'Do the Locomotion'
2006 East City Regionals Championship Deck
Luke Morgan, Hammergirl Anime
Leaders (4):
Maes Hughes. Smitten Husband
Maes Hughes. Lieutenant Colonel
Maes Hughes. Senior Investigator
Maes Hughes. Risk Taker
Locations (9):
Yoki's Mansion
Library Ruins
Temple of Leto
Wine Fountain
Abandoned Complex
Empty Fountain
Altar to Leto
Central Library, First Branch
Police Station
Allies(* = Starting) (25):
1x Elysia Hughes, Beloved Newborn*
1x Hakuro, General*
1x Veteran Alchemists, Military Elite
1x Vato Falman, Warrant Officer
3x Maria Ross, Maternal Instinct
2x King Bradley, Prideful Leader
2x Shou Tucker, Proctor
2x Liza Hawkeye, Full of Advice
2x Alex Louis Armstrong, Strong and Beautiful
2x Caine, Not Who Rose Thinks
2x Juliet Douglas, Messenger of Doom
2x Roy Mustang, Sarcastic
2x Edward Elric, Researcher
2x Yoki, Corrupt Lieutenant
Events (34):
2x Reinforcements
2x A Clue For The Search
3x Plan B
3x A Job Well Done
2x Peek
3x Frenzy
3x Intimidation
3x Catch the Train
3x Run, You Coward!
3x Pressure
2x Challenge the Sun
3x Suppressing Fire
2x Spoils of War
Attachments (2):
2x Military Commission
Strategy (General):
The point of this deck is to play, in a series, nine points' worth of your own locations in a row, and win in a sweep. The game should not go on long enough to go to level three - the level four Risk Taker is only in there as a feint, you would never, ever leave Maes' level three ability behind. You take an early location with your strong, non-Policeman start, lose the next one or two, and then play your Job Well Dones and Catch the Trains to win your locations (which are all high, high point locations that have goals that you can always win with your leader alone) in quick succession.
Strategy (Specific):
vs. Alchemy/Elric - this is the deck's easiest high-level opponent. Elric is notoriously low in Wits. Yes, your actions will all be cancelled, but *not* your 'A Job Well Dones' - you knock out all of their characters in the Wits locations, then play it. With no characters in the search party, they cannot cancel. Should you be low on Jobs, you use Juliet Douglas to bring in their weakest character, play 'Spoils of War', and Spoils for the Job.
vs. Homonculus - this deck is your hardest opponent, as they do have Wits on you. Your best bet is to Pressure and Ed their setting cards, leaving them slightly more set than you, and Plan B back anyone that got set in the main. You specifically use your non-setting Search actions (Caine, Roy) to set them / send them home if they send to any location on a turn you've played 'Catch the Train'. As Homonculus play the least amount of cancels, you should be emptying your hand of whatever awesome you draw every turn - you should be able to win (also because THEY will play Wits locations) before they get set up. If possible, Clue for Library Ruins as a cheap "Sensei's Shadow" for your Catch the Trains - I find that playing Clue when Library is already out for Library again just to get another Train works very nicely. Save your Pressures for the Persuasion.
vs. the "Marcoh-7" deck:
No problems at all. As your locations are all wits, and they cannot cancel the Job (which you Library Ruins for), every piece of tech in this deck (cycling, Alchemy) works against them. Win in a walk.
vs. the Admin/Bloch deck:
No real problems here, either. You just play your 6's instead of your 8's, and your Maes ability beats their self-hurting Admin one. If you win in Wits ( a real possibility), even better, as their Bloch is useless. Watch out for Stone Walls, even though the character loss should be fine - they are using lots of cards in their deck to get that Denny, and you have used them for pumps - in retrospect, I'd have probably taken out a Plan B and a Run for a pair of Daring Gambits, but hindsight is 20/20. I've found that no one sends to a Train, as they only can send three, and you will generally beat them by a lot of wits - Caine sets for free, and you can Plan B anyone you set to attack. Reinforce for Yoki - while everyone loves his ability, that 7 Wits is the best.
vs. Rebel Beatdown:
Another tough match. You actually have a worse time if they play Rebel Sergeant instead of Pensioner - you've got plenty of 5's (including Maria Ross, who is a phenomenal 6 Wits for 5 Cost), and your Empty Fountain and Police Station work against you. Save up the Jobs and the Runs, and try to get all nine points in a row.
vs. Mirror / Military Beatdown:
Peek, Peek, Peek, and save your pumps for the last turn. Cross your fingers. Smile What you want to do here is get them to play a pump card while you use a pump ability - you'll slowly get more good stuff in your hand, and can take it at the end.
vs. Master Manipulator:
Another problem. Rush as fast as possible - every turn they spend getting extra XP you should get even more Wits on them. Try to win every location, and save EVERY Frenzy and Run for that Alchemist Testing Ground.
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Ally details:
Elysia Hughes, Beloved Newborn - Maes wins early stength locations. Plus, Maes her into the Search Party, and use the Commission for added fun.
Hakuro, General - most of your 5-wits allies are now 6's. The strength doesn't hurt, either.
Veteran Alchemists, Military Elite / Vato Falman, Warrant Officer - there is only one of each of these because you should never, EVER rely on any ally that costs all of your command to recruit. They are merely there for mirror games / Elric games. Save your Reinforcements for after you get one in your hand - Reinforce for the other one. Against Command Conttrol, they are EE fodder.
Maria Ross, Maternal Instinct - the Pensioner/Admin defense of choice at level one. can Always be recruited.
King Bradley, Prideful Leader - Challenge the Sun / Train with him, then sacrifice him to set. Techy!
Shou Tucker, Proctor - 6 Alchemy, turn one. Defense card.
Liza Hawkeye, Full of Advice - 6/6 with a free Strength pump. Essential Ally.
Alex Louis Armstrong, Strong and Beautiful - card draw and Armor-canceller.
Caine, Not Who Rose Thinks - a free set. Should be splashed in every 8-command deck.
Juliet Douglas, Messenger of Doom - Lets you get Spoils off agaisnt a defensive deck.
Roy Mustang, Sarcastic - free send home in the endgame.
Edward Elric, Researcher - a 'Cancel' cancel. Lets you pack more fun stuff, and less cancel.
Yoki, Corrupt Lieutenant - 7 Wits, Home-sender. obvious.
Event and Attachment tech:
Reinforcements - turns that Vato and Vet into a 3x per deck instead of 1x. Wait for one, and Reinforce the other. Against Command Control, just get Yoki.
A Clue For The Search - Bring out that 3/4-point location or Library Ruins to win faster.
Plan B - reset post-train/CtS, defend against Hand Control. Excellent, excellent card.
A Job Well Done - the best card in teh deck, hands-down. Uncancellable Location Control.
Peek - 'free' card, lets you make sure that isn't a hand of pumps.
Frenzy - Win on their locations. Save them and use them at one go.
Intimidation - The quintessential Maes pump. Boo!
Catch the Train - speeds up the game. CtS those Inspectors first, though.
Run, You Coward! - endgame tech that people don't really expect. Works great in mirrors and to 'surprise' win a location by Running and Maesing in that Hakuro.
Pressure - More anti-Persuasion / Inspector than anything else. Less useful than you'd think, but a cheap splash to handle lots of situations.
Challenge the Sun - Since you don't set unless it gets through, use it on their locations to whittle them down.
Suppressing Fire - Military pump of choice.
Spoils of War - counts as whatever you need. Use it on defense, though - they attack you, you pump, they realize they've lost and Pass, and THEN you Spoils - don't Spoils first unless you have to, they might be sneaky.
Military Commission - Lets Yoki and Maes attack some extra. In there just as much to help pay for the Train as anything else.
That's it! Hope you enjoy. It doesn't win all of the time, but it wins its fair share. Special thanks to Dom and Lowell, also from Hammergirl, for helping take down the rest of the field. See you at Worlds!
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