Playing For Blood
AreZee 7
So this is my first stab at a lean, mean, tournament-ready deck. It's, uh, also basically my first stab at ANY deck, really.
Inspiration largely comes from (a) Outlaws/Desolation Row being what I first tried my hand at in a demo game at Origins, and (b) I'm playing a gunslinger with a pearl-handled LeMat in a Deadlands Classic campaign on Twitch, so I kind of gave myself a theme right away.
It's a clear attempt at a tight 5-7-8 deck with plenty of studs (plus Jasper Stone's help) to make sure I'm getting a fat handful of cards in a shootout, and putting them to good use.
Control pressure comes by way of Allie, Desolation Row/Wanted Level, Hunter Protections, a little Ulysses Marks, and murderous Jasper Stone shenanigans.
Fairly decent Influence comes early on (to at least take a LITTLE time to beat me) by way of Clementine, Ike, and Jake. Kate, Ulysses and Johnny Ringo bring more down the road (and only Ringo likely risks his neck in a fight). The "teeth" of the deck are Barton, big-boy-pants Travis, Milt, and of course Johnny Ringo. Barton Everest is a real bully early on, and if I get Johnny out there, with Jasper buffing him and an assortment of ways to get him Wanted, things get unsporting real quick.
Action cards are fairly self-explanatory, I think. Bad Company as a gnarly buff to tempt enemies into gunfights but drowning them in bullets, Kidnappin' as a way to make sure I've got plenty of Wanted level (and to pick fights), Fleet-Footed as a general balancing of the scales in my favor, and Pinned Down to help ensure Jasper Stone casualties. I kept a single Pistol Whip as a safety net for if someone looks to REALLY surprise me, and with Pearly's Palace I can hit that panic button and send an enemy home if I have to.
For Deeds, Pearly's, Joker's Smile, and Hunter Protections are there for me to invest in one of, the rest are basically just there to keep the deck stacked, mostly.
Goods-wise, I like to give Travis a Pearl-Handled Revolver and send him as backup for Barton early on, but I ended up realizing after a few shuffles that I didn't need four of them (just not enough draws to turn into studs), and Knight's Chasuble felt like a decent replacement (potentially helps mitigate enemy cards, just like Pedro does). It felt weird to not have ANY Shotguns, so just like my single Pistol Whip, it's just a security blanket to help with sticky situations.
So far I've only played two games with this rig (heck, I've only played about ten games, total), but earlier tonight I beat my Law Dog opponent, in round three, TWICE, so I can't complain too loud, right? I know Cheatin' Resolutions will be the death of me, but I'm not sure how to mitigate that other than raw, unbridled, aggression and hoping to just clobber someone hard enough they don't get the chance. I've got fat enough draw hands that I can often cherry-pick a decent LEGAL hand, if I've really got my opponent outclassed, too.
Here's hoping that with a few tweaks I'll get some good mileage and not embarrass myself in the Peacekeeper Series next month. :)
| 6 comments |
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| Oct 06, 2019 jaythejester |
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Oct 06, 2019
jaythejester
I really like this set up. A few suggestions I would offer. Having Johnny Ringo is a very strong dude, especially with Stone, but with his cost and some of the decks redundancy you might clog your hand with dudes and deeds you can’t play. Perhaps swapping a Ringo for a Steven Wiles. Also perhaps swap a Pearly Palace for Charlie's Place. It’s an excellent 3-2-1 deed with a great ability, and good synergy with Ulysses. |
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Oct 06, 2019
jaythejester
I really like this set up. A few suggestions I would offer. Having Johnny Ringo is a very strong dude, especially with Stone, but with his cost and some of the decks redundancy you might clog your hand with dudes and deeds you can’t play. Perhaps swapping a Ringo for a Steven Wiles. Also perhaps swap a Pearly Palace for Charlie's Place. It’s an excellent 3-2-1 deed with a great ability, and good synergy with Ulysses. |
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Oct 06, 2019
jordan caldwell
I can echo the recommendation to diversify. As this deck lacks cycling, those redundant values may help you set up a strong and consistent early game, but in so doing, hamstring your late game, as you will tend to draw into "dead cards" come turn 5, 6, 7... That said, maybe you are here to cinch a quick win on purpose? (Couple turns of Allie Hensman and Desolation Row followed by a strategic Kidnappin'?) I can recommend Pony Express for some cycling, as well as Charlie's Place, Hart's Tea Shoppe, Blake Ranch, Pancho Castillo, Silas Aims, and Steven Wiles, to replace duplicate cards in your structure. Final consideration: How are you using Jasper Stone to gain additional control points? Most shootouts resolve at hand rank 7-vs-7, 7-vs-8, or 8-vs-8, none of which will net you a CP by itself. You may consider additional "tech" to either increase your HR, lower theirs, or otherwise create a situation where an an opposing dude is reliably aced during a shootout. That said, if you focus on synergizing the second ability of LeMat Revolver, I think you may discover a way to bork your HR to 10 or 11 legally, creating the situation described. Perhaps as you explore this, your future tweaks can be tailored around getting that combo off? Either way this looks like a very solid first deck. Good luck! |
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Oct 06, 2019
AreZee
(sorry, I can't figure out how to reply to specific comments, so I'm trying to handle both of y'all with this one post) A quick win is very much the goal with this mamajama, for sure. I know there are a ton of cards out there I haven't played against or really internalized yet, and the sooner I can get my opponent on their back foot, off-balance, and start picking off their dudes, the better my odds of keeping that aggression/momentum going...I hope. ;) My thought behind 2xJohnny is that if I can get him early (turn 2 or 3) I can almost always afford him, with Agent and just one round of Desolation's built-in job. I figured having two of him literally doubles my odds of getting him early and going to town. He essentially takes away Jasper Stone's downside for me, and that's really tempting/satisfying, so maybe I'm leaning on him a little too much. Steven Wiles has always scared me off with his absurdly high upkeep, but I guess if I KNEW I was just going to have him for a round and discard him, he's basically...kind of a walking action card, right? Cycling back into my discard every time. Hmm. That might be fun, yeah. So far, in my admittedly VERY limited playing of this game, I've gotten into all of four shootouts and in all four of them I was up at 10, five-of-a-kind (or higher thanks to Barton and/or a Devil's Joker). Speaking of the LeMat, am I correct in that for that to work it's essentially giving you a "two pair (rank 3) plus your bullet rating in hand ranks" legal hand? That was how I read it, but Googling hasn't given me much luck finding clarification. Thanks for the input and thoughts though, y'all! I'll dig through my collection and look into making a few swaps. I'm hoping to test a few more games against my buddies before the tournament next month. |
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Oct 10, 2019
jordan caldwell
Re: LeMat Revolver. If the Two Pair you reveal is legal, the hand is legal. If the Two Pair you reveal is illegal, the hand is illegal. In either instance, assuming you met the condition (top discard card matching "fifth" draw hand card), you then add the dude's current bullet rating to your hand rank - and yes that Jasper Stone +2 shooter bonus applies! |
I really like this set up. A few suggestions I would offer. Having Johnny Ringo is a very strong dude, especially with Stone, but with his cost and some of the decks redundancy you might clog your hand with dudes and deeds you can’t play.
Perhaps swapping a Ringo for a Steven Wiles. Also perhaps swap a Pearly Palace for Charlie's Place. It’s an excellent 3-2-1 deed with a great ability, and good synergy with Ulysses.