Hermes Esa | 1-2 at NH CO

I don't consider myself much of a deck builder. I really enjoy playing the lists others make, and only occasionally tweak around the edges. For competitive play, I prefer to take strong streamlined lists, and focus on learning the lines, matchups + playstyle to learn as much as I can. I think this approach helped me grow over the past year, but I still have lots of room for improvement.

After taking a strong standard Hoshiko list to the NYC SoS, I couldn't decide what runner to take for our next CO. Every list + faction seems to have its upsides and downsides, (great meta except R+ assets); but I was having a lot of fun with my own pet decks, like Logic Bomb Mercury. I was faced with a crossroads every runner encounters: play the "strongest" deck or play what I enjoy. This time, I brought my own fun.

It's All in the Name - I love how disruptive sabotage can be to almost any corp gameplan. Even in unfavored matchups, strong sabotages swings with Chastuskas, Running Hot, and a bit of luck can steal games. I felt that same disruptive joy while playing Hermes lists, waiting for the right moment to bounce ice and flip a game. Now what if; Hermes Esa?

Turns out, feels great. Early Hermes installs can make that first agenda stolen destabilize a game further, and Hippocampic Mechanocytes were more than enough to replace Marrow for hand size. I almost never needed to charge it, but the option with Stoneships were a great fall back, not to mention a cushion for low handsize + Bankhar. Most of my testing games were won through solid Esa play, with Hermes adding an extra boost + pressure. I felt solid enough to bring this list despite knowing in my heart of hearts that Daeg was not worth the influence. But he's pretty cute.

Results Are In: On the day, the deck did not show up well. I rarely got a Hermes installed early enough to matter, and Daeg remained unplayed the whole day. While I had some extremely close moments, I also had a few blowouts that could have been avoided. Instead of success, I learned exactly why the Animal Farm Esa lists made the choice they did.

Here are the changes I'd make: +1/2 labor rights for draw + recursion, -1 Katorga + 1 Buzzsaw. Turns out magnets are real and can hurt you. - 1 Daeg, -1 Stoneship, + 1 Dr. Nuka or + 1 Hermes. If I wanted to double down, I think an early Hermes for pressure is a necessity. That might end up as a lot of wasted influence, but anarch cards are good enough to solve your money + draw problems. The price could be a great include to get online even faster. Lamb as the influence spend is probably just the better move overall, aaaaand we're back to Animal Farm.

Overall, I'm glad I built my own list and put it to the test. Most of my games were won + lost on my own decision making, which makes me feel better about the deck's strength + potential. Next time, I'll take it as a warning sign that my list was completely legal in startup. This list is still fun, and I loved playing it at my local meetups. Charge is a cool mechanic I promise.

Thank you as always to Neon Static for hosting us! You just might see this list in a video...