MINDHORN 2 (Borealis+TAI Update): 3-4 @ EMEA Continentals

In 1983, Special Agent Bruce P. Mindhorn was captured during a secret operation on the Siberian border. Communist doctors performed experimental cybernetic surgery upon him. They removed his eye and replaced it with a super-advanced optical lie detector which meant he could literally see the truth. He escaped Russia and returned home to the Isle of Man. Bruce Mindhorn became the best plainclothes detective the Isle of Man had ever seen. In a world of lies, one man has had enough. You can't hide the truth from Mindhorn. — Mindhorn (2016)

This is a Borealis + The Automata Initiative update to a silly Mind's Eye + Find the Truth list I played out of Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman during the 2020 Ashes meta: Original decklist.

This deck and my Corp deck each went 3-4 in the 2023 EMEA Continentals, getting me 85th place out of the 145 participants.

What The Previous Kit Deck Did

The old Kit version hammered RnD with Inversificator + Atman to farm Mind's Eye counters and then eventually hoped Find the Truth would reveal agendas to steal with Mind's Eye when running RnD is no longer feasible.

What This Padma Deck Does

This Padma version builds a leaner, cheaper rig with lots of ways to charge key cards but an even more fragile icebreaking plan: 3x Nanuq. The good news is that after a certain point, you don't need to successfully run to win. Here's the gameplan:

(1) Early game, successfully run RnD+HQ with Mind's Eye+WAKE Implant v2A-JRJ installed at least once to get an initial power counter on each.

(2) Charge your Dr. Nuka Vrolyck while making those early RnD runs because you're going to need it to draw.

(3) Install Nanuqs at the right time for each one to steal ~2 points worth of agendas, and don't install Nanuqs when you can steal agendas without them. This is the hardest part about piloting this deck. Chrysopoeian Skimming helps you decide when to install Nanuq.

(4) While you have a Nanuq installed, go Into the Depths to get your 3x Nyashia installed too. And maybe repeatedly encounter an outer ice hosting a Flux Capacitor for extra charging.

(5) Once you've lost all your Nanuqs sit back, use Captain Padma Isbister and Stoneship Chart Room to charge cards up even if you can't make successful runs (let the outermost RnD ice fire and jack out), and use your 3x Nyashia + WAKE Implant v2A-JRJ to access the top 4+ cards of RnD with Mind's Eye when Insight tells you it wins you the game. Try to keep at least one power counter on each hardware/program so you can recharge as needed and use Labor Rights to shuffle back Stoneship Chart Room, Chrysopoeian Skimming, and Insight as needed.

Continentals Highlights

(1) Stylish finisher: Insight + Mind's Eye + 3x Nyashia wins.

(2) Outmaneuvering Shuffley Weylands: Two of my wins were versus fast advance Outfits with shuffly shenanigans like the usual Spin Doctors and Project Atlas. I prioritized trashing Spin Doctors and tempted the Corp to waste shuffle tools by running RnD after Chrysopoeian Skimming even if I didn't see any agendas. I also used Mind's Eye to RnD lock on an unexpected click rather than telegraphing it with Insight so that the Corp wouldn't move agendas to their less penetrable HQ with their Atlas counters

(3) Conserving Nanuqs: Mid game Chrysopoeian Skimmings to Mind's Eye + 1x Nyashia agendas without wasting a Nanuq.

(4) Finding a Good Use for a Seemingly Foiled Nanuq: Installing Nanuq to contest Ob remotes with obvious agendas like Oaktown Renovations, just barely not affording to get in on a second run when the Corp popped Border Control to end the first run and install a Sandstone, so instead going Into the Depths of RnD with the Nanuq and sometimes still managing to steal a 2 point agenda with that Nanuq thanks to the Depth's Nyashia install. All the games against taxing Ob remotes taught me that I needed to prioritize my own credit pool more (e.g., playing Daily Casts instead of face-checking ice) so my Nanuqs can be sufficiently fueled by cash when I need to remote bust.

(5) The Tragedy of Wasting a Nanuq: Poorly timing a precious Nanuq install when I'm not actually able to use it to steal an agenda from a central or stop the corp from scoring in a remote, leading to a struggle to pay for and draw into the next Nanuq needed in time to stop the Corp from jamming their next agenda. One of the worst scenarios like this was when a Corp installed a card in an iced remote the turn before using Audacity to fast advance and I then installed Nanuq to contest that remote, certain it was an agenda the Corp didn't want to trash to Audacity, but in reality it was a Spin Doctor and I should have just ran the uniced Archives instead of installing a Nanuq (the Corp fast advanced another agenda, killing the Nanuq, the very next turn).

(6) The Sparks of Despair: Playing Spark of Inspiration when I desperately need a Nanuq to stop the Corp from scoring game point, but Spark gives me a Nyashia instead. Go Into the Depths to install your 3x Nyashia so that you may never feel this pain.