Let's Make a Deal (3rd Place Wausau, WI ANRPC)

Faust is a force to be reckoned with.

The sheer versatility of this card is truly unmatched. It may very well be the strongest AI breaker to date.

This deck, alongside my Jinteki Biotech deck "Flipped Off," went 4-1 on the day, leading me to a 3rd place finish at 14 prestige after 5 rounds of Swiss.

This deck plays the Wyldside/Pancakes combo as fuel for your runs, allowing you to make runs while not having to worry about your credit total as much. This means that your glacier and rush matchup is fantastic, but you have to be careful against Butchershop and other Midseasons decks.

Match rundown:

Round 1 vs Dan (RP): Going into the tournament, I was feeling like my RP matchup was actually above average due to RP not being able to tax my credit total, and I was right. I got WyldPancakes going early, and the Medium dig was on, with me running through an Ichi 1.0 and a Bako at least once a turn. I scored 2 Niseis and an NAPD while Dan scored 2(!) TFPs out of his very secure remote. Eventually I found the Fetal, and I had the credits and cards to take it, despite losing every single psi game I played this match (which was 5, if you are keeping score at home). WIN

Round 2 vs Michael (Nisei Division): Nisei Division! After losing what felt like a thousand psi games in the previous match, I was prepared to lose a few more here. I miss on a TFP early, and get my WyldPancakes. Michael IAAs a card in a server with Caprice in it, and I manage to contest it and get it on the second try. After that, I start Medium digging through a Snowflake (which is a lot worse against Quetzal) and a Tollbooth, and eventually find the agendas I'm looking for. WIN

Round 3 vs Jon (TWIY): This match was on the feature table, you can watch it on the ANR Pro Circuit Twitch archives (twitch.tv/ANRProCircuit). Andrew, my local meta buddy who had driven up to Wausau with me, was also running a TWIY PsychoBeale deck, so I had some knowledge of the matchup. I knew that the key for this one was to outrace NBN, so I was thrilled to see Medium and Parasite in my opening hand. I facecheck into two Quandaries on R&D and HQ early, and Jon scores an early Astro. I kill the Quandary and start digging with Medium, and I score 2 Beales. Jon Midseasons me for 8, then makes a critical error: he forgets his Astro token, which means that he doesn't just win the game with PsychoBeale. I use David to go past a Tollbooth for a 9-deep Medium dig, and the game is over. WIN

Round 4 vs Andrew (TWIY): Another TWIY? Ugh. I hate you, Midseasons. This one goes in a similar manner: I mulligan for Medium, pull an Astro off of R&D, get Midseasoned for a lot, Medium dig through the Pop-up on R&D for the win. WIN

Round 5 vs Joe (NEH): Butchershop means another Midseasons matchup, and I'm not thrilled. I find a TGTBT in Archives on turn 2, which means I get Midseasoned and die shortly thereafter. Not much to say about this one. LOSE

The biggest area of improvement here, I think, is the econ. Faust lets you get accesses while poor, but it also means your Midseasons matchup is just terrible. I would love to play more event economy, but that dilutes your Peddler draws. Liberated felt fairly awkward, but I can install it off of Peddler and install it with Career Fair. No Sure Gambles or Dirty Laundries hurt in the early game, and it might be worth finding room for some if you're planning on taking this deck for a spin.