With thanks and love to all of the 99 players that chose to spend their weekend at their computers playing the best of competitive netrunner, to all of the Tournament Organisers for keeping Organised Play alive, to Unband for the great testing games (and the endless renditions of yu-gi-oh abridged songs), and to the Burleigh Arms Grid for cheering me on.

Results

4-1 in Swiss, 1-0 in the cut

Wins against Freedom, Reg Adam, Lat, another Lat, and Padme

One loss to a Lat that slotted a faster decoder than I was expecting (Euler)

Tournament Afterthoughts

The list is fast, flexible, and consistent, but at the expense of being quite poor and not always comfortable to play. It has a good game against Lat (it helps when all the boats are in the bottom 20 cards of the runner deck), but a poor game against apoc, and I'm not sure how it does against crim, or Hoshiko Boat. Fortunately, I didn't face against any of those on the day.

Individual match reports from are at the end of the write-up

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Premise

As I imagine most testing groups did, unband spent the run up to continentals searching for a deck that could compete with Lat. A few options surfaced, but my personal favourite was Haas-Bioroid: Precision Design.

At a very fundamental level, being able to play with a hand size of 6 (almost) turns off Lat's ability (apart from the dumb paid ability window after discard but before the end of turn, where Lat can use Stoneship Chart Room to draw up to 6 cards and still get their Lat draw. Did you know about this window? Why does that window exist.) Also we can play NEXT Activation Command to hate on boat, and tax the runner's clicks with Anoetic Void.

PD was good last season, but I had assumed that losing Cyberdex Sandbox meant that it was no longer playable. In practice I was surprised and impressed at how useful Architect Deployment Test was. Not at installing and rezzing ICE for free (that almost never happens), but at being able to tutor the next agenda into the scoring remote, while at the same time giving the corp perfect information about the next 4 cards on R&D.

Matchups

vs Lat

Unsurprisingly this was the most common matchup of the day, and it's also the one that I was most prepared for. Turn 1 looks like this: mandatory draw, draw a card, play a card, click for a credit. And then turns 2-5 look like this: mandatory draw, draw a card, play 2 cards. In this way we are able to keep our handsize at 6 and play around the Lat trigger, which is going to give us the edge that we need to win. It also helps if all 3 x Endurance are in the bottom 20 cards of the runner deck. Once we start scoring agendas playing around the Lat trigger is no longer the priority - and anything goes.

Save NEXT Activation Command for the late game (unless things have gotten really bad).

vs Adam

Protect HQ as a priority. Neutralize All Threats is just as much of a threat as Find the Truth (possibly more so). Take solace in the fact that Logic Bomb can't bypass Manegarm Skunkworks or Anoetic Void.

vs Anarch

We need to think carefully about our ICE placement, and proactively double ICE everything to protect against Hippo, (we have a fair amount of ICE that we can't afford to rez, so this shouldn't be too difficult with some forethought). We might have to put skunkworks on R&D (to tax stargate) and void on the remote. It's sad to split the dream team up, but you do what's necessary.

vs Apoc

All the new apoc lists are on boat (like everyone else), and they can be slow to set up. Rush out to match point the normal way, using gearcheck ICE on centrals to buy time. If we can get to match point, then that's half the battle.

The other half is holding on to a seamless launch, an ICE, and a NEXT Activation Command. Bait the apoc, and then, post-apoc, install an agenda, install ICE, play NEXT Activation Command, and pray that centrals hold for a turn.

This is our worst matchup.

vs Crim

We should expect to be hit by Diversion of Funds every time we push an agenda, and we should have a plan for when that happens.

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Card Choices

Triple Anoetic Void

Great question -- popular netrunner streamer, NISEI online events coordinator, and pillar of the community -- Ysengrin.

Anoetic Void has a, frankly, disgusting interaction with Manegarm Skunkworks, and playing 3 of each means that we consistently draw into both those upgrades at some point, so that we don't have to pretend that an unrezzed Tranquility Home Grid is somehow keeping our remote safe. It also gives us counterplay against Pinhole Threading, because we can install multiple copies in the remote (gaining Tranquility Home Grid credits as we do so).

NEXT Activation Order

This is, often, our closer against Lat.

It's incredible against Endurance, underwhelming otherwise, but in a pinch we can use it to rush behind a Fairchild 3.0 (before the runner finds their breakers). Recurring it with Haas-Bioroid: Precision Design to create 2 or 3 turn consecutive turns of lockdown while we score out our last 2 agendas is pure chefkiss.

Tranquility Home Grid

It's doesn't have the same raw power without Advanced Assembly Lines, for sure, but being able to clickless gain credits or draw cards is huge, and sometimes we get to trigger it off turn from drafter or ansel fires, so that's fun.

Notable Exclusions

Border Control

Border Control is a great gear check, and it gives (some) counterplay to mad dash and apoc which are our two biggest threats. But it doesn't synergise with Manegarm Skunkworks, and it doesn't give us credits when we install it on Tranquility Home Grid.

Magnet

I went to 0 magnet because it's not great against Hyperbaric and we already have a Botulus counter in NEXT Activation Command. We could play magnet instead of gatekeeper, I think that would be fine.

Alternatives

Red Level Clearance

I added a 13th ICE to the list at the last minute, which was better than the Best Defense I was playing (I really hate Tapwrm), but I don't think is the best use of this slot. It's good to see ICE early, but we don't have the money to install and rez more than 4 or 5 pieces. To help smooth this out, I would test dropping a Gatekeeper for a single Red Level Clearance.

Project Vitruvius

Being able to see the top 5 cards of R&D with Architect Deployment Test is very useful, but it's not usually tempo positive, and so it's possible that getting cheaper and quicker PD fires with Project Vitruvius, and saving ourselves a click to install in the remote from HQ, is just better. Not sure.

Regolith

We could play regolith instead of Nico campaign. We can clear it a turn faster (which is good), but ideally we are using those turns while Nico ticks to build the remote, so (in a round about way) Regolith doesn't synergise quite as well with Tranquility Home Grid.

Mavirus

Spin Doctor is a crutch. Swap it out for a Mavirus and we can clear tapwrm (for 3 credits), and surprise Anarch and Crim players by purging so that they can't break Ansel 1.0 with Aumakua / Botulus. LET'S GOOOOOO.

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Piloting

Being able to recur events when scoring agendas mean that there are a lot of different plays we can make with this deck, mostly depending on what we draw. I recommend playing the deck a few times to learn all the different tricks, and while you are playing don't just think about how you are going to score the next agenda, think about how you are going to score the agenda after that as well. Here are some strategies to get us started.

SkunkVoid Remote

The most obvious strategy is using Manegarm Skunkworks and Anoetic Void to create an unbreakable remote. This line looks something like this: build a remote with Tranquility Home Grid and Nico Campaign, and defend it with Fairchild 3.0 and one other ICE. Protect HQ and keep adding upgrades to the remote while the Nico Campaign ticks down. If we don't have any tempo positive agendas in HQ, we may also need to (lightly) protect R&D. Once the Nico has ticked down, jam like crazy using seamless for tempo. Every click from this point should either be to install an agenda, or advance an agenda, or play seamless, or (if we are feeling particularly luxurious) play NEXT. It won't be as easy as I'm making it sound. The runner will attack the remote. We will have to spend money that we don't really have, we will be punished for installing ICE in the early game that we didn't need to install, and we will have to discard agendas and other good cards to fire void. It will be rough, but if we are careful, we will bounce back, and we will get there. DO NOT LET THE RUNNER INTO THE REMOTE. Drawing cards and clicking for credits is easy. Rebuilding the remote is not.

Never Advance

If we don't find Nico Campaign (and presumably our economy is faltering) or if our many voids and skunkworks are all trashed out of centrals (sad), then we have our second strategy which is to never advance 4/2 agendas behind taxing ICE using Seamless Launch. We can take this line 3 turns earlier than the Skunkworks line, but unless we are using it to score an Offworld Office, it's going to put us in a tricky position in the mid-late game. We can't rely on Architect Deployment Test finding us a decent piece of ICE.

NEXT Activation Command

This is the closer. By the late game Lat will have found boat, the boat will have a load of counters on it (because we were too busy or poor to ICE centrals), and the remote will be looking very shakey. Install advance GFI play NAC (with Seamless in hand) is the winning play here. If we are lucky in our draw, we can even install luminal and play NAC, score it and push GFI and play NAC again to go from 2 points to 7 points in 2 turns where the runner is not allowed to use boat (anywhere at all).

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Match Report

R1: WIN vs Qris on Freedom

8-4

I use Ansel to secure HQ early because I know that Freedom can apply a lot of HQ pressure in the mid/late game, and I don't want to be caught out by getting Seamless launch trashed at a critcal moment. Ansel is too expensive to rez in the early game, though, which means I lose a void and a GFI to single HQ pokes. This is sort of okay (but not great), because these are clicks that the runner would ideally be using to set up.

I rebuild my hand and double ICE HQ to protect Ansel from Hippo while Nico drips, Qris responds by pressuring R&D with Stargate and stealing an offworld office (a much better steal than a GFI at this point in the game). The early aggression has got them 4 points, but it means they haven't really set up their own board, and I'm able to stabilise and secure R&D and the remote without any problems.

Triple ICE + void remote seems strong enough to push an agenda, and I'm fortunate enough to find Offworld Office which further boosts my economy. Qris finishes setting up just as I push a 2nd Office, and uses stargate to further pressure R&D. It's a bit scary, but I have all the agendas I need to win in HQ (2 x ADT), so I try not to worry too much.

I push the first ADT as though it were a GFI (IAA), primarily to give me a click to immediately jam the next one, but it has the side benefit that it baits Qris into running the remote. Void, FC3 and Hagen keep the remote secure, and having to juggle breakers forces some awkward memory issues for Qris (who hasn't found their console). A desperate HQ poke hits Ansel, which install skunkworks on HQ to keep the last ADT safe.

The ADT installs a Nico (useless), but more importantly means I know that R&D is secure, and that I can push the last 2 points carefree.

R2: WIN vs Countzer0 on Adam

Classic round 2 Cambridge pairing, 9-6

Adam can be a scary matchup because of all the HQ pressure, so I secure HQ with an ICE and hold one ICE back to secure a remote. Click one Countzer0 steals an offworld office off the top of R&D, which is not ideal. He then proceeds to stargate to apply maximum R&D pressure. Hagen secures R&D, and brainchip fixes any Memory issues countzer0 might be having.

I build a skunk/void remote, but with no economy (other than a 2 x hedge fund) it's not actually looking that great. Countzer0 does some set up which gives me time to dig for more money but I find nothing but ICE and upgrades so I turtle up hard instead (even putting a skunkworks on R&D) and wait to draw an offworld office.

Countzer0 snipes GFI out of HQ and I am not feeling good about this game at all at this point. I have no economy, a bunch of ICE that I can't afford to rez, and no agendas to push. Spin doctor finds me a luminal, which I score, but protecting it with void sets me back even further and puts me on 4 credits.

Sensing blood in the water, Countzer0 pivots to a stargate line, and the skunkworks on R&D actually does some work. When two clean stargate digs both see nothing, Countzer0 pivots to mad dashing into HQ. (giving them a 2/6 chance to win). They miss, and the next turn they try again (again, 2/6 chance to win), but that also misses.

I push one ADT, and, Countzer0 jail breaks HQ to steal the other, putting us on 6-6 when I mandatory draw the GFI that I need to score to win. I use the ADT fire to install and rez a gatekeeper on the remote, trashing all of the other ICE as I do so (because I misread ADT and think that I have to pay install costs). Recur a seamless and IA the GFI with my last 2 clicks. It's the shakiest remote imaginable, but it holds, and I know that the top 4 of R&D are clean, and so we get there.

R3: WIN vs Bridgeman on Lat

Unband testing partner, 8-2

I get a good start with Rashida behind Hagen, and a tranq grid follows shortly. I secure HQ with a gatekeeper that I later replace with a drafter and R&D with a drafter that I later replace with Ansel. Not exactly efficient, but it works.

No agendas show up, so I can't rush out (which would be my preference), but I do find Nico so I build the skunk/void remote while playing dilligently and denying Bridgeman any Lat triggers. I even purge a tapwrm, which doesn't feel great, but seeing as we've taken this slower line it's the right thing to do. Fortunately Bridgeman's setup is slow as well. He has 35 credits, but all three boats are in the bottom 20 cards, so when Nico finishes ticking down, he goes on the attack using regular breakers. HQ is (surprisingly) empty, and the skunk/void remote just about holds (although I do have to discard an ADT in the process).

Bridgeman finally manages to find the boat, installs it, and, thinking that there is a spin doctor in the remote, runs archives to try and force the spin doctor pop. He then stargates, trashing an offworld office. The remote is luminal, which I score, recurring (and jamming) the offworld office that was just trashed. Double seamless lets me score and jam again.

A run on an empty HQ sees nothing, as does stargate. Drafter and Ansel are firing all over the place as Bridgeman tries to find the win, but the agendas are buried deep in R&D.

R4: LOSS vs Guiot on Lat

4-8

I play dilligently around the Lat trigger and I get what I think is a good start with a T2 Rashida, a T3 Tranq grid, and a T4 nico. The remote is double ICEd, HQ and R&D are ICEd, economy is secure. I even preemptively ICE archives to tax boat counter farming (luxurious). It all starts to go wrong when I triple ICE the remote the turn before Nico ticks down. Guiot attacks HQ in response and I'm lucky not to lose any agendas.

I panic, install another ICE on HQ, and push a luminal. The remote holds, I score (recurring hedge fund), IA an offworld office, do some maths, and play NEXT to secure the steal. This is where it all goes really wrong. My maths is based on Guiot having to break Fairchild 3.0 with Hyperbaric. breaking with Euler is significantly cheaper. I panic (again) and don't rez efficiently. The remote holds, but I no longer have the credits to score the offworld office the next turn, and once NAC clears Guiot is able to apply further presure using Endurance. I defend the remote, but I am not able to defend anywhere else, and Guiot uses Stargate to find 6 points in R&D and 2 points in archives (from the void discard).

R5: WIN vs Baralai on Lat

7-6

I'm feeling loose from our previous game, and so I don't bother playing around the Lat trigger and just open with Hedge, ICE, Rashida. Unfortunately it doesn't find me any more ICE, so I have to push a very dodgy luminal behind a fc3 with 2 other agendas in an open HQ. A spin doctor rez keeps the agendas in HQ safe, but this is not comfortable at all. Luminal score puts 2 points on the board, recurs a trashed void, and give me the clicks to install ICE on HQ. Seems like a good card.

The void in the remote only baits a remote run (which is fine), so I add more ICE to the remote and install a Nico to stabilise my economy. Once it finishes dripping I have 5 agendas in hand, so I ignore R&D, install a 3rd ICE on the remote and start pushing as hard as I can.

Baralai tries to win off R&D by trashing every card they access (build your own stargate), and manages to get to 6 points before I score out. Which is pretty impressive (and scary) considering that there were only 8 points in R&D...

R6: ERROR GAME NOT FOUND

see top cut R1

R7: ID vs MrBuggles on Boat-shiko

It's been a long day, and we've played a lot of netrunner, and we are both relieved that we have made it safely into the cut.

Top Cut Game 1: WIN vs Pinsel on Padme

7-3

We didn't get to play this matchup in swiss due to a technical issue, so I was happy to get to play it in the cut instead.

I open with a Rashida behind FC3, which Pinsel punishes me for by running click 1. This puts me on 0 credits, and it's 4 more turns before I see an economy card. In the mean time I dawdle by installing ICE on centrals that I can't rez... which Pinsel punishes me for by using into the depths to tutor stargate.

The stargate at least tells me that I have a hedge fund coming up, so I click for credits in preparation, and am back in the game. The only saving grace is that applying all this pressure has slowed down Pinsel's set up a little, and he hasn't managed to find any points in the process.

At this point (with me on 9 credits and ICE on centrals), I expect to have a few turns of quiet respite, but Pinsel continues to be aggressive by stargating into a Drafter fire, which finds him an offworld office to mad dash, but also gets me right back in the game with a hedge fund recursion and a rashida intsall into the remote. I secure R&D with a Hagen (that trashes stargate on the next stargate run), and stabilise with Nico. A Hagen rez on HQ trashes a rezeki, and keeps the 1x agenda in HQ safe.

With Nico in the remote, and Pinsel forced to draw for cards and set up, I'm able to take time to secure the remote with another FC3 and skunk/void, before pushing an offworld office.

Pinsel uses DJ Fenris for Sable (telegraphing Deep Dive), but all 3 boats AND paperclip are in the bottom 12 cards (!) and he doesn't find them in time before I score out with luminal into GFI (under NAC).