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Review of Out for Blood
Introduction: Doomtown Reloaded's "Out for Blood" is a 224-card set, with 52 different cards. Thematically, the residents of Doomtown are spreading their influence to Tombstone, Arizona. The gameplay is still good ol' Doomtown, and you now even have the cards you need to make each Doomtown Reloaded: Quick Draw deck. In general, the set has a new outfit for each faction, as well as their additional faction dudes. I should mention that, as of this writing, the next expansion, Hell's Coming with Me, may still be available for pre-order and on sale in March. And, if you're a roleplayer, the Deadlands roleplaying game Kickstarter will start in a few weeks. Card pictures are for cards in this expansion, as well as supporting or similar cards in previous sets.
Newbies: if you only have the Doomtown Reloaded base game, you may want to first pick up a Quick Draw Deck for the factions not included in the base game set. (The base game factions are Law Dogs, Outlaws, Entrepreneurs, and Fearmongers.) You can then buy this or the previous PEG expansion, Too Tough To Die. The main difference between these two expansions is that Out for Blood has a new outfit for each expansion, while Too Tough to Die has new outfits for Anarchists and First Peoples. For more about the "Doomtown Quick Draw Decks", browse the Pine Box Entertainment publisher products on DriveThruCards and search for deck lists on the the Doomtown Database. Of course, if you only have a base game set and want four of each card through Too Tough to Die, you can cough up a few C-notes and pick up the entire Doomtown: Reloaded Bundle on the Pinnacle Entertainment Group site!
The Guy Who Has to Buy Everything for his Gaming Group: If you're stuck with buying all the cards for your gaming group and get some wet-behind-the-ears greenhorns players, you now have enough cards to make every Quick Draw Starter Deck. (fyi, You can make each deck except the Law Dogs deck with the cards up to Too Tough to Die.) You might not have enough cards to make all the decks at the same time, but you should be able to tweak the deck lists so that the decks still play well against each other. As said, the Starter Deck lists are available on DriveThruRPG and the Doomtown Database.
Veterans: Out for Blood has outfits for each faction, so should enliven existing deck styles, as well as provide new challenges in creating new ones. This review will provide an overview of the cards in this set and some (but hardly all) ideas on how to use the cards. Note that, of course, a card in this set that may not initially appear to be all that useful, may become more of interest with cards from later expansions.
Legends: Pinnacle Entertainment Group's first expansion, There Comes a Reckoning, introduced legends. Legends are an optional additional starting card ability, similar to an outfit, but usually with a notable drawback. Doc Holliday is this set's Legend. He enhances spellcaster shootout decks by giving a bullet bonus of the spellcaster in the shootout (not necessarily in your posse) to your dude. The drawback is a bullet penalty in a shootout if you don't have a spellcaster in your posse.
For the newbies, Spellcasters (and other skilled dudes, such as Mad Scientists) are a little trickier to play in Doomtown. To use a spellcaster to his full effect, you typically first need to attach a spell card to your spellcasting dude. In contrast, you can attach most goods to any of your dudes in play, and most dudes are fine without goods, since you can play action cards on them. To use a spell successfully, your spellcasting dude performs a pull. When casting a spell, you draw the top card of your deck and look at its value. Add the value to your spellcaster's skill and check if the total is equal to or greater than the difficulty of the spell. If it is, then the spell succeeds. Note that this often means your deck will focus on high-valued cards, making it an illegal deck, leaving you vulnerable to your opponent's Cheatin' Resolutions. Again, in contrast, most goods attached to your dudes automatically work. After a shootout, you take casualties. The number of casualties you take is the winning player's hand rank minus that of the loser. To cover casualties, you discard one dude and his attached cards per casualty (or ace one dude and his attachments to cover two). If both players in a shootout have equal hand ranks, each takes a casualty. This means that, if you discard a spellcaster in a shootout, you'll be discarding a dude and the spells he has attached, while, if your opponent discards a dude without any attachments, he will discard only one card. (However, card advantage in Doomtown isn't as critical as Magic. At the end of each round, you may discard a card then you fill your hand, rather than only normally drawing one card at the start of your turn.) In general, a player who relies on spellcasters in a shootout should bring along some cannon fodder. This means some prepping and paying for dudes before a fight. Meanwhile, his opponent might only rely on cheap dudes with action cards (that can usually be played on any of his dudes) to beef them up. Such an opponent may only need his starting dudes and a play hand of action cards. Of course, many spells aren't shootout related, so you can have your spellcaster relatively safe in his home, casting spells to help in other ways.
Doc Holliday strengthens shootout spell decks. The card ability is "Give your dude a bullet bonus equal to the spellcaster skill rating of a dude in this shootout." You'll want, then, spellcasters with a skill of two or higher. Eva Bright Eyes, Darragh Mèng, and Black Elk are inexpensive dudes with high skill ratings and 0-influence, from other expansions. Since they're all 0-influence dudes, you can add them to any deck without paying for additional upkeep (dudes in your gang from other factions increase their upkeep by their influence, and cannot be played as a starting dude). Note, however, that Doc Holliday only requires a spellcaster with a high skill rating (and he doesn't even have to be on your side). So a Doc Holliday deck will not necessarily have any spells in it.
This expansion still has a fair number of cards to support a shootout spellcaster. For Blessed decks (typically Law Dogs and Anarchist factions), the Champion Miracle makes your Blessed spellcasting dude into a stud. Drifter Sister Lois Otwell and Law Dog Andrew Burton are the only 2-draw 0-upkeep blessed dudes in the game so far. If you're a Law Dog, start with Andrew Burton in play, so that his low value won't cause you to fail spell pulls. Champion has a high value, so will be helpful with pulls. For Shaman decks (typically First Peoples), Wrathful Spider's sidekick ability (discard to cover one casualty) can be used after its cheatin' resolution. Its 5-value, though, may make it harder for a successful pull. The Dancing Butterfly Spirit is also a sidekick, so can be discarded in a shootout instead of a dude. Its effect of allowing a second Cheatn' card to be played requires you to have a legal hand, which is difficult if you have a deck designed for high pulls (these decks tend to be illegal, since they often have multiples of high value cards). For Huckster decks (typically Fearmongers and Outlaws), the Malison hex gives your posse a +1 draw hand bonus and is also a high value. The Twilight Is Upon Us action moves your skilled dude into your posse and gives posses with shooters +2 bullets. This card, by the way, is also useful for a mad scientist's gadget weapon deck, so can be used in a gadget weapon deck with the Legend, Darius Hellstromme, from There Comes a Reckoning.
Anarchists: This faction gains the outfit, House of Many Faiths, which supports Miracle decks. By moving cards for pulls and shootouts from your hand to your deck, you can increase the likelihood of such cards appearing when you need them. While the Law Dogs previously had the most Blessed dudes, this expansion adds two 0-upkeep Blessed dudes, Reverand Bob Hungate and Father Diamond, as well as blessed dues with 1-upkeep, Master Shou and Brother Petrovic. Ke Wang is a little tricky. He's best against lone 1-studs with 0-influence. Booting other dudes is typically better as a noon action, as this prevents them from moving, calling out others, or refusing a shootout. Booting during a shootout usually only means they can't use a card effect that requires booting. However, Swinford Finds Trouble, from Faith and Fear, lets you send home a dude with a lower bullet rating, so you might be able to use this card with Ke Wang's ability to force a dude out of the shootout. The Anarchists also gain another kung fu dude, Baijiu Sue and technique Ten-Foot Punch. Baiju Sue works with saloon decks. Search on saloon in the Doomtown Database. Regarding Ten-Foot Punch, note that most kung fu dudes start at a 0 or 1 rating.
Fearmongers: The outfit, Bayou Vermilion Railroad supports mystical decks, as do many dudes in the Fearmonger faction. Most mystical cards are goods. Magnum Opus Tenebri is a mystical hadget that can be invented by Hucksters, so would work with Auntie Sinister in an abomination deck. Search on mystical cards in the Doomtown Database for cards with the mystical trait, and Mystical text for cards involving Mystical cards.
How about a mystical gadget deck? Start off with Valeria Batten, from Faith and Fear. Ace Funtime Freddy, from Frontier Justice, to pull out the only two hexes in your deck and attach one of them to her. (Some hexes affect adjacent locations. So, if you keep Valeria at home, she can affect cards in the town square. Other hexes affect abominations.) You can bring Funtime Freddy (and The Brute, from Election Day Slaughter) back with a Soul Cage, from Nightmare at Noon, when someone cheats, including during lowball. Roderick Byre, from New Town, New Rules, is a 0-upkeep mad scientist drifter, and you can play Dabney Scuttlesby, from The Light Shineth, later in the game to build more mystical gadgets. If you need more mad scientists, search for 0-influence, 0-upkeep mad scientists from other factions. (You can include other dudes from other factions in your deck, but must increase your upkeep by their influence and cannot use them as starting dudes.) Finally, later in the game, we come to this expansion's Valeria Batten (Exp.1). Upgrade your 0-exp Valeria Batten when it's time for a shootout to use her ability to prevent hand ranks from being modified. If you're keeping her at home for awhile, you can reduce her upkeep by playing the Huntsmen's Society, from No Turning Back, adjacent to your home.
And you can go even further with a mystical gadget dudes deck. The above cards are from other sets. Dr. Dawn Edwards and Eve Henry aren't necessary, but respectively benefit from Decimator Array, and Soul Cage (as does The Wretched) and Huntsmen's Society, not to mention any of Valerie's hexes that affect abominations. Any gadget dudes invented by Dr. Dawn Edwards do not attach to her, so, if she becomes a casualty (or you don't want to pay her upkeep), you can bring Eve Henry into play without removing from play the gadget dudes she invented. QUATERMAN is neither mystical nor abomination and has a low value, so I'm only mentioning it here as a third gadget dude for Margaret Hagerty to invent.
With Out for Blood, the 11 grit deck becomes more viable (though, whether or not it's playable is another thing!). This deck centers around abilities raising or requiring an opponent's dude's grit (total of their value, bullets, and influence) to 11 or higher. Cattle Market from the base set, and Shiny Things from Blood Moon Rising raise an opponent's value. Search on 11 in the Doomtown Database, for additional Fearmonger cards that can be used in this deck.
First Peoples: The Office of Ancestral Affairs outfit supports totem decks. Search on totem for other Free Peoples cards that may work in a totem deck. The outfit's job ability, if successful, increases an in-town deed by a control point. For the newbies, a job requires a success (typically involving a shootout) before its ability takes effect, so can put your dudes at risk if they become casualties in the shootout. In my opinion, less risky First Peoples outfits are Beyond the Veil from Dirty Deeds, or Gateway To Beyond from the First Peoples Quick Draw Starter Deck or Blood Moon Rising expansion. Black Elk's ability helps control deeds. Search on First People's Quick Draw Starter Deck.
Leychaa'i Youngheart, Monomi Miles, and Klah support non-spirit sidekick decks. While you shouldn't have a difficult time finding a good that's a sidekick, you may also want to search in the Doomtown database for other cards which benefit sidekick decks. Search on sidekick in the Doomtown Database.
Nathaniel Tuwikaa supports influence decks, including the First People outfit, Spiritual Society. Several cards allow you to use influence instead of bullets in a shootout. ...It's who you know from Double Dealin' allows you to use influence instead of bullets in a shootout. Several cards, including dudes from the Free Peoples faction, have abilities manipulating or benefiting from high influence. Search on influence in the Doomtown Database.
Law Dogs: The Fort 51 outfit supports gadget weapon and gadget dude decks. Two Legends, Darius Hellstromme from There Comes a Reckoning, and Andrew Lane, from Hell's Comin' With Me, support gadget weapon decks as well. The drifter, Byron Decker receives +1 influence when armed with a gadget weapon. Janosz Pratt, from Bad Medicine, and Dr. Erik Yaple, from Too Tough to Die, have abilities involving gadget weapons. Margaret Hagerty from The Light Shineth is a Mad Scientist you can include in your gadget dude deck (see the Fearmongers discussion about this deck).
Enrique Dos Santos, Reverend Endicott, Sgt. Elijah Clay, Wyatt Earp and drifter Carter Richardson support bounty decks. Bounty decks make opponent dudes wanted, and have abilities against wanted dudes. Many Law Dog cards can be used in bounty decks, and these decks are good decks for newbies to start with.
Reverend Endicott is somewhat unique in that he's a blessed deputy with an ability against wanted dudes. The outfit, Abram's Crusaders from The Light Shineth enhances blessed deputy decks. Fiery Rhetoric from The Light Shineth and Confession from Frontier Justice are Miracles that also support bounty decks. Andrew Burton from Frontier Justice is another blessed deputy you can start your posse with.
Entrepreneurs: Another gadget outfit, the Smith & Robards Trade Show, allows you to "discard a ard then draw a card." THis allows you to cycle out cards from your play hand that you do not want to play, such as expensive cards and cards you want to keep in the deck for pulls or shootouts. The other Entrepreneur gadget outfit is the Morgan Gadgetorium, from Faith and Fear. Dr. Gregory Tremane and Eli Leatherwood's high upkeep makes their usefulness dependent on the rest of the deck.
Made your experimental gadget deck yet? Most experimental gadgets have negative effects with a club pull, so are clubless decks, or decks with few clubs. Experimental gadgets are from previous expansions. Elander Boldman (Exp.1) from No Turning Back, and Testing Range from Nightmare at Noon have abilities dealing with experimental gadgets. Most experimental cards have abilities helped by a clubless deck.
Outlaws: The outfit, Jonah's Alliance, has some pretty powerful effects, but also has limitations. Its special ability will turn a draw into a stud, so use it on cheap 2-draw dude. However, since it's a Noon action and not a Shootout one, your opponent may try to call out out your 2- and 3-draw dudes before you use this card. Also, the outfit ability boots the dude. Booted dudes cannot call out other dudes, cannot move, etc. But various cards, such as The Pharmacy, can unboot your dudes. Search on unboot in the Doomtown Database for more cards.
I searched for some draw dudes you can use with this outfit. Allie Hensen, from the base set, and Big Nose Kate, from this expansion, are outlaws you can start your posse wth. Big Nose Kate can give herself a bullet bonus, making her a potential 4-stud with this outfit. Henry Moran, from Ghost Town, is a cheap drifter you can also start in play. You don't have to start with The Fixer, and his upkeep means he won't stay in play long, but when his 4-draw becomes a 4-stud, he won't have to. Christine Perfect, from Blood Moon Rising, and Luke the Errand Boy, from Bad Medicine, are cheap, 1-cost, 2-draws from other factions, but that only means you can't start with them in play. Add a Pearl-Handled Revolver to your deck to make a draw into a stud. You can search on stud in the Doomtown Database to find cards that can turn draws into studs.
The second ability of Jonah's Alliance is to boot a hex to negate an attachment. Darragh Mèng, from Ghost Town, is a one-cost huckster, and he won't discard his spell when using the outfit's ability on his hex. Bring along his friend, Bobo, from the base set. (You cannot start with a dude from another faction, but Bobo's high upkeep means and low cost means you'll keep him in play only one turn, anyway.) BTW, José Morales, from Double Dealin', is the only dude I found that's a high draw and a huckster, though I don't know if he's a must-have card in a Jonah's Alliance deck.
If you want to cause trouble in town square, provoke the other players with Allie Hensman, from the base game, and bring along a few town square jobs and dudes. Since the town square is adjacent to every in-town location, including your home, keep a huckster at home to cast spells and use Jonah's Alliances hex ability. Also, play deeds affecting an adjacent location. Play the Huntsmen's Society, from No Turning Back, next to your home to reduce the upkeep of your high value dude, including José Morales, from Double Dealin', and Violet Esperanza, at home or the town square. While you're at it, why not use Adler's Needle to poke a non-participant in his home — or anywhere else in-town? Search on town square and adjacent location for more cards that can affect the town square.
Start the game with Allie Hensman and The Fixer, from Faith and Fear, and a few cheap dudes. Boot The Fixer to hopefully draw a job card; he will unboot. Move The Fixer or another a draw dude to the town square. Boot him with Jonah's Alliance to make him into a stud. Move Allie into the town square. Boot Allie to give her a control point. Boot a cheap dude to start a job in the town square.
So what about the other Outlaw dudes from this expansion? Well, they all contribute to a wanted deck, including the ones I mentioned earlier. Johnny Ringo fits with a lone shooter deck, which benefits from Jasper Stone. Curly Bill Brocius isn't cheap, but his harrowed trait means he can take more casualties. (From the Doomtown Database rules: " You can send a Harrowed dude home booted to cover one of the casualties you take in a shootout. Discarding a Harrowed dude covers two casualties, and acing a Harrowed dude covers three. If a Harrowed dude in play gets aced by a card effect (but not through being aced to cover casualties in a shootout), discard that dude instead of acing them.")
Deeds: When building decks, you want some cards to stay in the deck for shootouts or pulls. Both Steph & Gertie's Tonsorium and Gage Export Co. allows you to cycle cards from your play hand or discard pile to your draw deck, where, hopefully, they will be drawn for a shootout or pull. Steph and Gertie's may also be more useful to remove cards from your play hand that are too early or too late to play. Gage Export Co. can be used, for example, to return discarded dudes from a shootout to your draw pile so you can play them sooner. Not only does it help cycle cards, but Gateway Station can help you shrink your deck by removing cheap dudes from the deck to play, as well as find a particular dude when you need him later in the game. Hart's Tea Room might help your influence decks a bit. If you have a high-influence low-bullet dude at this deed, your opponent will know that the first high-bullet low-influence dude he sends there will be booted, so can't call your dude out, and you will still have the deed's control point. Bird Cage Theater allows you to remove control points from another dude. For now, no dudes have control points printed on their card, but several cards can grant them control points, including Allie Hensman. Search on control point in the Doomtown Database.
Have several out-of-town deeds to protect? The Cochise County Courthouse noon job marks the town square, so dudes squatting on your out-of-town deeds aren't adjacent and can't join a posse at the mark's location (From the Doomtown Database rules: "If neither the controller nor the owner choose to form a posse (this is always the case with jobs that mark the town square or the leader's own cards), then any player, starting with the player to the left of the leader, can form a posse to oppose the job. ... The mark can only use dudes at or adjacent to the mark's location."). If the job succeeds, move him booted from that deed to the town square. "Survivors in the leader's posse go home booted. Surviving dudes in the defending posse stay where they are."
Weapons: While Scattergun's first ability will only work if your opponent brings along a sidekick or create a token dude to the shootout (which they won't, since you'll play the weapon at noon before a shootout happens), its second ability can negate the bonus of a cheap dude. The card has some overlap with Shotgun. I've mentioned Adler's Needle as a way to provoke non-shootout dudes.
Spells: I covered spells useful in shootouts earlier. This expansion's last spell, Guiding Light, can be useful for its unbooting ability alone. Or boot your Blessed dude to that out-of-town deed with a booted opposing dude; this does not boot the spell. Then cast the spell to send your opponent's dude home, booted. You might also be able to send a booted opposing dude from one of your in-town deeds to the town square, where he'll be booted and vulnerable to a call-out from one of your other unbooted dudes. You pay ghost rock to use the spell, so it might be useful in an Anarchist's 108 Gracious Gifts deck, where you want to have less ghost rock than each other player.
Actions: Booted dudes can still use attached cards. So, if you have a dude that has an attached card that can affect an adjacent location, Fleet Footed can be useful to bring him back home, so he can affect the town square. You're A Daisy If You Do can also be useful to move opponent dudes from your out-of-town deeds. As said earlier, Twilight Is Upon Us' ability and value are a good fit for a skill deck. Test of Wills negates cards, boots dudes (including to prevent them to use booting as a cost for some other cards), and helps shooter decks where your shootouts rely upon a single dude, whom you don't want sent out of the gunfight.
Conclusion: Newbies may want to stick to the Quick Draw Starter Decks, but veterans should find some nice support for offbeat decks. Time to put your spell-slinging shooters to work, and stir up trouble with your mystical goods deck! Tombstone will never be the same!
Newbies: if you only have the Doomtown Reloaded base game, you may want to first pick up a Quick Draw Deck for the factions not included in the base game set. (The base game factions are Law Dogs, Outlaws, Entrepreneurs, and Fearmongers.) You can then buy this or the previous PEG expansion, Too Tough To Die. The main difference between these two expansions is that Out for Blood has a new outfit for each expansion, while Too Tough to Die has new outfits for Anarchists and First Peoples. For more about the "Doomtown Quick Draw Decks", browse the Pine Box Entertainment publisher products on DriveThruCards and search for deck lists on the the Doomtown Database. Of course, if you only have a base game set and want four of each card through Too Tough to Die, you can cough up a few C-notes and pick up the entire Doomtown: Reloaded Bundle on the Pinnacle Entertainment Group site!
The Guy Who Has to Buy Everything for his Gaming Group: If you're stuck with buying all the cards for your gaming group and get some wet-behind-the-ears greenhorns players, you now have enough cards to make every Quick Draw Starter Deck. (fyi, You can make each deck except the Law Dogs deck with the cards up to Too Tough to Die.) You might not have enough cards to make all the decks at the same time, but you should be able to tweak the deck lists so that the decks still play well against each other. As said, the Starter Deck lists are available on DriveThruRPG and the Doomtown Database.
Veterans: Out for Blood has outfits for each faction, so should enliven existing deck styles, as well as provide new challenges in creating new ones. This review will provide an overview of the cards in this set and some (but hardly all) ideas on how to use the cards. Note that, of course, a card in this set that may not initially appear to be all that useful, may become more of interest with cards from later expansions.
Legends: Pinnacle Entertainment Group's first expansion, There Comes a Reckoning, introduced legends. Legends are an optional additional starting card ability, similar to an outfit, but usually with a notable drawback. Doc Holliday is this set's Legend. He enhances spellcaster shootout decks by giving a bullet bonus of the spellcaster in the shootout (not necessarily in your posse) to your dude. The drawback is a bullet penalty in a shootout if you don't have a spellcaster in your posse.
For the newbies, Spellcasters (and other skilled dudes, such as Mad Scientists) are a little trickier to play in Doomtown. To use a spellcaster to his full effect, you typically first need to attach a spell card to your spellcasting dude. In contrast, you can attach most goods to any of your dudes in play, and most dudes are fine without goods, since you can play action cards on them. To use a spell successfully, your spellcasting dude performs a pull. When casting a spell, you draw the top card of your deck and look at its value. Add the value to your spellcaster's skill and check if the total is equal to or greater than the difficulty of the spell. If it is, then the spell succeeds. Note that this often means your deck will focus on high-valued cards, making it an illegal deck, leaving you vulnerable to your opponent's Cheatin' Resolutions. Again, in contrast, most goods attached to your dudes automatically work. After a shootout, you take casualties. The number of casualties you take is the winning player's hand rank minus that of the loser. To cover casualties, you discard one dude and his attached cards per casualty (or ace one dude and his attachments to cover two). If both players in a shootout have equal hand ranks, each takes a casualty. This means that, if you discard a spellcaster in a shootout, you'll be discarding a dude and the spells he has attached, while, if your opponent discards a dude without any attachments, he will discard only one card. (However, card advantage in Doomtown isn't as critical as Magic. At the end of each round, you may discard a card then you fill your hand, rather than only normally drawing one card at the start of your turn.) In general, a player who relies on spellcasters in a shootout should bring along some cannon fodder. This means some prepping and paying for dudes before a fight. Meanwhile, his opponent might only rely on cheap dudes with action cards (that can usually be played on any of his dudes) to beef them up. Such an opponent may only need his starting dudes and a play hand of action cards. Of course, many spells aren't shootout related, so you can have your spellcaster relatively safe in his home, casting spells to help in other ways.
Doc Holliday strengthens shootout spell decks. The card ability is "Give your dude a bullet bonus equal to the spellcaster skill rating of a dude in this shootout." You'll want, then, spellcasters with a skill of two or higher. Eva Bright Eyes, Darragh Mèng, and Black Elk are inexpensive dudes with high skill ratings and 0-influence, from other expansions. Since they're all 0-influence dudes, you can add them to any deck without paying for additional upkeep (dudes in your gang from other factions increase their upkeep by their influence, and cannot be played as a starting dude). Note, however, that Doc Holliday only requires a spellcaster with a high skill rating (and he doesn't even have to be on your side). So a Doc Holliday deck will not necessarily have any spells in it.
This expansion still has a fair number of cards to support a shootout spellcaster. For Blessed decks (typically Law Dogs and Anarchist factions), the Champion Miracle makes your Blessed spellcasting dude into a stud. Drifter Sister Lois Otwell and Law Dog Andrew Burton are the only 2-draw 0-upkeep blessed dudes in the game so far. If you're a Law Dog, start with Andrew Burton in play, so that his low value won't cause you to fail spell pulls. Champion has a high value, so will be helpful with pulls. For Shaman decks (typically First Peoples), Wrathful Spider's sidekick ability (discard to cover one casualty) can be used after its cheatin' resolution. Its 5-value, though, may make it harder for a successful pull. The Dancing Butterfly Spirit is also a sidekick, so can be discarded in a shootout instead of a dude. Its effect of allowing a second Cheatn' card to be played requires you to have a legal hand, which is difficult if you have a deck designed for high pulls (these decks tend to be illegal, since they often have multiples of high value cards). For Huckster decks (typically Fearmongers and Outlaws), the Malison hex gives your posse a +1 draw hand bonus and is also a high value. The Twilight Is Upon Us action moves your skilled dude into your posse and gives posses with shooters +2 bullets. This card, by the way, is also useful for a mad scientist's gadget weapon deck, so can be used in a gadget weapon deck with the Legend, Darius Hellstromme, from There Comes a Reckoning.
Anarchists: This faction gains the outfit, House of Many Faiths, which supports Miracle decks. By moving cards for pulls and shootouts from your hand to your deck, you can increase the likelihood of such cards appearing when you need them. While the Law Dogs previously had the most Blessed dudes, this expansion adds two 0-upkeep Blessed dudes, Reverand Bob Hungate and Father Diamond, as well as blessed dues with 1-upkeep, Master Shou and Brother Petrovic. Ke Wang is a little tricky. He's best against lone 1-studs with 0-influence. Booting other dudes is typically better as a noon action, as this prevents them from moving, calling out others, or refusing a shootout. Booting during a shootout usually only means they can't use a card effect that requires booting. However, Swinford Finds Trouble, from Faith and Fear, lets you send home a dude with a lower bullet rating, so you might be able to use this card with Ke Wang's ability to force a dude out of the shootout. The Anarchists also gain another kung fu dude, Baijiu Sue and technique Ten-Foot Punch. Baiju Sue works with saloon decks. Search on saloon in the Doomtown Database. Regarding Ten-Foot Punch, note that most kung fu dudes start at a 0 or 1 rating.
Fearmongers: The outfit, Bayou Vermilion Railroad supports mystical decks, as do many dudes in the Fearmonger faction. Most mystical cards are goods. Magnum Opus Tenebri is a mystical hadget that can be invented by Hucksters, so would work with Auntie Sinister in an abomination deck. Search on mystical cards in the Doomtown Database for cards with the mystical trait, and Mystical text for cards involving Mystical cards.
How about a mystical gadget deck? Start off with Valeria Batten, from Faith and Fear. Ace Funtime Freddy, from Frontier Justice, to pull out the only two hexes in your deck and attach one of them to her. (Some hexes affect adjacent locations. So, if you keep Valeria at home, she can affect cards in the town square. Other hexes affect abominations.) You can bring Funtime Freddy (and The Brute, from Election Day Slaughter) back with a Soul Cage, from Nightmare at Noon, when someone cheats, including during lowball. Roderick Byre, from New Town, New Rules, is a 0-upkeep mad scientist drifter, and you can play Dabney Scuttlesby, from The Light Shineth, later in the game to build more mystical gadgets. If you need more mad scientists, search for 0-influence, 0-upkeep mad scientists from other factions. (You can include other dudes from other factions in your deck, but must increase your upkeep by their influence and cannot use them as starting dudes.) Finally, later in the game, we come to this expansion's Valeria Batten (Exp.1). Upgrade your 0-exp Valeria Batten when it's time for a shootout to use her ability to prevent hand ranks from being modified. If you're keeping her at home for awhile, you can reduce her upkeep by playing the Huntsmen's Society, from No Turning Back, adjacent to your home.
And you can go even further with a mystical gadget dudes deck. The above cards are from other sets. Dr. Dawn Edwards and Eve Henry aren't necessary, but respectively benefit from Decimator Array, and Soul Cage (as does The Wretched) and Huntsmen's Society, not to mention any of Valerie's hexes that affect abominations. Any gadget dudes invented by Dr. Dawn Edwards do not attach to her, so, if she becomes a casualty (or you don't want to pay her upkeep), you can bring Eve Henry into play without removing from play the gadget dudes she invented. QUATERMAN is neither mystical nor abomination and has a low value, so I'm only mentioning it here as a third gadget dude for Margaret Hagerty to invent.
With Out for Blood, the 11 grit deck becomes more viable (though, whether or not it's playable is another thing!). This deck centers around abilities raising or requiring an opponent's dude's grit (total of their value, bullets, and influence) to 11 or higher. Cattle Market from the base set, and Shiny Things from Blood Moon Rising raise an opponent's value. Search on 11 in the Doomtown Database, for additional Fearmonger cards that can be used in this deck.
First Peoples: The Office of Ancestral Affairs outfit supports totem decks. Search on totem for other Free Peoples cards that may work in a totem deck. The outfit's job ability, if successful, increases an in-town deed by a control point. For the newbies, a job requires a success (typically involving a shootout) before its ability takes effect, so can put your dudes at risk if they become casualties in the shootout. In my opinion, less risky First Peoples outfits are Beyond the Veil from Dirty Deeds, or Gateway To Beyond from the First Peoples Quick Draw Starter Deck or Blood Moon Rising expansion. Black Elk's ability helps control deeds. Search on First People's Quick Draw Starter Deck.
Leychaa'i Youngheart, Monomi Miles, and Klah support non-spirit sidekick decks. While you shouldn't have a difficult time finding a good that's a sidekick, you may also want to search in the Doomtown database for other cards which benefit sidekick decks. Search on sidekick in the Doomtown Database.
Nathaniel Tuwikaa supports influence decks, including the First People outfit, Spiritual Society. Several cards allow you to use influence instead of bullets in a shootout. ...It's who you know from Double Dealin' allows you to use influence instead of bullets in a shootout. Several cards, including dudes from the Free Peoples faction, have abilities manipulating or benefiting from high influence. Search on influence in the Doomtown Database.
Law Dogs: The Fort 51 outfit supports gadget weapon and gadget dude decks. Two Legends, Darius Hellstromme from There Comes a Reckoning, and Andrew Lane, from Hell's Comin' With Me, support gadget weapon decks as well. The drifter, Byron Decker receives +1 influence when armed with a gadget weapon. Janosz Pratt, from Bad Medicine, and Dr. Erik Yaple, from Too Tough to Die, have abilities involving gadget weapons. Margaret Hagerty from The Light Shineth is a Mad Scientist you can include in your gadget dude deck (see the Fearmongers discussion about this deck).
Enrique Dos Santos, Reverend Endicott, Sgt. Elijah Clay, Wyatt Earp and drifter Carter Richardson support bounty decks. Bounty decks make opponent dudes wanted, and have abilities against wanted dudes. Many Law Dog cards can be used in bounty decks, and these decks are good decks for newbies to start with.
Reverend Endicott is somewhat unique in that he's a blessed deputy with an ability against wanted dudes. The outfit, Abram's Crusaders from The Light Shineth enhances blessed deputy decks. Fiery Rhetoric from The Light Shineth and Confession from Frontier Justice are Miracles that also support bounty decks. Andrew Burton from Frontier Justice is another blessed deputy you can start your posse with.
Entrepreneurs: Another gadget outfit, the Smith & Robards Trade Show, allows you to "discard a ard then draw a card." THis allows you to cycle out cards from your play hand that you do not want to play, such as expensive cards and cards you want to keep in the deck for pulls or shootouts. The other Entrepreneur gadget outfit is the Morgan Gadgetorium, from Faith and Fear. Dr. Gregory Tremane and Eli Leatherwood's high upkeep makes their usefulness dependent on the rest of the deck.
Made your experimental gadget deck yet? Most experimental gadgets have negative effects with a club pull, so are clubless decks, or decks with few clubs. Experimental gadgets are from previous expansions. Elander Boldman (Exp.1) from No Turning Back, and Testing Range from Nightmare at Noon have abilities dealing with experimental gadgets. Most experimental cards have abilities helped by a clubless deck.
Outlaws: The outfit, Jonah's Alliance, has some pretty powerful effects, but also has limitations. Its special ability will turn a draw into a stud, so use it on cheap 2-draw dude. However, since it's a Noon action and not a Shootout one, your opponent may try to call out out your 2- and 3-draw dudes before you use this card. Also, the outfit ability boots the dude. Booted dudes cannot call out other dudes, cannot move, etc. But various cards, such as The Pharmacy, can unboot your dudes. Search on unboot in the Doomtown Database for more cards.
I searched for some draw dudes you can use with this outfit. Allie Hensen, from the base set, and Big Nose Kate, from this expansion, are outlaws you can start your posse wth. Big Nose Kate can give herself a bullet bonus, making her a potential 4-stud with this outfit. Henry Moran, from Ghost Town, is a cheap drifter you can also start in play. You don't have to start with The Fixer, and his upkeep means he won't stay in play long, but when his 4-draw becomes a 4-stud, he won't have to. Christine Perfect, from Blood Moon Rising, and Luke the Errand Boy, from Bad Medicine, are cheap, 1-cost, 2-draws from other factions, but that only means you can't start with them in play. Add a Pearl-Handled Revolver to your deck to make a draw into a stud. You can search on stud in the Doomtown Database to find cards that can turn draws into studs.
The second ability of Jonah's Alliance is to boot a hex to negate an attachment. Darragh Mèng, from Ghost Town, is a one-cost huckster, and he won't discard his spell when using the outfit's ability on his hex. Bring along his friend, Bobo, from the base set. (You cannot start with a dude from another faction, but Bobo's high upkeep means and low cost means you'll keep him in play only one turn, anyway.) BTW, José Morales, from Double Dealin', is the only dude I found that's a high draw and a huckster, though I don't know if he's a must-have card in a Jonah's Alliance deck.
If you want to cause trouble in town square, provoke the other players with Allie Hensman, from the base game, and bring along a few town square jobs and dudes. Since the town square is adjacent to every in-town location, including your home, keep a huckster at home to cast spells and use Jonah's Alliances hex ability. Also, play deeds affecting an adjacent location. Play the Huntsmen's Society, from No Turning Back, next to your home to reduce the upkeep of your high value dude, including José Morales, from Double Dealin', and Violet Esperanza, at home or the town square. While you're at it, why not use Adler's Needle to poke a non-participant in his home — or anywhere else in-town? Search on town square and adjacent location for more cards that can affect the town square.
Start the game with Allie Hensman and The Fixer, from Faith and Fear, and a few cheap dudes. Boot The Fixer to hopefully draw a job card; he will unboot. Move The Fixer or another a draw dude to the town square. Boot him with Jonah's Alliance to make him into a stud. Move Allie into the town square. Boot Allie to give her a control point. Boot a cheap dude to start a job in the town square.
So what about the other Outlaw dudes from this expansion? Well, they all contribute to a wanted deck, including the ones I mentioned earlier. Johnny Ringo fits with a lone shooter deck, which benefits from Jasper Stone. Curly Bill Brocius isn't cheap, but his harrowed trait means he can take more casualties. (From the Doomtown Database rules: " You can send a Harrowed dude home booted to cover one of the casualties you take in a shootout. Discarding a Harrowed dude covers two casualties, and acing a Harrowed dude covers three. If a Harrowed dude in play gets aced by a card effect (but not through being aced to cover casualties in a shootout), discard that dude instead of acing them.")
Deeds: When building decks, you want some cards to stay in the deck for shootouts or pulls. Both Steph & Gertie's Tonsorium and Gage Export Co. allows you to cycle cards from your play hand or discard pile to your draw deck, where, hopefully, they will be drawn for a shootout or pull. Steph and Gertie's may also be more useful to remove cards from your play hand that are too early or too late to play. Gage Export Co. can be used, for example, to return discarded dudes from a shootout to your draw pile so you can play them sooner. Not only does it help cycle cards, but Gateway Station can help you shrink your deck by removing cheap dudes from the deck to play, as well as find a particular dude when you need him later in the game. Hart's Tea Room might help your influence decks a bit. If you have a high-influence low-bullet dude at this deed, your opponent will know that the first high-bullet low-influence dude he sends there will be booted, so can't call your dude out, and you will still have the deed's control point. Bird Cage Theater allows you to remove control points from another dude. For now, no dudes have control points printed on their card, but several cards can grant them control points, including Allie Hensman. Search on control point in the Doomtown Database.
Have several out-of-town deeds to protect? The Cochise County Courthouse noon job marks the town square, so dudes squatting on your out-of-town deeds aren't adjacent and can't join a posse at the mark's location (From the Doomtown Database rules: "If neither the controller nor the owner choose to form a posse (this is always the case with jobs that mark the town square or the leader's own cards), then any player, starting with the player to the left of the leader, can form a posse to oppose the job. ... The mark can only use dudes at or adjacent to the mark's location."). If the job succeeds, move him booted from that deed to the town square. "Survivors in the leader's posse go home booted. Surviving dudes in the defending posse stay where they are."
Weapons: While Scattergun's first ability will only work if your opponent brings along a sidekick or create a token dude to the shootout (which they won't, since you'll play the weapon at noon before a shootout happens), its second ability can negate the bonus of a cheap dude. The card has some overlap with Shotgun. I've mentioned Adler's Needle as a way to provoke non-shootout dudes.
Spells: I covered spells useful in shootouts earlier. This expansion's last spell, Guiding Light, can be useful for its unbooting ability alone. Or boot your Blessed dude to that out-of-town deed with a booted opposing dude; this does not boot the spell. Then cast the spell to send your opponent's dude home, booted. You might also be able to send a booted opposing dude from one of your in-town deeds to the town square, where he'll be booted and vulnerable to a call-out from one of your other unbooted dudes. You pay ghost rock to use the spell, so it might be useful in an Anarchist's 108 Gracious Gifts deck, where you want to have less ghost rock than each other player.
Actions: Booted dudes can still use attached cards. So, if you have a dude that has an attached card that can affect an adjacent location, Fleet Footed can be useful to bring him back home, so he can affect the town square. You're A Daisy If You Do can also be useful to move opponent dudes from your out-of-town deeds. As said earlier, Twilight Is Upon Us' ability and value are a good fit for a skill deck. Test of Wills negates cards, boots dudes (including to prevent them to use booting as a cost for some other cards), and helps shooter decks where your shootouts rely upon a single dude, whom you don't want sent out of the gunfight.
Conclusion: Newbies may want to stick to the Quick Draw Starter Decks, but veterans should find some nice support for offbeat decks. Time to put your spell-slinging shooters to work, and stir up trouble with your mystical goods deck! Tombstone will never be the same!
