It made more sense than Nero: 1st Newcastle Store Champ

I've been spending a lot of time with Sunny recently. I decided to take a break, especially since I'd been eyeing my old friend Geist longingly. It wasn't...that clean of a break if I'm being perfectly honest looks sheepishly at the Nexus and Sanctuary and 3 Power taps. Look, it made more sense than Nexus Nero okay?

This deck went 3-1 (inc 1 timed win) at Newcastle Store Championship, beating 2 Biotech and 1 Asa, and being horridly crushed by 1 C.I. My corp (Tennin) also went 3-1 to get me the win.

Round 1: Asa + Pirate Hayley

After Tennin got a coveted 1st turn kill (don't facecheck an Anansi with 2 cards in hand kids), I prepared to face a deck I hoped wouldn't be too fast for me. Couple of turns in I facecheck Fairchild 2 and eat a brain to take a Vitruvious from the remote. Turns out he didn't score it from hand because he was going to use Jeeves and calibration testing to get some counters on it. Couple turns later he goes broke after scoring something else, so I take the opportunity to Indexing, seeing Ikawah and another Vitruvius. I put Vitruvius 4 cards down and take the Ikawah. Couple turns later I go RnD again for the Vitruvius and the win.

Round 2: Trap Biotech + Off-Campus Geist

These games were much longer and I can't remember specifics, except that turn 2 or 3 Scarcity that wasn't cleared for ages ruined their Geist, and chaining Sports Hoppers and Fall guys made trap Biotech very sad. Also, using Corporate Grant to bring them to 3 credits before you check what you correctly assume is a Snare is the best feeling.

Round 3: Renewal Biotech + Pirateish Val

Val did an excellent job of pressuring Tennin to deny counters and snipe some agendas, until she could see all of HQ with Turning Wheel for the win. I was a little flooded at start and made some misplays, but it was mostly just a textbook example of how to beat Tennin. Once again, chaining Sports Hoppers helped me with the next match, but she was a lot richer (I was "gifted" with the knowledge of an Obokata and 2 Snares in HQ...the turn before I drew my legwork and laughed) and I had to go slower. Especially since I had to leave a Tech Trader on a Street Peddler most of the game to protect my Levy until I wanted to use it. By the time time was called, I had all my breakers and Nexus and money and Caldera and it was 3-2, so I was pretty well set if the game had gone on longer. On my last turn I checked RnD to see if I could get a proper win and to deny the two Shipment from Tennins I'd seen earlier, then clicked for credits pretty confident she couldn't kill me or score.

Round 4: Moons C.I. + Pirate Hayley

I slowed Hayley down with an early Scarcity, and she proceeded to whiff on 3 Deep Data Minings (I wasn't even holding agendas in HQ or Archives!), then Levy just before I could Lockdown them. She later whiffed on another Deep Data Mining. Meanwhile I'd scored an SSL Endorsement from hand with Reconstruction Contract, she'd taken an Obokata from the remote, and I'd never advanced another one with Tennin counter and Shipment from Tennin. The turn after, I scored a Chronos from hand with Shipment from Tennin for the luckiest win ever. Moons C.I. went about as well as you'd expect it to. They put out a lot of remotes I could barely trash and used Lakshmi plus a bit of ice to stop me from stealing long enough to win. I also facechecked an Architect early on, so that's one place Nero would have done something.

FAQs:

1) Why?

Because I have a pathological need to put Nexus and Power Taps in as many decks as possible.

2) Surely 3 Calling in Favors is too many because they're useless early game?

Calling in Favors for 2-4 credits can be pretty darn useful early game. Even Same Olding it for only couple credits extra and a card. Sometimes you need some burst econ to get going, and even a small amount will do.

3) You play Nexus in blue with no Credit Kiting??

Calling in Favors is better.

4) Only 1 Levy?

Hopefully you're pretty well set up after the Levy and don't need another. It can be a bit dicey sometimes if you're losing lots of important cards to Peddler/Damage and don't get what you need installed, but it's normally fine. Besides, most corps these days win before the 2nd Levy.

5) No Spy Cams?

I used up all of my slots and then some with silly cards. No room.

6) Any changes?

This didn't actually bite me in the tournament but in testing I kept not seeing Abagnale early enough to deal with Hortums, which slowed me down. If I was taking this more seriously I'd probably remove the Rubicon Switch and Hernando and put in another Abagnale. 46 cards is almost acceptable. I'd probably also find something to remove to get another Corporate Grant in there; it's a really nice card, and Scarcity is a really horrible card. 3 Same Old Things helps a bit, but not if you can't find your first Grant quick enough.