Archaeological dig unleashes manitou!
Bojangles 18
Okay, this is the deck I will currently be using. Those who have offered feedback on my previous deck incarnations have probably realised that I do have a habit of changing things a lot, until I finally settle on something - my huckster deck went through about a dozen versions, but the current version I have now used consistently for quite a while. So, I will be using it several times (mostly as is) with my gaming group before I make any more changes to it, however feedback and suggestions are always very welcome and desired! :)
While the previous deck The Wretched were one of my main hitters. Because of that, I really needed a very reliable and high pull. Once I realised that Doyle's Hoyle can be used in draw hands (as well as giving Richard Slavin a boost), I started looking at how I can make 10 a major value instead of 8. It also then made 2s more valuable (but I didn't want to have them a large part of my deck - very few 2s seemed to suit my needs). It has resulted in mad science being quite a minor part of my deck, but then I don't want to give it up completely as I love the Clown Carriage and Magnum Opus Tenebri!
In addition to this, the group I play with very rarely goes for the 16x3 builds, so this deck may not look uber-powerful on first glance. I'm hoping cards like The Ghostly Gun and Doyle's Hoyle will be enough for me to get pretty consistent, hopefully legal, hands. Perhaps the Heretic Joker (Red) may be a better bet since, while reducing my draw hands (which will benefit me during lowball), I can always just choose not to use them if I need - but at least I'll be unaffected by cheatin' reslution abilities if I do...
The deck is very light on actions and big surprises (even though a number of in-play cards have resolution abilities), and I wanted it to feel more like a huge horde, but not a mindless horde - rather a fairly well equipped one. Towards this end, I wanted a lot of recursion cards. For the dudes, I have cards like Horace Manse, Eve Henry/Dr. Dawn Edwards, Ivor Hawley (Exp.1), Recruitment Drive, etc For the goods, I have The Blighted, F1 Burch, Richard Slavin, Junior, etc. So, as one bunch falls, another will soon take their place if the opponent doesn't capitalise quickly. As well as this, since I will likely have a numeric superiority often, if it ever looks like the opponent may win this round, it will hopefully not be too difficult to send someone into their most poorly-defended deed, and use the Bayou Vermilion Railroad ability to delay the victory another day.
To start off, I plan to use Ol' Howard to bring in Clanton Ranch, and then send Richard Slavin there to start digging for mystical items straight away, possibly move him there with the help of tracker, Absalom Hotchkiss. The downside with the current line-up is my very low influence and income. Since we play with 3 players, if I don't win lowball I'll only have 3 income in the first day, or 5 if I do win lowball (given my number of kings and 10s that's unlikely). So, this will be very difficult, and I am all ears if anyone has a better way to start! The influence problem isn't so bad. Since we have 3 players, there's usually someone who can push up their influence enough to stop anyone from winning. Since many of my cards also generate income, by the third day I am hoping to get a fair amount coming in to the coffers.
At least, that's the plan.
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| Dec 10, 2019 LastWalter |
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Dec 10, 2019
Bojangles
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Dec 10, 2019
Bojangles
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Dec 11, 2019
Bojangles
So, had the first run of the deck tonight! Overall, it seemed to go alright. I think I played it too cautiously, and probably made a few mistakes (such as discarding Ivor Hawley (Exp.1) at the end of day 1, since I didn't expect I'd be able to maximise him for a few turns until I had some abominations in boot hill and then drew Magnum Opus Tenebri, so his Huckster skill would have been very useful!). I did manage to get a nice 6 stud The Harvester though, who was pretty powerful. However, one of the players used a dead man's hand deck (https://dtdb.co/en/decklist/1640/masterpiece-theater-25-stud-is-the-current-record-), and neither my deck nor the other player could manage to break through his dudes ever, so The Harvester didn't work as well as he looked on paper this time. The player has said he won't use the deck again (or at least not much), and all three of us felt it seemed almost as a cheap victory with that deck. I mean, nobody ever won, since we ended it after about 6 or 7 days, but the dead man's hand deck would have eventually won. Either way, next time we'll all hopefully have more matched decks. :) |
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Dec 17, 2019
Findegil
I don't want to be a wet blanket on thematic decks, but from a cost/benefit perspective you seem to be investing way too much in having Slavin start digging from turn 1. Three starting slots and 13 ghost rock is an awful lot for a scheme that is anyway vulnerable to 1) pulling black for Slavin, 2) someone occupying the Ranch, 3) not having any mystical goods in your discard pile. If you drop this, you can instead start Valeria Batten to have her skill from the get-go, plus someone like Arnold McCadish or Lorena Corbett - and can still include Slavin in your deck as an on-value card who can show up later when there will hopefully be out-of-town deeds (preferably your opponent's) organically available for his digs. Also, the Blighted seem a bit tangential when Magnum Opus Tenebri seems to be the only possible trigger for the recursion? |
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Dec 18, 2019
Bojangles
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Dec 18, 2019
Bojangles
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Hello! Love the deck idea, and love the idea of starting Richard Slavin! Wondering if you considered Rites of the Smoking Mirror, as he can get it back from Boot Hill.