1st at French Nationals: Ad Astra

Huge shout out and thanks to @metamatik for organising the whole tournament. It was a blast for me to be back in France to meet up with the French community.

I've been playing Hayley for a while, now, and really enjoy the diverse play style. Hanging back and go in for the late game kill or turn 1 Stimhacking out a Stargate via Self-modifying Code feels good. Most valuable cards in this deck: Stargatee and Imp.

Rounds rundown:

R1 versus Grtll on Sportsmetal (win)

I installed an early Stargate to pressure R&D and managed to get into the remote often with Euler and Pelangi. I expected Grtll to be playing some sort of combo shenanigans and just trashed all agendas on sight with Stargate and Imp. Well played!

R2 versus @Tradon on Pālanā Foods (win)

I topdecked 5 points turn 1 (Obokata and Nisei MKII) without losing my Aesop to Obokata. Turned out to be a pretty relaxed match for me after this, did my setup and didn't miss the timing to start stargating for the win. Sorry, Patrik! Well played!

R3 versus @oggbonaian on MirrorMorph (loss)

Nicolas was playing his very fun MirrorMorph MCA Austerity Policy , False Lead, Hard-Hitting News, Boom! deck. We had tested the deck before French Nats, so I knew what was coming. I can't quite remember if it was the clicktaxing, the econtaxing, overreaching on my part, or just a combination of the three that got me Boom!ed in the end. Well played!

R4 versus le panda on Pālanā Foods (win)

Turn 1 he showed me his grip with a single Border Control and a Nisei MkII with a Celebrity Gift, and installed the Border Control in front of HQ. I installed Stargate and kept trashing ice with Stargate, when he finally started to draw into more ice and closed R&D, I started setting up and contested his single-iced remote with an installed upgrade and a single-advanced card with a Because I Can. I didn't know he was playing Ganked! or Letheia Nisei, but felt pretty smug seeing the crushed look on his face. (He later told me it was a Ganked! with a Nisei MkII.) I kept pressuring R&D with Stargate, until he installed 2 Anansis and a third ice. So I switched back to the remote and stole a Nisei out of a Border Control + Letheia Nisei server where he had made me run through a Komainu twice, first 5 subs, then 10 subs. My freshly installed Euler and a Simulchipped Pelangi broke the Komainu for two virus counters which seems good. I got the winning agenda out of R&D on the last run I could make before running out of money. Well played!

R5 versus (thrice French Champion) Ganelon on Asa Group (loss)

I managed to install Stargate and to steal a Project Vacheron early, but couldn't keep up with him as I didn't draw into any economy. After a few turns of him installing cards and me trying desperately to find any econ while stargating, he comboed out. Well played!

I ranked 2nd in Swiss, behind Ganelon, who decided to drop from the top three cut. I rolled corp for the finals against le panda, for which I'm really glad, as that match-up was in my favour.

Thanks again to @metamatik for organising this great and fun event and providing such amazing prize support for the main tournament + the jank event on Sunday. Also huge thanks to the French community, can't wait to come back soon. :) Honorable mentions: @qvm and @b3ar who play a lot of Hayley back home; @tradon, @r4v3er, @oggbonaian, @pommes who are great fun to be around.

Safety First!

Luke