Lizaveta Prokovyevna (5-1 at Edinburgh Regionals, Finalist)

Once upon a time there was a congresswoman and a very wicked woman she was. She would embezzle the federal funds, occupy public restrooms, cheat at cards and occasionally even bring about the end times. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. Management caught her and plunged her into a lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell to G00Ru; ‘She once played a blind Mad Dash on R&D,’ said he, ‘and won the game by scoring a 1 pointer.’ And G00Ru answered: ‘You take that agenda then, reveal it out to her in HQ, and let her play Mad Dash. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to my Beach Party, but if the Mad Dash fails, then the woman must stay where she is.’ The angel ran to the woman and held out the agenda to her. ‘Come,’ said he, ‘run HQ and I’ll pull you out.’ he began cautiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her right out, when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kicking them. ‘I’m to be pulled out, not you. It’s my agenda, not yours.’ As soon as she said that, the access whiffed. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burning there to this day. So the angel wept and rotated away.

So, funny story. I was originally planning on playing McBeasts' Compilation Hayley after seeing it win Swedish nats and seeing Asger use Compile to great effect. I did however not manage to get comfy with Brahman in time, and decided to play the other deck I had brough with me up north - Liza, intended as for casual games post-tournament, being fully aware of how much the Scots love their Argus. I mostly managed to dodge Tag-punishment decks, barring Will whom I won against by virtue of him only having two HPTs in his deck - I'd have been toast otherwise. The deck went on to vastly outperform my expectations, carrying me into the final and proving that Liza has legs, no matter the meta.

I think that Liza has a 30% matchup against Argus - it's not great, but certainly winnable, and I believe that if I had played it better against Matt (who was an excellent sport and someone I look forward to facing again) it may well have ended differently. Big thanks also to Duncan, Seamus, Alice and all the other lovely people at the tournament!