Contractually Angry Val (2nd @ Face to Face Games Toronto)

I saw Noah McKee playing a list like this in the Top Deck Cup, and decided to bring it to the next store champs. In case you didn't know, Blackmail-En Passant is good. There's a lot of good Ice in the game right now, so why bother dealing with it?

Corp deck can be found here, now to the play by play:

Round 1 vs. Boom SYNC

I get an early Medium, dissolve what little Ice is in front of R&D and snag a bunch of agendas before he can assemble the combo.

The tables are turned, and he peels a bunch of agendas off the top of R&D right off the bat. Split: 1-1.

Round 2 vs. Classic Scorch Haarp

A new, but fairly skilled player who still doesn't have the whole card pool. Still, it wasn't an easy match; I might have lost, except he went 24/7 into Scorch instead of Traffic Accident and hit the IHW. I eventually Rebirthed into Omar, got Faust online and snagged enough agendas from R&D.

He's playing Reg-Ass MaxX, and never really gets his economy going. He has no good answer to Fairchild 3.0, and I can rush early, biotic late. Sweep: 3-1.

Round 3 vs. Mushin SYNC

One of my best Netrunner friends and a regular practice partner. He's playing a SYNC that Mushins to score big Beales, or hit the runner with Junebugs or Ghost Branches. He scores an Astro off a Mushin right away, but I get an R&D lock going soon after with Medium, and take it. It might have gone differently, but he forgot the Val tax on NAPD, revealing an agenda that I snagged the next turn.

ETF vs. Smoke is pretty classic Netrunner, and this was one of the best games of the day. I rush to 5 points, but he gets to 4, puts Freedom Through Equality into play and locks me with an RDI. I twice use Jackson to shuffle nothing back in and break the lock, eventually drawing into a Vitruvius to Biotic out. Sweep, 5-1

Round 4: ID

Top Cut Round 1 vs. Boom SYNC

Rematch from the first round. I end up getting hit with the 24/7-Closed-HHN combo at some point, but a proactive Rumour Mill keeps a discarded GFI in the bin. I sniff it out the turn before he would have Psycho'd a Beale FTW. 1-0, into the Winners bracket.

Top Cut Round 2 vs. Temujin Whizz

I'm playing a version of the ETF decks that I brought to Worlds, and it's tech'd to beat Reg-Ass Whizz. An early ABT nets me a Fairchild 3.0, but also tosses 4 points into the garbage. He's already taken a GFI from hand, so he's on 6 points. I get to 4 points, and then install a GFI behind some code gates (he never drew his Yog) and double Biotic it the next turn. As my colleagues pointed out, I could have triple Biotic'd with a Vitruvius counter I had to fast advance the GFI, but I tunnel visioned on the install play. Still, it's a hard-fought win and I'm one game away.

Finals Round 1 vs. NEH Exchange Boom

I start well, getting a Plascrete down on turn one to shut off the quick kill, and score an early GFI. However, I don't draw into a Blackmail for ages, and fail to contest a second GFI that he scores. After some 24/7-Closed-EOI shenanigans, that GFI lands on the other side of the table, leaving him at 6. I know he runs one QPM, so I have to shake the tags, and my economy sputters. A 4-counter Medium gets popped by an Archangel and I'm forced to take a News Team. I get Medium back online, get back to 5 points, but have no breakers installed and no cash. Eventually, he finds the QPM and installs it behind a Turnpike that I can't break because I discarded Faust. A last-ditch run into R&D only nets me another News Team, and he scores out. I definitely got tunnel vision this game, leaned too much on Blackmail and completely ignored HQ (he had 2 agendas in hand for much of the late game). I should have installed Faust to be able to contest the remote, or break the Archangel. Kudos to my opponent for playing a tight game.

Grand Finals vs. Good stuff Andy

This one is a bit blurry, but he's tech'd for tag decks with cards like On the Lam and Guru Davinder, so I like my odds. I keep a hand with 2 Vanilla and 2 agendas (maybe a mistake), opting to rush an ABT out and protect HQ. He installs Paperclip and Faerie off the bat, but doesn't run. With a remote and an HQ that are completely vulnerable, and another agenda in hand, I opt to trigger the ABT, promptly putting 4 points in the bin (again!) and get an Architect that he can break for my troubles. He snags a GFI from hand on a Legwork and gets the two agendas from Archives to hit 6 points. I manage to score a Vitruvius, but promptly draw into two more agendas, only to get Legworked again two turns later after he Femmes an unrezzed Fairchild 3.0 on HQ. 7 of 9 agendas in the top 20 cards or so. Rough way to go out, but it's still the best I've done at a tournament ever, so I'll take it.

Thoughts:

I never liked how Hate Bear/Angry Val had to go tag-me, and didn't have any money if they couldn't Siphon. This deck feels a bit more flexible and toolbox-like. With Temujin, you can burst up and contest asset spam if you have to, but you can still go tag-me, huge hand Obelus if you find the single Siphon. This also means that you can save your recursion for Blackmail and En Passant.

I never really used the cutlery, but they're there so you can deal with ICE if it does get rezzed. I've thought about cutting the D4v1ds for a Planned Assault. I'm also kind of curious about Deuces Wild; it could help you sniff out the right Ice to En Passant. MKUltra is a fine Mimic replacement and works better in a deck with no Sucker support. I also never used the Hades combo (you don't go tag-me as often, so it's less relevant unless you just need ALL THE CARDS for Faust), but it's the closest thing I have to CI tech, so it probably should stay.

Overall, I think the Blackmail-En Passant combo is broken and dumb. It's silly to punish the Corp for playing properly. Once Blackmail rotates, En Passant could actually be an interesting card, creating a decision point for the Corp, rather than removing one.