Nyan Dogs 2.0 - London OP4 3rd place

Since Ceoff's put his deck up, I'll do this one too :) The stupid name is because I'm cheap (Scottish) and bought a load of Nyan Cat sleeves on a clearance offer.

If it looks familiar, it's because it's heavily inspired by Big Z's Cracow Sheriff event winner. The changes are relatively minor, and largely focus on tightening the draw structure, and adding extra Coachwhips, because I love Coachwhip. I really like the structure, which is 2x16 on 6s and 8s with a straight flush on clubs. In the past I've been quite sceptical about straight flush structures (is the extra hassle in deck building worth the small increase in shootout ranks?), but it works well here because all of those clubs are really great cards for the deck that you'd probably be playing regardless of their value. You don't really aim for the straight flush, you just play it if you have it, and since you build up large stud bonuses rather than draws, you rarely have to make difficult redraw decisions. I drew a straight flush twice in four games today, with the rest being full houses, four and five of a kinds, and one lowly straight which was fortunate enough to be from a Gunslinger anyway. The added benefit of this structure is that you tend to win Lowball more often than a shooting deck has any right to, and usually with relatively low values compared to e.g. Fourth Ring.

I think most of the card choices don't really require any explanation, but I will say that 5s are your flex slots - I chose two Pistol Whips because I was afraid of losing wars of attrition to Eagle Warden tokens so wanted to get rid of shaman quickly, but generally it's probably the worst choice for the slot out of several strong options because this deck wants people to be in the shootout to ensure that they die horribly. As it happens I didn't run into any Eagle Wardens on the day, but c'est la vie.

The game plan is extremely straightforward: if it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't, shoot it until it does. The draw structure and starting two and a bit studs means you can shoot well right out of the gate. This is extremely useful against decks that want to spend a few turns building up. Don't give them time to do so. I think every one of the three wins were over within three turns, including a turn one win.

I personally struggle with decks like Fourth Ring Control and certain Eagle Warden builds that are both resilient and have tight structures out of the gates. I assume the Sloane shooter matchup would pose similar problems, but I haven't encountered it yet. You don't want to be trading casualties in protracted shootouts, because you don't have the spare dudes to cover them afterwards, while your opponent might.

Future changes after a very helpful discussion with the eventual winner Marcin:

-1 Pat's Perch, +1 Cooke's Nightcap - they serve the same function (economy) but Cooke's dares your opponent to challenge it. This deck wants to fight early and often, so this is a win-win; either you get the money, or you can shoot people in the face without having to faff around with Kidnappin' or Bounty Hunter.

-2 Faster on the Draw, +2 One Good Turn - maybe, maybe not. A few of the many actions are quite situational and you can end up being unable to cycle your hand. This might help. You also don't usually want to spend a cheatin' resolution card on lowball, because they're much better in shootouts, so this fills that niche while shoring up the sometimes slightly weak economy.

-1 Flint's Amusements, +1 Stagecoach - maybe even all of them, I don't know. You murder things so quickly with this deck that you often want to put out a single 1 CP deed to force check. Stagecoach Office is perfect for this, plus the additional synergy with Steven Wiles and Bobo.

It went 3-1 on the day, losing to a 4th Ring Control deck and the eventual winner to put me in 3rd on strength of schedule.

Game 1 - Glenn's Kung Fu 108 Earthly Desires

Glenn got out an early Shotgun, which is potentially very problematic for this deck. I countered by putting a Winchester on Jacqui, with the aim to clear out the Shotgun-toting dude camping my deed, but Glenn's next play was to put Faithful Hound on the same dude. Bugger. I switched focus to play a Bounty Hunter on the dudes in my home, hoping to force out the Shotgun so I could safely go in with Tommy or Ramiro, but Glenn cunningly didn't use it on the first round of the shootout. It actually turns out he forgot to, which worked out well for me because I drew better that round and forced the Faithful Hound to go the way of Ol' Yeller. He remembered the next round, but that would have changed things quite a bit, because I could now start bullying with Jacqui and eventually cleared up, with no influence left on his side of the table in a few turns. 1-0

Game 2 - Dan's Morgan Stables Horses and Gadgets

I got an absolutely brutal opening hand here - one Kidnappin', a Bounty Hunter, a Winchester for Jacqui, An Accidental Reunion and a Coachwhip. Not much to say - a first action Kidnappin' meant Dan didn't even get the Auto-revolver in his hand out before being forced into the first shootout. I don't know if it was this one or a follow-up Bounty Hunter, but between a good draw hand from me, the Coachwhip being used, and An Accidental Reunion, a lot of influence disappeared very quickly. My next play hand was almost as brutal, with at least another Bounty Hunter and Coachwhip to finish off the game. Better to be lucky than good. 2-0

(speaking of which, I made the huge mistake of going to 0 ghost rock with 2 bounty on my Ramiro and playing a deck that was on 7s, 8s and 9s. A Kidnappin' here would have been Christmas morning for Dan, but luckily for me he didn't have it)

Game 3 - Andrew's Morgan hexes (I think?)

I'm not sure what Andrew's deck did because this one was utterly brutal too. Lillian Morgan booted to put out Undertaker with the Morgan ability, so I went and picked a fight. She got Coachwhipped. My Pip Swinford card cycle got me a second Coachwhip for the next round of the shootout, which took care of Irving Patterson. It was ugly. 3-0

Game 4 - Marcin's Fourth Ring Control

I thought I was going to lose this one. I did. I suspect I got a bit too aggressive, particularly with a Steven Wiles out for the clowns, but I thought I had a better chance with this tactic than waiting until there were Paralysis Marks and Hex Slingin's everywhere. It didn't work. Marcin knows what he's doing and the structure is good enough that I was never going to win a war of attrition. He won easily in a couple of turns by winning shootouts by a rank or so and putting out two 1 CP deeds and a Pharmacy. I made the mistake of putting out a Cooke's that I couldn't defend, which made it even easier for Marcin, but even without this I was unlikely to recover. 3-1