HOL 4: Blue Adam Redux

This was my Runner for Hack O' Lantern 4, the annual October tournament in Austin, TX. As of last year, Hack O' Lantern uses the Costume Party format, devised by us, described here.

As per the rules I made up, Adam is legal, but you only get 17 influence and must start with his original directives (no Find The Truth). Despite these obstacles, we actually saw every color of Adam represented at HOL 4 - We had Green Adam, we had Orange Adam, and we had Blue Adam. We just really like Adam in Texas, I'm not sure what to say.

I played this list at HOL III, and because I was a bit strapped for time this month (Worlds and all), I thought I'd update it for 2023 Startup. There were some notable losses (Bravado, Boomerang, Class Act, to name a few), but I was already committed to the concept and figured I'd be fine with some Nukas and Fermenters.

Round one I'm paired against Paillu on QTM (Purple CTM), and ey created the most exquisite Adam-shaped prison imaginable after nailing me with a surprise Hakarl core, and then establishing Mr. Hendrik on R&D and Manegarm on HQ. I managed to sneak 3 points into my score area before finally expiring, which I count as a moral victory of some sort.

My other games were kind of like that, except for my matchup against Friendtrain's dreaded Yellow Argus... until he drew 10 points of agendas in his first 8 cards or so, and as a known Neutralizer of Threats, I stood to capitalize on this catastrophic bout of variance. When you're playing 17 influence Blue Adam in Startup... you take those!

I had a blast as always, and I'm looking forward to Hack O' Lantern 5 next year!