Honest Point Merchant (2nd APAC 2025)

This is the deck that took me to second place at the first in-person APAC continentals. Runner deck here.

For over a year now every time I've tried to do a proper write up to publish it's either turned it to a massive essay that never gets finished or a blank page that never gets started (my magnum opus 2024 season review cum David Lynch retrospective I fear has been consigned to the dustbin). So here I am trying to break that pattern, but here we are also in a meta where anything that can meaningfully be said about this deck has already been said before and probably better.

There were a lot of Au Co decks in the field. In fact every game I played in Swiss was against Au Co. Not only that but they were all variants of the Oppo kill Au Co. I instead opted to remain an honest point merchant, mainly because I hadn't had much time to make or practice with any changes after getting home from overseas a week before. The only change was the Powers and the Holo Man for a little extra sauce after running a similar list at the Adelaide Megacity. It has the option to FA out a Regenesis (even if I somewhat bungled that line in the finals) or NA a Fujii (even if that has never actually come up in a single game I've played). A rezzed Phat can be used to force a scoring window in a way that exploits the runner's response to it more so than any actual threat it represents. Runners tend to go feral when they see him (some of us in different ways to others).

I'm content with the result, even if it was hard coming so close 3 years in a row, having finished 4th, 3rd, and now 2nd. But following the pattern set by the perpetual Intercontinental Champion, this is simply the next step on The Countdown. Going in to lunch on day 1 I was 2-2 and feeling utterly exhausted so I was sure I was going to wash out. But the win-and-in is my natural habitat and I somehow harnessed enough adrenaline to make it in.

I'm glad for that feeling of contentment too, because for a while I've been holding myself to a very high bar. Every major event has been a source of stress, of trying to live up to the expectation of being a "good player". Even if I made the top cut, if I didn't win it was never good enough for my own expectations. But I'm hoping this represents turning a corner; that with the help of others I'm in a healthier place. Big thanks and love to Kyra, paillu, Slapdash, and Pan, along with the rest of QtM, for making me feel cared about at the worst of times. Many kind words have also been said already about Pan's excellent Netrunner is a game we play with our bodies zine, but I'll add to them and say that it's true, and a little bit somatic awareness and meditation have been very helpful in calming my physical nerves during events.

As for the rest of the shout outs for the amazing event:

Tom - abosultely smashed it as TO for the first meatspace APAC continentals.

Kror, drayven, Reece, LVR, eBentl, the rest of the staff and organising team - who ran an incredibly smooth event and are absolute pillars of the Australian Netrunner community.

Jai - An eternal voice (from the outer world) of reason.

Brad - for giving me permanent decklist neurosis.

Aurora - I enjoyed the assistance with the Pronoun Meta breakdown and our forays in to comparative Northerlion studies.

profwacko, Dia, Lish - so glad you all managed to make it out to make this a truly international APAC event.

ginevra, gloompunk, Kror - my fellow APAC qts

F3nris, ChickenSlayer, Vale, eBentl - for buying shares in the sheep station of champions.

bing - congrats on winning the sheep station of champions. Our games have become something to look forward to at every event.

SpaceIce - for continuing to be the one man force behind Adelaide Netrunner and only one who could say to my face with conviction that I should slot untested changes.

The rest of the Adelaide crew - I'm happy so many managed to make it out for the event and thanks for all the support.

And everyone else who came out and enjoyed the event: those who I managed to chat to and those who I hope to be able to in future. And for the rest of y'all: I'll see you at Worlds because I have a first place to claim.