PrepaidQuetzal - 5th - Omaha Regional

This deck started out as PPvP Quetzal when O&C was released. The draw engine got a boost with the introduction of I've Had Worse and the economy from Day Job. This is the list I took to the Omaha 2015 Regional on 5/23/15 along with Jinteki: Replicating Perfection.

Why Quetzal?

Quetzal's ability forces the corp to install their ice differently. Most corporations will respond in one of two ways: 1) Ignore barriers completely, or 2) double stack barriers. Most corporations ignore barriers leaving them with code gates and sentries. For double stacked barriers, Knight, e3 Feedback Implants, and Quetzals ability easily walk through them for cheap.

Economy and Draw Engines

Standard Prepaid VoicePAD economy: Sure Gamble, Lucky Find, Dirty Laundry, and now Day Job. Symmetrical Visage was a late addition a week before the regional, but it pulls its weight as you want to usually draw at least 1 card each turn when not drawing with I've Had Worse or Quality Time.

Breaker suite

The breaker suite focuses on Overmind as an anchor with Knight filling in holes. Deep Red was the obvious console of choice as it lets you surprise install Knight, position it, and run in the same turn with some flexibility. Yog.0 was also a late addition but has also earned its place. With barriers more-or-less invalidated, ETR code gates like enigma and quandry are obnoxious to burn Overmind tokens on. Yog.0 takes care of this problem, further invalidating more ice. This leaves large sentries and code gates, which D4v1d takes care of, and also works well with e3 Feedback Implants.

Overall there is still some room for improvement. The Medium will probably come out as I rarely drew it. The Wanton Destruction is nice if I suspect someone is trying to SE me to death or if someone leaves HQ open turn 1. Its great disruption, but is honestly a remnant from an older version. I would add 2 Inject to round out the draw suite or a second Symmetrical Visage. I've seen some PPVP Kate decks that run Kati Jones, which could be nice for a permanent economy solution.

Game Day Matches

R1 vs Isaiah with Jinteki: Replicating Perfection. Some of the inconsistencies with drawing came into play here. I got dozens of solid accesses but and walked away with a Nisei Mk II and NAPD contract, but couldn't close it out. Whenever I would Wanton, there was an Executive Boot Camp installed the next turn that promptly fetched a Jackson Howard. Isaiah did triple stack R&D with 2 Eli 1.0 and a Himitsu Baku, which I was still able to break into. Ended in a loss. (2-2)

R2 vs Elijah with Weyland Blue Sun. He mulliganed and must not have had ice and proceeded to score out 2 hostile takeovers in the first two turns, while I poked around HQ and R&D and got set up. He eventually iced up HQ, R&D and a Remote. I dropped Overmind with 3 tokens and broke into the remote and stole a Geothermal Fraking. I also plucked an Atlas from HQ before he advanced a Changeling into a Sentry. There was a Datapike guarding HQ which was useless when I installed Yog.0. I stole a Priority Requisition off the top for game. (6-2)

R3 vs Brodie with HB: EtF. I've played against this gentleman at the top tables before in several store championships and was honestly a little scared of this game. We both have some rough draws, but he lets me into HQ a couple times and I manage to pluck the only agenda each time. Yay sticky fingers. He scored out an ABT but I keep hounding R&D. I find a 3pt agenda and win the game. Overall the money was flowing and Quetzal was performing well. We ended up splitting with runner. (8-4)

R4 vs Joel with NEH Butcher Shop. He installs ice on HQ and R&D and a PAD Campaign. I check PAD to keep him honest and find an Enigma on HQ and Pop-up Window on R&D. Several turns in I steal an Astroscript and NAPD. He scores out a naked Astroscript also that I failed to check. I started to fear snares since I haven't seen any influence by this point. I legwork into HQ and see 2 traffic accidents and a midseasons. This man is trying to kill me. I deja vu an I've Had Worse back to hand and keep playing Lucky Finds as they show up. I just need to stay ahead on money. I steal a Beale from HQ and promptly money up to fight the Midseason. He has less money than me and doesn't take the opportunity and moves on. He rezzes a surprise Flare on R&D which I break with Overmind and steal a Beale. I have a Yog.0 installed and found a bunch of discarded barriers in archives several turns earlier. I get a good Wanton Destruction off and a Data Raven promptly ices up archives. Several turns later I have enough money to safely check archives and find the NAPD I need to win. (12-4)

R5 vs Mason with NEH FA. Mason leaves R&D open and I install Medium and go to town. He eventually finds an Architect and I have to back off as I'm not drawing my economy events. I get a few good accesses in between a SanSan FA Astro and some Biotic Labors. I find a Beale from a Legwork on HQ and an NAPD from R&D further putting me behind on money. He fast tracks and rushes out his last few points. FA is still rough. Luckily RP wins the day and we split. Great games all around. (14-6).

Top 8 - I end Swiss as 5th seed.

R1 vs Isaiah again. He is the higher seed and chooses to corp again with RP and is virtually a repeat of round 1. I again get poor draws with no econ and have to click for credits to try and keep up. I get a good Wanton off on HQ and keep him off kilter but there is always an Executive Boot Camp around to find Jackson Howard. He eventually stabilizes and scores out 2 Nisei MK IIs while I find an NAPD. He finds the Future Perfect and forces it out and I know I can't win.

I get to corp 2 times in a row, facing Brodie again and winning. I meet Josh (who eventually takes 2nd) and he knocks me out as I corp a second time in a row. I only get to play Quetzal once in top 8. I'm exhausted at this point and check in with the TO and learn that once everything is said and done, I have earned 5th place.

Thanks for reading! Cheers!