I agree with the previous reviews that James Ghetty is a fine and versatile character on a good value: strong influence, a back-up stud and an emergency mad-scientist. A small but important disagreement with a previous review however: James Ghetty can only pay for Shootout Abilities, so his trait can't help pay for boosting your hand rank with Force Field. Same thing applies for paying for It's Not What You Know..., Cheatin' Varmint and so on. He can only pay the printed (bottom left corner) cost of "Shooutout" abilities (so no using it to pay for the previously mentioned reacts/resolution plays). As noted in the collected rulings this means he can't pay to return An Accidental Reunion back to your hand.

Still a fun card, but make sure your opponents don't make his trait stronger than it is by using the ghost rock more flexibly than intended!

James Ghetty with a Flamethrower is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Ditto for James Ghetty with a Force Field. Either way, good bang for your buck. He was a starting dude for my Morgan decks for the longest time due to being A) a stud and B) 2 influence right off the bat. He's since been rotated out, but he still has a welcome home in my Morgan decks due to his combination of useful trait and his 7 value, as I've noticed Mad Science does tend to love its 7's.

He's suave, he's classy, he's tired of running out of ghost rock to play all those crazily expensive shoot out abilities! If you're looking for a card that will invent the heck out of something just as easily as he will win shootouts and look good doing it, look no further... His name? James "Free Money" Ghetty

Just wanted to point out that the review below has an error. You cannot use the Stables react ability with Flight of the Lepus because that is neither a noon ability nor a shootout ability. Flilght of the Lepus is a resolution ability (of the cheatin' sub-type) which doesn't qualify for the Morgan Stables react ability.

The single most confusing and misunderstood home, by far. I also think it is the most under-rated.

Quick guide on the React (because the GR reduction part is straight forward):

Let's break it down.

"After you complete a Noon or Shootout ability that moved one of your dudes, draw a card and discard a card."

This makes sense by itself. Any time you move your dude with a horse, whether it is a noon action or you are booting your Pinto to join your posse in a shootout, you can use this react. Note, though, that it doesn't matter what causes your dude to move, as long as it was your ability. That means cards like Railroad Station, Surveyor's Office, A Secret Tunnel, and even Flight of the Lepus (if you choose your own dude to move) can activate this react. This does not work if you use your Pinto to join a shootout at the same location, as your dude never actually moved locations.

Then you immediately draw a card and discard. If you move your dude and can react, there is almost no reason NOT to use this react so you can at least cycle one card. Remember that you draw first, so even if you like your current hand you can always discard the card you draw if it isn't better.

Next, and the confusing part:
"Make another play or pass; if you are not in a shootout, that play cannot be actin’."

If you are in a shootout, this is straight forward: you either move your dude into or out of the shootout, and you get to immediately do another shootout play. That means this react turns Pinto into a Shadow Walk, where you can boot in and immediately shotgun a dude, if you are able, and the opponent can't stop you (short of a A Slight Modification).

If you are not in a shootout, you get to make another noon action after you move your dude with an ability (whether its an action card or a horse or a deed ability, etc). There are 6 choices for Noon actions: 1) Actin' 2) Callin' Out 3) Movin' 4) Shoppin' 5) Tradin' (we hate the letter G in the Weird Wild West...) 6) And Pass

Your next play cannot be Actin', so that means you can do any of the other 5. That means you can use your Mustang to move to a location and immediately call out a dude (who, if booted, of course must accept). Or you can use your Guide Horse to move to the town square, react, then move again to any adjacent deed before your opponent has a chance to call you out in the town square.

This allows for some very powerful surprise moves, and if you are playing against a Stables deck, you have to always keep in mind these possibilities. Any booted dude anywhere, except your home, is subject to a call out. Even if they don't have any horses on the board, you have to keep in mind that your opponent could simply be waiting for you to boot a vulnerable dude, at which point they then play their discounted horse and cause havoc.

My favorite use of this is to wait until the opponent uses their Allie Hensman, then equip a shotgun and Mustang and if I am the winner, that is a dead Allie. Only A Slight Modification (not likely if they have Allie) or Pearly's Palace can interfere. Best to wait until you are the winner to do this, of course.

I've also found that many times I will simply pass on my 2nd noon action, since I was just using the ability for the card cycle, but remember if you do that and your opponent also passes, the turn is immediately over. Go Shoppin' or do whatever else you wanted to do instead of passing if you don't want the turn to end.

Pigging Out is a fantastic card in my opinion. I wasn't convinced until I played it. With the additional bullet and value reduction it really becomes easy to set up big combos.

When combined with the Shotgun-Longwei Fu, who can play 5 Zhu Bajie cards in one shootout play, this can ace even value 9 dudes with relative ease if your discard pile is full enough. Shotgun-Longwei Fu can get 4 or 5 bullets while he gets the opponent 9 dude down to a value of 3 or A. Then ace that dude and still profit from your higher Zhu Bajie bullets throughout the rest of the shootout. That's impressive!

In addition to that, the finishing move Zhu's Reward can become even more devastating because of the higher value reductions from Raking Dragons.

The 6-club alternative Faster on the Draw (which has similar effects to Zhu's Ferocity) is less good for Zhu Bajie decks in 95% of the cases. Unless you are playing Deputies or your Kung Fu pulls aren't reliable, the only advantage that Faster on The Draw has is that it requires only one shootout play for it to work effectively, whereas Pigging Out requires two shootout plays.

What Pigging Out most of the time did for me in my Kung Fu deck so far:

• Put more Kung Fu cards in my discard pile for Combo purposes
• Give me one Zhu Bajie card into my hand for sure
• Make my Zhu Bajie cards more powerful
• Make my Zhu Bajie combos much easier to pull off

That's a lot of benefits for one card.

The only real downside Pigging Out has is that sometimes by discarding the top 5 cards this will result in having to re-shuffle the deck, thus making Pigging Out not worth playing in that situation. Then however I would consider not going into the shootout in the first place and wait for another turn.

Conclusion: If you're playing Zhu Bajie Techniques in your deck then definitely give Pigging Out a try. I put 4 copies of it in my deck and love it everytime time I draw it, as it gets me ready to go for my next shootout.

I would say this card is 5/5, but only for very, very specific deck types. This Joker is not meant for shootouts, it's meant succeed pulls and to win low ball. It helps keep you legal during lowball, which will help decks with 'Con' cards. The Joker's Smile Also works well with Heretic Jokers, since, while you have control of The Joker's Smile, you can gain 1 ghost rock each turn you draw one into your play hand, and you won't need to pay to get it out of Boot Hill.

I see this card working best in a deck that, for what ever reason, does not aim to see shootout resolution. Landslide decks might like it if you have decent card cycling, but mostly I see it's use for hit and run decks that want to strike with a spell like Soul Blast, or weapons like Legendary Holster, than retreat from the shootout with, soul blast, Make the Smart Choice, or Rabbit's Deception.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. After Devil’s Joker came out, I expected an opposite that made a hand legal. I didn’t expect it to have such a hefty price attached to it. Sure, it doesn’t ace itself afterwards, but it reduces your rank by 3! 1 or 2 I could handle, but 3 feels extreme to me. How often do you cheat with a regular Joker? Sorry Heretic Joker, but there is no room for you in any of my decks.

Doomdog. 2/5. Landslide doesn’t run jokers, and shooters want high hand ranks. Could be useful in tandem with a Devil’s Joker but that’s not something you can rely on. A deck that wants to win lowball and win shootouts through actions or resolutions, such as a Legendary Holster deck, could find a space for this, as could one that manipulates hand ranks. A deck using Fiddle Games to boost its income and uses the ghost rock to win through use of Force Fields? One to experiment with…

Chefonk. 2/5. Even if this was intended for shootout heavy decks to stay legal but at the cost of 3 (three!) hand ranks, don’t use it that way. You are probably better off not using this Joker at all. Decks that want to win lowball but don’t try to shoot are few, and even they should not run this. In Slide decks you are going to win lowball most of the time anyway, while not getting aced after use means that will almost certainly pop up sooner or later when refilling your hand at sundown instead of that crucial Pistol Whip. I just don’t see much use for it. I tried it in my 108 Slide, but literally every time it came up – even during lowball – it did nothing and any other card in the deck would have been more useful. Too bad, as the idea of multiple versions of Jokers to choose from is great, but the next one definitely has to be better.

Jhandy27. 1/5. Guessed something was coming out like this to mirror Devils Joker but that mirror is distorted and wavy. This, in my opinion, isn’t even comparable to the Devils Joker in terms of power simply due to the drop of 3 ranks which is possibly unnecessary compared to a normal joker. If I get a hand consisting of 3 different suit,s but same values and a heretic joker, I would wish I had run a normal joker. There are very few scenarios when a normal joker isn’t enough to make your hand legal so I feel that the 3 rank loss is too much. At least with a Devils Joker, it will always improve upon what a normal joker would’ve given you with the added risk of being cheating. I’m never going to use this joker.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. Wow, that is a lot of text to take in. To make the most of this, I would look at one aspect of this and focus on it. Want to stop them using spells and goods, use Meet the New Boss. Want to boot dudes, think about high influence dudes and Fancy New Hat. Want to call out dudes at their home (as you would otherwise call them out), use Desolation Row or the core Law Dogs outfit.

Doomdog. 4/5. Could be a useful card for a Desolation Row deck to close a game by going after dudes turtling at home and combining the call out with the added ‘Unprepared’ ability. Nicodemus and Chief Seven-Eagles could also make good use of this card as a defensive measure, so it could fit into a Spirit Fortress deck or anything making use of those two dudes. You could use Meet the New Boss to make this card effective for a whole bunch of your dudes.

Chefonk. 4/5. Each of the three effects are nice, but the fact that they can be combined all in one noon play is awesome. Having more control points requires a bit of setup as not many dudes can have control points on their own, but if you manage to have at least one booting all attached cards this can win shootouts or even games ala Unprepared. Influence and bounty are easier to obtain and the possibility to boot and than call-out dudes makes this card really useful. Everyone except little Jake Smiley left home to start trouble in the town? Pay him a visit and glance him into his early grave. All possible effects are quite situational but at least one of them will probably be helpful sooner or later. Being a K and 0 GR means that this can be included in almost every deck which can meet some of it’s requirements.

Jhandy27. 4/5. Probably the sleeper card in this set in my opinion. I can see this winning a few games the turn it’s played by any of its effects. Boot every gadget a Morgan monster has before he calls your booted Allie. Booting a dude that you don’t want to move anywhere else. Or calling someone out because you have a bounty cough Sloane cough. Also note that the effects will happen in order so if they have more Influence and bounty than you, they will boot you before calling you out. Definitely going to be seen in a variety of decks from aggro to control.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. The idea of free movement is great, but the value puts me off. I’m not sold on it, and don’t feel that there is much to say.

Doomdog. 1/5. More 108 movement shenanigans. I suppose you’d put a couple of these in as off-values. But as it’s a high value and doesn’t fit into the typical Kung Fu straight flush values, I don’t see it seeing much play. You could use it to move dudes like Xui Yin Chen or Yunxu Jiang in to support a shootout, mob a vulnerable dude with your Fu dudes, or move a Fu dude or two away from trouble.

Chefonk. 2/5. Always happy to see more kung fu support and more movement options for the Bandits, but this fails to impress because of two reasons. First off, the 9 value means it will miss most kung fu checks as only a few dudes can successfully pull a 9 for their check. Kung fu skill checks are even more vulnerable to fail as the Taos rely on consecutive successes in order to get the most out of it, so a card that threatens to break the Tao combo has to really be worth it. Unfortunately, this leads to the second reason. Movement is good and moving one or more of your dudes is even better, but I don’t see why it was necessary to require unbooted dudes. Allowing this to move booted dudes would be really strong but mitigated by the fact that each of them would have to pass their kung fu check (not to mention having the trait in the first place) along with the high value of the card itself. So just being able to move unbooted dudes does not provide the impact that is required to include this card.

Jhandy27. 1/5. Running a high value in kung fu means the card must be good enough to warrant the risk right? No. This isn’t the sort of movement that’s going to be very useful and it’s limited to a certain skill type. Don’t run this.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. I dislike this card. For the first ability, I have to pay GR based on your influence, only for you to decide which effect happens. My opponent making the choice of ability, always weakens a card for me. Unless you have bounty based effects such as Bounty Hunter, I would expect most opponents to give the dude a bounty for a potential GR, then booting the dude and giving you one of their GR. For the second ability, it would only happen where you want a dude to have lots of bounty you expect to earn, and then I wonder if you could have done anything else instead.

Doomdog. 5/5. This card really helps out all of the Law Dogs homes, but is particularly good for The Arsenal as a way of setting up bounties. With the original home you can place bounties without booting or increase the bounty on a dude you’re about to send a Bounty Hunter after to get a greater reward if you win.

Chefonk. 4/5. Not really keen on abilities that lets the opponent choose its outcome, especially if you have to pay GR in the first place. But if you manage to play this on a good Bounty Hunter target (even if you don’t have one in hand) you might trick your opponent into booting their dude which than can be called-out regularly. The first ability has probably too many uses to describe here but I feel like there will be something to get out of it most of the time. Jake Smiley also is a nice target as you don’t have to pay and you end up gaining 1 GR or 1 Bounty on Jake, which is nice either way. The second ability fuels your income if you can for certain get to get rid of a wanted dude. The thing I like the most about this card is that you can almost always play it immediately, avoiding clogged hands. With this, 9s are looking more and more attractive to classic Law Dogs decks. Combined with the new Constance Daugherty, Law Dogs got a pretty big boost from this Pine Box.

Jhandy27. 2/5. I’m not sure how to feel about this card. I think this card only works if your opponent thinks you’re going to do something with the bounty. Else they will just let it stack up. Making someone more wanted is the same argument. Do something with it or don’t run the card. Would be nice to see a more playable 9 of clubs as it’s struggling for one at the moment.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. Saving some ghost rock while getting a non-Gadget goods out of the discard pile for the same saving is great. I always worry that I’ll either have this or the dude and not both at the same time. All the while trying to decide if I hold the dude back knowing I could get them cheaper with a good, or play them now and not clog my hand. Unfortunately, unless I’m playing a very passive deck, the targeted call out from Kidnapping is hard to pass up.

Doomdog. 4/5. This card helps those high-cost dudes you never play get some table time, while possibly getting them a free goods as well. Morgan and Law Dogs will get lots of use out of this, while the Fourth Ring can use it as another way to get their expensive abomination dudes into play.

Chefonk. 3/5. Cost reduction is always welcome and there are quite a few dudes that really benefit from this, as they are too expensive to play early on otherwise. Many earlier Law Dogs dudes like Clyde Owens, Wylie Jenks, and Gang Yi come to mind. The reduction alone would not be that great, so you also get to attach a goods from your discard pile to your newest crew member. Law Dogs might run this, although with Kidnappin‘ and maybe Pinned Down! it has some serious competition at the 7 of Clubs slot.

Jhandy27. 4/5. Well this is interesting. So I take an expensive dude and play them for 4 (most cases) while getting a goods out of my bin for free. That’s amazing! Encourages playing more of a bigger dudes with bigger guns style of play. The amount of characters/goods you can combo this card with are almost infinite. e.g., use this to play a Wendy reducing by 2, then go get her teeth kickers out of the bin etc.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. Yay for more recursion, but boo for another job. If the job succeeds, reducing the cost and difficulty by 5 is immense. At least with this job, you decide where in town you want the job to happen. Your home is a likely location, as opposed to most other jobs that occur in the town square. I do like the idea of marking Maza Gang Hideout, so that anyone in the town square can’t get involved without a card effect.

Doomdog. 4/5. This carries some risk. It really helps out Law Dog gadget decks that sometimes have trouble inventin’ with low-skilled dudes that nevertheless tend to do well in shootouts. Morgan can make good use of it to get some control points once they’ve got a weapon or two to back up the job. I could even see an Oddities gadget decks using this to make Clown Carriages!

Chefonk. 4/5. Gadgets finally receive needed boosts such as this card to make them competitive. The lowered difficulty is nice, but nothing you should rely on. The decreased cost and being able to play any gadget from your discard pile are huge though. Play this early on while marking your home and this job probably will not be contested. If you draw it mid to late game and you feel like you can take the fight to town square you can cash in a control point. A bit low value for some mad scientist checks, but this Marty and/or a few mad scientist 2 compensate for this. Although you probably are not able to play gadgets with difficulty 9 like Yagn’s Mechanical Skeleton or Personal Ornithopter when choosing 6s as your main value, this card is good enough to be included off-value in existing gadget decks even if this means risking some skill checks. Just like Disgenuine Currency Press, which sees a lot of play, you will most certainly find room to host that Technological Exhibition. Really, this is a nicely designed card that I am looking forward to using.

Jhandy27. 4/5. This is another reason why gadgets will become a competitive archetype. It has recursion. I personally wouldn’t rely on the difficulty reduction, but I can see using it to allow an MS0 to invent something you would otherwise have to use your MS1 or 2 for. I would rarely mark the town square with this card as by mid to late game it can lead to over extension or losing valuable dudes. Definitely going to be played though, since access to your discard pile is always strong in every game.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. This provides an interesting answer to the problem of discarding your techniques when you haven’t got one to start a combo in a shootout. Additional reduction seems great, but without seeing it in action I wonder how much of a difference it will actually make.

Doomdog. 3/5. I’ve still not put much effort into the Zhu Bajie Tao as I much prefer Jade Rabbit if I’m going for Kung Fu. This looks like a nice support card for it, increasing the chances of obtaining a technique to start a combo. It also boosts the effectiveness of the Shotgun or Legendary Holster combos. Its value will be a problem for some of the low/mid value Kung Fu dudes, but with Carlton “Min” Rutherford joining the dudes at 7, Bai Yang Chen at 9, and He Fang at 10 you’ve got a few options for starters who don’t have to worry about it.

Chefonk. 3/5. It replaces itself with a kung fu action from the Zhu Bajie Tao from your discard pile in addition to even more reduction. The Zhu Bajie is most efficient when trying to ace dudes with shotguns, so this really helps targeting some of those higher value dudes. Unfortunately, this is not the issue the Zhu Bajie Tao has to deal with. It depends on too many factors to reliably work. Sure, this helps in negating some of them, but overall this is just a nice little boost. The card itself is nice, but the tactic that it supports is not the easiest to set up. Sadly, it competes with Faster on the Draw, doing the same if not more without the hassle of having to play the right kung fu cards first.

Jhandy27. 3/5. So this is meant to replace Hot Lead Flyin‘ in my kung fu deck? Maybe. I can see it being useful in a shotgun Zhu Bajie deck to try bring down those pesky 6 value plus dudes that can be out of reach of your shotguns. I can see this being used, but not sure about replacing HLF as that card can be too strong to pass up sometimes.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. Similar to Epidemic Laboratory, marking your home can be great at the start of the game. The further you get into the game, however, the riskier it gets. Like I said about Francisco Rosales, how many dudes you send into the job makes all the difference. I like that it only discards from your opponent using a Cheatin’ Resolution against you, and not simply from your illegal hand. If they haven’t got one to use, or wish to save it for later, you keep this card. Unfortunately, it’s hard to justify using this card when Pistol Whip and Hiding in Shadows exist.

Doomdog. 1/5. If you can get this in place early on it’ll provide a nice boost to your economy. Stacked shooters won’t find it sticking around too long as they often cheat in lowball. For slide it’s a dead card unless they get it in their opening hand, so it isn’t really worth the deck slot for them.

Chefonk. 3/5. Paying 1 GR for an additional income of 2 seems like a pretty good deal. You have to run the job first which means losing tempo by booting at least on of your dudes for this. On the other hand, you probably won’t face too much opposition while playing this. The major drawback is that this has to be discarded as soon as a cheating resolution is played against you. It is possible that you will gain nothing from this if you cheat during the next lowball. Most cheating punishment aims for winning shootouts, so you probably can manage to keep the income boost around for quite some time. I like non-traditional ways of developing an economy. I can see including one or two copies as an off-value, but it is nothing you should rely on.

Jhandy27. 4/5. I can see this being very strong for decks that run on 5s such as Sloane, since early production is always a good thing. Allowing your opponent to use a cheating resolution to get rid of it is a nice drawback to balance the card. This will definitely still see play, since buying more dudes means that you can have more fights. Has to fight Pistol whip, but I can see it winning sometimes.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. I dislike Cheatin’ Resolutions that have no impact on the board. Acing or booting a dude with Coachwhip, preventing casualties with Consecration or Fetch, or moving dudes with Flight of the Lepus, has an impact. Giving me more cards won’t help me if I lose a shootout, whilst lowball is too erratic to guarantee triggering it each turn. I won’t be fooled by this card…

Doomdog. 4/5. The Cheatin’ Resolution that keeps on giving. This one seems like it’s best played during Lowball, and the earlier you get it attached the better, especially if your opponent’s deck is a cheating-prone stacked shooter. As I’ve already mentioned, getting more cards is rarely a bad thing. Running several of these seems a bit like overkill though.

Chefonk. 3/5. While this does not have an immediate impact on the game, the cards you draw might. I know it’s a reach, but you could draw the Hex Slingin’ or Outgunned you need right now. Three more cards in hand will almost certainly make a difference, if not in this then maybe in the next shootout. It just keeps on giving you more cards with each subsequent Cheatin’ hand, so you can receive a pretty huge card advantage if you manage to play it early in the game.

Jhandy27. 2/5. I’m not a big fan of this for a few reasons. I don’t really like “passive” cheating resolutions where they don’t have some direct effect on your opponent as it doesn’t discourage them from cheating. My train of thought goes “Aha! you cheated! I’ll draw a/3 card(s)…” They respond with, “OK, but you still owe 5 casualties”. It also clashes with Sun In Yer Eyes and Stakes Just Rose, both of which are far too useful to turn down in most scenarios.

From gomorragazette.com

Nu_Fenix. Further reinforcing this pack’s love of sidekicks, I first wanted to combine this with An Accidental Reunion. Aggressively cheat, then either they don’t and lose to a large rank difference, or they do and take casualties from An Accidental Reunion and maybe the rank difference on top. Meanwhile, you use your sidekick(s) to take the casualties from An Accidental Reunion. Then send the dude they intend to soak the casualties home instead, making it more likely someone important dies. The only on-value sidekicks are Bluetick and Crafty Hare, meaning Lawdogs and Eagle Wardens would be best for trying this combo.

Doomdog. 2/5. Some interesting sidekick support that could help you get that little bit more out of your Blueticks and Crafty Hares. Useful for an Eagle Wardens sidekick deck or for Law Dogs running Bluetick, the main problem for me is that it competes with Bottom Dealin‘.

Chefonk. 3/5. On value with Bluetick, one of the better sidekicks, and the not-so-great Crafty Hare. So there already is built in synergy when playing 2s. The effect itself is kind of conditional. On the other hand, you probably aggressively seek out shootouts when playing the sidekick theme so you might use this card more often than you think. When it triggers, it does a lot for you. Covering one additional casualty, unbooting your dude, and sending the opposing dude home booted are things that come in handy and might turn the tide in a crucial shootout. With this card being so conditional, I doubt that you should run more than 2 copies. Nice addition, but by no means necessary.

Jhandy27. 3/5. I equate this card somewhat with Turtle’s Guard as another way of casualty reduction without losing board presence. I would love to see a deck mixing Accidental Reunion and this with sidekicks etc. for a “No I am not going to die!” deck, but could see it being a slow starter.

www.alderac.com

Rules update 1st May 2016:

"Action • Cost 0 Noon Job: Mark an opposing dude. Boot up to two cards attached to the mark. If the job succeeds, send the mark home booted, and you may ace up to two booted cards attached to the mark."

This card has been fixed by adding the words "up to", bringing it in line with its original, designed intent.

www.alderac.com

Rules update 1st May 2016:

"Dude • Stud 1 • Influence 1 • Cost 4 • Upkeep 1 Shootout, Boot: Look at a number of random cards in an opponent’s hand up to Nathan’s bullet value. You may discard one action card you saw."

This card has been fixed by adding the words "up to", bringing it in line with its original, designed intent.

www.alderac.com

Rules update 1st May 2016:

"Action Headline React: After you take casualties for losing a round of a shootout, pull. For each dude you discarded or aced as a casualty this round with a value higher than the pull, the winner takes 1 casualty."

Ok first off, this is now a Headline so you can only play one per shootout, and your opponent can block you from playing it by playing a Headline of their own. Secondly the way the ability works has had a major overhaul, it now requires you to actually take casualties and it's efficacy is based on those casualties. Note, this new HLF will not work with token casualties.

www.alderac.com

Rules update 1st May 2016:

"Dude • Stud 2 • Influence 3 • Cost 9 • Upkeep 2 Abomination • Experienced 1 • Huckster 3 If your outfit is [The Fourth Ring], Ivor's cost is reduced by 1 for each Abomination in play and in any Boot Hill. React: After Ivor enters play from your hand, play up to two hexes or abominations from your Boot Hill. Reduce those cards' cost by 3 each."

This errata means Ivor will only be able to bring back cards when played from your hand, cutting back on some of the recursive shenanigans that could be done with him.

www.alderac.com

Rules update 1st May 2016:

"Spell • Cost 1 Hex Noon Hex X, Boot: X is the value of a dude at this location. Boot the dude."

Basically this change will mean Paralysis Mark can no longer boot dudes at adjacent locations.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 4/5. I love this card for hex decks that don’t need Raising Hell as seeing 2 cards in your opponents hand sometimes equals seeing your opponents entire hand. If Rico has showed us anything it’s that seeing your opponents hand can be devastating. The acing is just the icing on the cake. Use either Tattooed Man or Ivor to recycle this and you’ve got one heck of of an irritating card on your hands.

Nu_Fenix. I would use this in a Hex deck if it only had the first half of its ability. With Ivor Hawley (Exp.1) the second half of the ability gets crazy. Want to know if the last couple of cards in your opponent’s hand are actions that could dramatically alter your impending shootout? Well, why not spoil the surprise! I would avoid using this early in the turn as seeing a deed or dude that they are about to play next would be a waste. Without Ivor, I would run two copies in every Hex deck as an off value if you don’t want K’s. Once you have one in play, the second copy may not do much unless you ace one of them to ace a revealed card.

Doomdog. 5/5. This spell could be incredibly powerful! It lets you see your opponent’s hand, potentially damage their draw structure, and if you’re lucky remove key actions like Kidnappin’s and Cheatin’ Resolutions. With Experienced Ivor and The Whateley Estate (both also on Kings) you can get it back after use, while The Tattooed Man will save it from being aced. Yet another annoying hex to add to the clowns’ bag of tricks.

Chefonk. 5/5. What an awesome, really powerful card. Card knowledge is huge and getting rid of a cheating resolution or any other nasty surprise before a major shoot-out might be crucial. Zero cost, a pretty low difficulty, and K value just adds to this card being all around great. There really is not more to say to be honest. With this, K is a viable value for 4th Ring Huckster Control decks especially with Ivor Hawley Exp. bringing this spell back from Boot Hill or The Whateley Estate making sure it will still be in your deck for your draw structure. This is one of those cards that will be of use in some way every time you draw it.

Jedilanni. 5/5. I really hate this card. Why? Giving more toys to the circus gives them another way to control the game. Rico, Cookin‘, Whateley Estate, Ivor exp. 1, and the Tattooed Man all take advantage of this card or have a way to magnify its ability. Don’t forget it’s a king value with a low difficulty.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 2/5. I quite like this card as it gives you a lot of claim soak in a low value shaman deck. To answer the question of what can you do with all that sop on its own is just lose less. You could try adding force fields (brave) or adding Accidental Reunion so that you can cheat without the casualty cost. This requires that your opponent either cheat to keep up or be legal and probably lose the fight anyway. Rock and a hard place – my favorite.

Nu_Fenix. No-one likes losing a shootout, but when you do, who wouldn’t like to lose less. Losing by an odd number always bothers me as it costs me two dudes, but with this it may only be one, or even sending a dude home booted if I need a single casualty. As a Resolution this still leaves me with the option for a Cheatin’ Resolution. With this and Crafty Hare, a I can see attempting low value Spirit deck, putting more low value cards into play for the Eagle Wardens.

Doomdog. 4/5. This is a great defensive spirit for shamans who like to get into fights, be it with a horde of token dudes or just through camping in the town square. Making all your dudes harrowed means that a bad shootout round won’t hurt anywhere near as much as usual, and if your opponent cheats the Nature Spirit might just soak all the casualties leaving you at full strength for round two. If I play my Sharp Dressed Man deck again, I’ll definitely find space for a couple of these.

Chefonk. 4/5. So Eagle Wardens get a lot of cards that protect their dudes in shootouts, which is a strategy that I really like. And this spell does it really well. The most important thing is that it’s not a cheating resolution so you can use this and the regular cheating punishment you are running. But even without the created Nature Spirit Token, giving Harrowed to all of your dudes is great and something your opponent really has to take into account when engaging in shootouts. With a value of 3 it might not be suited for the totem-oriented deck type, but hooter based Eagle Warden builds based on low values will surely play a couple of them. With this, Strength of the Ancestors, Owl’s Insight, and Mother Bear’s Rage you have a couple of nice low value spells that can provide an alternative to the movement and control other Eagle Wardens decks focus on.

Jedilanni. 3/5. I gain more casualty soak and if opponent cheats I gain a dude to reduce it by 3. If the shootout goes terribly wrong you live to fight another day.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 2/5. Here we have another low value miracle. It also has a low difficulty, so carries less ‘risk to run’. It’s a decent card, but I can’t imagine ever wanting more than 1 or 2 in play unless my opponent packs a lot of bullet reduction. I’d rather just run cards that up my bullets and make them studs as that’s more useful against non-reduction decks. Its low value stops me running it in most miracle decks though.

Nu_Fenix. Our first and currently only Hymn for Lucretia Fanzini, and one I’m not keen on. There is minimal benefit to non-shooters getting a bullet bonus. The most used means of changing bullet types to a draw are Sun In Your Eyes and Nightmare at Noon, so this is an answer to something that doesn’t happen enough to justify its existence.

Doomdog. 3/5. This is the aforementioned new hymn. Giving everyone in your posse the effects of a Peacemaker for a round is pretty tasty. It’s a low value and unless you’re Blessed 2 it fails its own pull, just like several other Miracles. I’ll have to try this out with Lucretia to see how useful it is for the 108. They don’t have many in-faction studs, but it certainly has its place as Blessed can make dudes into studs with Consecration and Sword of the Spirit. The Law Dogs have plenty of studs and access to two Blessed 2 dudes, so could possibly run this on value, but I see it being as an off-value Miracle.

Chefonk. 1/5. Oh boy where to begin. First off all, I generally dislike spells and gadgets that fail their own skill check, even more so if by 2 or more. On some cards this is a bigger problem than on others. Auto-Gatling for example also fails its own check, but being a gadget and having access to cheap mad scientist 2 (at least in Morgan) who do nothing else but invent, is less of an issue. This is sometimes mitigated by a powerful effect like Soul Blast or even the less played Lay on Hands. As a 2 this also fails literally every other miracle skill check other than itself. Is there a really, really, good reason to include this? Unfortunately, there is not. Don’t get me wrong, on paper it is a great ability. Giving all of your dudes an invisible holy Peacemaker made in heaven is great (and pretty rad as I just realized typing this), but not really needed in current miracle builds. The card this will mostly help against is Sun in Yer Eyes, but being a Miracle attached to a dude, your opponent knows it is there. You therefore have to win low ball if you want to use it before any actions your opponent takes, further limiting its use. Other cards do what this is made for and just as good without including risky pulls or relying on winning low ball.

Jedilanni. 2/5. Running this off value as a 1 or 2 won’t significantly hurt your pulls. The main problem I have with this is the same as most miracles that are all low value, high skill check, or fail the self pull. Not having shootouts go terribly wrong due to opponents wielding Faster on the Draw and Sun in Yer Eyes make this miracle worth a one or two of in a Blessed Dogs build.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 2/5. I can see this kidnapping prevention or if someone ruins you in a shoot-out after making your big guy a draw. Barring that, probably not going to get much use. They will just kidnap someone else if you have this.

Nu_Fenix. Much like Auto-Gatling, this screams off value. Having a way to escape shootouts or targeted jobs by going to another location isn’t bad. And if you fail the check, you can always let the sidekick hare get shot instead.

Doomdog. 2/5. A sidekick spirit, eh? Interesting… Crafty Hare lets you escape from lone bounty hunters with ease. It isn’t as reliable against things like Kidnappin’ and Election Day Slaughter as your opponent could send Rico or Jackie along, making it harder for you to escape. How effective it is depends on your shaman, your deck, and your opponent. Tlaloc’s Furies and Fire of Nanahbozho could improve your chances of success. Its low value means it’ll likely only be included as a one-of in spell decks to attach to a key shaman. It’s better used in a dedicated sidekick deck, and as a spirit you could use it to move with Spirit Steed.

Chefonk. 2/5. This one is odd. It’s 2 value is good with the other sidekick cards like Requiem for a Good Boy and Rhonda Sageblossom. On the other hand Bluetick there is already quite a good sidekick at that value. If you want to use the spell consistently you have to pull high for its check, really high at worst. So being a 2 means that it will almost automatically fail its own pull. And dedicated sidekick decks won’t run many Shamans or Spirits to begin with, so this limits its usefulness even further. On top of all this, the ability isn’t even good. Being able to run away when called out is nice, but there are other and more efficient ways to do so especially with Eagle Wardens. It helps against Kidnappin’ though and this saves it from being completely unplayable.

Jedilanni. 3/5. This card when printed didn’t work, but that has been fixed in the rules to work. The value really doesn’t bother me, since if I run this it’s a 1 or 2 of serving as a get out of jail card.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 2/5. This card creates a lot of movement, and movement can win games. Its movement conditions limit it a bit, meaning it will probably see more play as a sidekick with a bonus effect.

Nu_Fenix. I do wish all non-Gadget horses were sidekicks as well, as it feels right (although it would undermine Rhonda). It is still useful without spirits as long as you have a shaman, even if that isn’t its ideal purpose. The first ability includes moving to locations containing your opponent’s spirits, and discourages lone Shaman from going on a stroll. The second ability expands the use of your Spirits, so if you don’t think it will trigger this turn, this card still has a benefit. The toughest part for me will be deciding how many copies to run, due to the Shaman restriction.

Doomdog. 2/5. This is an odd one. I like that it’s also a sidekick, opening up the potential for a more chess-styled Beyond the Veil deck which I’d like to try. I don’t actually like Spirit Fortress but it’s the only effective deck I’ve built with that home. The restriction to shamans hurts it, but then it’s not as if the Eagle Wardens are short on shamans. While it’s not as flexible as good ol’ Mustang, the value helps spell pulls. It’s not likely to see use outside of the Wardens, as no one else has access to in-faction shamans in faction or through drifters.

Chefonk. 4/5. If Mountain Lion Friend is not Eagle Warden specific enough, here is the one you are looking for. Mystical, Horse, and Sidekick are all keywords that have their uses. The movement abilities are quite strong, although they both require Spirits. Because of that, this Steed most likely finds its way into spell-based versions of Eagle Wardens. The high value makes succeeds Spirit pull. Nine is a great value for Eagle Wardens, even if end up cutting some Red Horses Tail. The powerful movement abilities plus soaking up casualties if needed makes this a great contender for many Spirit decks. The Shaman restriction hurts, but they are the ones doing most of the work anyway.

Jedilanni. 1/5. That restriction is fitting of having to attach to a shaman. The first noon action will win games or prolong them. I will not be using the repeat action due to booting an attached spirit. Another minus for me is that it’s on the same value as Red Horse Tail.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 2/5. This is claim soak with an auto revolver. I can definitely see a deck running these as they make your dude more resilient in a fight and if the fight goes badly, you don’t lose your dude. A simple but effective card.

Nu_Fenix. I have been trying this with Three-Eyed Hawk, and found it to be very good, even though she doesn’t need the React. Ideally attach this to a stud, as discarding after they draw plus casualty absorption is great. It is like every dude bringing along their own Travis Moone, except that if this friend dies , up to three more can turn up before you worry about your actual dudes taking a bullet.

Doomdog. 4/5. A new sidekick that is part of Ghost Town’s extra sidekick support. The Mountain Lion is like bringing an extra draw bullet dude to the fight with you, and if things go south, sacrifice the lion to protect your dudes. Yep, if you like Hot Lead Flyin’, then you’re going to love the Mountain Lion. With sidekicks and sidekick tech on twos and sixes there’s definitely now deck potential there.

Chefonk. 4/5. This is one of Ghost Town’s new sidekicks. The draw bonus and the ability are nice, but nothing fancy. Overall just a solid card. Unfortunately, if you wish to play an Eagle Warden sidekick deck, the two on-value dudes only work with spirits. So a Spirit/Sidekick deck may have to rely on neutral or out-of-faction dudes when playing 6s as a main value. It is also on value with Hot Lead Flyin’, which might be the way to go with Eagle Warden sidekicks. Other deck types should consider this because of its general utility.

Jedilanni. 2/5. Lose to win decks for Eagle Warden receive a boost and another reason to go lower on values.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 3/5. Having seen Sunday best, I prefer that. I can see this seeing occasional play, since aggressive decks probably want to choke people’s deeds more. Maybe a 2/2 split with Sunday best or faithful hound as 4 of any of them is OTT.

Nu_Fenix. Tusk only applies to opposing card effects, so Kung Fu and cards such as Hot Lead Flyin‘ don’t combine with it. Regardless, a cheap bullet bonus that replaces itself when played is hard to say no to. Tusk will likely become my go to goods on 4’s, which only reduces the chance of me using Sunday Best.

Doomdog. 4/5. Fours have been crying out for more options in the goods department, and Tusk doesn’t disappoint. 1 ghost rock for an extra bullet and another card is a good deal. The value buff protects against Shotguns, Puppets, and Paralysis Marks. I believe it also protects you from Forced Quarantine if you’d just been hit with the Sanatorium’s ability.

Chefonk. 5/5. This has Allie Hensman written all over it. Protection from being shotgunned along with a little (even if not much) help against Paralysis Mark makes this a great card for her. A lot of Sloane decks use 4s as a their main value. Until now, the 4 value goods were pretty mediocre so this helps a lot. All non-spell decks that run 4s should at least consider this, especially if you need an answer to Paralysis Mark. Cheap, a nice passive bonus and it replaces itself immediately upon entering play, there is nothing not to like about this one. The only drawback is that you probably already play some weapons in most of the decks this fits into, so this might create a conflict there.

Jedilanni. 3/5. Play this weapon then draw a card while increasing your value. I see nothing bad about this card.

From gomorragazette.com

Jhandy27. 3/5. As long as your dude occupies town square, you can choke an opponent’s income for the turn. For a cost of 1, it only has to trigger once for you break even. The amount of times you’ll hear people say “If only you hadn’t squatted on that 1 or 2 gr, I couldn’ve played this,” will be countless.

Nu_Fenix. I have mixed feelings on this. Being able to move at the start of upkeep is nice, since I am a fan of free movement. Moving onto an opponent’s deed to deny income means I’m either stuck or have to boot to go somewhere else. The moved dude probably lacks the influence to control the deed during Noon to use any of its abilities. I may try it out of curiosity, but most likely it’s not a card I’ll use.

Doomdog. 4/5. This is one of those cards that I’ll need to play around with a bit to see how useful it actually is. Movement effects, however, are generally good. Three influence during the upkeep phase means that the likes of Jake Smiley can don their Sunday Best and prevent your opponent from getting production or can safeguard your own. Depending on low-ball results, you could use the move to set up a first action call out, or indeed escape from one!

Chefonk. 4/5. Oh I really like this one. 4 received two great goods this set, but unlike Tusk this is not as straight forward or might not seem awesome at first impression. The chance of denying your opponent income by swooping in from another location is really powerful. You can use it if stuck in a deed but you really want to be in town square right from the start of the round. Another use is when you need to be at one of your deeds to call out an opposing dude occupying it with your first action to prevent them from using it. This is a card that you can use almost every time for your advantage while your opponent has to always keep it in mind or else he might be surprised by one of your dudes at an unexpected location.

Jedilanni. 3/5. Denying income and movement are important parts of the game. Sloane and Oddities will be using this to take over deeds due to their sub-par influence then bouncing back to town square to run jobs or other shenanigans.