Phateia Presents: Phat Boi Summer

I'm a teacher and it's almost summer break, so I'm writing up my deck to get some advice before finally having the time to get solid reps in over the summer. This deck has gone undefeated against teenagers.

I saw Flameandraven's GOD OF MANY FACES deck months ago and was like: YES. THIS. And then I met Phat and fell in love. Let's put them together! Doesn't work (I think). I'm still weeding out decisions that made sense for a Regenesis deck and maybe don't make as much sense here.

So. Core principles: I have agendas that hurt when scored or stolen. I have Phat that hurts on a score or a steal. Offense and defense in one mechanic? Let's lean in. Also, let's run an ID that lets me build a scoring server as I build Phat his safe space where he can blow off all the cares of his day as a hardworking executive for a tech company addressing many of humanity's most pressing challenges. He's earned it!

Agendas: Bacterial Programming is not a thing, so if I want to do that super low density thing, I need Send a Message. In which, case, let's upgrade the ice suite to be more glaciery. Which is great, because if you've got to run Phat, I want it to hurt enough that it opens a window for me to score in the other server. Also, I like the threat the possibility of a third Sting! creates - even though it's not there.

Money: I'm still unsure on Petty Cash vs Hansei Review because chucking stuff in the bin isn't as useful without Regenesis, but I do often put some big ice on Archives, so maybe it helps fix a hand. I like Regolith Mining License over Charlotte Caçador because she would otherwise sit in Phat's seat. Maybe I can slide that to 2 and 2 instead of 3 and 1. Unsure.

Ice: Two Flyswatter so Andrej can enjoy the deck but also for the virus dependent Anarchs. Cheap run enders to gear check early, then bigger guns to tax them out. Anemone is one of those tricky ices that can set up a Regenesis score, so I'm suspicious of keeping it around, but it's not uncommon to slap it in front of a Fuji/Sting to make it lethal on the steal. I dropped an Empiricist for a Saisentan for similar reasons.

Upgrades: The Daniela+Phat interaction has fascinated me, especially as it makes running Phat even more of a priority. I feel like it pushes back on Bankhar a bit since you can't just toss your hand to get in if Daniela's sitting on the Fuji/Sting at the end. And The Holo Man is just nuts, especially sitting in a server that I want you to have to run.

Tricks: Spin Doctor is obviously great, but I've found that he can sometimes sit in your hand if you've got Phta+Agenda in the remotes, so I've shifted a bit to Simulation Reset and it's felt better. Urtica is in the list to always make them hesitate. Mindscaping is an econ nudge in a pinch but mostly just to wipe the smile off the faces of runners who slide through the Cloud Eater taking four tags.

Traps: And now we come to it. If you can believe it, I made this deck with THREE Byte!s and Nightmare Archives EACH, no doubt in a fit of "Oh, you want to pressure centrals? FINE! BE THAT WAY." The influence splash on the Nightmares is... excessive, but even one point of core damage opens up kill lines. Install it to bait the big run. If they don't take the bait, over-install it and it can do its work in Archives just fine. Should I scrap them for another Holo Man and more ice? I'll wait to be convinced.

Can we talk about Deep Dive?

I'm not a fan. I feel like this deck pushes back on the divers a bit. Put some big ice on a couple centrals, add in the traps they just might find while accessing them, then have Phat off in a corner ready to hit you hard enough you can't take more than one agenda. Anecdotally, watching a couple dives hit zero agendas is super satisfying especially once you've already slagged another dive with net damage.

A question to close that maybe somebody wiser than me can answer: Does Daniela defend R&D against Deep Dive? I haven't had the chance to try it yet.

Happy summer, y'all!