Mad Science with a (Straight Flush) Heart

Hi again all,

After No Turning Back, I was glad to see more options for Club-less Mad Science from Morgan, so I decided to take the plunge and see if I could pull one off.

http://dtdb.co/en/decklist/1220/mad-science-with-a-straight-flush-heart

I have yet to test this, and I’m fairly wishy-washy on the starting posse, as I feel like I might have too little income (though I have several boosters scattered in the deck).

I envision the deck doing a turn or two of inventing, then having a strong shooter or two to go out and gun down opponents.

Thoughts, opinions? Feel free to be brutal.

This deck looks very similar to one that I have been working on and tweaking:

http://dtdb.co/en/deck/view/10993

Playtesting it, I was initially (and continue to be) frustrated with it’s lack of shootout success. My opponent was also cheating with no consequence what-so-ever.
Because of this I put in 4 clubs for Cheatin’ Resolutions. I found It’s Not What You Know was the best choice as it also works as a Resolution and I always have tons of GR lying around for my gadgets; most of them are free or dirt cheap with the home ability and the Cattle Feeder, R&D Ranch, and Secured Stockyard keeps the cash flowing.
Card counting 4 clubs isn’t that hard, and if I find I’m playing Russian Roulette with a deck of 10 cards with 2 clubs in it somewhere, I don’t use the experimental abilities.

I also added Quickdraw Handgun and Tommy Harden for more shooutout pressure, but traded Tommy for another Quaterman. I also needed more dudes for influence, and Drew Beauman is an option as is Dr Arden. J.W. works well in this deck as I have so many guns flying around and there are horses and hats that can be added to him if they come up. I chose him over Jacqueline, but she is a good choice adding those extra stud bullets when the attack comes to you.

Elander Boldman XP 0 is useful in shootouts as he will not fail and can pump Jen up to a 7 stud.

I went 4-of on values 7-K with two 6s, and reduced the number of deeds.
This is where Morgan’s grifter comes in so SO handy. I’ve repeatedly been very thankful of Aswell’s non-booting ability to pull up ranches, and then using Specks to put them in play for (almost) free.

I also learned from the FAQ that the Auto Revolver does not have to even be in the shootout for its trait to activate, and if you have more than one in play you benefit from both. Throw one on Specks or Kyle and keep them alive and you get a very valuable extra draw card in shootouts.

The last game I played I got the straight flush twice, one natural one with a joker. I did run into the problem you describe eventually destroying the draw structure making it impossible to get the straight flush. When that happens we have to rely on the Asyncoil Gun to go off.
I ended up loosing when I drew a cheatin’ full house when 3 of my clubs came up in my draw hand.

I don’t win often, but it does win and I have way more fun playing this deck than I have with any other so far.
Seeing all these crazy scientists running around with the zanyist gadgets is hilarious and creates a rich and fun narrative and gives the game a relaxed casual feel to it.
When I’m playing aggro I feel confrontational and I have a more stressful experience. This deck is just so enjoyable and I can’t wait for it to develop further. Due to the variety of inventions we have at our disposal, every single game is vastly different depending on what gadgets come up.

3 Likes

The issue I have is each time you put a heart into play you weaken your shootout structure. I’ve tried this but I canny get it to work

I saw your deck, and I really like what you’re doing there…but I am not so sure on Kyle non-starting…he’s another body that fails a lot of pulls.

Yeah, this is my biggest danger…it’s why I’m thinking of having so few dudes around. Fewer to put gadgets on, so I can keep those cycling, cherry-picking for the occasion.