So yeah. I didn't change a thing about this deck before deciding to bring it to Worlds, and not because it might need changing. As I wrote on my SYNC deck writeup, I'm dead-frickin'-in-the-middle of a move from Berlin to Edinburgh, and was not at all sure I'd have the time or mental capacity to play in Worlds this year. Firstly, the whole moving thing. Secondly, I'm not huge on playing online. Anyhow, I decided to half commit and just bring decks that I liked playing, that seemed like generally good decks. I think if I had prepped this deck for Worlds, I would have taken out 1 Hippo and replaced it with a Clot again to help with the FA matchup, which helps vs various Asa decks as well as vs Titan.
And then I crushed through the first 4 rounds. I never lost a game, and ironically put myself in a place where I could have ID'd the next 3 rounds and gotten in the top 16, but I was the only player who hadn't lost a game. This deck, in fact, only lost one game to Heinzel, where he just Atlas trained out with Titan, and Stargate couldn't find one to stop him (and boy do I wish I had made that Clot change at this point). It won vs an AgInfusion, 3 different Asa decks, ... and something else? i honestly forget. Maybe another Asa, but I kinda feel it must have been something else. Regardless, I lost just the 1 game with it (the other "loss" was from a 241 with Percomis, where he randomed into playing his Geist, so Hoshiko didn't get a shot).
What I like about this deck is that it rewards good play. Vs Asa, honestly, you kind of want them to build up their hand, and then blow the ICE off HQ and see as many cards as you can. Trash cards with low-ish trash costs in their hand so you see different cards in future runs, and turning into Edward Kim is actually often the correct choice. If you can get a Stargate going, this is obviously also good, because Project Vach is worth real points if it's been ditched. Ironically, this deck is NOT nearly as good against the Spombo Asa that Pinsel won with last year at German Nationals, since that version runs Team Sponsorships that can be used to just put ICE back where you least want it.
All in all, I had a blast, despite it being an online event, and despite my narrowly missing the cut. A HUGE thank you to Nisei for the wonderful tournament, and just as large a thank you to all my opponents.
Here's links to my streamed games! Watch me win, watch me lose. All great games =)
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/766089355?t=5h29m42s
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/766089355?t=9h10m34s