Local OP Winner (3-0) : Law Dogs 2/3/8 Shooter

This has been my go-to in casual play with my friends for awhile now (only changed slightly with NTNR). It had done well and I felt comfortable with it, so I decided to run it at the first OP event I attended this last Saturday.

The deck style is fairly simple, it's a relatively aggressive shooter. Make dudes wanted when you can spare to boot a few dudes and then go after them with Bounty Hunters, Too Much Attention, and Judge Harry Somerset. Without any of those in hand/play you just want to play relatively aggressively, controlling town square, and use Blueticks to instigate regular shootouts.

The deck does utilize different starts depending on opponent:

• Sloane: Wendy, Tommy, Philip, Travis

• Law Dogs: Prescott, Tommy, Philip, Travis

• 4th Ring: Abram, Tommy, Philip, Travis

• MCC: Judge, Tommy, Philip

Before the event I tweaked the deck slightly from what I'd been running previously:

a.) -2 Peacemaker

b.) -2 Bounty Hunter

c.) -2 Make the Smart Choice

d.) +1 Abram Grothe

e.) +1 Bluetick

f.) +2 Tresspassin'

g.) +2 Reserves

I felt the deck struggled economically at times, because the BHs could tempt me into using them early and slow down my deed construction. I also wanted an Abram for a high Grit starter against 4R's Soul Blasts. Make the Smart Choice rarely felt useful, as there aren't many fights I want to run from that I get caught in so I thought Tresspassin' might help me get free bounties on the board, saving me from booting dudes. Lastly the Peacemaker just never seemed that necessary, I thought the extra movement and generally just fewer goods to buy would help more.

ROUND 1 - Sloane Gang

The 1st round went quickly. It was a prototypical Sloane start, though I can't recall the exact dudes. I drew a 1CP deed, Bounty Hunter, Stakes Just Rose, Bottom Dealin', and....something else...in my opening hand.

We each played a 1 CP deed. My opponent proceeded to move most of her dudes to town square, where I had made Allie Wanted via my Outfit. I then sent a BH after Allie, with most of her dudes joining to protect her. I used Stakes to bring in my Travis as a backup stud.

We each ended up revealing a cheatin' 5-of-a-Kind draw hand, myself risking it because I only had a BH or Travis to lose in the shootout. Luckily she only had One Good Turn… to play against me, whereas I hit her with my Bottom Dealin' reducing her to Two Pair, acing all of her dudes in the shootout (and reducing her to I think either 0 or 1 influence).

I forget the exact sequence of play, but I took control of her deed and with my own had 2 CP and won at the first sundown.

ROUND 2 - Morgan Cattle Company

The 2nd round saw me facing off with one of my close friends that we play pretty regularly together. So I knew he was running Landslide and how it would operate.

The game was what you would expect against Landslide. I started the Judge and just slowly wittled down his influence as best I could. His play of Max Baine slowed me down as he's expensive to make wanted, as it always does, but I was eventually just able to grind it out and kill enough influence that his own large town worked against him.

ROUND 3 - The Fourth Ring

The last round had me playing the TO who was also 2-0 at this point, though I hadn't been able to really watch much of either of his games closely. My most regular opponent is a 4R loyalist so I know what they can do, but he also tends to play more unconventional decks so I wasn't 100% sure what to expect.

The last round did not disappoint. We had a lot of chess match moves going on, retreating from unfavorable callouts, minor skirmishes now and again, until eventually the town got big enough that something had to give.

I ultimately won because my opponent forgot about his own Railroad Station, which allowed me to move an unbooted dude to call out his booted Avie Cline. Additionally, he miscounted the influence/control on the board and IIRC retreated with Avie after the 1st round of the shootout. At which point I was able to move about uncontested (he was booted out) and control the town. Essentially he thought I was only going to be able to nab 5CP after retreating to his 5 Influence, but I was able to nab 6.

Overall, the deck did well and there's not much I would change. I wish I could add back in the 2x BHers that I removed, but I think it just cash-straps me too much. Otherwise, I liked the other tweaks I made before the event.

I am looking forward to Double Dealin' as I think this deck might refocus on a the 10-value instead of either the 2- or 3-value (not sure which I'll go with yet...leaning towards 2's). Though, as attractive as Gang Yi, Clyde, and Bairds are...it's hard to beat the cheap dudes in the lower value slots in a shootout deck with an only so-so economy. So, we'll see.