Top Story - 2nd after Swiss, 8th @ Toronto Regionals

Introduction

Here is the Corp deck I ran at the 401 Games Regionals in Toronto, ON. I finished 2nd after Swiss with 8-2 with both losses being while piloting this deck on close games that could have gone either way. Unfortunately I had Government Takeover stolen from R&D in Top 8 to eliminate me but such is the risk when you play with the 6 point agenda.

The 3 games it won in Swiss were against a R&D lock Kate, Rebirth Valencia Blackmail, and a Dumblefork and lost to Apoc Eater MaXx, a different Dumblefork. In top 8 my first loss was due to decklist error (Always double check before events guys! Don't be dumb like me!) and the same Dumblefork I lost to in Swiss ending my run for the top.

Deckbuilding

I have been playing Weyland kill decks for quite some time and I had great success with my Government Takeover Blue Sun deck that got me 2nd place back at the 2015 Regionals. Having won that fancy Gagarin ID from that I had joked last year that I would bring a Gagarin Deep Space Deck to next year's regionals. Over that year seeing cards like Zealous Judge, Consulting Visit and then finally Hard-Hitting News it looked like it was time to bring back the Government Takeover kill deck. In testing the deck worked fairly well at securing a flat line but because the old MWL was still in effect, there were some rough Anarch match ups but I feel the deck will be even more successful after the new MWL comes in.

Piloting

This deck will not keep the runner out forever. You are only trying to keep them out long enough to build up economy to land that sweet sweet kill. If they are relentlessly running remotes, don't be afraid to drop down a snare to hit them. If they run low on credits, hit them with Hard-Hitting News and res any Zealous Judges you have. Snares also give you another window to res Zealous Judge further taxing the running or leaving them with no way to clear all tags if they hit the snare on click 3 or 4. Even if you don't have the kill in your hand, the runner will either go tag me and probably be more reckless, which works in your favour, or they waste a ton of clicks and credits trying to clean up the tags giving you a huge lead on credits to then threaten a punitive kill and maybe even score an agenda to further pressure them. If they drop plascrete, hit them with meat damage to force the counters off and cycle back the cards with Jackson to keep slamming them. You have a lot of options for how to land them with tags and meat damage, don't be afraid to use them and cycle them back. With only 6 agendas Jackson rarely gets used to cycle agendas into the deck.

Card Choices

High-Risk Investment - In most games if you score an agenda you are only going to score 1. If I can only get one, I'd want it to be a High-Risk Investment to put me back in the lead on the econ race.

Magnet - Really just wanted a higher then 2 strength code gate with end the run and Magnet was pretty cheap. Once Mausolus comes out those they are going to swap in for Magnets

Paywall Implementation - With Employee Strike already out and Rumor Mill coming up. Currents are not going away any time soon and Paywall is a nice 0 cost one that can help with making some money if they go after your remotes.

Consulting Visit - This gives you a much higher chance to drop the kill if you have a flat line window and can also act as a way to clear Runner currents if you need to. Only went with 2 copies because I never really used 3 when I had a full set in the deck.

Hard-Hitting News - I played around with 1 SEA source and 1 Hard-Hitting News for a while but in the end I ended up going with 2 and once Mausolus and BOOM! come out, the 2 influence from Magnet may become a 3rd copy or I might try adding in Closed Accounts.

Snatch and Grab - One copy just to target and kill Film Critic so that Punitive is still a threat primarily. Can be used on other connections to like Kati if you don't see Film Critic.

Zealous Judge - Rez after a Hard-Hitting News or when the runner hits a snare and watch their face as their plans grind to a halt with the new threat on the board.

Changes

Like I said above, Mausolus will replace Magnet the second it is out and that 2 influence will probably become a hard hitting news or a couple of Closed accounts. When BOOM! is out some restructuring will probably be done to the agendas to and the Punitive Counterstrikes to make room for BOOM!.

Final Thoughts

While my performance with the deck could have been better, there are some really nice Weyland cards coming up and I have high hopes that this deck will only get more and more deadly to even the most careful of runners. The day was a blast and many thanks to all the players, commentators, staff, and organizers for putting on one of the best Netrunner events I have ever been to.