Best Bang! Card Game Characters

Willy has the most powerful ability in the game. Everyone always chooses him when he's available. His ability is simple: he may play any number of BANG! cards during a turn, while other players can only play one. This is crucial because BANG! cards are the main tool for reducing other players' life points, which is key to achieving your goal in the game. While other players can use multiple BANG! cards if they have a Volcanic in play, they can only shoot at one distance.

Also, note my experience playing with two additional Indians! cards in the deck. That severely lowers his value.

Self-explanatory. She is hard to beat in a duel. She is the #1 most dangerous with a Volcanic unless Suzy gets lucky. She is really strong without needing luck. Some abilities are stronger with the right cards. She is almost always strong, given the odds.

She may use BANG! cards as Missed! and vice versa. Her ability is extremely useful in duels or when a card affecting all players, like Indians! or Gatling, is played. She can use her ability almost every turn (and even out of her turn). Out of the 80 cards in the standard deck, 24 are BANG! and 12 are Missed!

He draws three cards from the top of the deck, chooses two to keep, and places the other back on top. Choosing the cards is useful because:

1. He can avoid drawing completely unnecessary cards like duplicate blue cards or weaker guns.
2. In many turns, it's like having Calamity Janet's ability for one card, as most of the cards are BANG! or Missed!

Placing a card back is also useful:

1. I once made the Dynamite explode on the next player by putting a Stagecoach back on top.
2. He knows what the first card on the top of the deck is, so he might know one of the cards the next player draws or one of the cards that can be drawn from a General Store, etc.

He may draw one of the cards he draws from the hand of another player. Reasons why he is one of the most powerful characters:

1. Without being Rose Doolan or having a Scope, you can only draw cards from your neighbors with Panic! cards. Jesse Jones is the only character who can draw a card from any player he chooses (this is not true in Dodge City).
2. Players might know what cards others have in hand, for example, after playing a General Store.
3. He can severely weaken other characters whose abilities rely on drawing cards or playing specific cards (i.e., Bart Cassidy, Black Jack, Vulture Sam, El Gringo, etc.). However, he gives an advantage to Suzy Lafayette.
4. He can easily make players' hands empty, allowing him to use various offensive cards with guaranteed effect.

Slab the Killer wins the award for the most overrated BANG! character. He really is one of the strongest, but not the best as some people claim. His ability requires two Missed! cards (a Barrel counts as one) to avoid his shots from BANG! cards. This is extremely useful because many players would rather lose a life point than two Missed! cards, saving them for attacks from other players.

The reason I think he's overrated (I dislike the word overrated, but I feel comfortable using it here as it shouldn't offend anyone) is that he can use his ability surprisingly few times. There are many turns when a player cannot play a single BANG! card, and it's also quite common for other players not to have even one Missed! card available.

When I first played BANG!, I thought she was the second weakest character after Pedro Ramirez. Now I realize she actually requires strategy to play effectively. Many cards, like Indians! and Duel, are less effective against her. Suzy with Volcanic is more powerful than Calamity Janet with Volcanic or Slab the Killer with Volcanic. The only annoying part is Missed! cards sometimes accumulate in my hand when playing this character.

She is more dangerous without any expansions. The odds of her drawing card after card that she can keep playing are much better then. She is very dangerous with a Volcanic if she gets the right cards. I usually get stuck with something I can't play pretty quickly and get neutralized.

He draws a card from the deck each time he loses a life point. It is similar to El Gringo's ability, but he does not weaken his opponent. He has 4 life points and draws even when his opponent has no cards or when Dynamite explodes on him. Neither of them can do this when they lose their last life point.

Bart Cassidy is a better character than people think. He is often underestimated because he is cursed with the potentially worst drawing ability on a BANG! character card.

Getting more cards is always helpful. Of course, if those cards aren't good, then neither is he, but odds are they usually help to some extent.

He is a 3-life character. He draws a card from every player who causes him to lose a life point (if that player has cards). For a sheriff with 4 life points, he is very strong. Imagine there's an outlaw next to him who has 4 BANG! cards and a Volcanic. In most cases, he can miss one of the shots, draw another, then take a shot, and draw the last one.

Being a 3-life character, he is risky. The best part is that nobody wants to attack him early, so he can build some defense. The worst part is that if someone can play their last card to attack, his ability is neutralized.

He draws 3 cards if the second (which is shown) is hearts or diamonds. I can't add any comments since his ability relies solely on luck and not strategy.