Last weekend (9/12) the Android Netrunner Pro Circuit held many tournaments across the country. And I was able to attend the Heartland of America tournament. I decided to go with some unconventional decks this time.
Throw Your Life Away
Decided to go with the MaxX build I've been using and wrote about last time. As for corp, well, here's what I came up with.
Space Construction Company
Identity: Gagarin Deep Space - Expanding the Horizon
Agendas
Hollywood Renovation - 3
Oaktown Renovation - 3
Project Atlas - 3
Ice
Asteroid Belt - 3
Builder - 3
Ice Wall - 3
Nebula - 3
Shadow - 3
Wormhole - 3
Assets
Constellation Protocol - 3
Jackson Howard - 3 (3 Influence)
PAD Campaign - 3
Upgrades
Cyberdex Virus Suite - 1
Satellite Grid - 3
Operations
Commercialization - 3
Hedge Fund - 3
Trick of Light - 3 (9 Influence)
The idea here is pretty much standard glacier using the space ice. Some synergy between most of the ice and Hollywood Renovation. Satellite Grid is excellent, because it means you can rez the space ice for free with just two advancement tokens. Constellation Protocol lets you move the tokens off the space ice to power up your Ice Walls or your Shadows. Builder can make a space ice nearly free or can power up an Ice Wall. Commercialization for obvious reasons, and Jackson Howard similarly. PAD Campaign for additional economy. The only not so good pick was Trick of Light. It was added for some fast scoring with the Project Atlas, but it doesn't work with Oaktown Renovation or Hollywood Renovation, except to move them up quickly to maybe get the improved effects.
The big problem was not testing the corp deck ahead of time. If I'd had that opportunity, I could have made the changes that might have improved it. Well, no point regretting the past. On to recounting the events.
Round 1: vs. Drew
MaxX vs. Engineering the Future: 7-4 W
Gagarin Deep Space vs. Edward Kim: 3-5 L (timed loss)
An interesting set of opening games. What I remember most about the runner game was inflicting 4 points of brain damage to myself and taking 2 more from Cerebral Overwriters. Lost on time by putting out an agenda at the wrong time, plus playing a glacier deck in a 65 minute round format is kind of problematic.
Round 2: vs. Josh
MaxX vs. Tennin Institute: 7-5 W
Gagarin Deep Space vs. Hayley Kaplan: 2-7 L
Another fairly close game as runner. Corp didn't fare too well. I think he managed to get his setup out quickly, so I wasn't able to really protect anything.
Round 3: vs. Mark
MaxX vs. Engineering the Future: 3-7 L
Gagarin Deep Space vs. Geist: 0-7 L
And this is the point where a bit of a flaw in the MaxX deck cropped up. I was able to pick out a fragment out of his hand in the mid game, but by the end game, I had burned through my deck and all of his central servers were turtled up as well as his scoring remote. So I wasn't able to really access anywhere, even with my backup breakers in place. Corp game was terrible. Couldn't really get anything done.
Round 4: vs. Sam
Gagarin Deep Space vs. Iain Stirling: 6 - 8 L
MaxX vs. Engineering the Future: 5-7 L
Closest corp game I had that day. Scored an early Project Atlas, which I did quickly to get around the Gang Sign he managed to get out, as I had nothing valuable to protect in HQ at that point in time. That may have been a mistake, as he was able to make massive amount of money each turn from that point on between Data Foldings, Underworld Contacts, and Iain's ability. Had to fast advance the remaining Project Atlas' with Trick of Light in the midgame, but his credit advantage was insurmountable. Ended up facing another glacier deck, and lost mostly because I misplayed a run and lost two icebreakers to access a bluff card. Got to love how I always seem to fall for everyone else's bluffs, but all of mine fail. Also, in midgame, lost a full Daily Cast to a Corporate Town. Had to burn a lot of resources to deal with that.
Round 5: vs. Jason
MaxX vs. NEH: 7-5 W
Gagarin Deep Space vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 2-7 L
It's interesting that all of my runner games were fairly close. This game I won by snagging an agenda out of the hand, then digging several agendas out of R&D before he could draw the last 3 for 2 he needed. Went up against a Prepaid VoicePAD Kate build, and lost badly again.
So, out of 26 players, I have no idea where I placed. Probably below 20. Still, I wasn't taking this tournament too seriously. Mostly was using this as a testing ground for some decks I was working on. Still, I've been doing some tinkering with both ideas, and we'll see if they improve in the near future.
Until next time, check your computers for Sneakdoors.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Throwing My Life Away
Wow, another month passed without a post thanks to a combination of apathy and lack of ideas. But I have started working on a new idea.
With The Underway, Anarch runners got a new tool in the form of Faust. It's a decidedly interesting concept to base a deck around. But to use it, we're going to have to draw a lot of cards every turn. So, we may as well stick with Anarch because Faust is in faction, and so are Wyldside and Adjusted Chronotype. Also, we can take advantage of I've Had Worse. That gives a good deal of card draw, but we'll need a lot, so we need a runner who will greatly benefit from card draw.
Yeah, that works.
Throw Your Life Away
Again, the strategy is to draw lots of cards between WyldPancakes and MaxX's ability. Faust is supposed to be your main breaker, but you've also got Corroder, Mimic, and Yog.0 for when you run out of cards and also to deal with ice that doesn't play well with Faust (such as Wraparound, Swordsman, and Turing. You've got Datasucker to drop ice down and Net-Ready Eyes to buff your breakers up. Plus, Medium gives you some multi-access in R&D. To hold all those programs, you've got Grimoire. To let you hold more cards, you've got Braincage and you've also got Skulljack to make Corp cards cheaper to trash, which lets you dig deeper on subsequent runs. For resources, you've got the combo of WyldPancakes, but you've also got Daily Casts for some drip economy and you've got Same Old Thing to recur events. As for those events, they're possibly the big thing. Sure Gamble and Lucky Find give you some burst economy. I've Had Worse gives a burst of cards before making a run, or works as insurance against being flatlined (say, by a Snare! or a Scorched Earth.) Amped Up and Wanton Destruction allow you to destroy the Corp's HQ, forcing them to spend a turn drawing back up or giving you some more control over their hand. Finally, you have some recursion in Deja Vu and Levy AR Lab Access, letting you get back a specific card or your entire deck respectively.
So, the current version shown in this decklist is not exactly the initial version. The earlier version didn't have the Datasuckers, the Mediums, or the Deja Vu. The earliest version didn't have the Lucky Finds either, instead using Career Fair and Easy Mark for additional economy. But, to be honest, it take up about the same amount of time to use Lucky Find while using fewer cards, which allows more room for other cards. The Grimoire wasn't in the earlier deck either, because there wasn't a need for additional memory at the time. Also, the earlier deck included Chrome Parlor to mitigate away the penalty of installing the cyberware.
The goal is to set up and draw lots of cards to fuel Faust. This in turn let's you get into pretty much any server, be it a remote for a single steal, HQ for a Wanton Destruction, R&D for a Medium dig, or Archives to see if you destroyed any agendas. The big problem is that once you've cycled through the deck twice, you're now dependent on your secondary breakers to do the work. Plus, the economy also runs out, so you may run out of money as well at the endgame. Still, if you can hit the corp hard and fast enough, it doesn't really matter if you take brain damage and throw away your cards.
Until next time, turn the volume up to 12.
With The Underway, Anarch runners got a new tool in the form of Faust. It's a decidedly interesting concept to base a deck around. But to use it, we're going to have to draw a lot of cards every turn. So, we may as well stick with Anarch because Faust is in faction, and so are Wyldside and Adjusted Chronotype. Also, we can take advantage of I've Had Worse. That gives a good deal of card draw, but we'll need a lot, so we need a runner who will greatly benefit from card draw.
Throw Your Life Away
Again, the strategy is to draw lots of cards between WyldPancakes and MaxX's ability. Faust is supposed to be your main breaker, but you've also got Corroder, Mimic, and Yog.0 for when you run out of cards and also to deal with ice that doesn't play well with Faust (such as Wraparound, Swordsman, and Turing. You've got Datasucker to drop ice down and Net-Ready Eyes to buff your breakers up. Plus, Medium gives you some multi-access in R&D. To hold all those programs, you've got Grimoire. To let you hold more cards, you've got Braincage and you've also got Skulljack to make Corp cards cheaper to trash, which lets you dig deeper on subsequent runs. For resources, you've got the combo of WyldPancakes, but you've also got Daily Casts for some drip economy and you've got Same Old Thing to recur events. As for those events, they're possibly the big thing. Sure Gamble and Lucky Find give you some burst economy. I've Had Worse gives a burst of cards before making a run, or works as insurance against being flatlined (say, by a Snare! or a Scorched Earth.) Amped Up and Wanton Destruction allow you to destroy the Corp's HQ, forcing them to spend a turn drawing back up or giving you some more control over their hand. Finally, you have some recursion in Deja Vu and Levy AR Lab Access, letting you get back a specific card or your entire deck respectively.
So, the current version shown in this decklist is not exactly the initial version. The earlier version didn't have the Datasuckers, the Mediums, or the Deja Vu. The earliest version didn't have the Lucky Finds either, instead using Career Fair and Easy Mark for additional economy. But, to be honest, it take up about the same amount of time to use Lucky Find while using fewer cards, which allows more room for other cards. The Grimoire wasn't in the earlier deck either, because there wasn't a need for additional memory at the time. Also, the earlier deck included Chrome Parlor to mitigate away the penalty of installing the cyberware.
The goal is to set up and draw lots of cards to fuel Faust. This in turn let's you get into pretty much any server, be it a remote for a single steal, HQ for a Wanton Destruction, R&D for a Medium dig, or Archives to see if you destroyed any agendas. The big problem is that once you've cycled through the deck twice, you're now dependent on your secondary breakers to do the work. Plus, the economy also runs out, so you may run out of money as well at the endgame. Still, if you can hit the corp hard and fast enough, it doesn't really matter if you take brain damage and throw away your cards.
Until next time, turn the volume up to 12.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Summer 2015 Casual Tournament
Well, last weekend (7/18) one of our local stores had a tournament utilizing a leftover Spring 2015 kit. But this tournament was geared towards more casual play, allowing proxies of cards from the two packs that aren't easily available right now (Future Proof and Opening Moves.) Still, this didn't help turnout that much, as there were only 8 participants.
For this tournament, i had originally intended to bring a Geist deck and an Argus Security deck, but then I saw two things that changed my mind. First, I saw the deck Geist: You're Doing It Wrong on NetrunnerDB, so I dismantled that and put together a Gabe deck. Second, I saw this tweet: https://twitter.com/IirionClaus/status/621381813131431936 This inspired me to put Corporate Town back into my deck, then rebuild the deck more around it. So here are the deck lists I used:
Building Our Town
Identity: Weyland Consortium - Building a Better World
Agendas
Corporate War - 2
Hostile Takeover - 2
Oaktown Renovation - 3
Project Atlas - 3
Underway Renovation - 2
Ice
Hadrian's Wall - 2
Meru Mati - 3
Spiderweb - 3
Enigma - 3
Tollbooth - 3 (6 Influence)
Archer - 2
Ichi 1.0 - 3 (6 Influence)
Assets
Corporate Town - 3
Jackson Howard - 3 (3 Influence)
Upgrades
Underway Grid - 3
Operations
Beanstalk Royalties - 3
Hedge Fund - 3
Restructure - 3
Kind of a mix between a glacier build and a rush build. Hostile and Corporate give money for scoring them, and Oaktown gives money while it is being advanced. Atlas works for either scoring out quickly, or for setting up to get a key card. Underway is interesting, in that it lets you attack the runner's deck, which can hinder their plans. The ice is fairly standard. Hadrian's can go wherever a big wall is needed. Meru Mati should only be on HQ, but could be placed somewhere for a small tax. Spiderweb is a tossup. It could be swapped out for Bastion, which Corroder breaks for the same cost, but Spiderweb takes more counters away from Lady. Although, Bastion will last longer against Parasite, so the choice depends on your meta. Enigma for a cheap code gate, and Tollbooth for more taxing. Archer for a big gun, and Ichi for click taxing, or more credit taxing. Corporate Town is the big thing in this deck. Ideally, you'll want this in a moderately well protected server, and a second well protected server for scoring agendas. Also ideally, you'll want to score a Hostile or an Underway early for the cost. Jackson for recursion. Underway Grid is interesting. It stops Inside Job, Femme Fatale, Feint and Drive By, so you'll want one on your scoring server, one on your HQ, and the third can be placed on R&D or on your Corporate Town server. Then the three main transaction operations, because you might as well run them in a BaBW deck.
Clack Click Bang
Identity: Gabriel Santiago - Consummate Professional
Programs
Alias - 2
Breach - 2
Corroder - 1 (2 Influence)
Gordian Blade - 1 (3 Influence)
Ninja - 1
Passport - 2
Grappling Hook - 2
Sneakdoor Beta - 2
Hardware
Clone Chip - 2 (4 Influence)
Desperado - 1
Dyson Mem Chip - 3
Unregistered S&W '35 - 2
Resources
Security Testing - 3
Events
Dirty Laundry - 3
Drive By - 3
Express Delivery - 3
Inside Job - 3
Legwork - 3
Sure Gamble - 3
The Maker's Eye - 3 (6 Influence)
I was trying to go for some central pressure with this one, while also trying to be able to attack remote servers. Standard core attack suite, with Alias, Breach, and Passport. Corroder, Gordian and Ninja as backups. Grappling Hook is kind of an emergency shot, and Sneakdoor is pretty standard with Gabe. Clone Chip for some recursion, Desperado for making more money, Dyson for extra memory, and S&W for killing annoying upgrades, like Caprice and Ash. Security Testing is the main economy engine, which can get me up to 5 credits on an HQ run. Dirty Laundry for more econ. Drive By to expose and destroy upgrades and assets. Express Delivery to get specific pieces of the top of the deck. Inside Job to get through troublesome servers and into remotes. Legwork to dig in HQ. Sure Gamble because that's standard. The Maker's Eye for digging in R&D, although maybe I should have swapped one copy for another Clone Chip.
Well, onto the report. Only 8 people, so there were just 4 rounds.
Round 1: vs. Rick
Building a Better World vs. Edward Kim: 1-7 L
Gabriel Santiago vs. Personal Evolution: 2-1 L (flatline)
As usual, playing against Rick is always a challenge. To be honest, this was probably the worst runner I could have gone up against, with my economy mostly dependent on operations. I think I lost all 3 copies of restructure early on. Also, I had to forfeit an early Project Atlas to rez an unprotected Corporate Town to trash an Earthrise Hotel. It was definitely worth it at the time, but there may have been a much better play. Plus, I went overly aggressive advancing an Underway Renovation, which led to being unable to rez a key piece of ice. Game two brings up another problem I have to overcome. Against PE, I either play too carefully, or too aggressively. In this case, it was the latter. I went for a Maker's Eye run on R&D, ran into a Fetal, which burned two cards from my hand, then had to score a 1 point agenda, burning a third card. Then, on his turn, he played the three Neural EMPs I knew he had, because I had seen them on a previous Maker's Eye dig. Still, an interesting set.
Round 2: vs. Katie
Building a Better World vs. Andromeda: 7 - 6 W
Gabriel Santiago vs. Personal Evolution: 2-7 L
A close first game. I gave up a few agendas early, and lost a Corporate Town before I could rez it, but that helped tax Katie in that game. The second game I think I ended up playing too cautiously, plus I recall hitting a Cortex Lock with no programs installed, decimating my hand early on, which set me back too far, especially since I didn't see any Clone Chips in that game. Also, lost some key programs due to Power Shutdown, so that didn't help me.
Round 3: vs. Barry
Building a Better World vs. Hayley Kaplan: 1 - 7 L
Gabriel Santiago vs. Engineering the Future: 5 - 8 L
Another frustrating game as Corp, and again, because I made a mistake. I put an Enigma as the second piece of ice on HQ, when it needed to go on R&D after he played an R&D interface. Ended up losing too many agendas out of R&D. Second game I ended up being locked out of the primary servers in the end, and couldn't get into the main scoring server. Still, managed to snag two agendas in the mid game.
Round 4: vs. Andy
Gabriel Santiago vs. Tennin Institute: 9 - 6 W
Building a Better World vs. Valencia Estavez: 6-5 W (timed)
What I remember about this set is that it was close, and it could honestly have gone either way. First game, managed to snag an Utopia Fragment out of HQ, but he managed to get a Nisei with two Gene Resequencings before then. Then another Nisei came out. I managed to burn most of the counters on HQ runs, then managed to grab a Future Perfect out of the scoring server. Grabbed another Future Perfect in a later run on that server. Next game could have gone either way. I did manage to get a Corporate Town up and destroyed a lot of resources. Plus, there were a few close calls, and a point where he could have won the game if he had Blackmailed my scoring server instead of Blackmailing my R&D to dig deeper. Oh, and I managed to snipe a copy of Blackmail off his deck with Underway Renovation, which was pretty good. But at the end, time was called, and he couldn't make the run which would have tied the game for him.
So, that was an interesting turn of events. Ended up with only 5 prestige, just one point ahead of last place. Also, the last match determined who would end up in first and second because of strength of schedule, so that was also interesting. Didn't place high enough to get a Gordian Blade, which I would have like, but did end up completing a playset of alternate art Pop-Up Windows. Perhaps I should put together a deck using them so I can start freaking out my opponents with the scary clown advertisement.
Until next time, take a look at this card from classic Netrunner. It turns out there was a Yog.0 before it was called Yog.0.
For this tournament, i had originally intended to bring a Geist deck and an Argus Security deck, but then I saw two things that changed my mind. First, I saw the deck Geist: You're Doing It Wrong on NetrunnerDB, so I dismantled that and put together a Gabe deck. Second, I saw this tweet: https://twitter.com/IirionClaus/status/621381813131431936 This inspired me to put Corporate Town back into my deck, then rebuild the deck more around it. So here are the deck lists I used:
Building Our Town
Identity: Weyland Consortium - Building a Better World
Agendas
Corporate War - 2
Hostile Takeover - 2
Oaktown Renovation - 3
Project Atlas - 3
Underway Renovation - 2
Ice
Hadrian's Wall - 2
Meru Mati - 3
Spiderweb - 3
Enigma - 3
Tollbooth - 3 (6 Influence)
Archer - 2
Ichi 1.0 - 3 (6 Influence)
Assets
Corporate Town - 3
Jackson Howard - 3 (3 Influence)
Upgrades
Underway Grid - 3
Operations
Beanstalk Royalties - 3
Hedge Fund - 3
Restructure - 3
Kind of a mix between a glacier build and a rush build. Hostile and Corporate give money for scoring them, and Oaktown gives money while it is being advanced. Atlas works for either scoring out quickly, or for setting up to get a key card. Underway is interesting, in that it lets you attack the runner's deck, which can hinder their plans. The ice is fairly standard. Hadrian's can go wherever a big wall is needed. Meru Mati should only be on HQ, but could be placed somewhere for a small tax. Spiderweb is a tossup. It could be swapped out for Bastion, which Corroder breaks for the same cost, but Spiderweb takes more counters away from Lady. Although, Bastion will last longer against Parasite, so the choice depends on your meta. Enigma for a cheap code gate, and Tollbooth for more taxing. Archer for a big gun, and Ichi for click taxing, or more credit taxing. Corporate Town is the big thing in this deck. Ideally, you'll want this in a moderately well protected server, and a second well protected server for scoring agendas. Also ideally, you'll want to score a Hostile or an Underway early for the cost. Jackson for recursion. Underway Grid is interesting. It stops Inside Job, Femme Fatale, Feint and Drive By, so you'll want one on your scoring server, one on your HQ, and the third can be placed on R&D or on your Corporate Town server. Then the three main transaction operations, because you might as well run them in a BaBW deck.
Clack Click Bang
Identity: Gabriel Santiago - Consummate Professional
Programs
Alias - 2
Breach - 2
Corroder - 1 (2 Influence)
Gordian Blade - 1 (3 Influence)
Ninja - 1
Passport - 2
Grappling Hook - 2
Sneakdoor Beta - 2
Hardware
Clone Chip - 2 (4 Influence)
Desperado - 1
Dyson Mem Chip - 3
Unregistered S&W '35 - 2
Resources
Security Testing - 3
Events
Dirty Laundry - 3
Drive By - 3
Express Delivery - 3
Inside Job - 3
Legwork - 3
Sure Gamble - 3
The Maker's Eye - 3 (6 Influence)
I was trying to go for some central pressure with this one, while also trying to be able to attack remote servers. Standard core attack suite, with Alias, Breach, and Passport. Corroder, Gordian and Ninja as backups. Grappling Hook is kind of an emergency shot, and Sneakdoor is pretty standard with Gabe. Clone Chip for some recursion, Desperado for making more money, Dyson for extra memory, and S&W for killing annoying upgrades, like Caprice and Ash. Security Testing is the main economy engine, which can get me up to 5 credits on an HQ run. Dirty Laundry for more econ. Drive By to expose and destroy upgrades and assets. Express Delivery to get specific pieces of the top of the deck. Inside Job to get through troublesome servers and into remotes. Legwork to dig in HQ. Sure Gamble because that's standard. The Maker's Eye for digging in R&D, although maybe I should have swapped one copy for another Clone Chip.
Well, onto the report. Only 8 people, so there were just 4 rounds.
Round 1: vs. Rick
Building a Better World vs. Edward Kim: 1-7 L
Gabriel Santiago vs. Personal Evolution: 2-1 L (flatline)
As usual, playing against Rick is always a challenge. To be honest, this was probably the worst runner I could have gone up against, with my economy mostly dependent on operations. I think I lost all 3 copies of restructure early on. Also, I had to forfeit an early Project Atlas to rez an unprotected Corporate Town to trash an Earthrise Hotel. It was definitely worth it at the time, but there may have been a much better play. Plus, I went overly aggressive advancing an Underway Renovation, which led to being unable to rez a key piece of ice. Game two brings up another problem I have to overcome. Against PE, I either play too carefully, or too aggressively. In this case, it was the latter. I went for a Maker's Eye run on R&D, ran into a Fetal, which burned two cards from my hand, then had to score a 1 point agenda, burning a third card. Then, on his turn, he played the three Neural EMPs I knew he had, because I had seen them on a previous Maker's Eye dig. Still, an interesting set.
Round 2: vs. Katie
Building a Better World vs. Andromeda: 7 - 6 W
Gabriel Santiago vs. Personal Evolution: 2-7 L
A close first game. I gave up a few agendas early, and lost a Corporate Town before I could rez it, but that helped tax Katie in that game. The second game I think I ended up playing too cautiously, plus I recall hitting a Cortex Lock with no programs installed, decimating my hand early on, which set me back too far, especially since I didn't see any Clone Chips in that game. Also, lost some key programs due to Power Shutdown, so that didn't help me.
Round 3: vs. Barry
Building a Better World vs. Hayley Kaplan: 1 - 7 L
Gabriel Santiago vs. Engineering the Future: 5 - 8 L
Another frustrating game as Corp, and again, because I made a mistake. I put an Enigma as the second piece of ice on HQ, when it needed to go on R&D after he played an R&D interface. Ended up losing too many agendas out of R&D. Second game I ended up being locked out of the primary servers in the end, and couldn't get into the main scoring server. Still, managed to snag two agendas in the mid game.
Round 4: vs. Andy
Gabriel Santiago vs. Tennin Institute: 9 - 6 W
Building a Better World vs. Valencia Estavez: 6-5 W (timed)
What I remember about this set is that it was close, and it could honestly have gone either way. First game, managed to snag an Utopia Fragment out of HQ, but he managed to get a Nisei with two Gene Resequencings before then. Then another Nisei came out. I managed to burn most of the counters on HQ runs, then managed to grab a Future Perfect out of the scoring server. Grabbed another Future Perfect in a later run on that server. Next game could have gone either way. I did manage to get a Corporate Town up and destroyed a lot of resources. Plus, there were a few close calls, and a point where he could have won the game if he had Blackmailed my scoring server instead of Blackmailing my R&D to dig deeper. Oh, and I managed to snipe a copy of Blackmail off his deck with Underway Renovation, which was pretty good. But at the end, time was called, and he couldn't make the run which would have tied the game for him.
So, that was an interesting turn of events. Ended up with only 5 prestige, just one point ahead of last place. Also, the last match determined who would end up in first and second because of strength of schedule, so that was also interesting. Didn't place high enough to get a Gordian Blade, which I would have like, but did end up completing a playset of alternate art Pop-Up Windows. Perhaps I should put together a deck using them so I can start freaking out my opponents with the scary clown advertisement.
Until next time, take a look at this card from classic Netrunner. It turns out there was a Yog.0 before it was called Yog.0.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Enlightenment
Sorry about not writing for a month. Lately, I've been in a bit of a slump in regards to Netrunner.
So, what I like about this game, is taking a card that is considered not very good, and trying to figure out a way to make use of it. Today, I'll be taking a look at a card from Creation & Control that hasn't seen a great deal of play.
Sahasrara. The seventh chakra. A cheap program which gives you credits to install more programs. To get the most out of this card, we'll need to install a lot of programs. So, who do we know who wants to install a lot of programs?
Yep, the hacker extraordinaire. Noise wants to install as many viruses as possible, so having a program which can pay for them is highly beneficial. You could compare Sahasrara to another card which pays for viruses, Cyberfeeder. While Cyberfeeder is in faction, takes up no memory, and its credit can also be used to pay for using icebreakers, Sahasrara allows for cheaper virus installation sooner.
So, what cards are traditionally used with Noise? Well, his standard array of viruses includes Datasucker, Parasite, Medium, Imp, and Cache. Some more good virus choices are Lamprey, Ixodidae, Hemorrhage, Darwin, Gorman Drip v1, and Crypsis. If you're going to be running all these viruses, you might as well include Djinn so you can pick out a virus and have more space to store viruses, and of course include Grimoire so you can get an extra virus counter on each one out the door. Aesop's Pawnshop gives some more value to Cache and to Imp when they've lived out their use, or allows you to get rid of any virus that's not helpful at the moment.
Some additional economy will also be good, so let's add in the staple Sure Gamble and our broker Kati Jones. Plus, we might as well use the standard Anarch breaker suite, since we're out of influence now. Wyldside gives more card draw, and Adjusted Chronotype makes it so we get the click back. Plus, for some extra taxing, let's throw in Fester. Alright, let's take a look at it all.
Patterns in Noise
Seems pretty solid. Just have to pull it together now and try it out.
Oh, and I'd like to thank Rick from league for being the inspiration for this article, as he had been playing Sahasrara in Noise for a while before I got the idea to write this article.
Until next time, keep your connections clear.
7/7 Update: This build is pretty good, but I've decided I'd like to try a different spin on it. So here's my slightly revised decklist.
Patterns in Noise 1.1
I've swapped the Aesop's Pawnshops for Clone Chips, the Mediums for Clots, the Adjusted Chronotypes for Chop Bot 3000 and the Wyldsides for I've Had Worse. I've gone this way because this should give the deck a bit more protection against Tag and Bag, while keeping the draw engine up. Plus, it gives it some Fast Advance countering. Of course, the deck is a bit more tight on money, but hopefully it'll work about as well.
So, what I like about this game, is taking a card that is considered not very good, and trying to figure out a way to make use of it. Today, I'll be taking a look at a card from Creation & Control that hasn't seen a great deal of play.
Sahasrara. The seventh chakra. A cheap program which gives you credits to install more programs. To get the most out of this card, we'll need to install a lot of programs. So, who do we know who wants to install a lot of programs?
Yep, the hacker extraordinaire. Noise wants to install as many viruses as possible, so having a program which can pay for them is highly beneficial. You could compare Sahasrara to another card which pays for viruses, Cyberfeeder. While Cyberfeeder is in faction, takes up no memory, and its credit can also be used to pay for using icebreakers, Sahasrara allows for cheaper virus installation sooner.
So, what cards are traditionally used with Noise? Well, his standard array of viruses includes Datasucker, Parasite, Medium, Imp, and Cache. Some more good virus choices are Lamprey, Ixodidae, Hemorrhage, Darwin, Gorman Drip v1, and Crypsis. If you're going to be running all these viruses, you might as well include Djinn so you can pick out a virus and have more space to store viruses, and of course include Grimoire so you can get an extra virus counter on each one out the door. Aesop's Pawnshop gives some more value to Cache and to Imp when they've lived out their use, or allows you to get rid of any virus that's not helpful at the moment.
Some additional economy will also be good, so let's add in the staple Sure Gamble and our broker Kati Jones. Plus, we might as well use the standard Anarch breaker suite, since we're out of influence now. Wyldside gives more card draw, and Adjusted Chronotype makes it so we get the click back. Plus, for some extra taxing, let's throw in Fester. Alright, let's take a look at it all.
Patterns in Noise
Seems pretty solid. Just have to pull it together now and try it out.
Oh, and I'd like to thank Rick from league for being the inspiration for this article, as he had been playing Sahasrara in Noise for a while before I got the idea to write this article.
Until next time, keep your connections clear.
7/7 Update: This build is pretty good, but I've decided I'd like to try a different spin on it. So here's my slightly revised decklist.
Patterns in Noise 1.1
I've swapped the Aesop's Pawnshops for Clone Chips, the Mediums for Clots, the Adjusted Chronotypes for Chop Bot 3000 and the Wyldsides for I've Had Worse. I've gone this way because this should give the deck a bit more protection against Tag and Bag, while keeping the draw engine up. Plus, it gives it some Fast Advance countering. Of course, the deck is a bit more tight on money, but hopefully it'll work about as well.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Using Your Mind
So, I've had some time to think, and I feel it's time for another article on deck building, specifically on making a strange card more useful.
With Honor and Profit, we got another neutral AI icebreaker in the form of Overmind, but it didn't seem very viable at the time. After all, there were few ways to raise your memory limit. The only options at the time were Akamatsu Mem Chip, CyberSolutions Mem Chip, and whatever console you wanted to run. Probably Deep Red, since it gave you three extra memory for cheap. But flash forward a few data packs to Up and Over, which brought in the new Anarch program Origami. At the time that came out, I knew I wanted to do a build that made use of Origami, but I had no idea what at the time. The came All that Remains, and with it, the Anarch console Ekomind. Now, with the memory limit tied to cards in hand, and the ability to massively increase your hand size, the possibilities opened up.
I think my earliest iteration of this deck used Exile for the identity. What I was thinking was I could use Aesop's Pawnshop to trash empty Overminds, then bring them back with Clone Chip. But this idea didn't prove as workable as I had hoped. So, on to the next idea.
Folds of the Mind
This may have been the first actual attempt at the deck. It works on Chaos Theory's smaller deck size to get through the deck more efficiently The big problem is that it takes time to set up, during which the Corp can score out agendas; possibly enough to win the game.
Mind Over Matter and Mind Over Matter 2.0
I moved from Chaos Theory to Quetzal to bring E3 Feedback Implants into the deck. After all, it should make it easier to use Overmind by spending credits instead of counters, plus the card complements Quetzal anyway. Granted, the ability is only really useful on ice that has more than one subroutine. Still, the deck was slow to set up; maybe moreso than with Chaos Theory. But with the release of Breaker Bay, we have some new options to consider.
Beach Brain
Hayley gives an opportunity to increase the speed of the deck drastically. Being able to install multiple types of cards in one click means that more pieces of the combo can be brought into play. The combo has also changed from Origami and Ekomind to Beach Party and Ekomind, which can give 10 extra cards with two cards instead of the 9 extra cards from 3 cards, and also frees up more memory, making Sage even more powerful. Self-Modifying Code gives some tutoring, but it could be removed for something more useful. I'm not certain what just yet. Granted, it does make for good fodder for Aesop's. Still, I'm going to need to give this deck more testing to see where it's strengths and flaws lie.
Well, that does it for now. Maybe next time I'll go over some corporate deckbuilding ideas. Until then, make sure your brain in a jar hasn't passed its expiration date.
With Honor and Profit, we got another neutral AI icebreaker in the form of Overmind, but it didn't seem very viable at the time. After all, there were few ways to raise your memory limit. The only options at the time were Akamatsu Mem Chip, CyberSolutions Mem Chip, and whatever console you wanted to run. Probably Deep Red, since it gave you three extra memory for cheap. But flash forward a few data packs to Up and Over, which brought in the new Anarch program Origami. At the time that came out, I knew I wanted to do a build that made use of Origami, but I had no idea what at the time. The came All that Remains, and with it, the Anarch console Ekomind. Now, with the memory limit tied to cards in hand, and the ability to massively increase your hand size, the possibilities opened up.
I think my earliest iteration of this deck used Exile for the identity. What I was thinking was I could use Aesop's Pawnshop to trash empty Overminds, then bring them back with Clone Chip. But this idea didn't prove as workable as I had hoped. So, on to the next idea.
Folds of the Mind
This may have been the first actual attempt at the deck. It works on Chaos Theory's smaller deck size to get through the deck more efficiently The big problem is that it takes time to set up, during which the Corp can score out agendas; possibly enough to win the game.
Mind Over Matter and Mind Over Matter 2.0
I moved from Chaos Theory to Quetzal to bring E3 Feedback Implants into the deck. After all, it should make it easier to use Overmind by spending credits instead of counters, plus the card complements Quetzal anyway. Granted, the ability is only really useful on ice that has more than one subroutine. Still, the deck was slow to set up; maybe moreso than with Chaos Theory. But with the release of Breaker Bay, we have some new options to consider.
Beach Brain
Hayley gives an opportunity to increase the speed of the deck drastically. Being able to install multiple types of cards in one click means that more pieces of the combo can be brought into play. The combo has also changed from Origami and Ekomind to Beach Party and Ekomind, which can give 10 extra cards with two cards instead of the 9 extra cards from 3 cards, and also frees up more memory, making Sage even more powerful. Self-Modifying Code gives some tutoring, but it could be removed for something more useful. I'm not certain what just yet. Granted, it does make for good fodder for Aesop's. Still, I'm going to need to give this deck more testing to see where it's strengths and flaws lie.
Well, that does it for now. Maybe next time I'll go over some corporate deckbuilding ideas. Until then, make sure your brain in a jar hasn't passed its expiration date.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Back to Basics
Recently in one of the Netrunner leagues I'm in, we had a theme night. This time the theme was to build a deck using only the Core set and the Deluxe boxes. So I went the extra step and built two decks using only the core set.
Gabriel Santiago
Programs
Femme Fatale - 1
Ninja - 2
Sneakdoor Beta - 2
Crypsis - 3
Corroder - 2 (4 Influence)
Gordian Blade - 2 (6 Influence)
Hardware
Desperado - 1
Akamatsu Mem Chip - 1 (1 Influence)
Resources
Bank Job - 2
Crash Space - 2
Decoy - 2
Armitage Codebusting -3
Events
Account Siphon - 2
Easy Mark - 3
Forged Activation Orders - 3
Inside Job - 3
Special Order - 3
Infiltration - 3
Sure Gamble - 3
The Maker's Eye - 2 (4 Influence)
Just out of the box, Gabe has the potential to be one of the strongest runners. Solid economy, efficient breakers, and a little multi-access.
Making News
Agendas
AstroScript Pilot Program - 2
Breaking News - 2
Priority Requisition - 3
Private Security Force - 3
Ice
Data Raven - 3
Tollbooth - 3
Enigma - 3
Hunter - 2
Wall of Static - 3
Archer - 2 (4 Influence)
Hadrian's Wall - 2 (6 Influence)
Rototurret - 2 (2 Influence)
Assets
Ghost Branch - 3
Melange Mining Corp. - 2
PAD Campaign - 3
Upgrades
SanSan City Grid - 1
Operations
Closed Accounts - 2
Psychographics - 2
Hedge Fund - 3
Beanstalk Royalties - 3 (3 Influence)
A minor note here: the deck I brought originally didn't have the Rototurrets or the Hunters. I've added them in now to boost the ice count and decrease agenda density, plus I forgot to use up all of the influence, which is where the turrets come in. But anyway, it's got a decent array of ice, with some good economy, although you may need to protect your assets. Ghost Branch makes for a good ambush, since you can trigger it without spending any money. The single SanSan helps with Fast Advance, and can be used to force the runner to spend a significant amount of money trashing it. Priority Requisition has a bunch of good targets (Archer, Hadrian's and Tollbooth,) plus Breaking can be forfeited to get an Archer online. Psychographics may or may not be usable over the course of the game, but it can help. Still, it could maybe be switched out for Anonymous Tip if card draw is really necessary. Or Red Herrings could be brought in to help protect agendas.
So, out of 6 games played, I managed 2 runner wins, 1 corp win, 1 runner loss and 2 corp losses. Pretty much average play using just the core set. Still, the fact that it is possible to do so well with just the core set is impressive. Now to try this during regular play nights.
Until next time, remember to ice up your servers.
Gabriel Santiago
Programs
Femme Fatale - 1
Ninja - 2
Sneakdoor Beta - 2
Crypsis - 3
Corroder - 2 (4 Influence)
Gordian Blade - 2 (6 Influence)
Hardware
Desperado - 1
Akamatsu Mem Chip - 1 (1 Influence)
Resources
Bank Job - 2
Crash Space - 2
Decoy - 2
Armitage Codebusting -3
Events
Account Siphon - 2
Easy Mark - 3
Forged Activation Orders - 3
Inside Job - 3
Special Order - 3
Infiltration - 3
Sure Gamble - 3
The Maker's Eye - 2 (4 Influence)
Just out of the box, Gabe has the potential to be one of the strongest runners. Solid economy, efficient breakers, and a little multi-access.
Making News
Agendas
AstroScript Pilot Program - 2
Breaking News - 2
Priority Requisition - 3
Private Security Force - 3
Ice
Data Raven - 3
Tollbooth - 3
Enigma - 3
Hunter - 2
Wall of Static - 3
Archer - 2 (4 Influence)
Hadrian's Wall - 2 (6 Influence)
Rototurret - 2 (2 Influence)
Assets
Ghost Branch - 3
Melange Mining Corp. - 2
PAD Campaign - 3
Upgrades
SanSan City Grid - 1
Operations
Closed Accounts - 2
Psychographics - 2
Hedge Fund - 3
Beanstalk Royalties - 3 (3 Influence)
A minor note here: the deck I brought originally didn't have the Rototurrets or the Hunters. I've added them in now to boost the ice count and decrease agenda density, plus I forgot to use up all of the influence, which is where the turrets come in. But anyway, it's got a decent array of ice, with some good economy, although you may need to protect your assets. Ghost Branch makes for a good ambush, since you can trigger it without spending any money. The single SanSan helps with Fast Advance, and can be used to force the runner to spend a significant amount of money trashing it. Priority Requisition has a bunch of good targets (Archer, Hadrian's and Tollbooth,) plus Breaking can be forfeited to get an Archer online. Psychographics may or may not be usable over the course of the game, but it can help. Still, it could maybe be switched out for Anonymous Tip if card draw is really necessary. Or Red Herrings could be brought in to help protect agendas.
So, out of 6 games played, I managed 2 runner wins, 1 corp win, 1 runner loss and 2 corp losses. Pretty much average play using just the core set. Still, the fact that it is possible to do so well with just the core set is impressive. Now to try this during regular play nights.
Until next time, remember to ice up your servers.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Colorado Regional Tournament Report
Well, last weekend was the Colorado regional tournament, which proved to be interesting. Doubly so for me, since I missed last year's tournament (because I was on vacation in San Diego at the time. SanSan was fantastic.) At any rate, here are the decklists I took.
Time is Money Friend 2.0
Engineering the Future
Agendas
Accelerated Beta Test - 3
Efficiency Committee - 3
NAPD Contract - 3
Project Vitruvius - 3
Ice
Eli 1.0 - 3
Heimdall 1.0 - 2
Enigma - 2
Turing - 3
Viktor 2.0 - 3
Ichi 1.0 - 3
Troll - 3 (6 Influence)
Assets
Adonis Campaign - 3
Eve Campaign - 3
Executive Boot Camp - 2 (2 Influence)
Thomas Haas - 3
Upgrades
Heinlein Grid - 3
Red Herrings - 2 (4 Influence)
Operations
Biotic Labor - 3
Enhanced Login Protocol - 3
Green Level Clearance - 3
Shipment from SanSan - 3
This was a tinkering of a deck I had taken to a previous store championship. It's a fairly standard fast advance/never advance deck. I teched in Turing to deal with Eater decks. Aside from that, the goal is to get as much efficiency out of your own clicks while forcing the runner to waste their clicks.
Mind over Matter 2.0
Quetzal
Programs
Corroder - 1
Datasucker - 2
Djinn - 2
Medium - 2
Mimic - 1
Nerve Agent - 2
Origami - 3
Overmind - 3
Sage - 1 (3 Influence)
Yog.0 - 1
Hardware
Cyberfeeder - 3
e3 Feedback Implants - 2 (4 Influence)
Ekomind - 2
Resources
Adjusted Chronotype - 2
Daily Casts - 2
Data Folding - 3
Donut Taganes - 1 (2 Influence)
Public Sympathy - 3
Symmetrical Visage - 2
Wyldside - 3
Events
Game Day - 2 (6 Influence)
Stimhack - 2
Reworking of the same deck from the last post. Tried to make it faster with Wyldside and Adjusted Chronotype. Pulled out Pawnshop and Quality Time and replaced them with Game Day for more card draw. Brought in a copy of Sage to deal with troublesome code gates such as Tollbooth and Lotus Field. Also put in Donut Taganes since I dropped the number of events even further.
Round 1: vs. Grant
Quetzal vs. Replicating Perfection: 0 - 7 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-2 W
An average start to the tournament. Quetzal was too slow to get off the ground against RP, which frustrates me, since I have a feeling that the large number of RP players at the Tulsa regional may have inspired more people to bring a build to Colorado. Although, top 8 was apparently free from Jinteki, so it didn't amount to much. I suppose the big mistake of this game was I forgot once again that Cortex Lock is a sentry, not a code gate. Second game brought me up against the other massive influx to the tournament: Kate. Grant was running what looked to be a PrePaid Voicepad version of Kate. Still, he wasn't able to draw the breakers he needed, which let me draw out the midgame into a victory. Oh, and Turing and ELP made a strong play in that game.
Round 2: vs. Rick
Quetzal vs. Making News: 6-4 L (meat damage flatline)
EtF vs. Valencia Estavez: 4-8 L
A reprise of the match from the Gordian Blade tournament. The changes I made to Quetzal were mostly results from discussing the deck with Rick, so it was interesting to see how it would turn out against him. I was able to get the Wyldside and Chronotype combo fairly quickly, though he managed to snipe Wyldside with a Making News, so that shut down the card draw. After that, I got really aggressive, and managed to snag a Project Beale and 2 NAPD Contracts. Unfortunately, my aggressiveness led to a lot of tags, which led to getting double Scorched. Might have been able to avoid that if I could have gotten more than one of each Public Sympathy and Origami. Corp game was not too great either. Turing never showed up, but neither did Eater. Got an Executive Boot Camp up and protected it with an Eli from an ABT. Of course, that server might have been better used for trying to score agendas. Or it might have been better to use the Eli to protect R&D. Either way, I couldn't keep him from getting to the agendas. Although, Blackmail never showed up either.
Round 3: vs. Martin
EtF vs. Edward Kim: 6 - 8 L
Quetzal vs. Replicating Perfection: 2 - 8 L
From what I remember, Martin was running a stealth build for Edward. That was kind of frustrating, because suddenly none of my ice were taxing anymore. Plus, he managed to snipe two of my ELPs off of R&D. Still, a fairly close game. And once again, Quetzal failed against RP. I think I should have put more priority into trashing Sundews when they came up, but again, the deck runs slowly. At least this time I managed to swipe a Fetal AI.
Round 4: vs. Barry
Quetzal vs. NEXT Design: 4-7 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-4 W
I think both Barry and I were slightly on tilt at this point. Once again, Quetzal was too slow to set up. Corp game was interesting for me. Mulliganed a hand with no economy into a hand with 3 agendas, one piece of ice and one Green Level Clearance. I think I drew a fourth agenda with that Green Level, so the game could have been done there. Managed to sneak through an agenda in the open on turn 3, though. Barry was running stealth Kate, but his breakers weren't showing up, which gave me enough time to score out and win.
Round 5: vs. Nick
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-2 W
Quetzal vs. Personal Evolution: 6-7 L
Another interesting match. I'm not entirely sure where he was going with his Kate deck. He was making use of Underworld Contacts and Data Folding for credit generation, but also put in Professional Contacts for card draw and credit gain. So, once again, I managed to keep the game in the midgame phase long enough to win. Second game, this time I did managed to get the full setup and get going, but a problem with the deck I hadn't foreseen cropped up. Once it's through, it runs out of steam. Plus, I lost somewhat critical cards with no way to get them back. So, I managed to get some agendas, but ran out of cards, so I couldn't make any runs. Oh, and I hit my hard counter, Komainu, twice. Lost a bunch of cards the first time, had to spend a ton of credits the second time.
Round 6: vs. Marc
Quetzal vs. Because We Built It: 6-9 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 2-8 L
Managed to get my rig set up as runner again. Was able to pull some agendas through digging R&D. Marc's strategy was pretty good. He iced up HQ and used Off the Grid to score out agendas. Although, he was using a lot of barriers and space ice, so I could have probably pushed HQ a little harder. Lack of planning did me in here, as I lost my Sage to a Nebula. Second game, and I'm sure that the loss here was my fault. I went for an early ABT, and ended up dumping the other two ABTs. I don't remember much else about the game or his strategy as Kate, as it was over sometime after that.
So that's that. Quetzal failed me completely. EtF did about as well as I expected, though. I suppose had I playtested out the changes I had made a lot more, I probably would have gone with the other runner I had prepared. Still, there's always next year to try and take a regional tournament. Well, until next time, take care of yourselves in the Net.
Time is Money Friend 2.0
Engineering the Future
Agendas
Accelerated Beta Test - 3
Efficiency Committee - 3
NAPD Contract - 3
Project Vitruvius - 3
Ice
Eli 1.0 - 3
Heimdall 1.0 - 2
Enigma - 2
Turing - 3
Viktor 2.0 - 3
Ichi 1.0 - 3
Troll - 3 (6 Influence)
Assets
Adonis Campaign - 3
Eve Campaign - 3
Executive Boot Camp - 2 (2 Influence)
Thomas Haas - 3
Upgrades
Heinlein Grid - 3
Red Herrings - 2 (4 Influence)
Operations
Biotic Labor - 3
Enhanced Login Protocol - 3
Green Level Clearance - 3
Shipment from SanSan - 3
This was a tinkering of a deck I had taken to a previous store championship. It's a fairly standard fast advance/never advance deck. I teched in Turing to deal with Eater decks. Aside from that, the goal is to get as much efficiency out of your own clicks while forcing the runner to waste their clicks.
Mind over Matter 2.0
Quetzal
Programs
Corroder - 1
Datasucker - 2
Djinn - 2
Medium - 2
Mimic - 1
Nerve Agent - 2
Origami - 3
Overmind - 3
Sage - 1 (3 Influence)
Yog.0 - 1
Hardware
Cyberfeeder - 3
e3 Feedback Implants - 2 (4 Influence)
Ekomind - 2
Resources
Adjusted Chronotype - 2
Daily Casts - 2
Data Folding - 3
Donut Taganes - 1 (2 Influence)
Public Sympathy - 3
Symmetrical Visage - 2
Wyldside - 3
Events
Game Day - 2 (6 Influence)
Stimhack - 2
Reworking of the same deck from the last post. Tried to make it faster with Wyldside and Adjusted Chronotype. Pulled out Pawnshop and Quality Time and replaced them with Game Day for more card draw. Brought in a copy of Sage to deal with troublesome code gates such as Tollbooth and Lotus Field. Also put in Donut Taganes since I dropped the number of events even further.
Round 1: vs. Grant
Quetzal vs. Replicating Perfection: 0 - 7 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-2 W
An average start to the tournament. Quetzal was too slow to get off the ground against RP, which frustrates me, since I have a feeling that the large number of RP players at the Tulsa regional may have inspired more people to bring a build to Colorado. Although, top 8 was apparently free from Jinteki, so it didn't amount to much. I suppose the big mistake of this game was I forgot once again that Cortex Lock is a sentry, not a code gate. Second game brought me up against the other massive influx to the tournament: Kate. Grant was running what looked to be a PrePaid Voicepad version of Kate. Still, he wasn't able to draw the breakers he needed, which let me draw out the midgame into a victory. Oh, and Turing and ELP made a strong play in that game.
Round 2: vs. Rick
Quetzal vs. Making News: 6-4 L (meat damage flatline)
EtF vs. Valencia Estavez: 4-8 L
A reprise of the match from the Gordian Blade tournament. The changes I made to Quetzal were mostly results from discussing the deck with Rick, so it was interesting to see how it would turn out against him. I was able to get the Wyldside and Chronotype combo fairly quickly, though he managed to snipe Wyldside with a Making News, so that shut down the card draw. After that, I got really aggressive, and managed to snag a Project Beale and 2 NAPD Contracts. Unfortunately, my aggressiveness led to a lot of tags, which led to getting double Scorched. Might have been able to avoid that if I could have gotten more than one of each Public Sympathy and Origami. Corp game was not too great either. Turing never showed up, but neither did Eater. Got an Executive Boot Camp up and protected it with an Eli from an ABT. Of course, that server might have been better used for trying to score agendas. Or it might have been better to use the Eli to protect R&D. Either way, I couldn't keep him from getting to the agendas. Although, Blackmail never showed up either.
Round 3: vs. Martin
EtF vs. Edward Kim: 6 - 8 L
Quetzal vs. Replicating Perfection: 2 - 8 L
From what I remember, Martin was running a stealth build for Edward. That was kind of frustrating, because suddenly none of my ice were taxing anymore. Plus, he managed to snipe two of my ELPs off of R&D. Still, a fairly close game. And once again, Quetzal failed against RP. I think I should have put more priority into trashing Sundews when they came up, but again, the deck runs slowly. At least this time I managed to swipe a Fetal AI.
Round 4: vs. Barry
Quetzal vs. NEXT Design: 4-7 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-4 W
I think both Barry and I were slightly on tilt at this point. Once again, Quetzal was too slow to set up. Corp game was interesting for me. Mulliganed a hand with no economy into a hand with 3 agendas, one piece of ice and one Green Level Clearance. I think I drew a fourth agenda with that Green Level, so the game could have been done there. Managed to sneak through an agenda in the open on turn 3, though. Barry was running stealth Kate, but his breakers weren't showing up, which gave me enough time to score out and win.
Round 5: vs. Nick
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 8-2 W
Quetzal vs. Personal Evolution: 6-7 L
Another interesting match. I'm not entirely sure where he was going with his Kate deck. He was making use of Underworld Contacts and Data Folding for credit generation, but also put in Professional Contacts for card draw and credit gain. So, once again, I managed to keep the game in the midgame phase long enough to win. Second game, this time I did managed to get the full setup and get going, but a problem with the deck I hadn't foreseen cropped up. Once it's through, it runs out of steam. Plus, I lost somewhat critical cards with no way to get them back. So, I managed to get some agendas, but ran out of cards, so I couldn't make any runs. Oh, and I hit my hard counter, Komainu, twice. Lost a bunch of cards the first time, had to spend a ton of credits the second time.
Round 6: vs. Marc
Quetzal vs. Because We Built It: 6-9 L
EtF vs. Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: 2-8 L
Managed to get my rig set up as runner again. Was able to pull some agendas through digging R&D. Marc's strategy was pretty good. He iced up HQ and used Off the Grid to score out agendas. Although, he was using a lot of barriers and space ice, so I could have probably pushed HQ a little harder. Lack of planning did me in here, as I lost my Sage to a Nebula. Second game, and I'm sure that the loss here was my fault. I went for an early ABT, and ended up dumping the other two ABTs. I don't remember much else about the game or his strategy as Kate, as it was over sometime after that.
So that's that. Quetzal failed me completely. EtF did about as well as I expected, though. I suppose had I playtested out the changes I had made a lot more, I probably would have gone with the other runner I had prepared. Still, there's always next year to try and take a regional tournament. Well, until next time, take care of yourselves in the Net.
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