Let's Cook - Tombstone Top 8

Tombstone Arizona is dusty town seemingly comprised of a hotmix of merchants, actors, and bikers. The stores all hawk the fanfare of it's namesake: shiny shot-glasses, brimmed hats of various quality, moccasins. And every saloon serves your choice between meat or beer. On most days, we had both.

The Berkeley Boys turned out - 4 of us from our little urban hometown - City Slickers in the Remnants of the Wild West. We went to the Gunshow, tripped to the History Exhibit, and stopped by the former Courthouse-turned-Museum. We ate at Big Nose Kate's, drank at Johnny Ringo's, and visited the graveyard where the Clantons (and friends) were buried. Far and away the most fun I've had at a "convention" to date. (It was not a convention... more like a Round Up of those of us Lucky enough to get to travel).

This little stack of 52 cooked me into the cut. The idea was to double down on the lost opportunities created by Cookin' Up Trouble with a full course of Inner Struggle spiced with a pair of Burn 'Em Out. Hence the deck's name. As this veritably determined my three-value structure (4/3/A), I stirred in a Legendary Holster, and built the rest of the cook around this basic recipe.

Taking full advantage of the newest dudes (Kate, Ike, and Frank), the strategy is to survive the first few turns, making money and playing dudes, until the time to descend upon the opponent's deeds comes, where booting Protection Racket for that covetous control point steers the objective. Five Aces Gambling Hall let's me skirt across the board side-stepping townsquare, with the 3's (Bowie Knife and The Stakes Just Rose) providing a nasty surprise against what looks like defenseless dudes (notice the entire starting posse is draw dudes!).

I went 4-1 in swiss, then was simply outchessed by Mariel Lewis and the gang in "The Duel" (each event had a name - this was the name for Top 8 the following Sunday) by a plucky David Winner (not the first time I've been sniped by him...) who used his Heretic Jokers to win lowball and answer Unprepared to my Holster. Well played, sir.

Cheers to all the playgroups who showed out in force: The Arid Arizona crew, The Eerie East-coasters, The Portland People, the Lone Deputy of Canada, and all else. Glad to share this great game and time with you all. And a final big shoutout to Orange, The Lapps, and Carter of the Pinebox Posse to host this unforgettable experience.

All out for Dodge City 2021!