March 10, 2016

Morgan Flyin' Zombies

Since everyone over at dtdb.co is posting their versions of Prodigy's deck Morgans Flyin Zombies, I thought I'd post mine as well. I had huge success with it on OCTGN, up to a point where I'm starting to think gadgets are already *there*.

 Decklist on dtdb.co

The deck performed well against pretty much everything I encountered online. I had troubles with gozik's Clowns (obviously), and I hit a wall playing against SirLargeness's dudeswarm Den deck. Didn't encounter any landslide.

You have huge economy early on, with your mad scientists inventing Disgenuine Currency Press and building out of town deeds. Don't engage early and don't try to mess with their economy, your late game is probably stronger than theirs.

Preferred start is: use Specks to help Arnold invent a Disgenuine Currency Press, then use Arnold's ability to find an out-of-town deed, and send Irving to build it using the home ability. Repeat this for a couple of turns. Get at least two Force Field and one Yagn's, and preferrably a Bio-Charged Neutralizer. Once you have two studs and two Force Fields and some money, you can engage.

Or, you can wait some more and get "Dead" Billy Jones with an Ornithopter and Louis Pasteur in play, get some Slight Mods and INWYKs, and a ton of money (easy with this deck). After that you're pretty much unbeatable - every shootout will result in your opponent taking a casualty every round, while you just keep sending Billy home and bringing him back.

  • Individual cards


Luke, the Errand Boy lets you juggle Neutralizers around and can become a formidable 4-stud, can also pass his gun over to someone else if he gets Sunned, and can let a Pistol Whip-ed dude get back in the posse by passing the Ornithopter. Remember, he can grab gadgets from outside the posse (even if he's not in it), and pass them over to outside the posse (if he's in). If he's standing in the town square and your Irving gets attacked at a deed, Luke can pass him an Ornithopter all the way from your home. Oh, and if you don't have Billy or INWYK to abuse your Force Field, Luke is the first one to bite the dust. But he'll come back! Hopefully not as your mad scientist pull...

"Dead" Billy Jones is very good even without the Personal Ornithopter, just give him a Bio-Charged Neutralizer and a Force Field. So I upped him to 2 copies, unfortunately at the expense of Lane Healey. It might also be worth it to start Billy in place of Jen.

Steven Wiles is here to make it easier for you to cycle away Disgenuine Currency Press. Play him even if you're not planning to engage: give him the Press or two, and send him to an out of town deed - your opponent's, or yours if they're trying to choke your economy. He can also use the home ability.

Miasmatic Purifiers are your main victory condition in case your opponent doesn't want to fight you, seeing as he just keeps losing dudes to your Force Fields.

Louis Pasteur is a game-changer when you have enough cash. Reeeally strong. Engage, make them empty their hand, soak up a casualty, flee home, unboot, engage again, wipe them out. Or, play cat-and-mouse with your opponent, make him boot out, then surprise him with lost of unbooted dude to occupy all his deeds. In this deck, you can actually afford it all!

J.W. Byrne is super effective with Yagn's, might be worth it to start him in place of Jen, although you do get 1 less influence out of it, and 1 fewer mad scientist in case you get flooded with gadgets (it happens). Since this deck is more about late game control, not early aggro, I prefer Jen, but I'm always happy to draw J.W. later on.

  • Off-value cards


There are certain off-value cards that I would like to have at least as a 1-of to give me more options, some of them made it into the deck, some didn't - these are flexible slots, something to experiment with.

Personal Ornithopter is an obvious inclusion, without it the deck wouldn't be Flyin' Zombies :) If you get it early, you can also give it to Irving and abuse the home ability without much risk. Be mindful if your opponent won lowball and might have Unprepared, but you have Slight Mod to counter it.

Kidnappin' is in because, well, gadget decks generally lack the surprise factor, so here is some. Mostly for when they send their influence to your out of town deeds, but you can also use it when they spread out to force them off your deeds, and then build some Miasmatic Purifiers and win by CP.

Mario Crane doesn't quite work with the general strategy of the deck -- but he actually acts like an alternative to that strategy. Instead of attacking with a bunch of dudes and making your zombies fly there and back again, you engage with Mario solo instead, and he'll even save you some ghost rock that you would otherwise have to pay to use Personal Ornithopter. An added (and sometimes vital) benefit is that he's immune to lose-to-win tactics like Takin' Ya With Me and Hot Lead Flyin' -- which might otherwise wreak your strategy. Just keep it legal!

Telepathy Helmet - an awesome card, but A Slight Modification helps a lot vs. Unprepared, while Yagn's makes your dudes immune to Pistol Whip, and you don't fear many other targeted Shootout abilities.

Mechanical Horse - some more mobility is always nice, sure. I tested it, but haven't really found it necessary. Billy's ability is usually enough (yes, don't forget he also has a useful ability!)

Marty - sidekicks are good with Force Field, and this one is on value, and speeds up your gadgets (although you probably has enough speed. An okay card.

Outgunned seems to be excellent in combination with Force Field, however in testing I found that it's not all that often that my posse has more bullets than the opposing one, and it also limits my mobility somewhat. But mostly I just think that Unprepared is more crucial to neutralize certain cards that negate my strategy.

  • Things to watch out for


Shield of Faith and Holy Roller stop your Force Field shenanigans from killing off opposing dudes. The best way to deal with it if you don't have enough Unpreps and Slight Mods is to make your opponent use them, flee home, unboot with Louis Pasteur, and come back.

Pinned Down - few people play this, simply because they usually play Kidnappin' instead. But it can totally ruin your day. Slight Mod and INWYK help here.

No Funny Stuff - watch out! This nasty thing blocks Force Field! Don't waste your Slight Mods on petty stuff if you expect this.

Takin' Ya With Me and Hot Lead Flyin' can ruin your day if you rely on winning shootouts, including the Force Field + INWYK combo. Better have your zombies around!

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