Moshpit - Belgian nationals 4th place

I have been playing a variation of this since a while, with the previous MWL. Mad dash was taken away, but it doesn't matter a whole lot just switching to "Freedom through Equality". Now you can even combine this with stimhack! After playing around with this for a couple of weeks I realise suddenly that nationals is about to happen and I basically spend most of my time on a meme-deck... I figured I might as well play it then!

The deck is a variation on the Comet - Insight - Top hat combination, it does rather well against a variety of decks in the meta in my opinion. Misdirection allows you to deal with tags very well, you cannot be cheesed by trap/excalibur ICE, but IP-block also won't tag you. The economy is slightly draw dependant but when the deck gets going money just piles up super fast.

I've never really done a write up or report like this before but I feel like I have to get the thoughts out of my head (and honestly some of these games could be a script to an 80's retro sci-fi action movie). I will write about my corp games here as well because I just played the minnesotan-gulag list without any changes, so here it is:

Round 1 vs Leachrode (1 - 1):

• Ayla vs NEH: He starts doing the NEH thing and throws out a bunch of remotes, but has no ICE (or not a lot). I get comet out and play some events, and I install 2 things that I can't quite remember, because soon after I check rnd and find a degree mill and promptly shuffle them back. More remotes happen, I install another thing, I check some stuff, find another Degree Mill. I decline the steal cost, to play the "Freedom" from my hand and then steal it to win the game.

• Argus vs Smoke: I don't remember this game well but it's a dumpster fire of economic warfares and hard hitting news, but Smoke refuses to die. Misdirection gets rid of the tags time and time again and Security Testing + Kyuban keep him rich. I lose on accesses soon after.

  Round 2 vs HerrPantsy (3 - 1):

• Ayla vs rigshooter Argus (wtf?): This is a player I haven't seen in 2 years (Welcome back!!) and he always brings unexpected weird things. I get comet going and do some Insights, managing to get to 5 points, but then I somehow lose my Laamb (Can't quite remember how.). Suddenly, I'm locked out of rnd, and soon the remote. Panic. I franticly run HQ in futility... or so I thought, I find and oaktown there to close the game. Phew.

• Argus vs Ken: He plays earthrise and runs, ending the turn on a very low credit total. Hard hitting news happens and I blow him up next turn.

  Round 3 vs Tolaasin (4 - 2):

• Ayla vs Argus: This game is just crazy. I get misdirection and comet early and the deck gets roling, my opponent builds up a remote and fortifies rnd. I stimhack through the remote a few times on click 2 to clear all the tags with misdirection after that I had to take, and I fire a few insights, managing to get to 6 points. I don't remember how much points my opponent has, but at some point he manages to get a reversed accounts to fire, taking away all my money, and landing a HHN to boot, but he's on 0 credits too. I'm super dead, I have 3 cards left in my deck, levy is in the bin and I have 1 same old thing installed. I have notoriety in my hand and I could win if I had 1 credit, but I don't. After a while I realise I can same old thing for an exclusive party to get to 4 credits and live 1 more turn, but losing the levy and any chance for the lategame. Hell I have no choice, I draw a diesel with the card allowing me to comet for my entire deck. I clear the tags with misdirection. My opponent gets some money his next turn. I fire my last Exclusive party into a gamble for 9 credits, I play the last insight, there is an agenda there, I go for it. He rezzes a raven, I take the tags, then he rezzes an IP block, I can break it, and I steal for the win. DAMN THIS WAS HARD.

• Argus vs Valencia: I start with 2 hard hitting news, 2 economic warfares and a data raven. This can't go wrong. Mandatory draw is an agenda, first click to draw is another agenda, this is annoying, but I just throw down the raven with an unadvanced oaktown behind it (wtf am I doing, but my hand is so good...). He rebirths into Kim (shit), and trashes one of the economic warfares. I don't really remember what exactly happens next but he ends up getting HHN-ed and he goes tag me through the data raven. He's hammering my centrals, I find the High-profile target. At this point my hand is agendas and high-profile target, unfortunately it's also my last click. He runs hq and I really want him to steal, but he finds the HPT, I can't kill him. Game goes on for another turn or two, I don't find the kill but he finds the points. Well played!

Round 4 vs Vinegarymink (5 - 3):

• Ayla vs MTI: My start is a little rough but I get going. Early game I stimhack into a double advanced remote, to get my breaker out, he puts down an Anansi. I break and access. It's obokata, and I have 5 cards in hand. Unfortunately I'm also holding my Levy and my Same old thing. I can't steal this. game goes on for a little while, he builds a remote and manages to get another 3 pointer scored, and I manage to get a TFP from rnd with an insight run (it's expensive as hell though). Later on I fire another Insight, and I see a philotic. I get greedy and play a freedom through equality and run last click (so I can win with notoriety the turn after). He rezzes a Bio vault and ends the run (crap). He draws the agenda and jams it. I have all my breakers and his remote is DNA tracker - Himitsu bako - news hound. I break the tracker and the bako, then my opponent suddenly takes bako back to his hand lowering my nanoteks strength. What was 2 credits is suddenly 5, I continue and he installs another ICE. I break it but I have to go to 0 credits, he still has a batty and I can't play the psi-game. Well deserved win for my opponent, he completely outplayed me here.

• Argus vs Valencia: This one I don't remember well, but I manage to get to 6 points with an atlas counter. My opponent plays Turntable and goes for a 4 (or 5?) card dig on click 2. I am holding an audacity so I'm debating using the counter, but I don't (I SHOULD HAVE). He finds a hostile takeover and takes my token from me. I draw some cards and play some stuff in the remote. He doesn't check it. It's an Armed Intimidation and I score it with my Audacity. Close one again.

Round 5 vs mlodon (7 - 3):

• Ayla vs ASA: I realise at this point that I am the only one from my meta that still can make the cut, nerves happen. Thankfully I get to play a good friend of mine in the last round and I calm down. I get a good start, I get rich. ASA stacks ICE upon ICE but it's not enough. I get through the remote at least once and multiple Insight runs happen through rnd. He doesn't find his 2 Crisium grids so I can top hat for the win. It cost me 26 credits, but I had it.

• Argus vs Smoke: Smoke is a really hard matchup and I'm scared. But then I see my opening hand, and all fear goes away, when I realise I'm holding the sickest opening hand of opening hands. I start with hostile takeover, hedge fund, 2 economic warfares and a hard hitting news. And get this, my mandatory draw is HPT. My opponent makes a run with dirty laundry and paragon. I take his money and tag him. He tries to find misdirection or smc. He finds one, but it's a click late! I fire HPT for the win.

I make the top cut! 8th place!

• Game 1 vs Lpoulter, Argus vs Smoke (win): I draw into multiple economic warfares and reversed accounts. I can't tax him on breaking ICE but I get a rather nasty Data Raven - IP block - Prisec remote going. I land a reversed acounts for 12 credits, I played 3 economic warfares (24 lost credits in total!), I scored armed intimidations, he's forced to take tags multiple times getting through my remote, I play HHN at least twice (but no one was home once). AND SMOKE'S STILL NOT DEAD. fortunately unlike in game 1 I can jam agendas at the same time and I get to 4 points with an atlas token. At some point I topdeck a hostile. 5 points with an atlas token, and I'm holding audacity (We've been here before). he's ran hq quite a bit but never saw the Audacity. He goes for a TTW dig seeing 6 on click 1, there's no turntable this time though, and still 2 atlasses in the deck, and HQ is basically open. I don't use the counter. He gets to 6 points but there are no agendas in HQ so he can't win this turn. I tutor an atlas and win.

• Game 2 vs Massisi, Argus vs Valencia (loss): I get a pretty good opening hand with HHN, consulting visit, economic warfare, a hortum and Too big to fail. I mandatory into an agenda and try to jam it. He runs it and I don't rez thinking I can tag him enough to kill him (pretty big mistake here). I can't, he ends up with 1 tag. Game goes on for a little while but my opponent is relentless and he gets to 4 points. I can't find econ so I can't punish him for it, then he indexes through a data raven to see 2 more agendas and takes the game.

• Game 3 vs Wet Toastie, Ayla vs Cybernetics Division (win). Yes, I'm not kidding. There's an Ayla - cybernetics division game in the top cut of a 52 player nationals. And I'm playing in it, how does this even happen: It's a weird mushin list with some traps and brain rewiring - show of force (or double neural) as a win condition. It seems weird but he got 9 - 1 with this so I'm pretty scared. He makes remotes, I don't check many because there's no possible kill there yet. I setup and insight - freedom through equality for an early 3 points stealing a show of force. Game goes on and my next insight also shows one and I also can steal it with a freedom through equality, but I kinda have to go broke for it. You see I tend to break ICE and install breakers with stimhack, but against this deck, I just can't do this. After a while he tripple advances a remote while I'm trying to get ready for a notoriety play (I needed another breaker). I'm thinking it's a rewiring and I can die (it was). I make a pretty big misplay here and check archives last click. There's two Ikawahs here and I can't steal them and he can kill me with double neural. Fortunately he must've been a bit flooded cause there's also another rewiring putting me on 7 points. PHEWWWW, well played!

• Game 4 vs Lpoulter, Ayla vs NEH (loss): We meet again. At this point I'm rather tired, a bit stressed, and it's my first game ever I play on stream. Seeing the deck list I realise it's the same list I played against on round 1, day 1. I start with Comet and a bunch of events, I'm pretty happy with my hand at this point. He starts with turtlebacks and throws out a bunch of remotes, I try to keep up with checking some and playing my events but my deck isn't so kind to me and I have to click to draw too often. He makes a remote, I don't (can't really) contest it and scores a beale, rezzes Amina, and pays 5 into the trace to bounce my comet. I don't mind as much cause it's costly for him. I reinstall the comet, trying to keep up and I'm tunnel visioning into trying to land insight. From there things start to go really wrong. I play Insight and I see a Degree Mill, and I want to go for a stimhack play to go and get it. He rezzes an AAL to put another ICE infront of rnd (I actually don't know how I let this happen, there is no ability window between the insight and the stimhack, but my memory is very hazy). It's a wraparound and an Archangel, I pop SMC to get laamb and break both and I end up on 4 credits, as I'm accessing I suddenly realise what I've done. The Amina is still rezzed, he will bounce my breaker and I have to take brain damage. The brain damage missed my laamb so I'm not out of it yet. I try to trash the Amina and draw into more money but it's futile, he quickly takes the initiative and scores out a degree mill, and then a beale from his remote. A well deserved win for my opponent. In hindsight: I really approached this game from a completely wrong angle. I invested far too much energy in trying to land Insights while my opponent doesn't actually have a very robust scoring plan. I should've kept key assets like Amina off the board and spend the clicks to get my economy going and occasionally poke HQ (turns out you can't DBS NEH draws and agenda's do end up there, or maybe he even kept them there because I wasn't running it, I just didn't think of it). I should've gone for a more remote-lock oriented play with the 2 Stimhacks I was holding on to, but nerves really got to me here.

I want to end this by saying thanks to @Clusterfox for organising the coolest tournament I've ever played in, and also all the other antwerp meta people (even Brian!) for all the weekly game nights and theorycrafting, I would've never gotten this far without you guys. And thanks to all the players present for coming over and making this tournament so fun! It was great meeting all of you. Always be running. Cheers!