Eight players showed up at Gamers Alley
in Sherwood Park (just outside of Edmonton) to play in what might be
the first Netrunner tournament in the area. Not sure why we are so
slow in getting organized, as Calgary has had a few already.
Hopefully this will be the start of a more active tournament scene.
This was not a store championship.
Being that this was the first tournament in the area, we were a bit
unsure if there would be enough interest. I think there was enough
interest to warrant FFG prizes and perhaps store credit for our next
event.
As there were no prizes, I decided to
just play the maximum amount of matches, so the tournament was 4
rounds, no cut/elimination.
Identities
We had a bit of an unusual mix of
identities. Shaper was most popular, representing half of all runners
(2 Chaos Theory, 1 Kate and 1 Kit). Three players stuck with
criminal, surprisingly all Gabe and one lone Noise.
On the Corp side all identities were
represented. Weyland was strong with 4 BABW, two TWIY*, one HB:ETF
and one Jinteki: PE.
Win Rate
The most interesting stat was the Corp
win rate. Corps dominated the day, wining 59% of games (19 wins), the
runners only successful 37% (12 wins) of the time (1 tie). Perhaps
this enforces the strength of the Criminals, as even though Shaper
represented half of the runners, they took only one third (4) of the
runner wins with Gabe taking two thirds (8). With half of the players
running Weyland and Corps doing so well, a full 52% (10) of winning
Corp games were by BABW. HB, Jinteki and TWIY each saw three wins.
Although I was the TO, I decided to
play, since with such a small field its painful to have a bye. It
worked out fairly well, as the only time there was a dispute was over
a card during my last game.
I did not expect to play, as we had an
even number of players pre register. However, one additional player
showed up and I wanted to keep the numbers even. I was ready to play
just in case, but my decks were nothing special, both were decks I
had played for the last few weeks. My Gabe deck included the usual
criminal tricks, flexible breakers (Gordian, Ninja, Corroder plus
Faerie) and lots of econ. For surprises I included one Sneakdoor, one
Keyhole and one Nerve Agent to add pressure to the centrals if
needed. My Weyland is a Punitive Counterstrike deck. It runs all 5/3
agents except for 2 Hostile Takeovers (Archer food), all Operations
econ, a split between big and small ice (one Flare for surprise
factor), along with Archived memories and Jackson. The plan is to set
up a strong remote with lots of credits and force the runner to run
it to steal the 5/3 and get PC'd, or allow the score. Simone did good
work baiting a run or saving money advancing the 5/3's
Round 1 vs Kit/Jinteki:PE
I faced my regular sparring partner. He
knows both of my decks well, although I made a few slight changes to
Gabe the night before. I know his Kit deck well and his Jinteki has
been making Gabe miserable, forcing a number of small changes. He
chooses to run first and steals a 5/3 in the firsts or second turn
with four cards in hand. I have a Punitive in hand with an Archived
Memories but lack the credits to use it twice. He goes on to win but
the game is very long. We scramble to play our second match. Gabe
steals agendas and I have the match in hand but am stuck at 6 points.
I need the win to split the match. With 3 seconds left in the game, I
steal a Fetal from HQ to win.
Round 2 vs Kate/BABW
I don't remember this game well. I win
the Corp match but I get only 1 prestige for the runner game as it
goes to time.
Round 3 vs Chaos/TWIY*
I run first and have an incredible
string of luck.First turn he ices HQ, installs in a remote. I happen
to have Keyhole in hand, so I install it and hit it twice, getting a
Beale and Astro. He ices R&D but I hit the remote and HQ, forcing
the rez and Keyhole another 2 pointed out of R&D. The next turn I
install Sneakdoor and access another agenda for the win. Four
accesses, four agendas. I lose my Corp game. Chaos is packing a
recursion deck and is drawing through it at a furious pace. She
easily has enough econ to get into my remote and surprise siphons
reduce my credit pool to the point where I cannot use PC.
Round 4 vs Gabe/HB
I run first and this is the tightest
game of the day. He is playing HB with some fast advance. We go back
and forth with agendas. Eventually we are both at match point when he
drops a 3/2 his remote. I top deck an inside job to get by big ice (I
think it was a curtain wall) to steal the win. His Gabe deck has a
tough time. He only has single accesses and gets into HQ regularly
but keeps seeing PC and gets frustrated. I have a Cleaners scored and
am trying to set up the big remote with taxing ice with a 5/3 to set
up the win/flatline. I have 3 PC's in hand and am just about to put
in the 5/3 when he coincides the game.
Overall, a successful event. Things
went smoothly and I think everyone had a good time. The next
tournament should be even bigger.
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