Death's Regulator (GenCon DMH Winner)

published Aug 04, 2018 | | |
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

DoomDog 972

Stone went undefeated in the Dead Man's Hand event, taking down Cadavaca's Sloane hucksters, pr0digy's Den of Thieves, ShinjoHughes' hexes and Holster Sanatorium deck and finally squeaking a win against Jason from the story team and his 108 Righteous landslide deck (a terrible matchup for this deck) thanks to the blessing of an opening hand Allie Hensman. This won't end well for our heroes...

This doesn't look like a normal DMH deck. The event used variant rules which allowed for several different values to be the fifth card of the Dead Man's Hand: 5, 9 and Q of Diamonds, and Q of Clubs were legal alongside the usual J of Diamonds. Dudes that had died in the fiction weren't legal for the event, hence no Steven Wiles.

Without Steven Wiles, how to solve the problem of not having big, cheap studs to drop into play and charge into shootouts? Well, both aces and eights are home to one-cost three-draw dudes. Zui Waidan is an Abomination, and Horace Manse can retrieve Abominations from boot hill. Morgan Regulators can make either a stud. Regulate with Zui and thanks to Stone you've got a throwaway five stud. If he manages to draw well in a shootout and aces Stone's target, his upkeep is only one so you can hang onto him and his control point and extra bullet for next turn. If he gets aced, then Horace can bring him back to try again.

The starting posse is a bit weird, but works together fairly well to help get you set up. POST-A-TRON is shooty enough, especially with Stone backup, and it helps with economy and provokes fights. The supporting cast invents it at the start of the game and then they all hang around wherever Margaret is for a turn or two to avoid their otherwise crippling upkeep problem. If you can safely take town square, then head there so POST-A-TRON can do its thing.

The rest of the deck is fairly straightforward stuff. Play out as many non-DMH values as you can to increase your chances of hitting it in shootouts.

7 comments
Aug 07, 2018 jordan caldwell

This deck destroyed going 4-0, ushering in a win by Stone over the Heroes present.

If you kept the same concept but had to use "standard" DMH only, what changes would you make?

Aug 08, 2018 Harlath

Congratulations, and bravo on the exciting story pick of Rafi Hamid to come back Harrowed. Will be interesting to see if he's a Law Dog, Drifter or maybe even a Fear Monger?

Aug 09, 2018 DoomDog

@jordan caldwell For standard Dead Man's Hand, the Qs would be replaced by Js. In come my usual deed suite of California Tax Office, Hellstromme Plant #9 and Undertaker. I'd swap the actions for Meet The New Boss. For dudes perhaps El Grajo and Buckin' Billy Ballard? Lane Healey would swap out for Steven Wiles, but I like the Horace/Zui Waidan combo so I might keep that in over more copies of Wiles. The Guide Horse would become a Rapier. Morgan Mining Company and Gomorra Gaming Commission might end up being swapped out for on-value alternatives.

Aug 11, 2018 Cadavaca

Horace/Zuì is great. This deck was one of my favorites over the weekend. I'ma borrow this deck with your suggested changes.

Aug 11, 2018 DoomDog

Ignore what I said about Rapier. Forsaken Hound is a far better choice for that slot and works well with Stone.

Aug 11, 2018 Cadavaca

What about a Yagn's Mechanical Skeleton? Diego can invent it all right.

Aug 11, 2018 DoomDog

If you have both Diego and Wroe around, you can invent it, but I like having the Hound to keep Stone's target in a shootout for another round.