WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! v2 - PAX Unplugged 3rd Place
Cadavaca 106
The main idea of this deck is to use Diable en Boite to send cannon fodder dudes home, followed by Takin' Ya With Me to cause non-cannon fodder casualties. The deck shoots well but not too well — losing is the idea, after all. The starting inventors double as the deck's most consistent deed campers, so even if they're not inventing they're being useful.
The night before the PAX tournament I was planning on playing a Beyond the Veil semi-fortress. As it turned out though I only got three hours of sleep, and I didn't feel capable of piloting an unfamiliar deck. So I went with this trusty pile of cardboard instead. I swapped Rosenbaum's Golem in for The Grey Man and decided to go with it. Match-by-match breakdown follows (terseness due to sleeplessness-induced memory loss):
1st game vs. Garrison (The Sanatorium/Ezekiah Grimme). My opponent started with a two-clown posse (Micah Ryse and Ivor Hawley), intending to build up to a mean Soul Blast or two. Unfortunately the small posse meant there was no room to take casualties. He lost Hawley in the first shootout, despite winning it, and I closed it out quickly.
2nd game vs. Tony (The 108 Righteous Bandits). Tony had a DMH deck running Tlaloc's Furies on his studs. I got a couple of early Diables en Boite, which shut off the Furies, and camped in town square to block movement. Since my Abominations were camping in town square, when time was called I won by a good margin.
3rd game vs. Max (Law Dogs). For me this was a rematch from GenCon. For Max this was a Saturday. I tried to meet him in town square, but his Cookin' Up Trouble found and discarded my Takin' Ya With Me; and knowing I didn't have any Cheatin' punishment, he made short work of Funtime Freddy and I think Ambrose Douglas. I went home to lick my wounds, and while he was unable to finish me off, he found and defended enough deeds to win comfortably come time.
4th game vs. Eric (Beyond the Veil). Eric had Sarah Meoquanee to start and came hunting, but my devil boxes kept her from doing too much damage and I was able to take out a couple of his starting dudes. He holed up in the General Store while I laid out every dude and deed I could find. He tried to make a play for my Undertaker and lost someone in the process, then went and holed up for good, leaving town square to me and my abominations. After the ten minute we sped through two days of him activating totems and control pointing up Nicodemus Whateley, and me playing cheap Abominations and sending them to town square, before he conceded.
Semi-final rematch vs. Max (Law Dogs). I played defense this time, holing up at home, inventing devil boxes, and saving up money. At some point I successfully contested town square, then overextended and got punished for it. The game ended — on time, again — with a big ol' shootout at my home. Max sent Judge Harry Somerset after me but lost big to a Bottom Dealin', killing all of his dudes in the fight aside from the Judge himself. Unfortunately for me, he still had one more control and one more influence than me. (This game was videotaped and might be somewhere online as of you reading this.)
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| Nov 21, 2017 Harlath |
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Nov 21, 2017
jordan caldwell
Sitting adjacent for the Semi's, my favorite moment was when The Lawdogs shot down a 3- or 4-creature posse (with a well-timed Bottom Dealin'), went over to make sure they were dead, when alls-of-a-sudden two post-mortem Diable en Boite popped up, startling Hattie DeLorre and Henry Moran to run home, but causing poor "Thunder Boy" Nabbe to frighten into a coma (Takin' Ya With Me). A killer joke. |
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Nov 21, 2017
Cadavaca
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Nov 21, 2017
Cadavaca
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Nov 27, 2017
Redgar
Thanks for posting the deck and tournament report, and for the close matches! I'm definitely stealing this deck to mess around with locally, to start dipping my toes in 4th Ring shenanigans. In that vein, I thought I'd pick your brain about a couple of deck-building ideas: 1) Janosz Pratt. I like the 0 upkeep Mad Scientist 1, and the 3 value doesn't hurt you. I wondered, though, if you'd considered running (or previously run) Dr. Dawn Edwards instead? The cost would be steeper, but I wonder if the 2 extra upfront and 1 extra per turn would be worth the 2 'real' influence (and a corner-case chance to swap personalities) that you'd get in exchange? 2) Essence of Armitage. A thematic include with a solid effect, but I don't see any follow-up (like NaN) to double-down on the global bullet penalty? I wondered what your experience has been with this, as I've been thinking of swapping it for an Epidemic Laboratory for a 'closer' option for CP generation? |
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Nov 27, 2017
Cadavaca
Cool, and thank you too! 1) The big deal about Janosz Pratt is actually his ability, which gets you Diable en Boite back immediately after discarding it. You don't need it to stick around anyhow, so his drawback isn't one. I did try Dr. Dawn Edwards, but her upkeep was a pretty big bummer – I think I'd rather swap in a fourth Hawley's Rose if I wanted the influence. 2) Essence of Armitage is mostly there for the bullet reduction – it presents a threat to be avoided. Epidemic Laboratory is more often a threat to be addressed, and that can be problematic if e.g. you don't have Takin' Ya With Me at the moment. |
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Dec 03, 2017
Harlath
Thanks for all the follow-up posts Nice to see old cards getting a fresh breath of life and being reappraised alongside the new Pinebox cards. |
Still one of my favourite deck names and the “For Max it was Saturday” gag is good too. :) Match by match reports are both fun to read and help from a playtest team perspective so appreciate you finding the time for this. Rough to lose despite the successful bottom dealin’ in the semi.
Any changes you’re considering?
Good to see Valeria Batten’s trait seeing some use!