108 Worldly Mario (or, A Better Mario)

Just a deck idea I had that was a rehash of the old Mario Action Sloane decks using the newer tricks that are provided to us with 108 Worldly Desires.

Initial props go to mplain and his deck 108 Desires (4+7) All The Best Cards! for pointing out the combo of 108 Worldly Desires and Longwei Fu to have an extra 2 stud in nearly every fight. I was contemplating that combo while thinking about using Companhurst's and Epidemic Laboratory in a near deedless deck when I realized that it was all pointing to a Mario Action deck.

mplain's combo gives me what I like to call "A Better Mario" giving me a better chance at not pulling those cheating hands that can pretty much auto lose you the game. I do somewhat negate that advantage by including 8 non-club cards in the deck, but at the very least those cards are a push in the early game while allowing you to win lowball a majority of the time against other shooting decks, and then later helping you win the game once you played a few of them (all the while improving your draw structure by leaps each one you get one out)

I consider Companhurst's essential to this deck, as it does a couple things for you that another starting dude would not give you. Mostly, it gives you the extra income so that you can play those other dudes in your deck as soon as you see them (though you might want to hold off on Abuelita Espinoza until your opponent has a deed out). By discarding cards with Benjamin Washington you can be guaranteed 4 ghost rock on turn 1 which is enough to play any of your 4 dudes. It's other big use is that it provides another way to power up Mario because it's a Saloon that Forster Cooke can sit in. Finally, it can be a place to play Establishin' Who's in Charge to help put your opponent on that clock that can win you the game.

I wanted to include a weapon for Mario, and while the +1 bullet from Tusk is it's primary purpose, the +5 value is the reason this card is a must run. A starting Leonardo "Leon" Cavallo can really ruin your day here, but giving Mario a Tusk will mean they need to pull a King for Leon to boot you, and of course it's gets even better if you can get Forster out for another +1 value.

Finally, all 4 dudes left in the deck have an important purpose. I've already talked about Forster, and Randall is obviously a great choice for both cheap influence and that ever useful extra card, but Abuelita Espinoza and Sophie Lacoste are your dudes that help you beat those pesky passive decks like slide and fortress. It's certainly not a perfect solution and probably requires some luck, but between Abuelita making your upkeep max out at 2, and Sophie turning all your extra ghost rock each turn into influence, your total influence is only limited by the number of turns you have the Epidemic Laboratory out. I realized this is not a good solution in a timed game because once time is called you will only have 3 actions left, but hopefully it would be enough in un-timed games.