Somebody Else's Comet (BC Regionals 2nd Place)

See, cuz it's not Halley's or Hayley's or ... ahem

Took this to the final ever BC Regionals at Gauntlet Games in Victoria on 15/7/2018. I wanted to to play Shaper but hadn't found a setup I felt confident in, since Hayley gets wrecked by Scarcity, Smoke can be a bit too slow and I didn't have time to find an Akiko setup I liked.

I knew I was gonna take Jinteki and settled on this and MTI (details about that over here).

Then two days before the Regionals TheBigBoy posted this deck (see also why this is someone else's comet) and hot damn, I'm glad he did. I only lost one Runner game all day and it was absolutely my fault for doing so. This is really well positioned in the meta right now, since Misdirection stuffs most NBNs and Weyland, you've got a decent glacier match w/ strong R&D pressure and even PU isn't that bad. You will be feeding Azmari 2c a turn, but them's the breaks. With only three resources you don't give a toss about Scarcity, and they're all cheap and worthwhile enough to install even at a 2c tax.

Most of the details about this are at the link above, but a few additional thoughts/changes:

I dropped the 2x Build Scripts (even though they're very good in this setup) for Clot because I was worried about Titan/NBN fast advance shenanigans and I was correct, that Clot was indeed quite helpful in two games.

I also added an Infiltration because you really don't wanna get raked through a taxing remote, burning at least a Stimhack and probably real credits, just for an NGO. And you can always just play it for free with Comet for 2c if you don't need the expose, it also was a big help in several games. If you think you don't need Clot, could potentially turn that Infiltration into a Drive-By and go back to 45 cards.

I also added a Test Run for any programs binned with May and because it and Compile are both very good Skorp tech. Hunter-Seeker can't hit what's still in your stack, after all.

But yes, generally this deck is a blast to play. You just play your good events and play the draw ones first, since you can potentially pick up something better to use with Comet. The fake agenda points in Notoriety and Mad Dash are also both great and if you're able to Comet two run events for one click, you can even Same Old Thing a binned Notoriety (I won a match that way).

Your breakers aren't amazing, but I agree that Engolo+Inti is better than Laamb+Gordian. Breaking DNA Tracker or Fairchild 3.0 for 5c or Archangel/Tollbooth for 3c is really good, and most Barriers above Str 2 are gonna be 5c with Laamb anyway, and that's what immense penis Block costs to break with Engolo. And at least you're not sad about stacked Barriers with Inti. If you're worried about Tour Guide or Endless EULA though, could swap around those breakers.

As for the event itself:

Rd 1: vs. The Outfit

I put down a Clot early to avoid any free Hostiles and I think that might have kept them off those a little bit. His start was a bit slow and some Indexings, a few random HQ pokes and Stimhacking into a remote when he installed and advanced close the game without too much pressure on me.

Rd 2: vs Sync

First match against Ryan B, eventual Regional champ. He's playing SYNC (what is this, 2017?? I love it!) and I get Misdirection on the board in time to keep out getting buried in tags. Escher makes his ICE setup was less functional and Indexings plus remote hits close it out. I never saw that he had BOOM! though, which becomes tragically relevant later.

Rd 3: vs Titan

Remember that Clot? Yeah, I used it. He got a few early scores out of Mother Goddess-only remote and while I could break with Engolo, it wasn't cheap. He only rezzed Barriers to keep that remote expensive, but the Clot threat slowed things down, letting me get a New Construction out of a remote (which he installed and advanced as Clot bait) after I'd already nicked 3 points off of HQ/R&D pokes and then I was able to Maker's an Atlas out of R&D for the win.

Rd 4: ID

ID-ed with Peter, I got into the cut as 5th seed, he goes in at 7th.

Cut 1: vs CTM

James H chooses to Corp, to which I am relieved. Misdirection removes the HHN threat and I can keep his best assets under control with Stimhack, it's a pretty favourable matchup for me. Turns out, the most favourable part of the matchup was his R&D giving up four agendas in four accesses. He left R&D open and once I had enough cash to be able to fetch Misdirection off SMC and clear 4 tags if needed, I hit it and saw an agenda. Went back in with Maker's for, no joke, 3 more agendas. I think it was a 15 Minutes, AR Enhanced Security and a Beale. I'd stolen another ARES earlier. He went to fast-advance his final ARES behind a single ICE, I installed Clot and then next turn, Mad Dashed in with Engolo to win it.

Cut 2: played as Corp

Cut 3: vs SYNC

I'm up again Ryan again. I won the coin toss and of course decided to run. I got Misdirection on my NVRAM and was feeling great. Lots and lots of whiffs on R&D early though. One Indexing pulled up nothing and another Maker's was also all misses. Ryan wasn't flooded either, he was advancing the only agenda he ever drew (Fly) behind a remote that was Data Raven -> Data Ward -> Archangel.

I got down to five credits to make sure a Maker's lands on an R&D that's Gutenburg -> immense penis Block. I took the Gutenburg tag and broke the immense penis Block with Engolo. Saw nothing and then my brain also apparently decided to leave the room. I clear the tag manually, because I'm very dumb and end my turn on two credits. He monies up and drops Hard-Hitting News. I know he has a BOOM! and an Archived Memories, so even if I'd trashed the BOOM!, it wouldn't help.

At this point, I realized that I had managed to snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I hadn't installed Misdirection yet, for no reason I can really explain, and so I'd need one click to take the program from NVRAM, a second to install it, leaving me with only 2 credits and 4 tags. I had no way to get to 2 credits to the 9 I'd need to clear 3 of the tags manually. I try to find a way to score 5 points in one turn, can't and get blown up. By my own petard. I was 100% hoisted by my own petard.

Cut 4: played as Corp

Cut 5: played as Corp

It was a ton of great games and an excellent way to close out what'll almost certainly be my last big (official, anyway) Netrunner event. This is a great Shaper to play at the moment