Slayer of Lads (2-1, 6th overall @ NH June Circuit Opener)

This is my first-ever homebrew that actually won real games against real players, so I wanted to publish it, even though I'm not 100% happy with my play or the deck itself. I think I'm supposed to say something here about leaving 1 influence for a deity, so let's go with Ereshkigal, Mesopotamian goddess of the dead.

The basic idea here was to update Ladykiller for Nuvem. I had played a lot of that deck, but had issues drawing the "wrong half" of the deck . I'd either get all the money in the world, and nothing to spend it on, or all the big pricey stuff and no money, or all my Reg Caps before I saw any Bad Pub, or etc. So, I wanted a deck that didn't have a "wrong half," was basically just good cards and a straightforward "get rich, put out forks" gameplan. I also wanted to avoid Bad Pub as much as possible, because I'd played Outfit into so much Arisanna. Nuvem fit the bill. It's also less well-trod territory, so I could really explore the space as I flailed about looking for a working deck somewhere in here. I wanted to come up with something I hadn't seen before, and sometimes, that means going somewhere that few have gone before.

I came away really appreciating the experience and process of deckbuilding and refining. The biggest thing I learned is that, even if a deck is bad, if it has a workable gameplan, you can alter it to make the gameplan function, if you correctly identify the problems. Earlier versions were much more focused on Punitive, and had no secondary plan to score if the kill windows closed too early. The process of problem-solving here was a ton of fun to think through and discuss with others. I had to cut ice while improving the quality of it; add Operations without going over 54; and biggest of all, find an easy-to-score 7th point so I had an out if the kill windows closed. Some of those, I solved better than others, but just the process itself was a ton of fun.

So let's talk card highlights.

The Basalt Spire was great to poison Archives, but you can never really plan to score it. It lets you dump your kill cards safely into the bin though, which frees up a ton of room in hand. I wanted to replace it but never found something better. SDS might be better, but there's so much recursion I never even tested it.

I originally added Divested Trust thinking it would be great to reopen kill windows, but it never really did that. Scoring it was awkward when I'd rather be pushing more aggression, and late in the game its text didn't matter. As a 7th point, it did passably, but I think Hostile Takeover is just better in this slot. I do think it may have some play, and is worth some assessment in Weyland Punitive decks, but maybe not in this one.

Slash and Burn Agriculture was a dud - it's hard to use for FA in this deck, and being a blank 4/2 otherwise is really really bad. Should probably be Project Atlas, as both its 3/2 and 4/2 modes are more useful overall.

The ice was my biggest complaint, and needs to change almost entirely. I was trying to just keep the runner out entirely, but you can't do that, you can only slow them down when the breakers are so good. Weyland has some taxing ice even against the Turbine Rig in Pharos, Surveyor, and Logjam, but I worried it was all too slow, so I never tested it. Hammer is great, no toolbelt is complete without it.

Operation suite felt pretty good. Bad YDL was a real surprise, as it was way less bad than I thought. It hit the dizzying heights of being mid, WAY above where I thought it'd go! Predictive was amazing, it's like a modal version of Rashida and Hansei with the ID. Pivot was a surprisingly meh card - two clicks for the effect was rarely worth playing, but hey, sometimes it's extra Punitives, so it's hard to leave at home. A neutral remains the best Nuvem card in the game, lol.

Angelique Garza Correa disappointed. The math just rarely lines up to where she's relevant to a kill, either on-board or in hand.

GAMES:
On the day it went 2-1:
Game 1 (Win v Kevin's Reg Arisanna): I poisoned archives with Audacity to score a Divested, dropping Basalt, CWP, and Punitive into the bin. Basalt brought the Punitive back, and well, them's the breaks. Divested was my first agenda scored and did not matter at all.
Game 2 (Loss vs Erika's World Tree Arissana): I forgot how easily this deck conjures answers from thin air, so some agendas I thought were safe, weren't. Kill window closed after just a few turns. I was never really in any sort of control, and she picked my weak ice apart in a leisurely fashion.
Game 3 (Win vs Joel's Grug Kit): This was closer than I'd like, as we both got to 6 and were hunting for the last point. Managed to win on my turn just after time was called with IAAudacity on Divested. I had his deck on my side though, as he drew all 3 werewolves before his first Spark, so he went nearly broke hard-casting Lob, giving me ample time to claw back some points.

Anyway, very fun event, thanks to Eric for organizing and Midgard for hosting! I'm already brewing a ton more Nuvem decks - can't wait to test them out!