Stick to the guns you know (2nd at APAC)

Longi 1891

argus guns

On Wednesday before APAC tournament I still intended to play Titan. I took it for a practise spin on our GNK and it did not feel great. As my friend @t.p. remarked, I lacked the basic Titan skill: to draw cards in right order.

So I decided to stick with the guns I know best. I took Argus even though the matchup against 419 is not good. But I knew that the tournament would be tiring (I had to get up at 4 am and I also expected more rounds) so playing a familiar deck felt better than playing the strongest one.

In the deck that helped me to win Bcom I made only small changes. I replaced the Armed Intimidation by Cyberdex Sandbox as its ability is super-relevant in current meta and I switched two Winchesters for one Spiderweb and one Hortum as I knew the kill plan is even less probable and I would have to focus on rush strategy.

In the swiss I ended up 9th but @nbkelly who ended up 2nd could not attend top8 next day so I advanced instead of him. Thanks man! In the cut my luck somehow let me through until I lost in the finals to surgically precise play of @Whiteblade111.

Unfortunately, my schedule for next weekends does not allow me to compete in the inter-continentals top 24 so I was happy to return the favour to @nbkelly by suggesting he gets his well deserved right and attends the tournament instead of me. It feels right.

Finally, I would like to congratulate to @Whiteblade111 on deserved victory, to thank all my opponents for good games and mostly give BIG THANKS to TOs and Nisei in general for making this happen.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to @Krasty, the biggest NR enthusiast in Czech Republic, who got up every day at 4 am to watch and support us!

9 comments
20 Jul 2020 t.p

@LongiCongratz! This deck was a wise choice. As observed during GNK, to play Titan you lack the basic skill, to draw Atlas early. :)

20 Jul 2020 Longi

@t.p Thanks man. As you can see I even mentioned your observation in the write-up :)

21 Jul 2020 anarchomushroom

It warms my heart to see Argus coming in second place even in a 419 filled world. <3

How did you find the 419 mu on the day and what do you think is the best approach to it as Argus?

21 Jul 2020 Longi

Yeah, 419 is terrible matchu-up. Most builds pack Citadel Sanctuary, Hunting Grounds and even No one home. Even the ability and link are obstacle in economic war you try to win. So the best way to tackle 419 is rush and score. Aukamua requires running and so does a lot of 419 economy cards. Which is risky at the beginning of the game due to Econ Warfare + HHN threat. Also a lot of 419 builds play zero breaker tutors so that helps. So you got some solid scoring window at the beginning of the game. Then you have to hope to close game with Hostiles and Audacity scoring Atlas. Also I pack a lot of money that allows me to score fast even GFI and still threaten HHN afterwards. And of course, there is still hope that the opponent slips on the road under the pressure and makes a mistake :)

23 Jul 2020 Zanetti83

@LongiI play a very similar deck, but with 2 false lead instead of cyberdex and they make this deck more spicy! :)

24 Jul 2020 Longi

@Zanetti83 Yeah, False Lead variation is also valid option but with 419 being dominant runner (using Citadel Sanctuary and No one home) I find the kill plan hard to execute. So my main goal is to score as fast as possible and for that 3/1 agendas are not that good.

27 Jul 2020 vesper

Longi + Argus = result. What a ride to the top! :-)

Good luck at the Intercontinentals - see you there!

28 Jul 2020 Longi

@vesper Hey man, thanks a lot. Unfortunatelly, I cannot attend the intercontinentals, Even for continentasl I had only one weekend free and that was was luckily in the date of APAC.

28 Jul 2020 vesper

@Longi Noooooooooooooooooo. Dang. Oh well. Next time!