This is an attempt to highlight the common play mistakes that we have did and learned from. My first play mistake that I did was forget to redraw back up to my hand size during sundown, because I was on auto pilot for the win next day. 1. Always draw back to your hand size during sundown. 2. In a tournament environment don’t tell your opponent how to win the game, yeah I did that. 3. Don’t play a rumors on a booted dude while they are at home. 4. Just good practice read the FAQ before you enter into a tourney, Doomtown updates rulings and issues errata quite frequently. 5. Don’t go all in a shootout live to fight another day. That is a couple tips and mistakes that I think are funny and important. If you want to add something go ahead and post below. Maybe with time we can split this into two different stickies one for common misplays and pro tips.
Understand the difference between in-town and out of town.
You playing an out of town deed and opponent contests:
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They tie down a dude that will hamper your economy
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BUT most out of town deeds do NOT have Control Points
a) so their camping your out of town deed WILL NOT LOSE YOU THE GAME. -
A dude at an out of town deed is hard pressed to join a shootout - requires Pinto, Stakes Just Rose etc. If they do not have an attached mobility card, really Stakes Just Rose is the ONLY ‘surprise - join shootout’ card around.
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Dudes at out of town deeds have to boot to move ANYWHERE - e.g. they can’t by themselves move and call out and are immobilized for the rest of the turn
YOU wish to contest an out of town deed? Think carefully, since:
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to contest you need to move/boot INFLUENCE
a) This influence can tie up their income
b) BUT is unlikely to advance your immediate win condition (see above - most out of town deeds lack CP) -
Unless you have mobility cards, that dude can’t join shootouts
→ Use out of town locations as ‘influence traps’ and beware of their pitfalls
Always pack at least 1 or 2 Cheatin’ Cards - even if ‘off value’ for your draw structure. I liken a Cheatin’ card in a lowball or draw hand as ‘flashing some leg’. Your opponent knows you have at least one of (POWERFUL CHEATIN’ CARD) and may have others. So when they have to form a draw hand, they have to at least consider the effects of being Coachwhipped or This’ll Hurt in the Mornin’ etc.
If they NEVER see a Cheatin’ card, they are free to Five of a Kind you to death and win the game.
I really like Quickdraw Handgun - as an 8H it supports Dead Man’s Hand decks AND is reliable for most spell/gadget pulls. It can totally wreck a strong Cheatin’ deck or slow it down. Other cards such as Fetch and Pair o’ Six Shooters can also deter or counter Cheatin’ decks.
Do not play rumors on a one influence dude who is on a deed without a control point. You only regain control that day, production the next day will still be contested. Rumors is really about winning the game, or not losing, and that’s all about control points
Be very careful about over committing to jobs, or booting to join a shootout. If all your dudes are booted, and the game is close, your opponent may have a way to win in his hand that you might not have a way to stop.
Influence can very often be far more valuable than bullets.
Bad beets happen, be prepared for that. Calculated risks are part of the game, and fortune often favors the bold. However, unnecessary risks can will make the the prideful fall.
Almost every deck should have some way of taking the fight to the opponent’s home.
Read your opponent’s discard pile. Take notes from the very first lowball. What is their draw structure, how tight is it? What kinding on Cheatin’ actions do they have? What kind of Gotcha cards? What is their win condition? If they are playing kung fu you must always have an eye on their discard pile.
Don’t feel like you have to respond to every threat. Look at what a card can do and weigh the cost of allowing that card to do it. Look at what you’d lose by allowing your opponent to control your deed versus what you might lose trying to fight them. Weigh the importance of every callout you receive OR want to make. Especially with jobs. Anyone performing the job ends up home booted when it’s over. Is allowing that job to succeed by not opposing it worth seeing the dudes your opponent sent on it stuck at home for the rest of the day (barring special movement cards)? You’re usually only going to lose the game on the first turn if you’re in a big hurry to do so.
This is the best I’ve heard it explained. I think doomtown reloaded is very deep with strategy and risk management. These are very difficult concepts to master, and unapealing to many people because of it.
Some people forget to consider just letting a kidnapping happen.
Hm, most of the posts seem to be an advice for not so new player how to become a better player.
Anyway, my usual mistake is to use Morgans (core set) ability on first turn to play out of town deed using Irving. I swear it leads to unwanted by me shootout on turn one 90% of the time.
Second common mistake I mak (d)e (I improved on this one ) is/was overspending on turn one, it looks very promising when you can play all the cards from your hand quickly, especially deeds, but when you are unable to defend your deeds or your upkeep is to high for your production, your “great” turn one might be a reason you lost a game.
Third one is not running away from shootouts just because I won round one in 50-50 or close to it scenarios.
Good point swider. I’ve seen people play deeds which give them the loss. I would also add overspending in your starting posse, especially if they have upkeep. If you have 2 upkeep on your dudes, and lose lowball, you only have the GR left over from your starting crew. If you’ve overspent, you might have several cards that are unplayable, and can get stuck in your hand.
Do u folks think we have evolved from always starting a stud no matter what?
It really depends on your deck. Aggressive decks needs multiple ways of getting good stud dudes. Control decks can start without stud. Miracle can probably survive without stud early game.
There are some interesting new ways of getting stud dudes cheap with no upkeep. John Aces works very well if you can keep your hand size up. Jacqueline is an extremely good defensive stud as well.
I like to go shooty-shooty bang-bang, so I’m nervous if I don’t start 2 or 3 studs 
This was some stuff I came up with awhile ago so some might have already been mentioned my favorite is number 5 I’m very bias 
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- Read the rule-book, the most recent printing of the frequently asked question (FAQ), and read the rules forums for anything not included.
- Make sure you know what your draw structure is and/or what your deck is trying to do to win the game.
- Know what your decks weakness and strengths are. If you are running low value dudes with no upkeep you need to be aware that a shotgun deck or a huckster deck will give you problems.
- Before you make a play look at the board state and look to see if there is a better play you could do or if by doing something you can prevent opponent from doing something. Doomtown is like chess at the end game were movement is king and check is on its way.
- Go to the Gomorra Gazette to get the most up to date new. Great! You are already learning.
- Make sure you bring a legal deck 52 card, may have 2 jokers, no more than 4 of the same suit and value.
- When a job says boot that means your dude doing the job boots.
- When you build a spell deck make sure that you know what values are in your deck and what you need to pull for the spell to be successful.
- Use DTDB.CO as your deck builder. After you build your deck use the sample hands to see if your first turn hand is what you want or if you need to go back and retool it.
- Understand the terminology of booting, unbooting, draw, discard, ace, and movement.
The most common competitive mistake is not to play 4R control:D
Always expect a Steven Wiles.
Don’t push too hard for the win if you have the upper hand and can easily win during the next day with less afford. Learned that the hard way.
Keep Dudes/Deeds in hand if you can if there is no immediate reason to play them. This just gives your opponent a better estimation of your possibilites.
Try to go into shootouts with disposable dudes. Even if you try to kill off their Jake Smiley. Top-decked legal 5 of a Kinds do happen and there are very few things more frustrating
Unless you have played your hand and opponent sits with 5 cards. Don’t let them cycle their hand if you already do.
That is a very good point on its own, I just dont see what that has to do with bringing a disposable dude into the shootout.
//edit Ok I see what might be misunderstood about my point. What I mean is IF you go for a shootout bring disposable dudes, not go look for trouble just because they are disposable.
I too understood your statement as “go look for trouble, because why not” =_=
Yeah I see that now. What I meant was that even a little guy like Jake Smiley can draw a hand rank that matches yours so bring a dude that can soak that up if possible. I hope that was clearer 
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Not in any particular order:
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Don’t use Morgan Outfit’s ability unless you are willing to protect it and the dude that used it (or if you have a Make the Smart Choice in hand to run away).
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Always think about your dudes positioning for the current AND next day. I’ve seen too many people leave dudes tied up in deeds even though they didn’t need to be there.
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Try not to show too much of your hand. If you can wait to play/buy things then do it.
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Keep in mind how much Ghost Rock your opponent has. This could give you and idea of what they can play or do (ex. not having enough money to pay for It’s Not What You Know)
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Know what locations are adjacent to each other, especially Surveyor’s Office and Spirit Trail that make locations that are normally not adjacent become adjacent. What you thought was easy pickings could turn into a shootout that you want no part of.
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Remember to discard a card during Sundown if you can. Why keep that dude you won’t be able to afford for another 2 or 3 turns in your hand when it can be something useful next turn?
Don’t be afraid to ace cards from your hand or your discard pile, especially if it helps your draw structure or your pulls. You’re most likely not going to get them in hand later on, and a smaller deck cycles faster.