d1en's Val's Pals (Ottawa Regionals Winner July 9 2016)

d1en 3431

Val's Pals

We're back at it again friends! I apologize for the lack of appearance, I went on a 3 month hiatus to prepare for Electric Daisy Carnival. Now that we're back at it again, I decided that after a long break from fair decks (see THE FUN ENDS HERE) it was time to pay my respects and revisit the original girl that made my heart pound. This is a update to my Worlds list, although much credit MUST be given to @lopert; as not only did he share his list with me, he convinced me to play Rebirth, which was MVP of the tournament, hands down.

This deck went 2-2 in the Swiss rounds (both losses to NEH due to crap mulligans) and 4-0 undefeated in the Top 8 cut. The tournament was 32 strong, with huge names from our Ontario/Quebec meta. Judges and players alike commented that "this is a Canadian Nationals cut of players."

Ottawa Top 8 Stream Link

First things first, the cuts and changes. Had to cut Stimhack because now hand size actually matters (Thanks Faust). I never played Faust prior to this tournament, but I knew taking brain didn't make sense. But I did throw in a e3 as to make a second subroutine break free with the Bad Publicity. We cut SMC because decking out is a real thing, so Levy needs to be used, plus MWL screwed our influence spread so we can't be complete Shaper BS. Yog.0 left the deck as a result, and because our rig isn't as huge, we had to lose the Memstrips.

Political Operative goes in to fight the current Palana threat, and because Psi Games are a thing that loses you games (who would've thought). One Plascrete gets cut because it's no longer the Butchershop/Haarpsichord meta but we keep one just in case we're wrong. @lopert opted to put two Dirty Laundry instead of my 2 Kati, but I believe midrange/long term economy is better to curve out the speed of your deck.

Finally, Rebirth. I can say this; I would never have thought I would use Quetzal or Edward Kim to win a Regionals, but I did. They were absolutely relevant against people in the cut. Quetzal helped me fight a Palana who splashed for Spiderwebs, making it a 1 credit tax(bad pub), it helped me live VS Blue Sun kill, burning their Scorched Earth's and Consulting Visits. It also helped me burn necessary cards against EOI Sync, burning Fast Track, Biotic Labor, amongst some others I can't remember currently.

Special thank you to @XVRogue, as he helped me stay focus and practicing with what little time I had to catch back up to the meta. I cannot take complete credit to this deck either, as it was @lopert who shared me his version, and I merely compared my Worlds list to help me make informed updates to the list. Please feel free to post up in the comments any questions you may have.

11 comments
10 Jul 2016 CodeMarvelous

This deck looks awesome. You mention bad mulligans, what are some of the must haves for this deck in the opener?

10 Jul 2016 Snake Eyes

@CodeMarvelous. Wyldside. List complete.

11 Jul 2016 xanshin

Very nice, feel like this handles the current meta perfectly

11 Jul 2016 Saan

E3 is so hot with the Bad Pub. Good call on that one, it's basically amazing.

11 Jul 2016 tzeentchling

How many games did you use Levy? Would you consider it a necessity? Or is it primarily a counter to all the IG net-damage decks?

11 Jul 2016 ericbtool

Levy is necessary because Faust is integral to his end-game rig

11 Jul 2016 d1en

@CodeMarvelous As per usual, it is very match up dependent. @Snake Eyes is right, seeing a Wyldside turn one is super crucial, but there's some accelerators to help you in the deck (Street Peddler, I've Had Worse). In those two particular games I mentioned VS NEH, I mulligan'ed into 3 Programs, a e3 and Pol Op which does not help against that matchup start.

@tzeentchlingI used Levy most of the day, except against the fast decks where Levy'ing would not help, but rather early pressure and accesses were much more crucial.

Thank you for the kudos @xanshinand @Saan, and thank you for answering the question @ericbtool on my behalf!

12 Jul 2016 Ciremya

I love your deck !! GG for winning. Have you play versus IG ? Because i think is the worst match up and it's so hard to win. Plascrete is better than hopper versus kill deck but i think versus other deck hopper is good no ?

12 Jul 2016 botounami

So really what you're saying is - Edward Kim is relevant right now. Between this and the new FAQ, it's hard to stay seated.

16 Jul 2016 LynxMegaCorp

This deck loses 8 influence once MWL 2.0 goes into effect. What changes would you make?

17 Jul 2016 Fruggles

Really liking the look of this list, thanks for posting it @d1en - sad that it's going to be decimated again soon by MWL.