3 PEAT: Phoenixian Return For the Worlds Top Tennin Player

Sanjay 3547

Usually, I write these decklists to hype up a deck.

But this deck didn't win Worlds' Top Tennin for a record THIRD TIME.

I did.

I am the Michael Jordan of Tennin Institute.

No one has placed as the top Tennin player at Worlds more times, and one time there even were other Tennin players there that day.

Other Notable Tennin lists

Institute of Tennis: I am declaring myself the king of Tennin, but nothing I do could ever compare to getting Tyrant to 10th place at Worlds. Selverin is a legend.

X-Men Legends: Top Tennin, 2016. This deck also established my claim as the Worlds Top Mutate Player, a title that has gone unchallenged.

Martian Sleepaway Camp: This was the main inspiration for this deck, and the reason I decided to play Space Camp Tennin at Worlds when I needed a deck I could play with zero practice.

Gregor Mendel Theme Deck: Top Tennin, Worlds 2017. This was an especially big accomplishment because there were other Tennin players at this Worlds. It's a shame to have a Gregor Mendel theme deck without Flower Sermon, since he was a monk who loved flowers, but the card hadn't been printed yet.

How did this list do?

Pretty well! I went 2-5 with it, but thanks to my solid and boring 99 card MaxX deck, I was able to finish 7-7.

For a while, I had some stiff and frankly unbeatable competition from another Tennin deck, but turns out that was just a Titan deck with a data entry error. Be still my heart.

P.S. I love you.

Special thanks to:

  1. My friend Thomas, because I made this decklist on his birthday.
  2. Despicable human Thomas, who was my original inspiration for my Martian Sleepaway Camp deck, even though other people had played Space Camp Tennin before me.

Note: For the math on my Michael Jordan claim, remember that as a Tennin deck, I was the top Tennin deck for two worlds (Earth and Mars). Therefore, even though Jordan won 6 World championships and I was Worlds Top Tennin 3 times, it works out the same.

Also, I know 2016, 2017, and 2020 aren't in a row so maybe this isn't really a 3 peat, but have you considered: time is an illusion.

4 comments
10 Nov 2020 Sanjay

I hope the implication is clear that the reason I did not participate in Worlds 2018 and Worlds 2019 is that I was kidnapped by the Looney Toons to assist them vs. the Monstars in a Tennin deckbuilding competition.

11 Nov 2020 neuropantser

While I have many questions, I'll limit myself to 5:

1) Who is the Charles Barkley of Tennin?

2) Who is the Shawn Bradley of Tennin?

3) Who is the Patrick Ewing of Tennin?

4) Who is the Larry Johnson of Tennin?

5) Who is the Muggsy Bogues of Tennin?

11 Nov 2020 Sanjay

@neuropantser

Those are some big questions.

I will interpret them in the following way:

  1. Charles Barkley: Who is the Tennin player most known for large and maybe unfounded utterances, who also goes off and has their own side adventures.

  2. Shawn Bradley: Who has played the tallest Tennin deck at Worlds?

  3. Patrick Ewing: Who has proved a highly capable Tennin player but never won Worlds Top Tennin?

  4. Larry Johnson: Which Tennin player appeared in the episode "Grandmama" of the sitcom Family Matters as his alter ego "Grandmama", who becomes Steve Urkel's teammate in a Netrunner tournament?

  5. Muggsy Bogues: Whose success with Tennin is even more impressive when you consider they are under six feet tall?

Assuming those interpretations are valid, the answers are:

  1. Me

  2. Likely a big tie between all Tennin players, but hopefully a single person.

  3. afishisborn has a pretty impressive Tennin career, looking at netrunnerdb. Unfortunately, I'm not so much of a Tennin historian as a "Me playing Tennin" historian.

  4. Unclaimed, as far as I know.

  5. Me

12 Nov 2020 Baa Ram Wu

Tennin out of Ten for this write up Sanjay!