🔥BladderwortLicense (1st in Swiss, 2nd @WORLDS'22STARTUP)

🔥 Bladderwort NEH 🔥

This deck was undefeated in Swiss, and only lost to our Startup Champ (who outright dismantled it twice). The deck can be seen in action on Null Signal's twitch here (10:12:33 for the grand finals table):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1619547525

⚠️ Correction and background: During the stream, they reference the previous upper-bracket finals match that Tim and I played. Our game actually went to time, and when time was called, Tim was up 2 points and Tim's turn then ended on 2 credits (not enough to Clot with SMC). I then was granted the final turn, and I already had a License Acquisition installed in the remote on a rezzed SanSan. If I had the last Beale or Tomorrow's Headline in hand, or top-decked either, I would've won the tie on time being 1st seed (hint: I didn't)! The match ended 4-5 or 3-4 (I can't remember which either 😅*, but I know that Tim won by 1 point)... It was a fantastic game, and unlike the rematch you see on stream, I built only 1 multi-ICE-ed remote server to attempt to score out of while Paricia dealt with my un-ICE-ed assets. Prior to the streamed rematch, I determined that likely the only way I could attempt to beat Boat+Rezeki+Paricia+Clot was to attempt a never-before-seen NEH strategy: ICE every server. Yes. ALL of them... Alternatively, if I didn't see enough ICE early, I could surge a Regolith and re-attempt the super server.*

... now getting back to the deck 🙂

🧠 Core game plan: fork the Runner between dealing with your assets and contesting your scoring remote, keeping them too busy to pressure centrals. Then, exploit any weaknesses and score out!

Strategy & key aspects:

• Install new remotes and get that NEH turbo
• ICE centrals to tax those meddlesome Runners (especially R&D - don't lose to Stargate)
• ICE 1 DBS. You should also ICE Bladderwort(s)🪸 if you get the early upper-hand
• Lull the Runner into a false sense of Bladderwort🪸 security and go above 4 credits. Then, at the end of the Runner turn you typically want to rez anything you can to dip below 4 (yes... rez that SanSan early and go broke - even if you're not going to use it... the reality is, you will soon, and when you do you'll offset the Bladderwort🪸 credit-drip and smile as they panic and take damage while you're busy pinwheeling out your agendas)
• Your upgrades, and many of your assets are 'must-trash' (thanks to Bladderwort🪸 for adding 3 more assets to spam), so now what the Runner has to do is decide to be ok with letting you have all of these expensive-to-trash toys and taking net damage regularly, OR go deal with them and be broke with you. You have the Runner right where you want them: brokerunner™ is the game you are prepared to play
• Regolith is very flexible and is your only burst economy, so be prepared to spam out remotes for a bit first while you slowly gain traction. In the mid to late game, it gives you a lot of flexibility to swing between poverty and riches. You can rez it just for Bladderwort🪸 value (prepare to be amazed for how often the Runner doesn't go trash Regolith immediately as it sits fully loaded on the table naked for turns as they beg for you to finally stay above 4 credits... only to realize that you only gained the money so that you can rez 8 more credits worth of spam and they take damage anyway), and you can also use it to surge to a sudden I'm-going-to-just-win-the-game-now status
• Gold Farmer is best when it's not the innermost ICE on centrals or the scoring remote
• ETR ICE should be reserved for R&D, HQ, and scoring server only
• F2P into Engram Flush is 🌶
• If you're against Pennyshaver or Rezeki/Paricia, slam and jam behind 2-4 ICE-ed remotes

Inspiration: I enjoy decks that explore the Corp's secondary win condition. While this deck doesn't directly do that, it does flirt with potential flatline as a distraction. Usually, the random pings of net damage will just give you incidental value, but sometimes they will offer you a golden ticket to massively exploit the Runner. Either way, the Runner will be spurred to a sense of urgency, and there's nothing else I love more than watching the Runner squirm under pressure...

🏆 PERFORMANCE:

Swiss (4-0):

• R1 (Clupea) - W vs Deep Dive Sable (triple Bladderwort🪸 flatline)
• R2 (Patrick "Scorpi" Sklar) - W vs Esa
• R3 (Banknote) - W vs Pennyshaver Sable
• R4 (Tim, Startup Champ) - ID @ Table 1
• R5 (Functor) - W vs Hoshiko

Cut (0-2):

• G2 (Tim, Startup Champ) - L vs ControLat
• G4 (Tim, Startup Champ) - L vs ControLat

🃏 Card choices:

• 3x Bladderwort🪸... Another must trash asset, and the true fork of this deck. Some Runners are content to just let asset spam have its drip-bits, but this Corp will punish them and force them to interact
• 0x Hedge Fund... A common NEH move historically, but now NSG has given us an even better reason to not have early economy: Bladderwort🪸!
• 2x Engram Flush... This card is banned in Standard for a reason, but now NSG has given us an even better reason to threaten the Runner's grip: Bladderwort🪸!
• 2x Drafter... A common NEH move historically, but now NSG has given us an even better reason to recur assets from the heap: Bladderwort🪸!
• 2x Seamless Launch... (... now, you just can't imagine how I'm going to say Bladderwort🪸 here...) This card is included in so many Corp decks for a reason, but now NSG has given us an even better reason to never-advance: Vladisibirsk City Grid! Which lets you score License Acquisition! Which lets you recur Bladderwort🪸! 😉
• 13x ICE... An uncommon move for NEH to have this much ICE, but now NSG has given us an even better reason to have more ICE in NEH: Bladderwort🪸! The Boat🛳!