Tempo Gagarin 3.1

I have so many things to say about this list.

Let me start with: I love it. I love playing it, and the majority of players that I have played it against afterwards said that they enjoyed running against it also - which is huge for Gagarin (and they should hire me as an image and brand consultant).

Let me follow that up with the caveat that, while I do have a reasonably high win percentage with this list (6-1 at York SC), at least a small part of what gives this list an edge, I think, is an expectation from the runner that they need to respect Hard-Hitting News. This can sometimes allow you to expand aggresively turn 1 with a naked Rashida Jaheem (not recommended), and often leads to the runner wasting clicks installing cards like misdirection and no one home. I don't think that the list leans too heavily on the ruse factor, but it is worth calling out as a thing.

Matchups

vs Val - respect Mining Accident. Mulligan for Hedge Fund, Elizabeth Mills or Executive Search Firm. Val has a real hard time without any Bad Pub. Respect Hacktivist Meeting, hold on to a Standoff or Hostile Takeover to clear it if you are on the back foot.

vs 419 - respect Diversion of Funds. mulligan for Hedge Fund or an ICE to go on HQ. If you can install multiple Marilyn Campaign turn 1 that works as well. don't bother with Amani Senai if they are on Power Tap (obviously). Let the runner build up turtle counters. Your goal in the mid game is to swing the game back in your favour with a Cyberdex Virus Suite + Tithonium / Archer blowout. Plan B is to use Amani Senai to bounce Aumakua back to hand. Plan C is to use Jeeves Model Bioroids to purge every turn (seems bad).

vs Leela - play slow (but not too slow) and try not to panic. You will probably have to take a risk that R&D betrays you with a Leela bounce at some point. This will be the pivotal point of the game. Also you need to respect all of the things in the 419 section above. No game with this list is easy, but the leela matchup is definitely the most difficult.

vs Hayley - you have 3 x Oaktown Renovation, rush them out behind a gearcheck while building your board. Wait to ICE R&D until later in the game.

vs Crowdfunding Smoke - I actually find this matchup is very very hard, and is a (probably bad) argument for slotting Corporate Town again. I think the best line is to build a remote of multiple Tithonium and Border Control (discard Archer) and try and push agendas three turns in a row in the late game (the second agenda to reinstall the Border Control).

Slots

Shall we talk about some cards?

Amani Senai - this is a fun and interesting card that is an absolute must trash in the early game, a must trash in the mid game, and that can be safely ignored in the late. Tutor it with Executive Search Firm, and protect it with Tour Guide depending on how many agendas have been scored / stolen.

Team Sponsorship - this is a fun and interesting card that is a must trash whether you are planning on trashing other assets or not (see Border Control). Tutor it with Tech Startup and then you get to reinstall the Tech Startup when you score! Protect it with Tour Guide if the runner is getting into a position to contest the board. The sweetest words on this card are: "ignoring the install cost".

Daily Business Show - this is a fun and interesting card that is a must trash unless you want to give the Corp control of the game. Warning, side effects of missing mandatory triggers may include a game loss.

Public Support - don't trash this card, it will just get reinstalled late game in the scoring remote. Then again, it enables Archer without causing a Leela bounce...

Jeeves Model Bioroids - probably don't trash this card either. Absolutely shines after a Rashida Jaheem fire, and helps mitigate Leela bounces, but it's not essential to any particular game plan.

Rashida Jaheem - tutor with Executive Search Firm whenever your hand is low on cards. Reinstall with Team Sponsorship into the scoring remote whenever you want the runner to feel sad.

Elizabeth Mills - tutor it with Executive Search Firm, then reinstall it with Team Sponsorship when you score a Hostile Takeover.

Paywall Implementation - on paper, this is how you clear Hacktivist Meeting when the runner has a R&D lock. In practice, I have never actually played it. This slot should probaly be given to something that helps with Apocalypse (possibly Crisium Grid, but I'm not quite convinced)