Palana Unleashed (2nd at Sheffield SC)

mcg 1061

Let me be clear. This deck is NOT:

  1. fun to play
    b. fun to play against
    iii. good

As such, should not be played by anyone. I feel bad about playing it, and even worse about publishing. But I did, so I have to confess. I'll play a few eternal games against CI (without Siphon) as penance.

Back in 2018 Regionals, I got as far as sleeving a Jinja PU list. But I just couldn't bring myself to play it so it sat in my deck box for a while. Then Braintrust got rotated and PU was banned and I thought it would be a dark secret I'd never revisit.

Then Net Taps became a thing. And Downfall gave us a Braintrust replacement. And I thought "how few servers can I put ice on and still win?" The answer, arguably, is two.

The game plan here is not rocket science, but is a real grind. You build up central servers that are incredibly difficult/expensive to run, and then when no run is made you use SfT to FA a 3/2. Biotics are extra, though expensive, SfTs, and also help create silly plays where you play CanP and FA an agenda in one turn to score three points.

In practice, the deck isn't rich enough, and I was constantly "doing a PU" and clicking for three credits. Plus Bukhgalter is a lot better at breaking Anansi than Na'Not'K (or anything else) was. It won against Net Taps 419 (hooray) and Reg Val. It lost to Laamb Maxx and Nexus 419 twice.

The only highlight was the greatest dose of net damage in history. Net Taps 419 exposed a Psychic Field, and I took Corroder, Bukhgalter, Abagnale, Caldera and a Net Tap from their hand. And that was one I didn't feel bad about.

2 comments
28 Mar 2019 Council

Have you considered running a single EMP strike? Situational for certain, but Psychic/EMP makes 419 very easy to handle.

31 Mar 2019 mcg

That would have been a good include for sure. After I hit 419 with that Psychic Field they assumed they were dead but I couldn't finish them.