Cracow Sheriff Event 2015 Winner, Next Level Hot Lead

Intro:

WARNING! Wall of Text will crit you for 100, you might die. Read on your own responsibility ^^

I would like to begin with a huge shout-out to mplain and Tomek Pietkiewicz (pvdel). Pvdel and me were going to play our own homebrew Hot Lead Flyin' but after discussion with mplain I have decided that in current meta his newest take on the deck is smarter. Add some brainstorming, couple of changes, some personal touch and voilà! The deck was created.

Philosophy (or how to play, tl;dr version):

Occupy Town Square. Buy stuff for 'free' (with Pettigrew’s Pawnshop) on mentioned Square thanks to Harry to make sh*load of studs. Make control points while sculpting shootout hand. Kill everyone when they have to make a move. Rinse and repeat =)

Dudes:

The deck has 3 major starting posses:

1. Allie Hensman, Travis Moone, Antheia Pansofia, Harry Highbinder, Jacqueline Isham Generic start for g1 vs. unknown opponent. Decent fighting chance against both control and shooting decks.

2. Allie Hensman, Maria Kingsford, Makaio Kaleo, Esq., Antheia Pansofia, Harry Highbinder Starting 6 influence vs. control decks: Landslide, Control Clowns, you name it.

3. Allie Hensman, Travis Moone, Pancho Castillo, Antheia Pansofia, Jacqueline Isham Starting some heavy hitters against aggressive shooting decks. Pancho Castillo can be switched for Barton Everest if you want better economy while turtling at home. Vs. all-in deck with bad economy (cough Judge Harry Somerset (Exp.1) cough) you can start with BOTH Pancho Castillo and Barton Everest.

Deck runs 3 OUTSTANDING Pagliaccios. Seriously, that dude is TOTALLY bonkers. 2GR, amazing ability, 1 bullet (with Winchester Model 1873 he becomes stud 3). Great fodder for No Turning Back. Those guys done some EXTREMELY heavy liftin' in the Sheriff Tournament. Other guys in the deck are pretty uninspiring: Maria Kingsford and Makaio Kaleo, Esq. are cheap hucksters (backup if Antheia Pansofia gets pwned) with influence, nothing exciting. Bobo is just another stud if you anticipate a shootout and is a casualty soaker.

Actions:

Bottom Dealin': Deck runs off-value cards + sometimes some off value dudes from starting posse (Harry Highbinder, Jacqueline Isham, Allie Hensman) end up in the deck, further empowering this card. Best cheating punishment possible for this deck.

Pistol Whip: IMO, most powerful shootout play currently in the game. It allowed me to overcome all-in Judge Harry Somerset (Exp.1) decks: just get rid of Gunslinger so they don't have a way to soak casualties and grind them out from there =)

Hot Lead Flyin': in previous builds, this was the most important card in the deck. However, I am running Travis Moone, which unfortunately made this card less spectacular. And versus shooting decks I start with Barton Everest / Pancho Castillo, further weakening it (but it is still devastating when you are lucky SOB and pull a 2 ^^). I am okay with those 1-3 additional casualties the opponent suffers. But it is still in the deck for super cute combo, thanks to:

No Turning Back: this card is sooooooo fun to play! I love it! Amazing in this decks, nullifies effects of Sun in Yer Eyes. It is great for baiting non-Coachwhip! cheating punishments: just cheat to force an opponent to play Bottom Dealin' / This’ll Hurt in the Mornin’ and punish the play with No Turning Back + Hot Lead Flyin'. Pagliaccios are the best fodder for it. Game changing shootout play, especially in The Sloane Gang with Allie Hensman .

Deeds:

Pettigrew’s Pawnshop: free toys to make dozen of studs? Cost of 3GR and one income? Most Valuable Deed in the deck =)

Gomorra Parish: to get rid of those extra Pettigrew’s Pawnshop =) Solid deed.

Charlie's Place: 3/2 deeds are amazing. Plus this one has an useful ability. Pancho Castillo stud 5 just like that? Yespls!

Shane & Graves Security: sometimes you have to turtle to get the stuff you need (shootout plays, goods) before playing more aggressive. This deck has a problem with income and this deed allows you get some more money even when you have to play defensively. Just camp there with your entire posse, getting this sweet +1GR every upkeep. Remember that you have Pistol Whips to manipulate influence in this deed: you may catch some opponent with that trick =)

The R&D Ranch: deeds of 6 value are the weakest in the deck. Nothing spectacular here, just value fillers that can earn you some money.

Killer Bunnies Casino: see above.

Goods:

Mirror, Mirror: if you have 1-2 of them you usually aim for making Antheia Pansofia a strongest stud possible. Standard play during the tournament: Mirror, Mirror pull at difficulty 4 to become copy of Steven Wiles and then Pistol Whip him away =) I have only failed it twice during entire tournament, I like the odds and this card gets better with every copy you have attached. When you have 3-4 you can try to make some draws 0 and then buff Antheia Pansofia to stud (and Pistol Whip him away, hehe). Amazing card, I love it!

Pearl-handled Revolver: stud maker, nothing more to add. Oh, it nullifies Rapiers very effectively, which mattered in my Semis =)

Winchester Model 1873: one card for 1GR makes Travis a stud 4?! Extremely powerful, amazing synergy with dudes, deeds, actions and general philosophy of playing this deck.

Tournament:

I was first after Swiss, going 4-0-1. My only loss was vs. the hardest matchup: control clowns (here's the decklist: http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/1215/cracow-sheriff-event-2015-3rd-place-fourth-ring-control ). This MU cannot be won. Period. Unless clowns get unimpressive draws and lose every lowball, which is highly unlikely =) My plan was to dodge it in top4, and that was exactly what happened =)

I have also beaten 3 Judge Harry Somerset (Exp.1) decks and 1 Morgan Cattle Co. cavalry deck starting Jarrett Blake and Chuān “Jen” Qí. Judge matchup is quite simple: start with Travis Moone and Pancho Castillo and Barton Everest and pray for good opening hand. If it fails, use Travis Moone and pray one more time :P You are looking for Pistol Whip and No Turning Back + Hot Lead Flyin' combo. Try to construct legal 4oaK. If you manage to pull a legal 5oaK after Pistol Whiping Gunslinger away - they are donezo =) Survive t1 and you got this. You will be getting more and more powerful every turn.

In semis I played vs. Desolation Row ( http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/1214/sheriff-event-cracow-hex-4th-place ). Started with Pancho Castillo and Allie Hensman - to control Town Square ASAP with a powerful stud but still generate a clock so corrim wouldn’t have an eternity to collect enough of shootout action to make my life harder. Plan worked perfectly both in g1 and g2 and that was that.

In finals I have played against Big Z's Law Dogs (http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/1212/cracow-sheriff-event-2015-winner/). I knew that he shootouts some mean bullets, so plan was to buy stud making goods at home, sculpt a shooting hand and then go out to do some dakka-dakka. Law Dogs didn't want to call me out, because both me and him packed Jacqueline Isham. That's when I have started to generate 2CPs a turn =) Needless to say - Allie Hensman was called out soon enough and I have decimated doggies in resulting shootout.

G2 looked nearly exactly the same (Jacqueline Isham was a highlight of this game: she became stud 6 after 2 No Turning Backs in a final shootout ^^), but I didn't manage to seal the deal in timely manner, I needed one more turn to get 1 additional control point and win. But I was caught by our termination rules, which gave the win in g2 to Big Z. Too bad. We didn't want to play a weird tie breaker and agreed to have a draw.

I hope you guys like my deck and I didn't bore you to death with my random thoughts =)

Big shout-out to all my opponents and organizer for making this event an extremely pleasure experience!