The A List

March 2013

Foundation Characters

5 Hacker
2 Brave Villagers
3 Student of the Dragon

Utility Charaters

Chinese Doctor

Hitters

Ting Ting
Golden Gunman
Steven Wu
Iron Jim Colson

Events

2 Kii-YAAAH!
3 Final Brawl
Never Surrender
3 Golden Comeback
Equal Opportunity Butt Kicking!

States

Four Mountains Fist
2 Real Bad Cat
2 Claw of the Dragon CB Radio

Edges

None

Sites

2 Kar Fai's Crib
1 House on the Hill

Notes

This deck won the Plattecon Big Cheese Wisconsin state championship for 2013. Years ago, I was playing with some guys and one of them had a giant Architect deck--basically 5 of every card they had plus 20% feng shui. It was an awful deck as you can imagine and I started in on him about how the fewer the cards, the better the deck. The group then said 70-80 cards was ideal. So I challenged them that I would go home and make a 30 card deck and whoop their asses with it, which I did. This is that deck (bloated a bit to 39 cards).

I have been playing this deck for years and years. It's the deck I bring out when I don't know what I feel like playing because it's simple and effective. While it can win games, players that know what it does can (try to) shut it down. It doesn't come out fast to take an early site and burn for power-- it hits it's stride by *starting* the middle game when players are a bit established by being the first deck to bring out a (biggest and best) hitter in the game (name one of the four above and argue which is best!). It then simply hits whatever is weakest, punches through with a little 1-cost state help or Guts, or the hitter is so damaged I can finish him off with one of my final brawls and then bring him/her back with Back for Seconds.

To win, bring out a big hitter, burn for victory. Put down KFC or House on the hill behind one of your weak sites or choice sites (like Petroglyphs) that will get taken. Play Never Surrender when your site does get taken and then slap Fox Pass or Sacred Heart Hospital behind the KFC-- that should defend it for a bit while you take sites FTW. Iron Jim does not have independent, give it to him with Claw of the Dragon. The other three do not have Guts. Give it to them with Real Bad Cat. If you see Lotus on the table, don't use Iron Jim, grab one of the "loyal" characters. If people are running lean on sites, get rid of Ting Ting as she will be too small to take sites. Four Mountains Fist is only in the deck for Steven Wu. If I don't see him in my hand early on, discard Four Mountains Fist as it doesn't help the other hitters all that much.

In games that get drawn out, this deck will tank. There is no event recycle at all. I was very worried about this in the Big Cheese final which has four players instead of three, but Steven Wu (and four mountains fist) got through it A-OK because it's the A-LIST!.