Build-a-(Butcher)Shop; 1st place Plano TX Regionals

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Derived from
Financial Butcher (1st place Oslo Regionals)
Inspiration for
Butcher Shop: Not That Different (8-0, 5th seed Nationals)
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hi_impact 1733

This is the deck that took first place and first seed at the 62-player Madness Games & Comics in Plano, Texas. It went 5-1 in Swiss and 2-0 in bracket. The decks ability to push two win conditions simultaneously, punish unpracticed opponents, and its lack of play in the local meta inspired me to bring it. At this point, Butchershop is standard protocol with a few flavorful slots to fill. I went with a 12-agenda suite exploiting the best card in the deck, Breaking News, more Operation econ, and gearcheck ICE to force Runners to install programs, cutting useless Pop-up Windows and a Project Beale.

I only scored out once the entire day, flatline was the mood of the tournament. I foreshadowed the decks loss with the amazing Colin in Round 3, half-joking half-stating that our Noises would take both games. Butchershop folds to mills and precision Imp pressure, and that is exactly what was dealt all game before a fatal Medium dig.

Many games were close, credits were precious, and I definitely dodged a couple I've Had Worse and double Plascretes plays. While Butchershop is a wildly strong archetype, every game felt like it was on the razor's edge. Always play like you have the kill, always.

Big shoutout to the Austin crew and the greater southern Netrunner meta - we will get our ANRPC soon, believe it. And Brad Venable and his lovely wife for running the smoothest tournament ever with awesome mid-round promo raffles and a savvy judge... simply amazing.

8 comments
27 Jul 2015 flowerscandrink

Well played! I didn't get a chance to play you but I heard you had some pretty good games with some of H-town crew. Sounds like you are mainly going for the kill but I've come to the conclusion that you have to run one Cyberdex Virus Suite at least. Helps put the pressure on with Astro if they are running clot (which is good for killing too) and it also can net you an extra turn or two at the end of the game when they go "tag me" and start medium digging.

27 Jul 2015 Venali

Had a great time in our one game, even if it was over really damn quickly. Excellent plays all around - that'll teach me to dig until I bleed for one of my Imps. A well deserved first place. Was good to meet you!

27 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@flowerscandrink-1 Closed Accounts, +1 Cyberdex Virus Suite is some harsh Anarch tech that can hilariously win you a game when they intend to use Imp as a pseudo-Film Critic with bait agendas. I love it. I included the Closed Accounts to combat Kate a bit, resetting her credit pool with a Breaking News but I only played one Kate.

27 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@VenaliIt was good to meet you too! I was fully prepared to lose that game and if that agenda didn't come when it did I was going to be in big trouble.

27 Jul 2015 johncraven

Did cortex lock work for you? I feel you can import better ices, such as Eli for the 2 inf. Congrats!

27 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@johncravenMy opinions on playing against Butchershop is to get a central threat online/money up, play out your Fracter, and never spend credits on an icebreaker again. Cortex Lock was a huge player in preventing Runners from facechecking everything, because in most traditional Butchershop suites the only punishing ICE is Gutenberg. The ability to force Runners to play up to MU or take 3+ damage a run was a huge deterrent against opponents who knew the list and a blowout against those who didn't. I sniped all kinds of stashed I've Had Worse, econ, and even a couple flatlines against Desperado in practice. I don't have a lot of opinions on flex slots in Butchershop, but I do valiantly stand with:

Cortex Lock >= 2x Pup > 2x Eli 1.0. Hell I would even play Lab Dog over Eli.

27 Jul 2015 johncraven

@hi_impact thanks for the insight, I didn't consider it all that much but getting rid of IHWs is really strong!

28 Jul 2015 firesa

Nice deck, I am actually playing two elis in place of the wall of static and cortex lock, so far eli has either kept people out, or made people click through and then get punished for it. Or otherwise they go fetch a dog and spend a fortune on it. But I will try the cortex lock. Did not want to play butchershop at nationals but have yet to lose with it....so will see. I would not cut the closed accounts but if I wanted to find room for cyberdex, what do I cut? More asset econ?