AT&Tea [2-1 Dublin CO]

A Teia: IP Recovery glacier deck inspired by @ArminFirecracker’s 12 Strength Surveyor, 0 install cost. The plan is to A Teia install ICE protecting our “big” remote server once a turn to build up a very imposing and tall Surveyor server which we can easily score out in.

For the most part, it’s ok to leave HQ open (except against criminal, where Diversion of Funds is brutal) and just draw early in our turns, sticking any agendas in the remote. R&D is often the backup wincon for runners once they are locked out of the remote, so do keep it relatively secure too. I recommend at least one Anansi and a Surveyor later in the game.

Individual cards:

• Thimblerig is a gearcheck & ETR early, helps with our positional ice value, is free to rez from Vovô Ozetti and reduces the cost of Ivik. Because it can be moved around later, it's always a good install anywhere we need ice. It can move our expensive ICE inward as to avoid getting Hippo’d
• NGO Front is a bit easier to cash in on than Regolith Mining License when a runner is keeping us poor, and works really well with La Costa Grid as a fake 5/3 to force a run into the hell remote. It's also really decent just as a throwaway install on the smaller remote to trigger an ICE install.
• Speaking of, La Costa Grid is half economy tool and half tempo card, giving us a window to score out agendas and still manage an ICE install or Hedge Fund.
• Replanting is fantastic for Icing R&D, which is where we struggle to build that strong Surveyor. There’s lots of great targets for “picking up”, including anything in or protecting the “small” remote server. In a pinch, it also allows us to reposition ICE that was placed poorly.
• A single Retribution: useful if the runner sticks too many tags from Surveyor. I found that in most matchups, the runner will do this towards the end of the game if they haven’t seen the Retribution, and so it can potentially win us the game if they aren’t expecting it!
• Vovô Ozetti and Adrian Seis let us trigger an A Teia install for ICE and then move the upgrade into the protected server. Both are fantastic defensive upgrades too: Vovô saves us a fortune on ICE and Adrian can safeguard against accesses.
• 1x Magnet, Rime and Sadaka: all essentially tech matchups that can usually just be slapped on any server to boost the Surveyor strength, but have some really high ceilings depending on the situation and can be Thimblerig’d into position.
• Hybrid Release is our 7th point, though it often makes sense to score early as it puts on pressure and helps reach threat 4 (Vovô Ozetti) whilst potentially recurring a sabotage or Hansei Review’d card - it happens more often than you’d expect.
  • Watch out for the A Teia ability when scoring out 2/1s, it’s easy to forget that the bonus install can’t be scored out that turn!
• It’s a good idea to have our Surveyors not as the outermost ICE on servers so that it can't be easily Inside Job'd, S-Dobrado'd, or Hippo'd.
  • Thimblerig can assist with this!

The correct way to play against this deck is probably to save up and camp the remote, preferably with Pinhole Threading as not to waste a run on NGO Front or other bait. 5/3s are telegraphed pretty hard by the advancements required, though La Costa Grid can change this a little. Seamless Launch could potentially change the numbers on this, but I’m not sure that’s worth the influence.

This deck dies pretty hard to Hush which solves Surveyor, Rime, Anansi. Boomerang and Botulus also deal with Surveyor since they don't care about strength. Also weak to all Vovôs being trashed with Pinhole Threading or by Imp, Freedom, Maw because this deck needs all the help it can get to rez everything against a top tier runner. Tread Lightly can be brutal when timed right.

I’ve been tweaking this list for a long time, so it was a lot of fun to bring it to a tournament. It performed pretty well on the day, with at least one clutch comeback against a runner who stole both Bacterial Programmings early. I wasn’t prepared for a massive sabotage deck vs Esâ, where (especially given that I didn’t ICE up HQ much) I fell apart in the late game and lost agendas into archives, costing me my single loss. The tournament was a blast and my first time playing Single Sided Swiss: this, I found great, letting me play 5 different people instead of (alternatively) 3, and the variety in matchups lead to some fun conversations. Thanks @anarchomushroom for running and thanks to my Belfast meta mates for the practice leading up to the competition!