Rank is a Function of Firepower

This Domino deck is built around a fairly simple premise:

It's only too many weapons if they're pointing in the wrong direction.

Domino and friends are going to load up with an arsenal of weaponry, and then use that weaponry to burn through enemies at a rapid pace. There are a few tricks which will get us there faster, but this is not a deck that is looking to control the board state. In this deck, the primary solution to every problem is: more bullets.

We're going to use excessive Firepower to mow down the minions and villain. In multiplayer this deck can carry the table for damage (just don't expect it to do too much else). In solo, you might need to be more circumspect... Or you can just cut the villain down quickly in a hail of gunfire.

If you can't carry cash, carry a weapon

Domino has two weapons in her hero kit anyway - her two pistols. These are good on their own, and they can also be used to fuel Firepower. We'd rather use other weapons if we can - their base exhaust ability is very good - but if we have no other weapons available, using them for Firepower is still slightly better.

In this deck she also has a Side Holster with a Hand Cannon, just in case two guns aren't enough. And we have a couple of Sidearms for our allies - these are good targets for Firepower, as they still work when exhausted.

Then we have two side schemes that can pull out those all-important weapons for us. We'll usually use Superpower Training to get Probability Field; but if we have that in play already, it can fetch one of Domino's Pistols. Lock and Load will grab any one of our weapon upgrades (of which we have 8 in total).

It's only too many troops if you can't pay them

Domino is a hero that is generally flush with cash, which makes it easy to pay for allies. We want to use some of them to carry Sidearms for Firepower (likely Outlaw and one of White Fox / Atlas Bear / Psylocke). Outlaw in particular will hit for 3-5 damage with a Sidearm, so it can be a toss up whether you use her Tough to defend, or for an extra attack.

Professor X and Psylocke are good thwart and confuse options, allowing us to flip to AE when necessary and make use of Pip the Pug and the The Painted Lady. We don't have a lot of thwarting options, so that can be key. Having said that, the thwarting options we do have are actually pretty good.

Don't bring big grenades into small rooms

If guns aren't enough, we also have explosives. Our signature ally Diamondback famously throws explosives (hence her AOE ability); and she's supplied us with some Grenades to really get the party going. These are a great non-restricted option to fuel Firepower so we'll often just leave them sitting on the table as a threat.

Of course, if we have to, we can set one off as a panic-button of extra damage. This deck has so much damage it won't ever really be necessary; but it's a funny way to finish off the villain, if nothing else.

An ounce of sniper is worth a pound of suppressing fire

One thing we want to do is boost all of the attacks we are sending down range, and make it into an overwhelming amount of damage. A key piece of this is Sharpshooter. On average this will add 2 damage per ranged attack - meaning if we exhaust 3 weapons for Firepower, it's adding 6 damage in total. It'll also add an average of +2 to each shot with Domino's Pistols

Unfortunately, it doesn't work with the Hand Cannon (which has Overkill, but not Ranged) or with our allies' attacks. We can boost the Hand Cannon attacks in other ways, however (sadly we can't do much for the allies).

There is no "overkill." There is only "open fire" and "reload"

The Hand Cannon gives us +2 and overkill to our basic attacks. While it doesn't work with Sharpshooter, it does work with Directed Force - which also works with Domino's Pistols and with Firepower. We also have Warrior Skill to boost them all, and Probability Field which can boost our basic attacks.

If we can, we want to play Firepower with Aggressive Energy - this will add a further +1 damage - for a total of +3 when exhausting 3 weapons.

The world is richer when you turn enemies into friends, but that's not the same as you being richer

Domino generally has a fair bit of cash. It might be noticeable that there are none of the resource doubles in this deck. That's because they mostly aren't necessary and we only have so much space. We have Digging Deep which can be discarded and then goes to our hand to be spent; we also have Jackpot! A lot of the time in this deck, we are actually going to spend it as a triple resource instead of using the ability - at least on the first deck pass, anyway.

You could easily drop out the 2x Aggressive Energy for double resources and it would actually make the deck better, in all honesty. But this is a thematic deck. It isn't about perfect efficiency. It's about maximizing damage. As a wise man once said: "Big number go up."

It's about sending a message - at 830 feet per second.

Don't expect the enemy to cooperate in the creation of your dream engagement

So how much damage does this deck actually put out?

We ideally want to get Sharpshooter, Warrior Skill and at least 3 of our 8 weapons on the table before playing Firepower. If we play it with Aggressive Energy and Directed Force, that's 3 cards for an average of 27 damage (more if we hit Jackpot!, less if we hit a single-resource card with Sharpshooter). Our Pistols will be hitting for an average of 4 damage each, and our basic attack with the Hand Cannon and Probability Field will be an average of 6.

41 damage from a basic activation and 3 cards is pretty respectable. We can get quite a bit higher with a "perfect" draw, all our allies out, etc. The difference is that we don't need a perfect draw to get a "Magical Christmas Land" ideal turn, which is unlikely to happen in a game. 30+ damage is a reasonable turn, if we draw into Firepower and have done a bit of setup.

The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster

Of course, the game isn't just about maximising damage output. We also have to deal with incoming damage, and threat on the main scheme and side schemes. If we neglect these, we will lose before getting the chance to gun the villain down.

That's why the most important upgrade to get out isn't a gun, it's actually Probability Field. That will boost Domino's basic thwart to an average of 3, and her basic Defense to an average of 5. We will use allies to thwart and take hits as well, but Probability Field being in play will mean we are capable of covering Thwarting and Defense ourselves.

We do also have Luck Be a Lady and Right Place, Right Time which can remove threat, and they are both pretty effective. We probably won't play A Good Workout very often for damage, as it is simply outclassed by our other options.

If it's stupid and it works, it's still stupid and you're lucky

The last interesting inclusion in this deck is IPAC. It draws you two cards, which is incredibly helpful for your economy. But, it also gives you an extra encounter card. That extra encounter card might not do much; it also might contribute to tanking your entire game.

You do have some ways to mitigate this in Domino's kit; particularly Lucky Break. If you get two bad encounter cards in a row though, that Lucky Break isn't going to help you. A lot of the time, using IPAC is not the smart move.

So why am I including it? Because when you are playing a thematic deck as the queen of luck manipulation, you want to roll the dice. If you're lucky enough, it will work out. Of course, you don't have to use it... But you know that you want to.

You'll notice also that the deck is 42 cards. That's because 42 is an inherently luckier number than 40. No, I will not elaborate further.

So that's my take on the Domino / excessive Firepower deck. If you take it out for a spin, let me know what you think.

And remember:

Don’t try to save money by conserving ammunition.