Grosse Point Dogs - Huddersfield Sheriff 2016 T8, 4-1 Swiss

[N.B. Erik Samson is proxying for "Thunder Boy" Nabbe.]

Thanks to IQ Gaming for holding such an excellent event in their wonderful store. 24 players present, good attendance and a friendly atmosphere. I’ve had my best tournament results with Sloane and Eagle Wardens, but the Law Dogs are my favourite faction and I think the latest saddlebag makes them much more competitive, even if they’re not absolute “top tier” (shudder). Amusingly, Dave (DoomDog) and I both took a similar stance (independently!) on trying to prove a fairly orthodox Law Dog deck could compete and both of us made the top eight. Sadly my deck name isn’t as amusing as Dave's, but at least I steered this to 2nd after Swiss and top Law Dog.

Nothing innovative here, old bounty hunter/point blank tricks. However, the new dudes and better on value deeds make this much more consistent and robust than it was at the start of the game.

As usual, thanks to my cousin Mark for helping to test my deck – his advice to switch from 6s to 3s was heeded and I think worked out for the best. It meant shotguns were on value, allowing me to add a couple of Coachwhips off value, doubling my cheatin’ actions (plus Tommy Hardens traits and some goods). I got both Sheriff dudes in play several times – it’s fun to play a deck that can hold its own competitively and get iconic characters in to play.

I intend to test fewer/more Bowie Knifes, fewer/more The Stake Just Rose and to try the deck out on 6s in testing/tournament play. After reviewing Dave’s deck I may experiment with Pedro too (good for absorbing casualties and meta against horse decks). The deck is very resilient due to all the fancy new hats and both its losses effectively came on time while its wins came before time was called. Suggestions welcome – some people suggested the new Justice in Exile home, but I feared the lack of reliability in making dudes wanted (particularly against slide/Henry Moran) and think the action is a “Win More” home. That said I look forward to testing it out and being proved wrong!

Tommy, Hattie and Nabbe is a very strong start – lots of influence, large stud potential. Four cheatin’ cards and Point Blank (on top of Hattie’s bullet manipulation) make you very safe from early aggression – you can drop your opponent’s best shooter’s bulltets to zero and then reliably point blank them with Tommy.

Round 1: Jaden, Sloane Gang

My opponent was unlucky – he drew a straight flush in lowball (putting the fear of god in to me!). Predictably he then only got a cheatin’ hand full house in a shootout while facing Tommy Harden and got hit by It’s not What you know, leading to six casualties and a win around day three thanks to some early control points.

1-0

Round 2: Mark, Den of Thieves

A previous sheriff winner and my opponent in the recent York sheriff final! Two bounty hunters early wiped out my opponent’s hucksters, but left me with no control points. Mark loaded up the studly Dave Gorman with hexes and shotguns, slowly clawing his way back in to the game. I eventually managed to dodge the stacked Gorman and instead force Mark to call out my Tommy Harden with his Theodore Whateley – Mark was hoping to Coachwhip me, but I fluked a legal full house and took control of town. Both of us were looking to punish cheatin’ – think I may have had a coachwhip of my own and A It’s Not What You Know, so I was mainly desperate not to cheat and trusted to Tommy’s trait and my actions to win things.

Mark would go on to make the final with his low value hex deck (Mirror, Mirror and Corporeal Twist were the highlights). I know lots of people are interested in this kind of deck and are hopefully encouraged by one doing so well at such a large tournament.

2-0

Round 3: Jimi, 108 Worldly

Another former sheriff and the man who would go on to win today. A long, good match. I aced Jim Hexeter early (with a bounty hunter? Maybe defending a job? Memory fails me, but I think Hattie helped by dropping my foe’s bullets). However, Jimi is wise enough to play Bufford Hurley, who is a solid back-up holster wielder. Opponent not drawing jobs/taking time to get his economy going helped. I had lots of deeds out, and Jimi kept his dudes on several of them to deny me income – my bounty hunters generally failed thanks to the strength of 108 Worldly Desires.

I was sitting on Abram Groethe Exp for some time, so I waited for a turn where I didn’t cheat in Low Ball (to avoid triggering Inner Struggle) and my Jimi did (he could have avoided cheating, but chose the lower rank hand, normally a safe move), allowing me to Coachwhip Bufford and his holster in the town square. I then shotgunned Asakachi Cooke, trying to feign that I’d moved my dudes poorly, before dropping Abram Groethe and unbooting them. My dudes seized a few locations and Abram Groethe point blanked the stubborn Randall, who seen off many a bounty hunter.

3-0

Round 4: George, Morgan Regulators

George had put together a splendid horse control deck, it was great fun to play against. I spotted he had limited cheatin’ punishment and dominated the shootouts, but he had lots of control options to boot or send home my dudes.

We miscounted influence (missing a Shiny Things) and called it a timed loss. Great game, both frustrated we accidentally ended it too early. Good clashes of style with my Law Dogs chipping away with cheatin’ shootout victories and point blanks while my opponent’s strong income replaced fatalities and he sent my people home booted/booted them in useless locations with all his control actions. Horse decks have come a long way!

3-1

Round 5: Jay (sorry, second time we’ve played and memory fails?), Eagle Wardens

Strong start for my opponent, several deeds and an Allie Hensman to force the pace. Eventually a bounty hunter caught Enapy with only a Gina to help him, tying the shootout to force one casualty plus coachwhipping Enapy. A townsquare shootout then followed as Mariel Lewis had booted for card draw via the Eagle Wardens home. Hattie dropped the opposing posse’s bullets, forcing a cheatin’ hand. A combination of Tommy Harden and It’s not What You Know generated six casualties and sealed the game.

4-1

Top 8: Vince, Gateway to Beyond

An interesting deck run by Europe’s Marshal, running lots of economy Spirits. Lots of maneuvering around town and several shootouts.

I lost on time by one point of influence after a very enjoyable match – a little frustrating as I had a Steven Wiles in my hand that I could have played (I should probably count these things in close games!), but a close match that could have gone either way. Pleased to get Sheriff Dave in to play and have him gun down some discreants.