The Worst Best Deck Ever - 2nd, 4th, 17th, 18th at UK Nats

Look, once again, this is barely worth publishing. It's just Rotom's List from Worlds, with one more Annicam and one less Stoneship. What follows is a paltry attempt to apologise to you for clicking on this link.

Lat was a very easy choice for Nats this year; it's very clearly the best runner deck (though I think there's possibly an Arissana deck out there that's almost or as good, if you're smart enough to find, refine and play it), and it's so well rounded and rooted in fundamentals that there's really very little you can do on the corp side to target and beat it; the worst you're ever going to face is a slightly iffy matchup that you've got a good chance to win. As MikeP noted over the weekend, we've never really seen a runner deck that's this far ahead of the field that's so unremarkably nondescript and fair.

All that said, there was a decision to be made on whether to play this Annicam version or Dee's Swift Lat. The data from Worlds very much supports the latter being correct, but our evaluation was that the two lists are extremely close, and you can justify playing whichever you feel happier with. In the end the deciding factors for those of us that ended up on this list (which didn't include Theo or Cat) was the access to a third copy of the console, which helps avoid some potentially sticky MU problems that you can run in to and smooths out the consistency a tiny little bit. The Annicam lists probably pick up a little bit of equity against AgInfusion (where it can be awkward to play a run event profitably every turn) and a huge amount against PE, but you give up a bit against PD, Asa and R+ in exchange. You can pick and choose your version based on the expected field if you're somehow able to predict any tournament in this meta accurately, but the differences are so minor that it shouldn't be a big concern.

As Dee very eloquently said in their write-up, this deck is going to be beloved of many tournament focused players because it takes all the stresses and potential pitfalls away from choosing a deck to play and puts them all in your hands during games instead. It's a deck that really rewards sound decision making, controlled aggression coupled with patience, and knowledge of how to attack each corp deck that you face. If you're struggling to pick it up or find yourself losing more than you'd like then I'd probably try to focus on one matchup first, and just play it until you start to understand what really causes the corp problems and what actions are actually putting you in to difficulty because you're low on clicks, credits and cards. Consider each turn individually, and try to consistently leave yourself in a better position or the corp in a worse one once you've taken your clicks, even assuming that you'll miss any agendas on central runs. Once you've started to get a grip on that then try another matchup, starting with the ideas that you've formed and adjusting or building on them so that they work against the second deck. If this all sounds like a lot of work then I'm afraid that it is; more than anything else this is a meta that is focused on understanding and being able to exploit the fundamentals of the game, which is really something you can only build up with time, repetition and experience. Just stay patient, make sure you're having fun while you're learning, and try to think critically about the games you play and I promise you'll get there.

Oh, also Fermenter is the best card in the deck and in a lot of matchups you should find it as soon as possible and then use it multiple times, so if you don't want to practice just try that.

As usual, all my admiration and gratitude is liberally strewn at the feet of the organisers of Nats, who would have done an incredible job with this event if they'd had six months to prepare. Doing it after a venue change on the week of the event and acting with such class, professionalism, empathy and grace throughout is an achievement an order of magnitude more admirable than any tournament results.

Thank you also to everyone that attended the event and made it so enjoyable; the fact that these things are unquestionably worth the social anxiety of interacting with so many people in one place is a testament to you all. As always, thank you to the incredible friends that make preparing for and attending these events so very special, both those present in Bristol and those supporting from afar; you know who you are and I hope you know how much you mean to me.