Mercury Startup: Boulder, Colorado GNK

I took Mercury to the Startup GNK tournament in Boulder, Colorado and went 1-2 with every game being close and incredibly fun.

Gameplan: Expect to click for draw frequently. Make runs sparingly, but see 3+ cards whenever accessing R&D or HQ.

Round 1: Win vs Rich playing PTUntaian

In the early game I had a couple of 3x accesses on R&D that didn't produce points but did give me valuable information. Later I managed to dodge a kill by amassing just enough credits and cards thanks to Side Hustle. Rich had setup a Fuji behind Empiricist with both Neurospike and Measured Response in hand.

Rd 3: Loss vs Yancy playing AU Co.

I was up 5-3 but managed to blow the lead and get myself flatlined. Should have been more patient. I saw 4 cards off R&D on my final turn and spent credits to trash Spin Doctor and Mitra, putting me below the 8 needed to surive Measured Response. Crew was not helpful at all against Empericist and Attini, but Physarum handled his Cloud Eater nicely.

Rd 5: Loss vs Luke playing Nuvem

Luke placed his ice perfectly with Logjam on HQ, Syailendra on RnD, and Syailendra on Archives. I could never pull off a Transfer of Wealth, and never had an easy server for Clean Getaway or Side Hustle. Meanwhille Luke consistently had 10-15 credits for most of the game thanks to Nuvem and Petty Cash among other transactions. In the endgame I saw 3 or 4 cards off R&D but didn't find the winner. On the next turn I could have installed Docklands and likely won off HQ, but he killed me first with 2x Angelique and Measured Response.

Post tournament changes:

+1 Lie Low, +1 Rent Rioters, +1 Devadatta Drone, +1 Gourmand

-1 Azimat, -1 Arruaceiras Crew, - 1 Valentina, - 1 Hermes

Lack of draw is a glaring weakness with no Class Act in Startup. I'm also considering tweaks to the bypass programs with a 2nd Laser Pointer or a 3rd Physarum instead of either the 3rd Malandragem or the 2nd Cupellation, but the current lineup feels close.

Shoutout to the upcoming Megacity in Denver of May 31st and June 1st! We'd love to see you there!