow job with Johnny, then left a dude booted by OoN in Town Square while Frank Stillwell went to squat at an opposing deed. This meant The Harvester saw an opportunity to eliminate my dude. But with a The Stakes Just Rose and two Faster on the Draw in hand, I was able turn the fight around, causing 5 casualties - just enough that The Harvester had to leave play even though The Brute was there. Soon after this, I was able to force Karl Odett into a fight as well, and a Bottom Dealin' to punish his cheating ways sealed the game in my favor.

Game Five vs. Blargg, Office of Ancestral Affairs w/Doc Holliday

Early in this game, Blargg sent most of his gang to fight Johnny in Town Square, only to be reminded that this Outlaw prevents anyone but the shooter from contributing. Doc Holliday saved the day, allowing him to still bring a decent amount of stud, but Johnny still prevailed, causing some losses. After this, I think I got a couple of extra dudes and deeds in play, and the First Peoples scattered a bit - I was able to pick them of in small groups, and in the énd I won the game.

With three wins and two losses, I ended up in 12th place, but at least I was able to take the spot as top Outlaw, out of seven players representing the faction (where five of us where playing Desolation Row).

My conclusion to this experiment of using Hank: He's really good at supporting some of these strong solo dudes. The truth is, I rarely used him to save my dude, but having him meant I felt a lot safer getting into fights. That one casualty reduction means you can go from requiring a win by one hand rank to keep your dude in play, to still being around even if you lose by one rank. Sure, a sidekick can do that as well, but apart from a certain underpriced mule, that's a far more expensive option. Hank makes it more feasible to build your deck around a single aggressive dude.