Prav-she-better-don't [5th in Startup UK Nats]

I built this start-up deck myself in an act of stubbornness borne from a commitment to the power of evil consultancy work.

This deck is a work in progress and I am delighted that Cobalt won the UK National Startup 2023 title with this ID. The dream of Prav lives… and for those inspired, perhaps use their decklist instead!!

Backstory

After my standard Prav build for World's proved slow, I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t able to get my beloved consultants to function reliably in a competitive standard format (for now!). At UK Nats 2023, therefore, I opted for a taggier and snappier, Reality+ in standard, the foundations and best ideas of which are Pinsel’s KANEHL+ deck. This proved to be a wise choice, converting to 4 wins in the 6 games I played with it during the day. Shout out to Mike (leachrode) and Ollie for bettering it, in two fantastic games. That deck is here.

Playing Prav in Startup at UK Nats 2023

The deck immediately felt better, and although I only closed one win across four games, all four went to five or six agenda points and were real nailbiters. I think that with a little more practice this deck has something going on.

Key ideas:

1. Try and score a Big Beale if you get the window.

Get the window by getting it in hand early, smashing it behind one of the gear check ices in a remote. You can Prav free advance on the runners turn, then Seamless Launch, advance, advance, score. Beale is best as a 3/5 here. Go Get It! Yes your economy takes a hit, but silly consultancy tools like prediction and artful ubiquitiousness can fix that soon enough.

2. Go for the Long Con

Failing finding a Beale, focus on the Offworld’s to get some long-con econ (con standing for for consultancy obviously... evil side eyes)

The safest way to do this is to get a Vlad Grid and an Urtica out in one turn, and then advance the Vlad. Then, hopefully the runner will be too scared to run it and you can just get the second advancement on their turn as they run on a central/unprotected remote with something distracting and/or annoying.

3. Use Spin Doctor to cycle back Economy

Charge and invoice, cash it in, rinse and repeat. You'll need to spin back Seamless Launches and also the economy cards - the limited number of these being a weaker part of this deck. You want and need the Vig and it is worth using a Tsarevna to protect it if the runner is canny/trashy.

4. Embrace non-Killer Combos

The first aim is for a diplomatic win, scoring out by draining the runner of the means to run wild.

• If you see the chance to Starlit Knight ice one, Funhouse ice two - do it. There are floaty agendas in this deck and you need them protected (this requires funds, see 3.)

• If you see a chance to double stack a Ping! - do it. This and a slightly sleazy feeling Drago will see you on your merry way to shipping this thing out.

Mostly it feels better to protect R&D over HQ but it kind of depends. Either way, use this ice on one of the centrals. Make the call of which based on gut instincts whether they are more likely to be Legworking or using Maker’s Eye. In the case of Esâ you might even go for Archives.

5. Embrace Killer Combos

Sometimes consultancy needs a killer instinct.

If your opponent hasn't seen the Urtica's and the Vlad Grids are AWOL, you are permitted to load up and dispatch a "gross Urtica", even using up a Seamless in desperate times to try and draw a kill win.

6. Oppo is a Buzzword

Use Oppo Research as a NBN Buzzword threat. Say Oppo often. Then, actually deliver on this if/when you can afford the click to break your own pace. I didn’t feel like Oppo was as good here as in R+, but the fear of it can slow a runner down from trashing things you really need

Final Word

Is this a great deck? No.

Is this a fun deck? Yes!

Will I continue to hone this piece of kit? Well, possibly.

So much depends on how much is being offered elsewhere by competing firms.

Gratitude

Immense thanks to Tradon for sharing their absolutely smashing Runner list from World's.

I was scared of getting my ongoing project of a homebrew Sable startup deck confused with the Standard Sable I netdecked off Odol so, to continue the logic, I instead netdecked Tradon's startup Zahya list literally on the Wednesday before nationals, and played it three times on Jinteki before hitting the Startup on Sunday. eek

However, the deck is so fluid, playable, and went undefeated on the day. So chuffed with 4 / 4 wins, against a range of Corp IDs (Built to Last / Personal Evolution / Thule / Reality+).

Thanks also to my wonderful Midlands meta, for testing and teaching me how to play netrunner. I have only been playing since July and you've all been very patient, generous, and kind! Having your own Queer Earth Hub is a powerful thing. So proud of the gang for all your successes at UK Nats.

Thanks to TamiJo for drawing me in at the UK Games Expo and convincing me of the brilliance of this game, right at the end of the day, with so much enthusiasm and good humour.

Thanks to everyone I played with on Sunday in this startup tournament. Harmonbee your skills are undeniable, and your plays were perfect. Rowan, you didn't fall for the Urtica game, as the killer NBN player you are :). SeaRose, I love you and I am glad we didn't have to kill each other. Russ, thanks for two seriously tense games full of fun and danger at the end of a long weekend. I hope we can play again soon :)