There Comes A Reckoning: Servitor Series Analysis
Howdy pardners! I wanted to take the time to share what we’ve noticed in organized play in this recent series, to provide some incite for both competitve players and show our new players how the post TCaR enviornment has advanced our beloved game. Note this is going to analyze only the decks in the recent Series that used cards featured in TCaR. Cards from this Series were in no way necessary to compete and there were plenty of successful, even winning decks, that did not feature any of these cards.
Where were we?
In ending the Epitaph Series, where no new cards were featured since the 2016 Sheriff Season, we got to see some new decks that maybe weren’t fully developed towards the end of the AEG run. There were plenty of new cards to work with in ‘Blood Moon Rising,’ and as a result, starting with the 2016 UK Championship, Robert Campbell’s horses regulated the environment, showing just how powerful Calling the Cavalry is. We saw a surge in Law Dogs outfits represented, as they know have a much more viable and powerful starting posse. Leading into the GenCon World Championship, Richard Carter showed us how to build our town and defend it with a victorious 108 Righteous Bandits win. We got our first glimpse of four of the TCaR cards in our Evil is a Choice event, where Joe ‘James’ Meredith showboated his way to naming a new Legend that will be featured in the set after the upcoming ‘Too Tough to Die.’
What happened in the Servitor Series?
Below we’ll see a breakdown of decks per faction and how the new cards affected the environment, noting which character players voted on to Corrupt or Save just for participating.
I. Law Dogs
The #screwDrew campaign has proved quite successful, with many of the 40 plus votes so far from Law Dogs players are to corrupt the inventor of the Quaterman, and Law Dogs remains the faction most represented. The Evil is a Choice Event featured two different Servitors combined with what has largely been considered the weakest outfit for this faction:
Top 4 Arsenal w/Hellstromme: Hellstrom Gadget-Dogs: Two-Fisted Justice · DoomtownDB
Top 8 Arsenal w/Grimme: "Shoulda chose evil." GenCon "Evil is a Choice" 8th place LD · DoomtownDB
Going into Servitor Series, we see examples now of each Servitor with this faction and a vareity of representation with TCaR. While Justice in Exile was very prevalent at the GenCon main event, it has taken a back seat in post TCaR builds.
Cards used: Raven, Stone, Grimme, Censure, Agent Provocateur, Shan Fan Showdown, Hellstromme Plant #9, Intercession, Sheriff Eli Waters, Buffalo Emporium, Johnny Brocklehurst, BIlton Collection Agency, Sentinel, Taff’s Distillery, Mausoleum, Stewart Davidson, Decimator Array
OCTGN League: Law Dogs w/Stone: Always Bet on Stone · DoomtownDB
Abram’s Crusaders w/Grimme: Abram's Holy Toolbox · DoomtownDB
TOP 4 PAX Unplugged: Top 4 finisher PAX Unplugged · DoomtownDB
Law Dogs: New dog, old tricks · DoomtownDB
PAX Unplugged Second Place: Old-Fashioned Dogs (PaxUnplugged 2nd place!) (4/2/Straight F · DoomtownDB
Law Dogs w/Raven (2nd Place Servitor): Raven's-War Dogs (2nd @ York Servitor Series 2017-12-02) · DoomtownDB
2nd Place Servitor: Abram’s Crusaders: Melee miracle 2nd place in Servitor Event Zwolle, NL · DoomtownDB
1st Place Servitor: : Tolaris 3:16 - Newcastle Servitor Winner · DoomtownDB
OCTGN League: Arsenal w/Grimme: Shan Fan Dogs! · DoomtownDB
Arsenal: #screwdrew · DoomtownDB
II. The Sloane Gang
Taking down the ‘Fate of Mario Crane’ story-line event at PAX Unplugged, Zachary Seldon showed us how great Sloane still are, now backed with the Power of Raven, while others had great success with hex builds. Players continue to vote on the fate of Maria Kingsford, with a tight race to save or corrupt her soul.
Cards used: Raven, Grimme, Taff’s Distillery, Mausoleum, Nightmare Realm, The Bloody Star, Grim Servant O’Death, Disarm, The Winning Agenda, The Oriental Saloon, Bilton Collection Agency
2nd Place Servitor: Desolation Row w/Grimme: Grimme Hex *2nd Place Servitor 2017* · DoomtownDB
Protection Racket w/Grimme: Cheatin' Barton · DoomtownDB
PAX Unplugged 1st Place: Protection Racket w/Raven: Pub Wars - PAX Unplugged 1st Place · DoomtownDB
OCTGN League Top 8: Den of Thieves: Den of Jokers - OCTGN Top 8 · DoomtownDB
III. The Fourth Ring
Another close competition, this one for Valeria, we’ve seen success starting in Evil Is A Choice and continuing from there with a variety of deck types.
Cards used: Hellstromme, Stone, Grimme, Disarm, Taff’s Distillery, Mausoleum, Nightmare Realm, Black Owl, Buffalo Emporium, Zeb Whateley-Dupont, Agent Provocateur, Devil’s Six Gun, Hellstromme Plant #9, The Winning Agenda, Rosenbaum’s Golem, Grim Servant O’Death, Decimator Array
Evil Is A Choice 1st Place: The Fourth Ring w/Grimme: I Chose Evil - 1st Place Gencon 2017 Evil Is A Choice · DoomtownDB
Servitor 2nd Place: Thanks, Mark II · DoomtownDB
Servitor 1st Place: Full Moon Brotherhood: Valeria Batten Rescue Party · DoomtownDB
Servitor 1st Place: Sanitorum: York Servitor 2017 [Winner] · DoomtownDB
Servitor 2nd Place: Oddities w/Hellstromme: Valeria's Mystical Toy Box · DoomtownDB
Servitor 3rd Place: Full Moon Brotherhood w/Stone: Full Moon Whateleys · DoomtownDB
Top 4 PAX Unplugged: Oddities of Nature: WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! v2 - PAX Unplugged 3rd Place · DoomtownDB
IV. Morgan Cattle Company
Taking top of swiss in Evil is A Choice and achieving a Servitor win from there, gadget regulation proved successful in this Series and showed cavalry is still strong. Votes for Kyle continue to come in as we plan to show what happened after his apparent death.
Cards used: Raven, Stone, Hellstromme, Prof. Aloysius Roe, Devil’s Six Gun, Adrian Vallejo, Buffalo Emporium, Grim Servant O’ Death, Decimator Array
Evil is A Choice Top of Swiss: Morgan Regulators w/Hellstromme: "Evil is a Choice" Gadget Cavalry, 5-0 2017 · DoomtownDB
Servitor 1st Place: Gadget Regulations *1st Place Servitor 2017* · DoomtownDB
Evil is A Choice: Morgan Stables w/Stone: "...And Behold, an Ashen Horse..." · DoomtownDB
Morgan Regulators: Decimating and Regulating · DoomtownDB
Servitor 1st Place: Morgan Regulators w/Raven: Raven reg · DoomtownDB
V. The 108 Righteous Bandits
While there wasn’t much representation in TCaR, 11 players and Bai Yang Chen’s soul is on it’s way to being saved.
Cards used: Raven, Taff’s Distillery, Explorer’s Lodge, Bilton Collection Agency, Agent Provocateur
1st Place Servitor: 108 Drunken Masters w/Raven: Raven's Bandits - Wasabicon Servitor Winner · DoomtownDB
VI. Eagle Wardens
Starting with Grimme powering The Gateway to a 2nd place Evil is a Choice deck, the votes for Black Elk strongly favored saving him and here’s the TCaR representation.
Cards used: Grimme, Raven, The Winning Agenda, Charging Bear, Explorer’s Lodge, Bilton Collection Agency, Raven’s Ruin, Grim Servant O’ Death, Fears No Owls, Agent Provocateur, Friends in High Places
2nd Place Evil is A Choice: Gateway to Beyond w/Grimme: Gencon Evil is a Choice Second Place - Taking to the Gateway · DoomtownDB
Servitor Series Top 4: Beyond the Veil w/Raven: Raven's Murder - Servitor Series 4th palce · DoomtownDB
5th Place: Totem chess · DoomtownDB
What cards have not seen play?
My two ghost rock on what’s not featured above:
-Wang Men Wu: Specific to Rabbit tricks, not one we’ll see widely played.
-Rabid Rance Hitchock: A character with some versatility, but not for hex builds, I hope to see him in future decks.
-Morgan Lash: the high cost can deter use in even Desolation Row.
-F1 Burch: hoping he sees more play, the movement shenanigans can be quite fun.
-Epitaph Branch Office: this one surprises me since it has a way to earn CP and I suspect we’ll see it in the next series.
-Forsaken Hound: this dog will get love…in time.
-Cavalry Escort: I expect to see some splash in decks that set up Point Blank.
-Remedy: competes on 9s with Red Horse’s Tail, more of a meta call/specific build card.
-Behold White Bull: might be some fun there with kung-fu and blessed.
-You Had ONE Job!: not featured in any Law Dogs builds, another versatile card that I’d like to see in action.
What other factors were in place?
Let’s face in folks, some people just aren’t in tune with using proxies, which is fine! Once the physical cards come out and we enter the Tombstone Series, will we see a difference at events? Horse decks remain successful, but will we see more showboating? Keep in mind, this list is just from what is documented on the dtdb, so there may be plenty of other folks using a variety of the new cards, and several of the cards featured above are in some builds not featured from organized play.
So in conclusion I ask you, the community, what did you observe in this Series?
I suppose as a previous World Champion (with Sloane no less!) he might be moderately informed about the game! We’ll have to agree to disagree or settle it with a grudge match.