THEME DECK #1: Amigos, Amigos, Amigos!
OUTFIT CARD: Maze Rats, Landed Dragons
STARTING DUDES (6 influence 0 starting ghost rock, +2 net production)
10S Solomon (0-draw, 2 influence, 1 upkeep)
9S Two Birds Chirping (0-stud, 1, 1)
9S Freddy Fast-Hands (2-stud, 1, 0)
2S Cassiday Greene (0-draw, 1, 0)
DUDES
AS Redbrook
8S Sin Je
8S Denton Filmore
9S Finnegan O'Malley
9S Buckets Nelson
10S Los Ojos Del Dios
10S Mad Dog Campbell
JS The Drifter
QS Kyle Conrad
DEEDS
8D Fu Leng's Laundry & Tailoring
8D Pony Express
9D Water's Edge Strike
9D Callahan's Ditch
10D Water Tower
10D The Barber Shop
JD Bottleneck Mine
JD Look Homeward Mine
QD Thunder Gulch Strike
QD Gypsy't Tent
KD Foale's Folly
KD The Clock Tower
ACTIONS
AC Lady Luck
2C Caught in the Crossfire (x2)
8C Jackalope Stampede
8C We've Got Ya Surrounded
9C Snake Eyes
9C Hell's Comin' With Me
10C Aim For The Head
10C Cover Fire
JC Take Ya With Me (x2)
QC Fight Like A Man
QC Sauce For the Gander
KC That'll Leave A Scar (x2)
SPELLS & GOODS
4H Secret Paths
5H Summon Spirit (x4)
9H Snake Handlin (x4)
9H Wild Dingos (x2)
JOKERS
Death's Head Joker (x2)
SUMMARY
Ala the classic Three Amigos episode, "Amigos, Amigos, Amigos", the goal here is to confuse your opponent (well, not really) with more dudes than he knows what to do with. Using multiple copies of Summon Spirit and Snake Handlin, you can eventually get into shootouts where you have a dozen dudes in play, most of which are studs (all of them if you have We've Got Ya Surrounded). With Caught in the Crossfire, you can unleash a huge bullet bonus (+1 for each dude your posse outnumbers the opposition by).
In fact, in my first game with this deck I had Mad Dog up to a 12-stud with 10 additional stud cards, so I got to draw a total of 27 cards for my draw hand... enough to go through my entire deck and pluck out a Dead Man's Hand.
Of course, draws won't always be that perfect, but with all those extra dudes, you can afford to lose a round or two without taking any true casualties. Since the deck likes to shoot, I loaded it with shootout actions I don't normally use, like Hell's Comin With Me, Hell's Comin' With Me and Cover Fire. The nice thing about the token dudes is that they are unbooted, which means you will always be able to play shootout actions that require booting.
POKER STRATEGY
The deck is stacked with high value cards to help the spell pulls, since that is the meat of the deck. To minimize cheating, there are no more than two of any suit-value combination with the exception of 5H and 9H, but since these cards go into play so quickly, your deck thins itself down in a hurry. The deck counts on being able to draw a mess of cards in shootouts, to get you to either a straight flush (most likely in Clubs, but diamonds and spades are possibilities) or Dead Man's Hand. This is not a DMH deck by any means... in fact, I only added the Ace of Clubs after drawing 27 cards in a shootout and realizing that I might as well give myself the chance.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
This deck is not loaded with control points, but it does have 7, and they are all in town so that you can protect them with all of your dudes. Also, the Maze Rats outfit ability helps if you need more than 7. Since this is more of a theme deck than a killer deck, there are no direct ways to initiate shootouts and prevent people from turtling. If you wanted to make the deck a little more aggressive, you could add a Massacre (though the value hurts the spell pulls) or replace the We've Got Ya Surrounded with a Kidnappin'.
DEFENSE
As for the defensive side... the deck starts 6 influence and can shoot with a 4-stud draw 2 on the opening turn if necessary, but you are better off avoiding shootouts until you've got a few spells attached. Also, every dude in the deck has influence (almost a must for Landed Rats IMHO) so you should be able to do some board control if your opponent puts strikes into play. Just make sure you keep your spellcasters near each other with at least one stud to protect them.
INDIVIDUAL CARD NOTES
* Redbrook: My standard DMH card, since you can refuse to pay his upkeep to get him back into your deck/discard pile.
* Buckets Nelson: More dudes... Wahoo! Plus, if you need to get DMH or Straight Flush components out of your hand and into your deck/discard pile before you draw, the ability to discard can be very helpful.
* Los Ojos Del Dios: In case you lose one of your starting spellcasters, he is a backup for both of them.
* The Clock Tower: This deck hates No Funny Stuff, but just in case, The Clock Tower gives you at least one chance to make a dude.
* Wild Dingos (Ate My Baby): This card just amuses me. Plus, it fits in with the theme, and offers your spellcasters some extra protection in case they got stuck in a shootout alone.
"Jumpin'" Jeff Hannes
