🔥 Inversificator Hoshiko (🥉 @ 2023 Vancouver H1 CO)

🔥 Inversificator Hoshiko 🔥

How do you spend 15 influence in Hoshiko!?

Shortly after Worlds'22, my daughter was born and I largely took a hiatus from being an active, playing participant in the Netrunner community (let alone meta chatter) while I became familiar with our new family life. With the very impactful 23.03 banlist update, I had no idea what to to do. So, about a month ago, I put together some questionable Hoshiko decks like this one including Reprise.

In the car ride to Vancouver, @maninthemoon & @Santa entertained me asking questions about the meta and were patient with me talking through my bad Hoshiko choices. Mainly me woeing about not knowing how to spend influence after losing 3x 5 influence cards (and more specifically, why I would want to cut more orange cards for other ones when I don't even get to play all the orange cards I want to), or being confident in building an enduring deck without the most enduring banned card.

So, to get more orange, I needed fewer quantity of cards that cost influence, which meant we get to spend recklessly! There was 1 thing I was sure of: Blorch and MKUltra aren't the best breakers, so why not spend influence on replacements (so that I can play more orange cards).

🧠 Core game plan: Be! Aggressive! Stargate! Mad Dash!... And sprinkle some ICE shuffling in!

Strategy & key aspects:

• Inversificator allows you to put Code Gates where they're best for you, and more specifically, move ICE to give you more Hippo flexibility and control
• Light the Fire! is primarily for pressuring Spins vs Stargate. Bonus points if you actually get to use it for anything special

🏆 PERFORMANCE:

Single-Sided-Swiss & cut to top 4 double-elimination (2-1):

• R1 - W vs SanSan Arella R+
• R4 - W vs MCAAP Mirrormorph
• R6 - ID
• Top Cut, R1 - L vs Too Big Two Deal

Match moments:

• R1: Between Inversificator/Hippo removing Funhouse from the remote (and an upsetting amount of s trashing Arellas, SanSans, and AMAZEs), I was able to keep R+ from comboing out long enough for agendas to pile up in HQ. On the final turn, I ran all 4 s: Stargate into Archives, then slamming through the HQ Turnpike now broke in order to secure the win, and an exciting finish after time was called
• TCR1: During the car ride to Vancouver, I mentioned to @Santa (who was piloting this Outfit I was now against) how I thought it was dangerous to play only 2x decoders in any anarch with Magnet so popular. I then proceeded to cut my 3rd decoder in favor of a 3rd Keiko to ensure quick setup for Stargate and hoping I wouldn't regret it that day (especially knowing both of my meta mates were only on 1x Magnet 😅). SPOILER: It did. If I recall, the whole game, Outfit only installed 1x Border Control each on HQ & R&D (which were no problem for an early Clippy with Bad Pub), and 1x Magnet on the remote. And that Magnet locked me out of the remote until the last couple turns of the game (which at that point didn't matter anymore with Outfit on game point with an Atlas counter). Don't cut your Decoders, kids

🃏Card Choices:

• 1x Inversificator... While others have been playing Unity here, I wanted to play something that could do more than just break ICE marginally better (yes, I know, sometimes a lot better). Stop letting Corp's dictate the game and easily move their ICE away from servers you care about:
  • ICE with effects like Border Control, Funhouse, or Loki+Trieste that typically need to placed precisely
  • ICE that are just annoying like Anansi or Trebuchet
  • manipulate ICE for optimal Hippoing
• 1x Light the Fire!... Mainly included because I didn't slot Pinholes (which I had cut for more card draw), and to help Stargate. I also knew there were a couple of meta decks this would be ok against, so I added it as card 46 last minute...

Further thoughts:

• Over the course of many games with Inversificator Hoshiko, I believe it's fine. But I also believe it could be pretty good if you lean into it more by adding a 2nd Inversificator, and more /draw
• Don't cut your Decoders without tutors or extreme draw

❤️ BIG🤝 thanks to my crew (& hype on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finish! 🥳) for letting me tag along literally last minute, the Vancouver crew for hosting this tournament (and for waiting for us when we had a >1hr border crossing!), and to @Whiteblade111 for chaperoning us Seattleites to great lunch and dinner. It was a pleasure to spend the day with y’all!