Huddersfield Sheriff 2016 [second place]

Here is the deck that I took to second place in the Huddersfield 2016 sheriff event. The basic principle is get into as many shootouts as possible and cheat up to at least hand rank 10 (often 11) ad infinitum.

It works off the basic Barton Everest/Rico Rodegain combo to look for any anti-cheating, with Cookin' Up Trouble included to extend this combo beyond the first turn.

Theo Whateley-Boyer with Devil's Joker (Red) attached can help mitigate the effects of Bottom Dealin'/This'll Hurt in the Mornin' or simply allow you to go into shootouts with weaker dudes than the opponent.

Thanks to Harlath for the pre-tournament testing and alterations advice (some taken, some stubbornly refused - probably to my detriment!).

I will not rehash the tournament in detail principally because I cannot remember the finer details! What I can remember is:

1st round: Against Dan's Justice In Exile. Got off to a strong start with an early Kidnappin' from memory then repelled a Bounty Hunter. Maria Kingsford with Bad Company sealed the win. I definitely benefited from some early-tournament rustiness on Dan's part - seem to remember he forgot Bad Company made the dude a stud.

2nd round: Against Scott's Morgan Regulators. When we arrived I saw Scott building his deck just before the tournament started! Think this may have played to my favour as Scott is a strong opponent and I was happy he was not playing with something more familiar!

Managed a strong start and an early Kidnappin' on an isolated Irving Patterson sent me on my way. Scott struggled to get any economy going and I managed to close out the victory from there.

3rd Round: Against Robert's Law Dogs. Perennial testing partner and two time sheriff, this was always going to be tough (especially as we knew exactly what each other's deck was trying to do). Strong anti-cheating in the form of Tommy Harden and It's Not What You Know... resulted in a couple of early blood baths. I lost a number of dudes and managed to stay in the game (just about) with an early Dave "Slim" Gorman tooled up with Corporeal Twist and Shotgun. In reality, I was miles behind and was stalling for time when Robert put down enough control points and manoeuvrability for the win.

4th Round: Jimi's 108 Worldly Desires. I had seen Jimi playing on the table adjacent earlier and knew he was running a Legendary Holster themed deck. My plan was to try and close it out before that hit the table. There's a quote about 'the best laid plans of mice and men' somewhere...

The game swung back and forth a number of times. In part down to Jimi's Inner Struggle on my home which made me a bit cautious with shootouts and seeing he also had Bottom Dealin' in his hand. I had to be aggressive when Inner Struggle was turned 'off' and he could be aggressive when it was 'on'. This led to massive changes in board control throughout the game as neither player was keen to engage when the other was in the ascendancy.

Eventually a Legendary Holster hit the table which forced me to run Kidnappin' elsewhere as I was not confident facing the gun. He responded with an Ambush on my Jonah Essex which was defended, Jonah was gunned down and Jimi used Make the Smart Choice to leave. He then had enough control points against my booted influence to pick up the win.

On reflection a great game where both players had periods of dominance. Doomtown at its best!

5th Round: Against Tia's Desolation Row. I saw Tia also started Barton Everest so I anticipated something of a mirror match, which tuned out to be correct as both of us were hyper-aggressive. I don't think we made it past turn three and an early Shotgun mixed in with Charlie's Place allowed me to remove my opponent's Jake Smiley. Being able to Fetch Marion Seville in a shootout also helped me have enough manoeuvrable influence to close out the win.

After all that I finished 3-2 which resulted in a 6th place (from memory) squeezing me in to the top 8 on strength of schedule.

Quarter final: George's Morgan Regulators. Just by way of chatting throughout the day it turned out Scott's (2nd round) deck was a straight copy of George's! Having played Scott earlier I realised there was very little anti-cheating which allowed me to be as aggressive as possible.

That was the theory. In reality, once George's deck got going it was very difficult to engage with it. Control horses proved very strong with a mixture of Run 'Em Down!, Shiny Things, Buckin' Billy Ballard and a huge amount of movement! From memory I drew into Kidnappin' a few times which negated the control somewhat and allowed me to move into the ascendancy.

Again, being able to cheat with little fear of punishment helped me engage when the odds were not in my favour and I managed to close out the win. Tough game and I think the timing of drawing into Kidnappin' helped massively.

Semi-final: Against Vince's Gateway To Beyond. Given Vince won the European Marshal I was expecting a pretty tough match! A turn 1 Kidnappin' on his Mariel Lewis allowed me to wipe out some early influence while Vince got his economy going with a Blake Ranch and Circle M Ranch. Vince then used his Kidnappin' to take out my Ulysses Marks uncontested. At this point the game was pretty even and both players in reasonably solid positions.

Ultimately, the game hinged on a small play mistake from Vince (blame it on the long day!). Vince's Jake Smiley contributing no influence allowed me to control Carter's Bounties during high noon and bring in Maria Kingsford with Bad Company to wipe out a large part of his influence total. I was then able to close it out from there.

Had the game gone another turn it would have likely gone another way as Vince had a couple of dudes in his hand and the economy on the board to bring them in. I do not think I could have kidnapped my way through this one!

Final: Against Jimi's 108 Worldly Desires from round 4. Given how the earlier game went I thought this might be another classic. However, it turned out to be over by turn 2 (from memory) as an Inner Struggle on each of the first two turns hit my home.

Regardless of the hand rank penalty, I felt I had to press to avoid the Legendary Holster and, having seen two anti-cheating was hopeful there was not a third. Despite the two Inner Struggle's being active, I was confident enough having seen neither of my jokers and with Barton Everest and Den of Thieves I thought I would mitigate the -1 penalties. What I could not mitigate was a Bottom Dealin' which pretty much wiped out my starting posse and resulted in a stroll to the finish line for Jimi. All I could was shake the hand of the worthy champion at the end of the day!

Overall I am pretty happy with how it performed. The deck is pretty blunt with what it is trying to do and is a far cry from my normal The Fourth Ring concoctions. It seems to win big or lose big!

Regardless, a great day out in Huddersfield and thanks to IQ Games for putting on another well attended tournament played in great spirits by all.