9 is enough - 1st Euros 2019

“Freedom Khumalo: Crypto-Anarchist is great fun” most of Bristol, ongoing 2019

“Play something fun” Andy Parsons, May 2019

“That is a lot of breakers” Chris Dyer, decklist review, Euro Finals 2019

All of the above were correct.

Freedom was fun.

That was a lot of breakers.

Would put a lot of breakers in Freedom again.

This all happened because I didn’t want play best girl Leela Patel: Trained Pragmatist in a field with SDS Drone Deployment. I had enjoyed the Engolo versions over Aumakua (even as a strong Turtle believer) and didn’t want to go back, nor did I wish to sacrifice the few programs the deck was running to steals/scores. I probably overestimated the appearance of SDS but in my head it was a significant threat.

Time to try something new.

Why Freedom? Little bored of Valencia Estevez: The Angel of Cayambe to be honest and I didn’t get on with the Shaper options (kudos to those who do!).

Is there much to discuss here? It’s a bunch of good, regular anarch stuff with also known good card Crowdfunding - not setting the world on fire as a deck builder here am I.

A few tweaks happened after helping Algebraic test a Titan deck.

I lost by turn 7. So badly.

Oh did that remind me why full sets of bin breakers in Valencia was reasonable. Back up to three Black Orchestra, a Datasucker out for a Yusuf (covering the same ID enabling needs) and we’re at a probably unreasonable 9 breakers, 2 D4v1d with no AI (looking at you IP Block) and keeping the Clone Chip just in case.

I won’t go through all the games as in hindsight the pattern remained pretty consistent, although this fails to do justice to how fun, interesting and convoluted all the matchups were.

• mulligan for money and draw, Datasucker or Yusuf is a bonus

• get access to breakers asap, with MKUltra being optional and D4v1d often preferable

• challenge remote with Stimhack or credits accumulated from unloading Liberated Account

• take advantage of a stall caused by lack of money/ice/lac of remote confidence to Hippo free access to HQ or RND. Do not be afraid to Hippo weird targets click 1 - it was a Thimblerig and an Enigma at different points against Palana but it enabled at least a turn of free access each time

• rack up counters, trash things, recur Crowdfunding more than is reasonable

• try not the burn out!

If you want a more nail biting example I highly recommend Algebraic’s commentary on UK Stimhack Slack; rereading the final game against Chris’ Argus feels just as tight and perilous as it did to play!

By the numbers:

Swiss 4-2 Losses to combo Sportsmetal; left Team Sponsorship up - got punished, and Weyland BABW - slow start, lost the moneyfight badly, Counterstrike kill. Wins against; spikey Palana, Architects of Tomorrow, Outfit

Cut (and qualifier); 4-0, Personal Evolution, Palana, Argus

On a side note; hadn’t expected to see so much Chronos Project in decks. Redundancy paid off.

So was Freedom worth it? Certainly felt like it - routinely trashed relevant cards, keeping the corp down for longer. Plus the ability isn’t hard to feed. Maybe not an optimal choice, but it worked out.

I said it elsewhere, but worth repeating... that was two of the most fun days playing Netrunner I’ve had in a long time. The games were close, opponents fantastic, community amazing and organisers tireless.

Thank you everyone for keeping this alive!