Positive Latitude (8th at Worlds 2024)

Really this post is mostly going to be about my Worlds experience, but I’ll talk about the deck a bit first. Prior to Worlds I was struggling a bit to find a runner deck that I vibed with. Esa felt fun but not reliable, I love Criminal but the field felt filled with bad matchups, and I’m terrible with Hoshiko for some reason. I tried Arissana as the most “criminal-like” Shaper but the deck could feel awkward to play if I drew in the wrong order. I didn’t have the confidence to go with @Sokka’s Boring Lat and Aniccam decks seemed fine but dull. Finally, I happened upon @alpi and @wenjong’s Swift Lat lists and tested them out, and realized I was having a lot of fun! Powerful run events, aggressive play, and looking to close out the game after a single score all felt quite good to me. True, the deck isn’t quite as survivable as Aniccam Lat (which did come back to bite me during the tournament!) but it flowed and it had a relatively straightforward game plan, easy to pair with Jukebox Asa which requires more thought. I also figured, since those two were the only ones posting lists with Swift, that I might be a minority of Lat players at Worlds. Turns out other people thought it was good too!

The deck is pretty standard as far as Swift Lat decks go, I think. The Turbine is the 46th card but good for long-term econ and helps Revolver and Propeller quite a bit, in addition to making Echelon strong enough to deal with Anansi. At the last minute I switched away from Hannah and Paricia to a second Propeller and a Cupellation. This hurt in some games and helped in others, so I can’t entirely say it’s correct, and I’d like all of them if I could. The Inside Job is, IMO, the best use of 3 influence on a run event in the deck, superior to Bravado or Raindrops. It messes up the corp math, gets you past a key ice that might otherwise tax you on encounter, and generally saves you more credits than you’d gain with the other cards.

I got into Netrunner way back in the middle of 2013, right after the Genesis cycle. 2014 was my first year going to Worlds, and I’m fortunate enough to have continued going every year since, even during Covid when it was online. I think of myself as a pretty decent player with good muscle memory, but the last several years my Worlds experience (while fun!) ended with a competitive disappointment. I’d do well at the start, fade off in the middle when I started playing top players, and end up somewhere around an even record in the middle of the pack. The best I’d ever done was about 44th overall. Last year I finished 101st, which, aside from giving me ideas about a Netrunner 101 podcast, really forced me to think about what I was doing wrong lately. Part of it was practice - I needed to put in the work playing games - and part of it was support and a sounding board to test ideas and refine decks. When Unnamed West Coast Testing Group Logic Bomb invited me to join them, I decided that was the perfect opportunity to solve both problems. After a lot of games and testing, I emerged with the intent of making the cut this year.

R1 - Izzy (Freedom)
Of course round one I am paired against a friend! Izzy is running a Freedom ice-trashing list that has the potential to give my Jukebox Asa fits, and gets down a Hermes, Fermenter, and Solidarity Badge in the first two turns. Unfortunately, they run into a Hagen on turn 4 with nothing else on the board, losing their Fermenter. This gives me the time and tempo to jam out agendas while sapping clicks, and the game is over by turn 9 or 10.

R2 - rubenpieters (AgInfusion)
Another strong player from the TAI Breakers, he’s very familiar with Swift Lat. Unfortunately for him, I have a great start. An early Trick Shot grabs a Nisei off the top of the deck. He eventually gets down an agenda with a La Costa Grid protected by an Anoetic Void and a Bran into face down ice, but he goes poor keeping me out on the first run. The Bran taxes out my Propeller and the boop from the unrezzed ice sends me into R&D, but he only has one card in hand, and I’ve drawn my Inside Job, so I figure I can simply run back in after this. Of course, I access Bacterial Programming and he draws 5 cards, so that plan is now off the table. Instead, I run HQ with Cupellation and happen to see the winning agenda on the first access. Just some rough luck for my opponent, I think he would have been able to stabilize afterward, but I’ll take it.

R3 - boxshapedheart (PD)
We actually played in Crown of Servers the day before! He had the same deck, I was on a better one. My opponent did some very sus plays in the first turn which led me to believe that he was flooded. Thinking on my lesson from CoS the day before (“run HQ more than you think you should”) I decided on a very aggressive start in my first few turns, hammering HQ and even fully clicking through a Bran to pick up 4 agenda points. A Trick Shot on turn 5 picked up the Ikawah Project off the top for 7, though I would have run the Bran and clicked through the two etr subs to find the other Ikawah if I had come up empty. Quick game, tough flood but I was happy to have sniffed it out.

R4 - passive_mult (R+)
I feel good about this matchup, as I did a lot of practice against kill NBN decks leading up to this (albeit the Near-Earth Hub version mostly) and Stoneship and Lat draw really helps me stay alive if I can keep tags down. I get set up but go through a Ping to steal an early False Lead and later find an Orbital and another 1-pointer off pokes and Trick Shots. Big Oppo lands and I’m one credit short of clearing all the tags, and I know he has at least an End of the Line in hand. He makes a joke about “guess you’ll have to just Deep Dive now” and as I pop my Stoneship I draw a Trick Shot and a Deep Dive, so I take him up on it. Swift gives me a double-access DD on click 4 and I find a Degree Mill for game. He shows me his hand afterward and it has a Mindscaping and two End of the Line so I was dead for sure if I hadn’t won right there!

R5 - ComradeCoheed (Ken Tenma)
A rematch from Cascadia earlier this year! I don’t remember too much about this game other than that it was over relatively fast. R&D held out against random accesses, an Inside Job stole a Vitruvius but other than that Jukebox did what it does, a Hagen trashed a Cezve, and I scored out quickly. He simply didn’t have the time to get money and breakers and run and contest things.

wait it’s lunch break and I’m undefeated, this is wild

R6 - saff (Lat)
My opponent this game was competing in her first Worlds, which was rad! Though obviously she had gotten this far so I’m not going to underestimate her, I am confident in my deck. Jukebox continues doing Jukebox things. On the last turn she click-three facechecks a Drafter and has to let it fire, installing a facedown Ikawah from Archives and bringing Seamless Launch back to my hand. She runs it last click only to be unable to steal, and I on three credits have just enough to Seamless, Vitruvius counter Seamless, advance for the win.

wait one more win and I’m into day two, this is wild

R7 - Sokka (BtL)
Oh, of course. We played at the last worlds and his BtL wrecked my Arissana when I drew all of my programs and none of my econ for the first 5 turns. Unfortunately, that more or less happens again this year to my Lat. I try to go slow, install breakers and gain money. Unfortunately, this lets him also sit back, advance his ice and a pair of Bio Vaults, and also make money. Agendas are carefully controlled back into the deck with Spin Doctors. I am able to make a couple pokes with Propeller using both Turbine and Stoneship to charge it and break 12 strength Logjam, but find nothing, and Crisium Grid on R&D shuts down my events. A double Pinhole Threading turn (one of which is stopped by a Border Control) does use up some of his resources, but eventually a Clearinghouse goes in the remote. I run HQ with DJ Steve but forget to grab a Pinhole before I access a card, so I can’t take down either the last Bio Vault or the Clearinghouse. If I had, I might have been able to get into the server with my Inside Job jumping past his other S13 Logjam, but we mathed it out at the end and I would have been a credit short to trash the Clearinghouse anyway. Rough loss but not unexpected!

R8 - iherdn3rfz (Ken Tenma)
This game is on stream, so check my corp writeup for the link. Suffice it to say the deck performed exactly how it was supposed to, including a couple of 8+ click turns. This is my 7th win so Day 2 here I come! Now to improve my standing however I can and try to make the cut.

R9 - Jai (Asa Group)
Table 1, playing against the intercontinental champion Lisan Al-Jaib. I’m not stressed at all! (/sarcasm). The game is relatively close, but my aggression does not pay off as much this game and I get behind on credits. A few good reads and lucky steals get me to 6 points, but I miss that he had installed a random card in a remote which turns out to be an (easily stealable) agenda. There’s an uber remote with three ice and three upgrades, Holo Men floating around the board, and a Crisium Grid on R&D is stymieing both Trick Shots and Deep Dive. I am able to pay the iron price of 5 credits to trash it, only for it to come back next turn when I run Archives to set up for a Deep Dive only for an Ablative Barrier to re-install it on R&D. Next time save Cupellation for the Grid! A 1/8 chance at finding the last stealable agenda on an otherwise weakly defended R&D fails and Jai is able to score out.

R10 - Styx (Esa)
A tough matchup for the deck on paper, but Styx never really got time to get everything going. Despite multiple Sabotages I was able to avoid bleeding out points and could grab them back with Spin or Vitruvius counters as needed. A close game but he couldn’t stop me scoring out.

R11 - jan tuno (Esa)
Last game of the day, I’m exhausted but also excited to be playing tuno! I manage to get two Vitrviuses scored with counters, but lose at least one Ikawah in the process. On the next to last turn I use Active Policing to install an Ikawah and a Pulse in a remote and drop it down to two clicks, thinking surely the agenda is safe. In response, tuno Labor Rights’ its deck away and puts back two Running Hot and an Ashen Epilogue as the only 3 cards in the deck, and is able to draw a Running Hot! I am terribly afraid that it can just come in and steal the Ikawah now, but instead it trashes a Wage Workers and makes some fruitless runs on R&D, and I’m able to score the agenda with Seamless - Advance - Audacity. Later I found out tuno thought I had installed M.I.C. on the remote to protect it, which it couldn’t have gotten past!

I’m 8-2 after day 1, sitting near the top of the standings. This is wild! I need to win one of my three games tomorrow and I make the cut!

R12 - rielle (PE)
Rielle is playing a version of Loud, a PE deck using Prāna Condenser to threaten to do large amounts of net damage at once while also making money, but also has Regenesis and Moon Pool to be scoring threats. Unfortunately, this game is over rather quickly. An early Prana gets to 3 or 4 counters quickly. I drop SMC and Trick Shot to get enough credits to find a breaker and deal with the ice protecting it, but take two accesses on R&D first. I have 5 cards in hand so surely I’ll be fine. First card, Snare!. Second card, Fujii. Huh, that’s 6 damage. GG I guess! Someday I will figure out how to play against this deck but it was not this day (foreshadowing).

R13 - kysra (R+)
Another friend! I hate this because either way one of us is a step closer to being KO’d out of the cut. I assume as a matter of course that Cat is on a kill version of the deck and it takes multiple turns for me to realize that no, they're on tempo R+ and are stealing all my credits. I manage to steal an ARES, but they've already scored ARES, Tomorrowʼs Headline, and an Artificial Cryptocrash. Unlike my last game against R+ I don’t find a Deep Dive, but the remote is weakly protected by just a Ping and a facedown ice. I go for the Trick Shot to fund my run and maybe trash whatever they've just put in there and reveal two Degree Mills off the top of the deck for game. (The third Mill was in the remote, so this was nearly impossibly lucky.) By all rights Cat should have won this game but I will continue to ride the luck wave into the cut!

R14 - Nykride (Asa Group)
An easy ID with a teammate to ensure a good place in the cut. I finish swiss in 5th. Again, this is wild! I’m literally playing with house money at this point. I rejoice as my teammates Nykride, Tak, and Timmy Wong all join me in the cut.

C1 - passive_mult (Hoshiko)
A rematch from an earlier round! I choose to corp this time, as I don’t want to have to deal with tags anymore and anyway it’s my stronger side. Jukebox does Jukebox things, and while I am never super rich during the game and he’s able to get relatively set up, in the end I’m able to out-tempo Hoshiko and score out.

C2 - DeeR (PE)
DeeR, lovely person that they are, is unfortunately also on a version of Loud. I try to set up while still challenging remotes, their HQ, and their Archives to try to deny Regenesis and Moon Pool scores, but a Cohort Guidance Program is giving them a lot of value each turn and I don’t have the time and money to trash it. Vampyronassa on R&D and the remote slow me down, as I’m too poor even with Turbine to break more than two subs so DeeR is raking in cards and credits whenever I run. Data Loop on HQ further slows my tempo. I’m able to trash a couple of Pranas but the board state runs away from me very quickly. I do get to 5 points and try to find the winning agenda on the turn before I’m sure Dee can kill me, only to die to a Sting!. Difficult game made more difficult by my aggression and not taking the time to set up properly, and DeeR played it very well.

C3 - Timmy Wong (AgInfusion)
Argh, a team kill! Timmy starts off with what looks like a really good start, lots of money, but not a lot of ice. I sniff out that he’s likely flooded and am able to grab an early Nisei from hand. As he sets up and makes a lot of money (at one point I think he was at almost 40 credits) I also build up my board and money and get ready for a Deep Dive. It turns out his centrals ice was not particularly good - Rime and Bran on R&D, Tatu-Bola on HQ, and a Gatekeeper on Archives. The first two ice tax out my Propeller and Simulchip though I pick up a third 2-pointer, but the Gatekeeper stuffs my first Archives run. However, I’ve DJ’d for Sable and have Swift out so I’ve got clicks to spare. Once I know it’s not Anansi on Archives I Inside Job and then play Deep Dive with an extra click available, and find two more agendas in the deck for the win. Hated to end Timmy’s comeback but not sorry to win against such a good opponent!

C4 - Sokka (Lat)
This game is also on stream, see the corp writeup for the link. I know I messed up at least a couple turns, including turn 1, but this is the first time in the tournament I didn’t feel so in control with the deck. (Nykride had played Sokka and beat him with Jukebox earlier in the day so Sokka was prepared for how it worked, somewhat.) Still, the game is full of back and forth and a truly excellent showing (aside from my bad play mistakes, I was exhausted and missed a few lines). The Cupellation steal of my Audacity was clutch and slowed the game down immensely. Finally Sokka was able to find the third agenda on an HQ run and my time in the tournament was over.

I finish Worlds in 8th place, the highest I’ve ever done in the nearly decade of playing this game. I am overjoyed - while obviously I would have liked to continue on in the event and win it all, I’m mostly happy with how I played and very happy with how I ended. Losing only to Jai, Sokka twice, Rielle, and DeeR (the latter two on a deck I don’t know how to accurately play into) is a record I can be proud of.

I’m also super happy for my other Logic Bomb teammates who made it into the cut - for Drew and Neel this was their first Worlds, and the first in a long time for Timmy after his sabbatical from the game. Props to teammate Stephen E as well for making day 2 but just falling short of the cut. And for us to do so well here in SF, in our home turf, is icing on a wonderful cake.

Thanks to the rest of Logic Bomb - PJ, Winston, Yasser, and Alex. We make a good team!

Thanks to Brian and ddark, my CoS teammates (we placed 5th overall, also an excellent finish!). Especially Brian, your enthusiasm about the game remains a bright spot in our local scene.

Shout outs to the rest of the Bay Area meta and my friends - CTZ, Kodie, Briana, Aura, Henry, Stephen, Kevin, Steve, Harp, and so many others over the years. Y’all keep me coming back to the game and make running the East Bay Netrunner scene a pleasure.

Bonus shout outs to the SoCal (LA and San Diego) crew. I’m truly a resident of SanSan and you never let me forget it.

Worlds was a great time with great friends that I don’t get the chance to see very often, and I treasured all of our interactions. You all make the experience worth it!