Hexcellent Work

Excellent deck title, and love the Puppet splash as it is basically an extra job - it is a good way to remove opposing influence.

Could it be worth going 2x Blood Curse and maybe 1-2x Forced Quarantine to have another way to remove influence and also trigger Jia Mein (Exp.1), if you switch him in instead of his basic version? You've got a couple of conditions in the deck already after all.

Theo Whateley-Boyer is a great choice too, gives your opponent a tough choice - do they try to get rid of Theo with Unprepared/Pistol Whip etc or do they go after your studs/dudes with other attachments.

Looks solid to me beyond, above are just suggestions.

Oh yeah, I like that Forced Quarantine suggestion a lot. My regular opponent hates getting hit with Deliberate Infection so hard, it is a really effective deterrent to cheating. Especially as you can play it in lowball easily. Adding the Forced Quarantine would be the icing on the cake. I hadnt seen the Jia Mein experienced version before, nice synergy. That said I really like the options for Clubs on the Queen value. INWYK is a great card, and No Turning Back can power up a mean amount of stud for a Point Blank, and puts an Abomination in Boot Hill ready for Soul Cage/Raising Hell shenanigans.

What I found having played 3 times with this deck is that the deck is really decent shooting and has sufficient anti cheat to really reign in a cheating opponent. I have also found substituting Micah Ryse a better starter than Leon. The extra stud and lack of upkeep is far more effective. It gives you an extra stud dude option for Point Blank. Add a rapier and his movement ability and he starts to cause problems. Yeah he dies to Shotgun, but the economics work so much better with one more GR income each day.

The other thing I have also found is that the spells are generally very much secondary to the shooting: they are mainly there to be used to grab a GR and draw a card with the home ability. It is the ability to get 4 influence guys to deny opponents deeds and dominate Town square with 2x 0-backup stud and the Brute while regularly hitting 4oak that hurts.

That is indeed an issue with Q clubs - too many good choices! One of the nice natural balancing elements of Doomtown Reloaded is the 4x limit on a given suit & value combination.

Interesting to here the evolution from testing, live play is great for improving a deck. Even swapping Micah Ryse in you're still effectively 4 influence thanks to Ambrose Douglas and it gives you the rare luxury of starting with 0 upkeep!

Look forward to any changes TCaR delivery and then Too Tough to Die eventually prompt - the latter finally delivers a 3GR Huckster to Fourth Ring. :)

That single extra GR in income is way more important than it first appears: It means you are will have either 4 or 6 GR after lowball, guaranteeing enough to get any of your deeds in play first turn, or get a 2GR deed and still have reserves to get INWYK or Deliberate Infection played in response to a first turn shootout. Contrast this freedom to inflict anticheat and still build vs the situation having lost lowball with Leon. With just 3 GR, half your deeds are unplayable, and you might be stuck in a shootout with anticheat you would dearly love to play but are just too poor to play. It is a massive starting advantage.

Just had a further thought that Olivia Jenks might be an interesting substitute for Theo. Same ghost rock position on day 1, one more influence and 2 more bullets to add to the posse for Outgunned and with No Turning Back acing the Brute (thats his job, people, don't get upset, he will be resurrected for sure!) gives a mighty 4 stud on Olivia... Theo might get more powerful late game with a joker attached, but added bullets is tempting....

Just played against this deck as LD. Got beaten, despite playing well and getting lucky with some draws. This deck has so many options there is always a threat no matter the board situation. Got low value dudes: they will get Puppeted. Lose a fight or leave the Town Square, demons will get Summoned. Cheat, you get infected. Or maybe Bobo or Smiling Tom will join the party. Think you are going to win a Kidnapping firefight? Wrong, the hand rank manipulation will get ya. Or your dude is going to get the good news with Point Blank.

Crushed by your own creation! Should we now devote our energies to figuring out its weaknesses? ;)