Doomtown

[Cam]

The Slaughterhouse

Value: 8H

Cost: 2 Gr

Production: 1 Gr/turn

Private Controller Noon: Boot the Slaughterhouse to remove any aced dude from play. That dude may not be brought into play by any player for the rest of this game.

First, the basics. When compared to other in-Town deeds, its cost of 2 ghost rock for 1 ghost rock/turn is favorable. It comes in to play for free in a Sweet Rock Gomorra Rail Line deck, and can be brought into play for free with both the Tool Belt good card and Carpenter Shop deed. It is also a Private deed, making any any of your opponents Dudes wanted if a shootout breaks out here. A deck composed solely of in-Town deck cards can take full advantage of strike hosing Events like Earthquake, Labor Dispute, and Major Earthquake without fear of repercussion, as well as rendering useless opponents cards designed to target strikes (Claim Jumper, Second Bowl, and classic Maze Rat home, for example). Its cheap cost and useful ability should make this card a staple for many solely in-Town decks. While more expensive than similar private 0 gr cost/+1 production strikes, the cost is not prohibitive for players who wish to include it in their decks for its value or to make use of its ability.

The deeds additional ability allows you to boot the deed to remove any one Dude located in Boot Hill from play. No other copies of the Dude can enter play for the remainder of the game. At first glance, this ability seems limited but useful. Dudes removed from Boot Hill cannot be the subject of a Shallow Grave by your opponent, and cannot be the subject of a Hell's Fury, Knickniven's Deal, be the target of a Funeral Procession, etc. The ban that the character cannot be brought into play by any means would also supercede the ability of Born Under a Strange Star to allow copies of the Dude to enter play, even if BUASS was played before the Slaughterhouse was used to remove said character from Boot Hill. The Slaughterhouse has limited usage against Bioengineering though. Once a dude has been targeted by Bioengineering, the dude becomes non-unique and not subject to card memory, so the Slaughterhouse will not prevent future copies from entering play.

This card can also combo nicely with Events that globally target Boot Hill or aced characters, such as Easter Sunday and Dead Walk the Earth. By removing recently aced characters from your opponents Boot Hill, The Slaughterhouse can limit or prevent entirely your opponents from taking advantage of these events. Coupled with Ace in the Hole to control when these events resolve, this can make these events more useful and make sure that they benefit you and not your opponent.

Overall, this is a nice little card. Already reasonably priced vs similar in-Town deeds, it comes with a handy little ability that can prove useful during the course of the game, or for certain deck builds. If nothing else, the card is rich in thematics, and anyone who enjoys the roleplaying aspects of the story will no doubt derive a certain measure of satisfaction from turning that rogue Black Jack (or that pansy Nate Hunter, or piratical Sim-Yut San, etc...) into sausage.