Doc - Some Observations

I agree with most of UnclE's commentary there. I was really impressed when you turned up with this deck concept bAz, having never seen you play a deck with a better concept than 'these cards are the same value' before.

;¬)

Unlike the Uncl I wouldn't overplay the neccessity of using non-unique deeds, as there are now many cheap strikes in the card pool and as you'll be choosing cards that match your shootout strategy you can afford to keep one or two in the pack. If you were looking for a regular multiplayer deck though, non-unique deeds might be worth the extra GR you will usually end up paying for them as he chances of being thwarted by a deed-pulling spell deck increase.

I had previously overlooked Defendin' Whats Yours, as it looked like a lot of bother to use and with too many drawbacks. To boot your Influence dudes is always a risk, for example, especially when you are simultaneously increasing the number of Control Points in play. And only one use per deed, so it can clog your hand up when there are no 'undefended' deeds that you control. It could never have that great an effect to be worth 3 Ghost Rock surely?

Or could it? Seeing it in play I had to reevaluate- after all you only need boot a single dude with an Influence as high as the highest other Influence in play, so sometimes a dude with 1 Inf will do. In the early game 2 Inf will almost always do the job, while in the later game you can still be assured with 2 Influence of either gaining the Control Point or forcing an opponent to boot a 3 or higher Influence dude (which could easily be critical in the endgame).

I was probably also biased by our current play trend (set by UnclE) of defending a small number of strong deeds- bAz went for throwing out many cheap deeds (a valid tactic in itself for generating quick income) and hitting each with a DWY in turn. The income from all of these strikes helps fuel the cost of the card.

So why not just bring out 1-Control Point deeds in the first place? Well for a start you can have more control over the values of the cards with this tactic- cheap 1 CP deeds have little or no income, and those with income can be expensive enough to prohibit early play. They are also scattered across many values, making it hard to match them to a draw (or even pull) strategy. Even where bringing out 1CP deeds would cost the same (or less) than a deed + DWY, this allows you to bring out the deeds before you have raised all of that cash, and then choose to increase the Control Points when you are ready to defend them. If your opponent has more mobile Influence than you, or is better placed to attack your out of town dudes, you can just leave the deeds as 'harmless' zero CP strikes, waiting til you can afford to crank up the Control Points.

The Texas Rangers are a good home for cheap strikes, especially with Rails on the team. Their home ability here allows you to defend the strikes pretty well (even without a Balcony or Buffalo Rifle on the Lift Winch) since you can override the adjacency requirement to bring a shooter to a strike, and if this shooter should be Far Away Fred you can use his ability to bring in another.

I'd think that the Dixie Rails home would also be worth a try (makes a good few of these dudes cheaper, especially Coleman). In terms of expanding the basic premise though, theres a whole host of options. I was inspired to build a Sweetrock Landslide deck with even cheaper deeds, since you should be able to knock out the Control points even cheaper (and therefore faster)- and its not as if Influence is going to be a problem is it? Original Maze Rats, another of my favourites, can always do with increasing the Control Points of cheap strikes (especially if they are stolen in the first place) which could quickly become virtually unassailable (although Maze Rats will struggle more for Influence). And that cheap strike favourite the Original Flock just has double the fun with this card added (it doesn't bear thinking of really, especially with those 'Babble On' Queens complementing the DWY in shootouts). Ouch!

In terms of direct critique of this deck... well I'd probably drop or at least de-emphasize the 'intown/outown posses' concept and concentrate on one or the other, probably the out of town deeds since you've got Rails and the dudes on the Lift Winch.

Clock Tower is totally non-essential, you're only helping yourself get one of 3 or four shootout actions in earlier than you would otherwise, and you've not even got any shotguns, so I'd drop that, along with the other intown deeds except the Lift Winch, which I'd probably put in another copy of. Quick Draw meanwhile is useful for shooters stacked on 2-3 values as you will be able to defeat high-pulling opponents- but with a stack this strong you're obviously going all out for 5 of-a-kinds so its a bit of overkill unless the value (Jack) is right.

As UnclE said, there's probably too many Defendin' Whats Yours. 3 would do, as would 2 Claim Jumpers (tops), since your opponents might not even be carrying strikes and especially as they are the same value as the DFY's. You could risk four of the same suit and value in the cheap cards that will come out of your deck quickly (the strikes for example, I might even chance 5 Queen Diamonds) but not really in action cards which will cause you to cheat more and more (and jam your hand) as the deck degenerates.

You shouldn't really need an Ambush, as your growing CP count should force your opponents out to fight (it could still be helpful if it was a decent value, but at 5GR you won't want to use it in the early game). Raid and Arson is pretty funny if they have sent everyone out to sit on your control, but don't do much for your value spread or your deck concept- at 3-Club a Massacre At High Noon would be better for dealing with an opponent that refuse to come and contest your control.

And how can you go for shootouts based on a single value and not consider including any Spades or Hearts in that value?? With this deck you can't beat two pair without cheating! Get a Terrormental, and perhaps Capt. Allen Graham and you can drop bad rubbish with bad values (like Clell Miller and James Hastings). Walkin' Sticks would be great when you do end up with adjacency to your strikes (via the Maze Runner or Lift Winch), and if all else fails the Bowie Knife is a cheap and trusted backup for a shooter deck.

You could afford to lose the Kings and complement your Jack Spades and Jack Clubs with Diamonds and Hearts of that value too (there are some other fine Texas Rangers at Jack value). The Hearts and Spades you do have are pretty scattered in value for a shooter deck- Buffalo Rifle and PHR are nice but only really icing and you shouldn't be afraid to dump them for something equally good with a more useful shootout value. Got yourself any Double Barrelled Shotguns yet? If you are stuck for hearts don't forget that Bartholemew should be able to create any gadget you should desire if you are pulling Jacks and Queens!

Nice deck, great Doomtown thinking bAz, you've certainly inspired me a lot with a simple but effective strategy that favours action over turtling and is adaptable to a lot of Outfits. Nice!


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