Coffee shop Palana - 2nd Intercontinentals

RotomAppliance 2932

This is the Palana deck I took to 2nd place at the Intercontinentals. I played Gamenet at Euros, but it was very grindy and the game I went out on felt extremely bad, so I decided on a change. Lostgeeks Palana deck caught my eye and while I did switch out the Data Loops for cheaper ice, the basic idea appeals to me.

In my view Palana is a better ID ability that Gamenet, but NBN has the better glacier cards right now, especially ice. I brought in my old favourite of 3 IP blocks, which ia a cheap value ice even if you see no turtle and amazing if you do. After the obvious 3 Border, I imported Gold Farmer which is currently one of the best taxing ice in the game. Slot Machine is viable as well and I've imported it many times in the past, but I decided to trust in Engram Flush to fill that role. I briefly experimented with a suite that played 3 Eli instead of the Gold Farmer, dropping a couple of Enigmas to make room, but I'm glad I went with this one. 3 Anansis is better than including DNA Tracker, which performs badly against the most common decoders and doesn't hate on Boomerang in the same way.

The deck dropped one game to Apoc Hoshiko on a poor draw and then later to Maw Leela. It beat Leela in round 1, Freedom in round 3 and Hayley in round whateveritwas.

Thanks to everyone who organised and commentated in this event and the last 3. Truly an amazing set of tournaments.

2 comments
10 Aug 2020 lostgeek

Happy to hear that my deck inspired others to try out Jinteki glacier again. And congrats on the finish!

How did the IP Block feel to you? I felt with 2 Macrophage, I didn't really need them so I used the influence on the Loops instead to make scoring the final Obokata easier / more secure.

Also what do you think about Enigma in the current meta?

10 Aug 2020 RotomAppliance

Thanks lostgeek, I'm glad I saw your deck writeup! IP Block was very solid as usual, I think 2 of my opponents were on Turtle, but I don't think Turtle is needed to justify the inclusion, as it's so cheap to rez. I've played Data Loop decks before, but found it often very expensive, especially if drawn early. It definitely provides a more solid lategame scoring plan, but my hope was that between all the ETR effects and potential Costa Grid bluffing, the lategame is doable anyway.

I usually play 3 Enigma in Jinteki glacier, it feels fine atm. If playing NBN I can usually find a better ice to play instead of Enigmas 2 & 3, but the Jinteki ice suite doesn't feel as full of great options. I considered the second Macrophage but it feels a bit situational to me and I didn't want to go too all-in on the Cyberdex Sandbox plan, since you won't score one in probably at least half the games. Maybe another sentry like Saisentan or a Swordsman to hate on AI even more? But again, feels a bit situational.