Control Dogs - 5th place London Deputy event (21 players)

London Deputy event write up. tl;dr Stole Vince's Deputy winning deck, made some small changes, went 3-2, lost to Morgan. Finished 5th of 21.

Firstly some background. For a long time I've been running my Silas Self-Bounty deck (http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/538/law-dogs-self-bounty-silas) and variations incarnations of it. Ultimately, while it would shoot well once it got going, it had trouble controlling deeds. So I started from scratch taking Scott's No Stud Sloane (http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/587/sloane-no-stud#), A Morgan Control Deck (http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/652/astral-land-slide-v2-2) and Vince's Low Dogs (derived from). I tweaked the decks around and played them off against each other and ultimately, Law Dogs would win out every time. I could start enough dudes to compete against Morgan landslide, I could get to dudes at home with Bounty Hunter and if it ever came to it, ultimately I had some capability to shoot. I also built a 4th Ring deck to check I could cope against some spells but at the end of the day some form of control with some shooting would do well.

To explain the exact changes from Vince's deck, I removed experienced Philip for Lawrence. They're both +1 upkeep for +1 influence over base Philip so the big advantage is Lawrence is another dude to pressure those pesky landslide decks and he can boot for a Control Point to push you over the edge. I don't think I played Lawrence all day but I still think it's a good change.

Judge for Angelica gave me some more shooting capability. The Judge is so expensive and the time I did play him it was more for the influence than the job. Yes he's good influence to compete with Morgan but generally you just want to shoot Morgan but booting for the job and booting to make dudes wanted leaves you short on dudes capable of challenging deeds. You're probably going to want Travis or Tommy in the job to be sure of winning whereas Angelica gives you an excellent opportunity to secure fights. She's also great with people Pistol Whipping Bounty Hunter since she can join in the fight from Town Square. I played Angelica a few times and she worked well.

Establishin' Who's in Charge in place of Lady Luck. In testing I wasn't seeing a lot of need to cycle my draw hand. During the tournament I saw it a lot more. However and couple of times I also used the job to secure Control Points so overall I'd say fairly even.

Lastly I removed the Jokers. They just clog up your hand and I don't think they're worth it. Personaly preference but the loss of Lady Luck keeps me from playing these.

So, I sleeved up my deck changing the Judge to Angelica that morning (I'd been toying with it for a while and felt I wanted to shoot better) and set off for the tournament. 24 players were signed up, I think 21 actually made it to the tournament so it was a great turnout.

Round 1 vs Dave Ruddock (Law Dogs) Starting posse - Drew Beauman, Tommy, Jake?, Something else?

I am Dave's nemesis. We met at Reading and I used my "janky" combo of Pistol Whipping a lone Kidnapped Mongwau to discard him and prevent Arvin bringing him back. I'm guessing Law Dog Quaterman with Drew so I figure I need to apply some early pressure. I cheat in lowball and the first Quaterman comes out. I play a deed, nothing exciting.

Day 2, a Flamethrower comes out, uh oh. I've drawn into Hustings so Dave isn't sitting on a lot of influence at home. My mind is a little hazy here but he's had to move out to his only deed and got some booted dudes there so I manage to use a Bounty Hunter to force a fight killing Tommy and some other influence. At this point I walk into his own deed and have enough CP to win. 1-0

Round 2 vs Steve Bailey aka madmaps (Morgan Cattle Company) http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/607/rainbow-coalition-winner-of-reading-shootout-uk-

If I am Dave's nemesis, Steve is mine. I laughingly name Steve's starting posse and immediately know he's playing either exactly or some slight variation of his Rainbow Morgan deck. I don't start well not drawing a lot of deeds and Steve gets a Saloon out for Clemintine to sit in. I know I need to pressure Steve to prevent him from running away with things so I go after his deeds early and try to knock off Androcles with Bounty Hunter. That fails to Pistol Whip and Gina manages to take out Olivia with a Coachwhip. I'm still not getting enough deeds and Steve camps my out of town income.

Steve plays Wendy who represents a problem due to booting dudes home but I manage to knock out her but not after getting Phillip booted home. Steve Rumours Tommy at his deed. I mistakenly boot Jake over to defend my income but then Steve drops Mayor's Office and knocks out my remaining influence given him the Control Points and me the lacking influence.

Some fatal mistakes in this game caused me to lose. I was playing the lacking deeds reasonably well but losing Olivia cheating when I probably could have just gone home booted. Additionally I used Yan Li late in the game to give someone with influence more rather than give Travis or one of my Rumoured dudes influence so I could have held more deeds. This game was certainly the lesson learning game of the day and I was worried about going full tilt for the remainder of the tournament. 1-1. Next up

Round 3 vs Ben (Sloane) Starting Posse: Jose, Clementine, Jake, Angelica

Ben had travelled from Northampton (I think) so it was refreshing to play someone I didn't know. I was dreaing Sloane as I immediately thought it was going to be some kind of shooting deck and that's always going to be troublesome.

However, he reveals his starting posse and 2 things immediately jumped out at me. It started 3+2 influence but there was no Allie so it wasn't rushing CP. I could still manoeuvre the Sloane gang around and pull out a win but I would need to play well. I'm expecting Bobo to go with Jose and Jose to kill some dudes. Let's not fight these guys!

My initial draw is good having a selection of deeds. In the first few days Ben plays a Saloon and moves Clementine in. I bounty up both Clementine and Jake. I get up a Mayor's Office adjacent to home and a Hustings so I'm feeling in a strong position. Ben only has 1 deed out but it still making a fair bit of cash so I'm worried he's going to drop a lot of deeds or dudes soon.

Since Jose is his only moveable influence I keep him out with Mayor's Office (the MVP of the day) and Hustings keeps his dudes at his only deed otherwise he's on 3 influence. Angelica is booting off the Sloane power in the town square so I run Establishin' Who's in Charge uncontested as soon as he does this to pressure the CPs.

He has to come challenge my Mayor's Office booting Jose but I move over and knock out Jose's only influence. He sends over an Allie to start a fight but I just go home booted. His only influence is on Clementine and Jake who are both at his deed. Clementine takes a deed off me booting but I send Tommy to the town square and get called out. I send in Travis to help and he pulls in Jose and Alice making him stud. Angelica Pistol Whip's Tommy home which leaves 3 booted dudes in Town Square so Travis just bites the bullet as I know I can win.

I'm left with 4 unbooted dudes against a only an unbooted Jake and in a winning position. Wherever Jake goes my own Jake contests and I can go stand against Clementine or take his deed and win the game. I've also got another Establishin' Who's in Charge if needed but Ben conceeds. He had a stack of cash but not other dudes in hand to play. 2-1.

Lunch Break. KFC boneless banquet for one. Mmmm, greasy... I chat to the other guys to see how they're all doing but we're soon off with Round 4.

Round 4 vs Dan Vandenburg (4th Ring) Starting Posse: Ivor and Tyx

2 dudes, one of which has no influence and no income generation. Easy game, easy life surely??? He starts loading Ivor up with spells and gets out a Blake Ranch. I mistakenly put a bounty on Tyx screwing up my maths so I can't control Blake when he only has 2 income. As such, he gets his precious income and this game is going to go on a lot longer than it should have.

I get Yan Li and Circle M Ranch either side of my home with Hustings, Pat Perch and some other deed out as well. He gets out General Store and is loading up on Hexes. Fortunately, he only has a single Shadow Walk so he can't keep bouncing around. I keep annoying him at Blake Ranch to deny his income.

He gets a Bobo out. I immediately bounty him and get a Bounty Hunter off (he's used Shadow Walk getting back to town). I manage to ace Bobo in the shootout (although I forget to Sun in Yer Eyes him in my haste) and I feel a bit safer.

I bounce him back to Blake Ranch again so he has to Shadow Walk to Hustings. OK, my dudes get -1 influence but he's not adjacent. He's got a couple of CP as do I but I put out some extra dudes and have the tie break. 3-1. I'm pleased I've managed to come back from the defeat to Steve and I know it's going to be a tough last round to get to the finals (Top 4).

Round 5 vs Andrew Wroe (Morgan) Starting posse: Androcles, Travis, Irving, Jake, Clementine?

Oh dear. This is going to be tough. I see no deeds and 2 dudes in my initial hand so Travis. It has 1 deed but also a lot of chaff. Not helpful at all. Andrew Travis' as well. Off we go!

We each only have 1 deed so we both play them. Mine thankfully is Mayor's Office and his is something else. I think I put a Quickdraw Handgun on Tommy just to cycle but it doesn't work. I won't see another deed for a long time...

Andrew is also deed limited though so is starting to struggle. On about Day 3 I see an Angelica. She's going to harm my income but she does offer some great chances to shoot and hopefully get some kills. This is probably the tipping point in this game and I would say I made the right decision. I didn't see another deed for 3 turns after but I was struggling to get anything out of my hand because I had so little income (+1 because I was always losing lowball).

I'm challenging deeds and he's trying to defend his only income. I start shooting at people but he Pistol Whip's them home etc. Eventually 1 guy gets through and Angelica helps out from the Town Square kill some dudes but I'm struggling for CP and influence and he's slowly getting more and more money.

I occassionaly run some Establishin' Who's in Charge to boost Mayor's Office and apply some pressure but ultimately here is where I would have wanted Lady Luck. I could have dug for deeds and really applied the pressure.

The exact details of this game become very hazy as ultimately we're trying to move around each other. I finally get a Hustings out which puts me very close to winning. At this stage, Andy drops a couple of 3 influence dudes at home. I managed to knock out about 4 influence as he comes to defend with a Bounty Hunter and Angelica but he drops Steven and moves the 3 dudes to the town square. Time is called just as I'm saying pass so he's 3 actions up to my 2. It's all over though. I'm losing on the tie-break so I need to call people out to win but all my dudes are at deeds so they'll boot to move. It would have been tight in being able to take out Steven but he'll have last move anyway.

A tough game to lose, I don't think I did a lot wrong but ultimately I fell down to Morgan. More income would really have helped as I could have cycled for dudes and deeds and that's ultimately what wins this game.

So, I end the day 3-2 losing twice to Morgan but beating 4R, Sloane and LD. I end up 5th just missing out on the finals but I get some alt-arts and the dubious title of top Law Dogs player.

On reflection, I'm not sure I'd go back to Lady Luck or at least, I'm not sure I'd trade Establishin' Who's in Charge for it, perhaps just one. I'd drop the Peacemakers as I rarely ever used 2s but I'd probably keep the Judge and Gamorra parish. I'd probably add a deed (Baird's Build and Loan, a Saloon or a Out of Town deed) or 2 or maybe Lady Luck if I'm only swapping 1. I didn't face anything I considered a weakness for this deck. Nothing came out shooting really strong or running Shotgun which would have been interesting to play against.

I also don't think I played to the strength of this deck. I didn't use any anti-cheating, I didn't Shotgun anything and rarely bounty huntered. All in all it felt as if I played some deeds and moved around my 5 starting dudes but I think a lot of that is what you face on the day, maybe they'll work more on another day.

Lastly some shout-outs and thanks: - Jimi and Leisure Games for organising/hosting - Vince for coming up with this deck - All my opponents on the day - Everyone else who came out. Everyone was super friendly and I really enjoy hanging and chatting with the Doomtown folk.