Dumbledoge (7th Reading SC, and Queen of Swiss)

Deck choice

This is a fairly standard Dumblefork list which I took to top of Swiss at the 56 person Store Champ in Reading, finishing 7th overall (and winning the Readox Bell in the process). It went 3-1 in Swiss, losing 1 game in the cut. I picked up Dumble over Christmas with the hope of improving on my last SC performance (17th out of 23). It seemed a sensible choice with the rise of EtF following the release of Friends in High Places and while I did not see an EtF on the day it was a fair to excellent matchup in my games. This list is one Laurie Poulter shared (thanks Laurie) but I swapped a Daily Casts for a Rumour Mill based on slack chat and potential Marcus Batty shenanigans - however I ended up not using it. Based on the cut game it would have been better as a Paperclip but ¯_(ツ)_/¯. I made 2 other changes which were to swap Turntable for Grimoire and Mimic for MKUltra.

Games

• Round 1: Alex playing Architects of Tomorrow. I let 4 points go past as I get set up and Employee Strike does good work keeping rezzed ice at a minimum. I am digging R&D and checking HQ nearly every turn and seeing few agendas. I get to 6-4 with no more agendas showing in R&D and HQ my opponent checks his deck box and finds an agenda stuck to the bottom of his runner deck unfortunately this ends in a game loss.

• Round 2: Toby playing PE. I find a Fetal in Archives on an early Dirty Laundry run but don't twig that this means he is flooded. HQ is easier than R&D to get into however and I keep checking it while finding ways to make R&D more accessible, picking up a House of Knives and 2 Future Perfects in the process. This is a Museum asset spam deck and Toby only sees 5 or 6 assets by the time the game is over (I see most of them in Archives) which is unlucky.

• Round 3: Max playing Blue Sun. I struggle with awkward draw but being confident he is on Midseasons Boom focus on keeping up up my end of the money fight for most of the game with the help of Employee Strike. Max is 6-4 up with an Atlas token so I throw myself at R&D expecting him to Atlas for a Hostile Takover next turn and win. Unfortunately next turn neither of us notice Max accidentally shuffling some of his hand into R&D when shuffling in a current to ConVis and clear the strike. Sadly this results in a game loss and which is a real shame as Max definitely had the upper hand having removed a D4V1D with Ark Lockdown and a window about to open as I needed to Levy. Balance was restored however as Max knocked me into the losers bracket and ended up placing 4th, very well deserved.

• Round 4: David playing CtM. I keep a hand with Sure Gamble and Dirty Laundry hoping it will allow me to keep remotes under control while staying out of Hard-Hitting News range. This works to an extent but I can't find Faust and am forced to break ice with Parasites under cover of Employee Strike while David gets to 4 points with an Astro token. I recover slightly getting a Breaking News and 2 Global Foods, but getting frustrated, I take a tempo hit to install Wyldcakes in the hope of finding Faust and eventually lose by leaving an unadvanced Food unchecked on a rezzed Sansan which has been up most of the game.

• Round 5: It's 4.30 and I haven't had lunch yet, so at 7-1 I ask for an ID to get some time to prepare for my first ever cut. I eat lunch, chat with a World Champion, watch some friends playing, and try not to be nervous (which works fine until 10 minutes before the cut starts). I end up facing my round 5 opponent in the losers bracket and it may have been helpful to have experience of his corp in advance of that.

• Cut game 2: Alex playing NEH. I assume it's shutdown boom and start off playing around that, checking remotes early in the hope of preventing 24/7 breaking news. I am comedically wrong about this and he is on Biotic/Exchange. As with round 4 I struggle to find Faust and in digging for it, have to ditch both Knifed. I make it to 5 points but with 2 rezzed Wraparounds on R&D I'm unable to reliably get into R&D. I have Same Old Thing on the table but Levy is also in the bin from digging for Faust and I opt to wait and Levy the Knifeds back around. However before I can do this Alex scores a Breaking News with an Astro token and exchanges for the win.