Gencon '25 Top 4 - DMA Quickdraw Quasi-slide

The day before the Gencon Marshal event I still didn't have any (new) ideas for a deck, so the "Quickdraw" in this title is purely on the deckbuilding side, created the night before. The best advice I got from Laura was to just make something fun.

I agonized over so many things making this deck, which started out as 5' and 6's so I could get x4 On the Lam, which was really the main inspiration for the deck. As any deckbuilder in this game knows, what you start with is rarely where you end up, and sometimes not even in the same neighborhood!

In the end, this is a simple 16x16 quasi-slide, which just means I typically need to build up, getting off-values on the board, and chessing around until I either 1) have the opponent spread out, and/or 2) have enough stud/shootout options to fight.

Ending in the top 4 was a pleasant surprise, as I feared this deck wasn't packing enough punches to fight, nor was it packing enough slide tech to slide out opponents. I was worried it might fall in the middle, ending up bad at both things. Decks that start Allie Hensman were going to be particularly rough for this kind of deck, so I knew if I faced DeVon's flush DMA that I wouldn't stand a chance. I even considered putting a shotgun in there just for that reason, but without a forced callout it would be too hard to use reliably.

Who did I face first round? DeVon's flush DMA, of course! And who did I face first in the top 4 cut? DeVon, of course!!! I certainly cannot complain, though, as I got Pale Horse early in game 1, and early-ish in game 2, and it was an absolute lifesaver as he kept cheatin in lowball and allie kept going home booted! It bought me enough time to actually have 2 very close games with him before losing - the first was decided by a 1 point tie breaker (after a very lucky shootout hand I got at the end).

I "won" my 3 other rounds, one being a bye and the other 2 were vs an aggressive Fearmongers (Devin) and a deck very similar to mine, Farnums quasi-slide (AJ). I considered Farnums for this deck, but I wanted the slidey part of my deck to be more of a surprise, plus Frank Stillwell has to be the most fun dude of all time!

Pale Horse was the MVP. I got it in at least 3 of my 4 games, so I got lucky, but I probably should have packed another one or two. Either kick a dude off your highest yield deed, or if you plan to fight send home their best shooter - so good!

On the Lam was the whole reason for the deck, but I'm not sure I ever had a chance to play one.. but if I did, it was once at most. I did see all 3 Belligerence in my hand at once, though...

Puttin' On Airs was meant mostly as a zero ghost rock way to maybe stay in the game for another day vs decks like DeVons, and potentially get rid of some bounty on an overzealous Frank (I think one game he was up to 8 bounty), or perhaps a bullet catcher like Rob. Not convinced it's the best choice here, but I was never sad to see it - at worst it's easily cycled (used) from hand.

The home can help generate some CPs, but I was mostly going for sneaky, post-shootout CPs in: Doris Powell, Coinneach "Ken" Càrn, Miranda Clarke, and Lawrence Blackwood. I had one game vs AJ where I think I could have sealed the win with sneaky CPs with Doris, but I forgot about his California Tax Office and I only had 1 GR. The worst part is I could have used my home before playing her, so it was just a bad play overall, but what is a Doomtown event if not counting how many mistakes you made?!