Legend of the Flying Bear

published Jun 12, 2016 | | |
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

jordan caldwell 374

This jumpy little deck, which could also be called "Legend of the Flying Badger" or "Legend of the Honeyed Dagger" - depending on which character emerges once the game has reached maturity to close it out - leapt into 1st place in a local 5-person OP Kit tournament, winning me the supercool Xui Yin Chen playmat.

When our first mass-movement card - Plague of Grasshoppers - emerged from the ghost town, I immediately wanted to build a deck around it, and this list of 55 cards is the most recent evolution of that idea. So, even though there is only a single copy of Grasshopper in the deck, I am satisfied with the result, because, as the card has stringent limitations (Kung-fu dudes only, who must be unbooted, who would likely fail if they pulled the card itself...), they can be modestly worked around. Movement, the heart of this great game, is, as many players can attest, the most powerful way to affect the board (short of "having a dude"), and consequently, being able to play a card that moves multiple dudes (without having to go home booted afterwards as in the case with jobs) as a single noon play - well - you can see where I'm going with this - just imagine moving two pieces at once in a chess game! Plus, I think the image of several disparate martial arts masters dropping from the sky unexpectedly to descend dangerously upon a single location is awesome.

You may notice it ended up being a Legendary Holster deck. Well, once I was done building for Grasshopper, the deck turned out to be a perfect vehicle for the Holster, so I traded out the 2nd copy for it. Funny how in deck-building one thing leads to another? That said, the deck can function without the Holster, because, between being able to kickstart it's economy by consistently winning Lowball (Using the Home, low value structure, and even Pair of Six-Shooters), cycling cards (Randall, Focusing Chi, Fool Me Once...) and dropping deeds that advance the gamestate (all the wonderful deeds in A-3-5), as well as packing cards that skew the odds of an early shootout (Sun in Yer Eyes, Rabbit's Deception), it generally manages to to set the stage for the "Legends" to arrive and conclude the story arc. It is here, in the chess stage, where the card this deck was built around can really shine.

I have been playing this deck for about a month and a half, so although I only played two games yesterday - first round bye, second round against a Stables Rope-n-Rider (David), third round against an Oddities Jack-in-the-Boxer (Jevon) - I consider this deck strong against most straight-forward shooters. It is currently untested against Slide and Fortress - though I'd like to think Grasshopper could help with those match-ups.

If you are wondering why it runs both Heretic Joker (Red) and Heretic Joker (Black) while generally expecting to see resolution in a shootout, I can say that I think the advantages of the Heretic are maximizes while the drawbacks of it are minimized (though, this is certainly a calculated risk). The advantages, which are mostly pretty clear, include: scoring more Lowball wins, avoiding Lowball Cheatin' punishment, passing more Kung Fu tests, and the cruel and calculated Bottom Dealin' the Heretic to your reckless opponent during a final showdown. These all add up over several turns. Meanwhile, the drawback (getting stuck in your shootout draw) is mitigated somewhat by the Home ability and the expendable casualty dudes (Benjamin Washington and Xiaodan Li - others), as well as the deck's strategic flexibility to wait until conditions are favorable to strike (often sitting on +4 rock per turn with little/no contest) - this can mean waiting for your opponent's Jokers to be in Boot Hill or waiting until you draw enough shootout actions to offset the odds (or both!), to name two examples.

To boot, there is somewhat of a minor Straight-Flush potential in the structure (in clubs), which, despite being small like a hidden dagger, cannot be discounted.

In short, I find this deck to be a lot of fun to play. And, there are layers to it that allow it to adjust it's playstyle to run more favorably against what your opponent is trying to do. So, if you are looking for a deck that is not only fun and strong but tells an awesome story, I recommend you start your own legend in your own neighborhood meta or focus your chi and deceive your nearest OP Kit tourney.

Cheers!

0 comments