Holster Clyde v3.3 (Name-A-Card event)

So, for a deck boldly titled "Holster Clyde", this deck ends up starting / using neither (most of the time).

The plan was to return to the halcyon days of yesteryear, when I'd bully my friends' hucksters and horse-wranglers with a belligerent souse who just wanted to batter down their front door to punch clowns.

The execution was rushed, owing to some unfortunate "IRL" pressures on my time and concentration around the start of the tournament, and my pronounced tendency to procrastinate on actually finalizing deck designs (as opposed to finding interesting combos and spinning off another three partially-completed deck ideas into new dtdb lists).

It's a bit of a hot mess of ideas that didn't end up working as well as I'd hoped... but in the interests of publishing my failures for the public record (alongside the occasional modest success), here it is.

[u]What didn't work[/u]

Econ (surprisingly, given the number of deeds I ran).

I need money. Specifically, I want to see a big deed (or two small deeds) early that I can defend. This will then enable me to power through the rest of my deck.

The starting position is actually pretty solid. What usually happened, though, is that I'd blow my starting cash on hirin' help, buyin' a cute puppy, or accessorizin' my weaponry, and be stuck with a painfully slow drip of GR.

Pettigrews was a good investment at x2, though it only helped if I had a modest amount (3-5) rock already at the start of the turn, enabling me to play a dude or deed + a good when I got my HST rebate from Pettigrew.

Legendary Holster / Shotgun.

This deck doesn't include ways to tutor for it or cheat into play. It does include a single copy of General Store, which is a godsend when I see it in my play hand and not my shootout hand, but for a deck built around killin' dudes with no remorse... it's not efficient at that goal.

In a similar vein, not starting Clyde Owens meant that my options were a tad limited when it came to good dudes to actually play the holster onto if I drew it early.

The takeaway from play was that I'd have preferred -1 Magnum Rounds, +1 Shotgun, and a Doomsday Supply or two to help spread the cost over multiple turns, double-dip on Pettigrew bucks, and threaten an LH in every fight.

Draw Structure.

Not including a SF option (or tightening up on Aces as a third value) was a mistake. I should have cut Faster and Unprepared, in exchange for three 5c's. Then, as I degenerated out my 2's (especially) and my 3's, I'd have an alternate "value" to strengthen.

[u]What did work[/u]

Econ griping aside, I really liked the starting posse. Most games, I was able to put good pressure on my opponent's deeds, and I was able to defend my own comfortably (when I played them). I have some thoughts on tweaking the start, in a couple of different ways for a couple of different deck ideas... we'll see if I manage to bring any of these ideas to deck completion, though. :)

I liked Magnum Rounds. In a deck that didn't need Bowie Knife, it is a cheaper boost that stacks with an existing weapon and can be timed to cycle right before your deck reshuffles.

I liked the solid suite of shootout action cards. It's no secret that I like shootouts; solid dudes backed with a strong hand of actions helped me put a hurt on my opponent when we fought... except when my deck design choices came back to haunt me. (cheatin' FH, or worse "three pair", just doesn't cut it most days...)