Go for the Eyes [4-1 at NA Conts, Top of Swiss, 13 overall]

Esa has always been a fallback runner for me. Aggression and mill are two of my favorite runner strategies, so it’s an easy mode to slip back into. Easier than picking a runner based on any sort of meta call, evidently. Until the week of the event, I had been intending to play a much more measured version of Esa, one that could present aggression or sit back and lean on Cacophony depending on the situation and draw. But some demoralizing games against my local meta left me adrift. I literally brought the cards for 7 different runner decks to Montreal. The night before, I actually borrowed cards to make an 8th. (Dirt Eater Zahya looks like so much fun.)

Then, I remembered something that has been at the core of pretty much every solid tournament performance I’ve had: regardless of the power of the deck, you have to be comfortable enough with it to not get caught up in the details and play strategically. It’s extremely simplistic advice, but the less you’re thinking about more cards the more you can think about the corps’. So, I sleeved up a more aggressive Esa deck that didn’t hedge its bets, and off I went.

I based the deck on this list by Diogene, not realizing I’d actually meet him at the event. A few tweaks for some pet cards, strategic preferences, and things I’d had in my own lists, and there we go. Main changes:

• Removed Matryoshkas for Mayflies and Botuluses. I don’t think Matryoshka is a bad choice, but the ability to drop a Mayfly and suddenly threaten any server is fantastic. You are more limited in the overall number of runs you can make. However, that restriction forces you to rely on good old fashioned face checking; a good practice in general. I did often wish I had one more Botulus, though. Hush is basically a breaker, although I'm still learning how best to use it. The Simulchip also added some more reactivity.
• Added Chastushka and Eye for an Eye. While I definitely agree that you can often get away without the powerhouse HQ threat – they have to respect it anyways, outside of open decklists – giving it up entirely cuts off an angle of attack. I’ve become a bit of an evangelist for Eye for an Eye and nowhere is it as good as in Esa. You’re already sabotaging, and the corp is therefore keeping only the cards they really need in HQ. What better way to punish that than trashing them? I’d drop the Chastushka for a second copy, if I could do it again.
• Katorga Breakout is so good. It stops you from having to hesitate to take core damage, or gives you a tech card back. I wish I had two in this list.
• Never leave home without one Charm Offensive. I will not negotiate on this. Two is probably too much.
• A few more cuts for slots, and there you go.

The day of, this deck went 4-1, entirely in swiss. It beat ant1’s AU Co., cros’ Ob, MotionBlur’s BtL, and kevinth’s Ob. I should really get in the habit of taking notes during events; I don’t have much to say about each of those games. It lost to Sam’s LEO list in a really close match, possibly my favorite of the day. This is one matchup where the limited breaking options were really felt. I don’t think this list has a bad matchup into LEO, but you have to know what LEO cares about. Contest the early Regolith, if you can. The longer this goes, the worse for you, unlike many Esa matchups. Overall I feel this deck is incredibly well positioned into AU Co and any kill deck, and Begemot always makes Weyland sad.

AND you get to play Charm Offensive.

It was surreal to end up at the top of the swiss rankings, but I want to emphasize that it was a bit of a fluke. I would have ID’d in the last round and end up in a respectable 5th, but got paired down and had to play. I won. Those extra 2 points leapfrogged me over the IDers.