1st APAC: Santa's Workshop [Swiss: 7-0, Cut: 3-1]

Santa 1602

Always Be Closing!

Without a Clot against you, anticipate this powerhouse to be easily closing by turn 8-13, with no real ability to rein you in.

Overview:

Welcome to my workshop!
Santa's Workshop

History/Pre-rotation:

I created Big Deal Outfit (Too Big Two Deal) back in April and brought it to my first real significant tournament placing 2nd.

It continued to power out solid results across multiple COs and took 5th in Canadian Nats.

Across the tournaments I've also workshopped the deck and created small changes, and/or larger meta-defined variants like Too Big News Deal, which was a workshopped list for the Esâ meta and took 4th at its main respective tournament. It additionally took 9th at another where I got bubbled out of the cut due to an 8 way tie on SOS for 2nd in swiss.

Now/Post-rotation:

With Bulwark leaving I had some initial concerns, until I saw the spoilers for both Valentão, and Pivot.

  • Valentão is a great ice and fits the missing BP (Bad Publicity) ice slot left by Bulwark rotating.
  • Pivot is the all-star new card for the deck, and has many uses:

New Cards [that are old cards]:

  • Envelopment, I personally think this is the spiciest, and most unexcepted include in an Outfit, not Ob? However, it fits the decks gameplan of speed so well.
    • It's an extremely powerful early lockout against some decks since it's both Boomerang, and Botulus resistant. It typically requires them to have their fracter, or Inside Job if installed on the remote to jam an Atlas behind, which is its main purpose.
      • See Cut R1 vs crowphie as an example
    • Plus, there are many games where tossing Envelopment on R&D locked them out and gave me 4 turns to find a better ice. When you're closing on turns 8-13, I'd say that ice did a good job, and just don't use it when/once it's no longer good. Although, remember an unrez'ed ice still requires additional click/credit math.
  • Winchester, this is a great ice for HQ, and can be repurposed for R&D in a pinch. The cost of tracing through on HQ even if there is a link is still 7 credits (10 without), and 5 to break for Carmen, or 6 with Num.

Additional choices:

  • 0x Rashida, what?? This was one of the clearest improvements to make, for a couple reasons:
    • With the plethora of money you have in this deck, Rashida is mostly just draw 3. Click to draw is simply better
    • Might pop some games, but since you don't invest in a scoring remote it's just generally a dead card beyond turn 1-2.
    • Adding 3x trashable cards to your deck is a huge downside, as the porousness of your deck late game in many instances will be your main concern.
  • 2x Big Deal, even with Pivot?
    • Yes, by adding 2x Big Deal it means that you have 5x Big Deal's in your deck, and the ability for the runner to clear out the threat of Big Deal is almost non-existent as they need to find both. All about consistency! :)

Shift in play post rotation:

With Bulwark missing it's generally a less spiky deck, with now almost non-existent investment in the scoring remote. However, it makes up for this loss, with the vast increase of speed, and most importantly consistency.

Also, with Pivot it's not nearly as possible for the runner to lock you at <4 BP, which I found happening on occasion before. Now, even playing at the top tables it really feels like you're in control of your BP, which was not always the case pre-rotation.

This deck is a powerhouse! Play it now, and always be closing! :)

Matchups

In favoring order:
1. Aumakua Anarch (Extremely favored)
2. 419: Amoral Scammer (Very favored)
3. Anything non-Esa without a clot (favored)
4. Esâ Afontov: Eco-Insurrectionist (unfavored)
5. Clot + Simulchip + Recursion (Going to be real hard, but still winnable)
No Data:
- Mercury: Chrome Libertador (Anticipate favored)

APAC Results:

Happy to answer any questions about decisions/replays in the comments :)

Note: I'm charliedmcb on jinteki.net

Matches:

Swiss [7-0]:

Win distribution by turn:
10, 14, 15, 11, 9, 12, 19

R1 (Win): vs CyberStein on 419 [Replay]
R2 (Win): vs Dragons1rule on Arissana [Replay]
R3 (Win): vs wiley on Lat [Replay]
R4 (Win): vs Spieroz on Esâ [Replay]
R5 (Win): vs AugustusCaesar on Hoshiko [Replay]
R6 (Win): vs seebasss7 on 419 [Replay]
R7 (Win): vs enkoder on Lat [Replay] [Streamed]
  • One of the best and most intense games I've ever played!
  • Thanks enkoder for the incredible swiss final!
  • Brief rundown:
    • I burnt through 4x Clot's. The 3rd of which most importantly required enkoder to choose between rig shooting himself, or trashing Conduit. A very tough decision, where he choose to trash Conduit, leaving more of his run options but removing the multi-access pressure. I was eventually able to pull through the 4th Clot with exactly Mav + Reg Cap + Audacity and win.
  • See the stream vod, and/or enkoder's perspective through the youtube video he uploaded of his run through APAC to get another perspective.

Top Cut [3-1]:

Win distribution by turn:
8, 11, 14

Loss distribution by turn:
8; threatening a guaranteed turn 9 win if R&D held

R1 (Win): vs crowphie (SendMeSpirals) on Hoshiko [Replay]
  • This gameplay was 100% based on the open deck list information from the top cut.
  • Brief rundown:
R2 (Loss): vs Jai on Tāo [Replay]
  • This is my one loss of the tournament on Outfit, and I think if Jai was on Clot it would have been an absurdly hard matchup; although, you'd also have to adjust the list's rig as the current set of programs don't allow you much room to start ripping it apart with Simulchip + Clot.
  • Brief rundown
    • In this game I tempo'ed out early with a Big Deal + Project Atlas turn 7, knowing that I'd have an exposed R&D for conduit digs, due to Hermes.
    • I thought this was a fair trade as I'd be up 4 to 0 with two Project Atlas counters pressuring a Big Deal + SDS score for the win as soon as I pumped back up with Too Big to Fail sitting in HQ the next turn.
    • However, R&D didn't hold, giving up 4 points the first turn, and SDS the next where he also had the needed Engolo to match my Afshar on R&D.
R5 (Win): vs KyraWNY on Hoshiko [Replay] [Streamed]
  • This is a very good example of how to claw back a very bad start, which after enough games you are bound to have.
  • Brief rundown
    • After a mulligan + mandatory draw + click draw I started with 0 Ice, and 2x agendas in hand (Atlas + Regulatory Capture).
    • KyraWNY turn one ran HQ twice pulling both agendas leaving me down by 4.
    • I was able to claw myself out of the pit, and pull this game back only giving up one more Hostile Takeover.
R7 (Win) (Grand Finals): vs Jai on Tāo [Replay] [Streamed]
  • This was an amazing grands! The final click coming down to a 2/7 for Jai to win, and 5/7 for me.
  • Brief rundown
    • I learned a lot from my first game vs Jai.
    • Hermes + Tāo, can be extremely punishing if you push out your scores too early, as with Conduit they can start snowballing, and pulling your servers apart. Due to this I delayed my score outs until I had 2x ice on both R&D + HQ, and re-icing before scoring more, going to 4x ice on R&D and 2x on HQ before the next score.
    • The longest consideration of the entire game was on the last Conduit run, and second to last click of the game. I had to consider if pulling SDS into HQ with my one Project Atlas counter, which I possibly needed to win the game was the correct decision, or not. I did already have a win condition in hand with 1x Above the Law + Audacity. However, it was an incredible thinker as if Jai followed up with a run on HQ than it would be a 1/7 for Jai to win, and a 1/7 to eliminate my win condition.
    • I pulled the SDS, R&D held, Jai ran HQ pulled nothing, and I was able to close with an Above the Law + Audacity.

Thanks

  • Thanks to Team Muntal Bost for:
    • Helping me refine my play over the past months
    • Getting me prep games day of the cut on Hosh, which I had 0 wins on in swiss lmao (watch for the 1st APAC: Clutch Shiko [Swiss: 0-3, Cut: 3-0] deck list post which will contain the full story :p)
    • Going over the top cut deck lists with me and importing them into netrunnerdb for easy reference as I still don't know cards by name
    • And all around the wonderful support! <3
  • Thanks to all the members of my netrunner community for cheering me on throughout!
  • Thanks to all the players in the event! What a turnout! :)
  • Thanks to the APAC judges for running a wonderful tournament!
  • Thanks to the commentators for streaming 6/17 of my total APAC games :)
  • Additionally, a special thanks to 2018 North American Champion Sam Suied for designing the card Big Deal :)
24 comments
8 Aug 2023 Wentagon

He made a list

He checked it twice

He found out Valentao is pretty sweet ICE

Santa Bost is comin to town 🎅

8 Aug 2023 anarchomushroom

The quality of this write-up is actually excellent and very well detailed and thought out.

Congrats on the result!

8 Aug 2023 maninthemoon

Extremely well played and well deserved finish!! It's amazing to see how much you have mastered outfit over the past few months. Let's bring home American Conts as well <3 :omegapog:

8 Aug 2023 Radiant

We are all extremely proud of you! Amazing job!

8 Aug 2023 just_rob

Great results, great list and great write up - Christmas has come early!

8 Aug 2023 BinkBonkle

Congrats Charlie!

8 Aug 2023 crowphie

still gutted i threw. fantastic deck, and a well deserved win! Excited to see what you do in the future.

8 Aug 2023 Santa

@crowphie I looked back at the replay and you were credit perfect to steal it with the Aumakua + Devil Charm + run for last 3 clicks.

Understand the pain, as I’ve made my fair set of misplays in the past, especially on runner 😅, and still am

8 Aug 2023 Santa

@crowphie I looked back at the replay and you were credit perfect to steal it with the Aumakua + Devil Charm + run for last 3 clicks.

Understand the pain, as I’ve made my fair set of misplays in the past, especially on runner 😅, and still am

Thanks for the kind words, and I look forward to facing you again in the future!

8 Aug 2023 SMITTYL

Congrats @Santa!! Seeing your improvement and crafting of this thing over time, makes us all so proud!

9 Aug 2023 maninthemoon

@Wentagon 🤣😂👌

9 Aug 2023 sebastiank

I love that alt-art ID XD

Congrats on the win!!

9 Aug 2023 Santa

Thanks @sebastiank!

I created the base for image for the alt. My fellow Muntal Bost players suggested the bonus flavor text, and Mr. Muntal himself in the corner. Love the final design! :)

9 Aug 2023 jan tuno

good writeup, congratulations to you and bost💞

happy to see a lot of players relatively new to the competitive scene doing well in big tournaments this year. very refreshing and energizing

9 Aug 2023 Mac Esquire

In your original Too Big Two Fail write up you state that with 4xBP you can score 5 with Big Deal on Atlas and my brain is just not clicking how. Can you help a new guy out? Thanks! I LOVE BP Weyland, so I’m definitely trying this!

9 Aug 2023 FireRL (aka xFWx FIREBIRD)

Congrats @Santa 😃🔥! #bost

@Wentagon🎶 dropping the bonus sick beats!

9 Aug 2023 Santa

@Mac Esquire, what I’m referring to there is across multiple turns:
1. You can pull a Hostile Takeover with one counter to score 1 additional point.
2. Then once you’ve hit 4x BP you can pull a Regulatory Capture with another counter to score another 2 bringing you to 5 total from the play.

With the newer list, I’ve also found the deck actually had a real possibility of doing two Big Deal’s in one game, which with SDS Drone Deployment can be 3 extra point if you use the two counters to pull both those, or one counter if you have the other in hand.

Some games you’re gonna have to pull Mavirus to get through Clot too. I’d say that is the main case where the play will be worth less than 5 points, but will hopefully help you secure a close out of the game. Also, sometimes you even just don’t end up needing the extra counters haha, and the full value isn’t there.

There’s a lot of good pulls with the counters, but so long as you’re using them for agenda scores I’d expect the play to typically get you at 5 or even 6 total points. 6 if you use the two counters to pull 2x Regulatory Capture’s, or score out your other 3/2’s with Audacity.

Great to meet another BP Wheyland player, and hope you have a wonderful time with this deck! Lmk if you have any other questions! 😁

9 Aug 2023 Mac Esquire

@Santa you truly rule! Number one at APAC and number one in our hearts!

10 Aug 2023 Jai

Congrats on the victory, very well deserved. I reviewed the tapes of the finals with @aksu on his Youtube channel; still kicking myself for the mistakes I made in those games!

All the best to you and your team at Cascadia. Looking forward to watching your performance!

10 Aug 2023 cros

Congratulations for bringing an Outfit Big Deal deck to 1st place, I have been brewing a similar list for months before rotation but I was said that with open decklist that would fall apart. GG for proving that it is not true

11 Aug 2023 Santa

Thanks @cros!

Love to hear you've been brewing BDO too! Yea, the deck has gotten far more consistent! I'd recommend giving it a try post rotation! Lot's of fun! :)

11 Aug 2023 Santa

Thanks @Wentagon, and love the bonus soundtrack! haha :)

Thanks @anarchomushroom, and yea I put a lot of time into the writeup haha, but very happy with how it turned out! :)

Thanks @just_rob, why not celebrate more than one a year! :)

Thanks @maninthemoon, and thanks for both getting me into the game, and helping me to improve so much! Conts #2 here we come! :)

Thanks @Radiant, and @BinkBonkle!

Thanks @SMITTYL, it has come a long way! I think it was my first tournament that I borrowed your Steve, and was discarding Bravado's since I thought they were trash cards and had to be a success run lol.

Thanks @jan tuno! Feel the scene has been growing so much, and its been wonderful to have the support of the more veteranned players! :)

Thanks @xFWx FIREBIRD (aka FireRL)! #bost!

Thanks @Jai! I watched your review of that final game. Oof, the 2 credit choice that would have stolen an Atlas into another score hurts. It was an incredible grands, and I look forward to seeing you at intercontinentals!

11 Aug 2023 Santa

Runner deck is up, if anyone is curious, but mostly just a story time of my run through APAC and the 241's that brought me into the cut with 0x wins on Hosh lol:
1st APAC: Clutch Shiko [Swiss: 0-3, Cut: 3-0]

13 Aug 2023 xdg

Congrats! And thank you VERY much for the wonderful write ups. It's very helpful seeing your intent and then how it played out in the tournament.