Unband AGInfusion Retooled [1st at Brno GNK, 2-1]

After winning the Linkoping CO with a more serious deck, I figured I should play something I enjoy, something that isn’t cutthroat competitive – it’s a GNK I was going to after all.

Having been a big fan of AGInfusion for a few years, when Sokka sent us a decklist of his devices, I made a few slot changes:

• Hansei Review: for Burst Econ that pairs well with Subliminal

• Anoetic Void: because I want my La Costa drips to go on Agendas (this is part of a greater Jinteki glacier theory of having/not having it)

• Sweet sweet Jua: thank you Peter H for the rec – not only another cute situational ice for AG, but on HQ protects your Anoetics from being PolOp’d

• Longevity Serum: This one is debatable. Another Bobcat or Offworld Office would be a side-grade here, I like the ability to bluff out non agendas should the remote get wiped and install something into the Costa Remote faster after a score.

Here’s how it went on the day.

Round 1 [Mildesorte – Boomerang Hoshiko]: Win

After my opponent installed DreamNet T1, I knew I had to apply William’s anti-crim strategy of ‘Turtling up’ before going for scores. Icing down centrals early, and getting an Anansi rez with the runner just 1 credit short of breaking and Hippoing it on RnD gave me some advantage that translated into an expensive remote, a DNA on HQ that was repeatedly Boomeranged and booped into to no avail, and a relatively safe finish by scoring out.

Round 2 [Cucin – Regular Sized Wu]: Win

With a long runner game, we were somewhat pressured for time on this one, with about 15 minutes in the round left. I believe I managed to score out, but after an intense runner game, my memory eludes me about the details…

Round 3 [Kubik – Big Wu]: Loss

Up until this game, I’d never seen Sokka’s Big Wu list get played in meatspace. Watching the engine unfold was a marvel – trash, gain 7, draw 1, install for free from heap, it gets +2 strength, take 6 Flame-Out credits, and that’s just click 0. Conversely, I ended up drawing about 4 Rashidas and close to no agendas in my first 25 cards – not something glacier typically complains about, but it meant rushing wasn’t an option. Icing up heavily with a “death remote” (2 BC, 2 Kakugo, Anansi innermost) meant that HQ & RnD were mostly protected by one big ice, DNA Tracker and Anansi respectively. Getting to 2 and then 4 points off CS relatively comfortably while my opponent sniped the one Nisei Mk 2 out of my hand, my crucial memorable mistake was booping an RnD run where I thought I was being Deep Dove only to find out my opponent did not have enough clicks to pull that stunt, and it was just a random RnD poke. Always ask, don’t assume. :)

Their eventual 4th click Deep Dive revealing 6 agendas, they correctly steal an Obo, pushing us both to quasi-match point. I draw the last Obo, go for the scoring IA install, only to have them top-deck the winning agenda on RnD. In fairness, they probably had reasonable odds of finding one given the relative dearth of agendas throughout the game.

I was pretty happy with this deck and would put it squarely in Tier 1.5 category. Thanks to Krasty for organising, and everyone who was at the GNK, it’s been a lot of fun playing Netrunner in person again.