Adam's Last Run. (6th at US Nats)

Ever since my progression to standard, I've always gravitated to some form of Adam in my mix of identities, some may call it compulsion. Whether it was playing in dingy bars in Atlanta, or in my first standard tournament at 2022 American Continentals, I've had a lot of fun trying new builds and learning to ride the wave of playing with his directives. When SebastianK published his list for AMT 1, I instantly gravitated towards it because I was testing Bankhar in other decks and combined with my favorite ID- I couldn't ask for more. In conjunction with Sokka's iteration, I reached my happy medium of the two. Fermenter over Tapwrm to achieve higher credit totals, a full set of bin breakers over Engolo with Na'Not'K to avoid awkward draws in Bankhar runs, and a Misdirection with Liberated Account to avoid tags and bank credits.

Swimming in a sea of anarch, s/o Smoke!

Here is a summary of his results from East Coast Nationals 2023:

Round 1 vs @Osclate (Azmari)

In this game, Adam was foundering a bit on credits and corp was able to ice up heavily to score out. Despite having the Misdirection, Azmari was flush with money and spun away agendas with Attitude Adjustment early to set up. A Mad Dash Bellona led to a Hard Hitting News which led to scoring windows for Azmari to win the game.

Result: Loss

Round 3 vs @Groundhog (Azmari)

Adam was having a groundhog day running into Azmari again in second round. Azmari scored an early Cryptocrash dipping the credits low, but Adam found 2 Cryptocrashes in central runs. Punishment with HHN shortly followed with Azmari getting to game point and forcing runs in remote. After a hard bait with a NGO Front behind an Endless Eula and Enigma, the game was sealed with a follow up Bellona that could not be stolen since Bankhar was on the remote with no other breaker and a single Logic Bomb (5 cards in hand, tragically forced the use of Logic Bomb on Eula).

Result: Loss

Round 5 vs Alex R (Rush Ob)

After two losses on Adam, I made the executive decision to break protocol and switch from the playmat with play zones to the Find the Truth playmat. The remotes were able to be contested with Bankhar and a couple of RNG Key Triggers to keep money afloat. On game point last click, Adam decided to Overclock a 3 Ice Remote with an upgrade after a click 3 Border Control, and made a credit perfect steal to pay past the Mannegarm Skunkworks.

Result: Win

Round 7 vs Dan D'Argenio (Rush Ob)

Here we go. Found an early Above the Law off the remote and got off the ground with Daily Casts, RNG Key, and Bankhar. Ob scored a single over advanced Atlas, and Emergent Creativity was able to produce breakers to contest the remote for agendas. Find the Truth was able to locate an agenda in RND and Neutralize All Threats located the winning agenda off multi-access. **Somewhere in the middle I had a total brainfart moment and could not remember what I saw on top of RND with Find the Truth. After a minute of drawing a blank, and Dan looking across the table stoically, I finally remembered it was an Extract on the top of deck. What a funny interaction!

Result: Win

Round 9 vs @Seebasss7 (Fast Advance Outfit)

Find the Truth was able to locate an agenda early and finding two logic bombs early was able to contest a double advanced Global Food Initiative. Despite building up to 5 Bad Publicity and scoring some points, Outfit was not able to locate more agendas and Find the Truth was able to partially lock and dig hand with Neutralize All Threats. Winning agenda was located off RND.

Result: Win, 8th seed going into Top Cut vs Seed 1

⭐Top Cut Round 1 vs @Redino987 (Mutually Assured Boom Asa)⭐

Live on Stream! It all comes down to this.

The Bioroid out to hack the corporation that created it. The Asa Group with plans to launch missiles in a single turn. The time ticking down before a Mutually Assured Destruction fueled by a Biotic workforce

Did Adam make it out in time?

With a Fermenter bubbling up, Daily Casts streaming (literally), and Bankhar hard at work, Adam was able to pressure remotes early to shut down HB's pair of mercenaries and Found the Truth of Asa's missiles. However, it wasn't long until Asa became Fully Operational with defense funding. Before Asa could get a chance to mobilize their funds, a hack on the remote server revealed plans of a new bioroid model in development under the moniker, Project Vitruvius. To continue hacking, bank accounts were emptied and fermenters were used up.

Checking the corporation headquarters, more missiles were located and neutralized before news of the event would be gaslighted in the press. Now in possession of corporation passwords, the RNG Key tried and failed with the meddling of the spin now sending plans of missiles back into the RND facility. Time was running out. Diving into archives for the remaining corporation passwords, Adam made a break for RND at the soonest click, getting cut on the outer ice and spending the rest of his credits breaking through hard gemstones in fear of RND restructuring.

'C'mon, c'mon these codes should work'

Password: _ _ _ _ _

Password: T h r e e

The gates of RND blast open revealing the plans of Luminal Transubstantiation, imbuing machines with the light of life.

And behind it...

The supercomputer simulation of East African culture, language, and ethnicity, the Ikawah Project!!

Three credits clink on the floor

Perfect...so if I just put 2 credits in this slot...out wait I might need a ladder.

a click passes

So 2 credits in here and...

It was over.

Adam had found the truth.

This was his last run, taking revenge on the corporation that had created him.

Result: Win

Roll Credits

Thank you so much to my ops in this event that helped shape Adam's last ever Nationals run! It was amazing to see Adam's final story unfold and his fight to the very end. Adam's last run was very poetic to me and I think he went out in brilliant fashion.

I'd like to thank my family and friends for cheering me on despite knowing very little about Netrunner and encouraging me regardless.

Thank you to @SebastianK for not only developing Bankhar Adam but also providing me useful pointers along the way. We tested a lot of wild ideas and almost had a game plan to use the forbidden directive, but it was not meant to be.

Thank you @MulganDragon for encouraging me in person during the event! Great to finally meet in person!

Thank you @Cocoro for helping with my preparation and your brand of Netrunner! We will meet in person one day!

Thank you to my Atlanta meta mates @Maj Apollo and @Kad Baz for helping me with testing and providing me with your insights during our games. Thank you ATL meta for cheering me on!

Thank you to everyone at the venue pulling for Adam to win it all, even if it involved a bit of CTM mixed in 😏

Thank you to the TOs for hosting such a wonderful event!

Paying respects to the Adam God, @ToThBeBe, who also fought off a sea of anarchs before me, Chris Hinkes, and @Pailu for pioneering the space- I hope I made y'all proud.

Last but not least, I'd like to dedicate my games to my grandfather, who recently passed away in the past few weeks prior to the event. I thought a lot about him leading up to the event, and I felt a symbolic connection to Adam who was also in his last days. It was the only choice that felt right in my heart. (despite my brain chip telling me it was a bad idea) While I have never played Netrunner with my grandfather, I will never forget the summer days with my grandfather in the family basement hunched over a chess board for hours or playing basketball with him outside at the park. He was a cunning man, always thinking steps ahead, one of sound logic, creative in his pursuits, and sparked the joy of competition and games within me while teaching me to be gracious especially in loss.

Thank you so much for the time you spent in meatspace with me and I will always carry the great memories we shared together.

"With these two by my side, Iʼve sworn never to fail. I can bear any pain so long as it has meaning." - Tsakhia "Bankhar" Gantulga