Plugged-in to the Pacific NorthwestReports from Three Stops on the Android: Netrunner Plugged-in Tour
Yesterday, we posted three reports from Plugged-in Tour stops along the East Coast, but even as some of our staff were officiating tournaments in Maryland and taking on challengers in New Jersey, other staff members traveled to the Pacific Northwest and ran events in Oregon and Washington.
Today, we’re happy to cover more of the weekend’s Android: Netrunner action with reports from our events at Rainy Day Games in Aloha, OR; Uncle’s Games in Redmond, WA; and Card Kingdom in Seattle, WA.
Rainy Day Games – Aloha, OR
We first Plugged-In to the Pacific Northwest at the famous Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon. Appropriately, a slight drizzle fell from the overcast sky as players arrived for the Thursday night event, but the mood remained upbeat. In fact, some players traveled from as far as Sacramento to participate in the night’s tournament, demos, and staff challenges.
Shapers led the way among the Runners, comprising nearly fifty percent of the field and winning half of the spots in the Top 8. Still, first place went to a Criminal deck, and the Anarchs took second.
Among the Corps, it was NBN that polled highest. Not only did NBN players make up more than a third of the total Corp presence, they took three of the Top 8 positions, including first. Meanwhile, though the Weyland Consortium was only half as well represented in the overall field, it roared into shape in the Top 8, claiming three spots of its own, including second.
In the end, the tournament was won by the well-known card critic, “Alexfrog” Alex Rockwell, who ran Criminal and NBN. He earned sixteen prestige and won the tie-breaks to place ahead of Bryan Goodwin and his Anarch and Weyland Consortium decks.
| Andromeda | NBN: Making News |
Event (18)
3 Account Siphon
3 Dirty Laundry
3 Emergency Shutdown
2 Forged Activation Orders
1 Infiltration
1 Inside Job
2 Special Order
3 Sure Gamble Hardware (9)
3 Desperado
3 Plascrete Carapace
3 R&D Interface ** Resource (8)
1 Bank Job
3 Daily Casts
2 John Masanori
2 Kati Jones Icebreaker (7)
2 Corroder **
2 Crypsis
1 Mimic *
1 Ninja
1 Yog.0 * Program (3)
3 Datasucker *
| Agenda (11)
3 Astroscript Pilot Program
3 Breaking News
1 Character Assassination
1 Priority Requisition
3 Project Beale Operation (10)
1 Closed Accounts
2 Freelancer
3 Green Level Clearance *
3 Hedge Fund
1 Psychographics Asset (5)
3 Jackson Howard
2 Melange Mining Corp Upgrade (6)
2 Bernice Mai
1 Corporate Troubleshooter *
3 SanSan City Grid Barrier (4)
2 Bastion
2 Ice Wall * Code Gate (6)
2 Enigma
3 Pop-up Window
1 Tollbooth Sentry (7)
1 Archer **
3 Caduceus **
2 Draco
1 Rototurret * |
It was an absolute pleasure for our staff to meet and interact with such a knowledgeable and passionate group of fans. We signed dozens of autographs, as players sought signatures for their favorite cards.
We want to thank tournament organizer Jeremy Mueller and all the staff at Rainy Day Games. We also want to offer a big thanks to Nick, who brought some delicious pad thai from his restaurant for the players and organizers to enjoy!
Uncle’s Games – Redmond, WA
Friday evening, we traveled to Redmond, WA and Uncle’s Games, where old-school players and grade-school players enjoyed the evening’s competition.
Criminals and Shapers led the way among the Runners, represented in roughly even numbers among the overall field. However, once the field narrowed down to the Top 8, Criminals stole the spotlight for themselves, claiming first place and five more of the Top 8 places.
The Weyland Consortium and NBN were the evening’s Corps of choice. They were the field’s two favorite Corps and scored all of the Top 4 places. Still, the Top 8 featured a truly diverse array of Corp IDs as Jinteki claimed one spot, and two different Haas-Bioroid IDs featured among the remaining three Top 8 finishes.
In the end, as the tournament played into the wee-hours of the night, Riley Scott and Matt Dryden separated themselves from the pack to take the first and second place spots. Both earned sixteen prestige, but Riley Scott had the stronger tie-breakers with his decks built around Gabriel Santiago and Weyland: Building a Better World.
| Gabriel Santiago | Weyland Consortium:
Building a Better World |
Event (21)
3 Account Siphon
3 Easy Mark
2 Emergency Shutdown
2 Forged Activation Orders
2 Indexing ***
3 Inside Job
3 Quality Time *
3 Sure Gamble Hardware (6)
2 Desperado
2 E3 Feedback Implants
2 Plascrete Carapace Resource (5)
3 Compromised Employee
2 Same Old Thing Icebreaker (7)
2 Corroder **
1 Crypsis
3 Femme Fatale
1 ZU.13 Key Master ** Program (6)
3 Gorman Drip V1
3 Sneakdoor Beta
| Agenda (13)
2 Geothermal Fracking
1 Government Contracts
3 False Lead
3 Hostile Takeover
1 Posted Bounty
3 Project Atlast Operation (15)
2 Anonymous Tip *
3 Beanstalk Royalties
3 Green Level Clearance *
3 Hedge Fund
1 SEA Source **
3 Scorched Earth Asset (3)
3 Snare ** Barrier (5)
2 Eli 1.0 *
3 Ice Wall Code Gate (2)
2 Enigma Sentry (8)
3 Archer
2 Caduceus
2 Shadow
1 Swarm Other (3)
3 Chimera |
Meanwhile, the credits and damage flowed as players challenged our staff in gunslinging matches. Even players who had kept up with the spoilers of all cards previously revealed in the challenge decks were surprised by some new cards, like the game-changing Power Shutdown (Mala Tempora, 58). Plascrete Carapace proved to be an effective tool against the mighty GRNDL, and players used some well-timed card draw to survive the Jinteki deck and its heavy threat of net damage, even as their stacks dwindled to almost nothing.
We want to thank tournament organizer Jeremy York and all the staff at Uncle’s Games for helping make this event a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all involved!
Card Kingdom – Seattle, WA
Card Kingdom in Seattle, WA boasted one of the largest Plugged-In Tour events yet! Saturday afternoon, players from all over the map converged upon Card Kingdom’s dedicated tournament room to run the nets. We met with players from the Upper Midwest, southern California, and even Kansas City, all of whom came to participate.
Much as with our other stops, Anarchs took the back seat among the Runners, with Criminals and Shapers surging forward. Shapers had a notable edge in total numbers, and a distinct advantage in the Top 8, claiming six top positions, but it was still a Criminal deck that managed to steal into first place.
Among the Corps, we saw a more even distribution overall, though Weyland and NBN took the edge in Top 8, claiming seven top spots between them, three for Weyland and four for NBN.
Throughout the tournament, we were pleased by our players’ enthusiasm. Whether they had been playing for a month or for a year, players fought hard and fair for every game. Still, at the end of the day, one player stood out. Anthony Giovannetti ripped through the field with his Andromeda and NBN decks, compiling an almost perfect score of nineteen prestige – out of twenty possible prestige. Despite taking a timed win in the first round, Anthony went undefeated, bested three of the other Top 8 players, and secured the top spot in the tournament. It was a truly dominating performance, and we hope to see Anthony test his mettle again at the FFG World Championship Weekend!
| Andromeda | NBN: Making News |
Event (18)
3 Account Siphon
3 Dirty Laundry
2 Easy Mark
3 Emergency Shutdown
1 Infiltration
1 Inside Job
2 Special Order
3 Sure Gamble Hardware (9)
3 Desperado
3 R&D Interface **
3 Plascrete Carapace Resource (7)
3 Daily Casts
2 John Masanori
2 Kati Jones Icebreaker (8)
2 Corroder **
2 Crypsis
1 Faerie
1 Mimic *
1 Ninja
1 Yog.0 * Program (3)
3 Datasucker *
| Agenda (12)
3 Astroscript Pilot Program
3 Breaking News
2 Character Assassination
1 Gila Hands Arcology
3 Project Beale Operation (12)
3 Beanstalk Royalties *
3 Closed Accounts
3 Green Level Clearance *
3 Hedge Fund Asset (3)
3 Jackson Howard Upgrade (5)
2 Bernice Mai
3 SanSan City Grid Barrier (6)
1 Bastion
2 Ice Wall *
2 TMI
1 Wall of Static Code Gate (5)
2 Enigma
3 Pop-up Window Sentry (6)
3 Caduceus **
2 Draco
1 Rototurret * |
Throughout the event, players took advantage of the opportunity to meet with our staff to discuss the game and its tournament system, and to play a bunch of challenge matches. Among the event’s highlights were a pair of challenge matches that our staff members played against two pairs of father and son duos. Two times, father and son sat next to each other and faced off against our two staff members. While neither pair could crack open the challenge decks, Chuck Spiekerman cracked his way into the Top 8, just one spot ahead of his son!
We want to offer a massive thank you to Kris Ferderer and Card Kingdom, as well as tournament organizer Andrew Veen. With their support, our Seattle leg, like the others, was a rousing success, and our staff came back from the event pleased by the city’s vibrant Android: Netrunner scene!
Balancing the Vote
The votes that the players throughout the Pacific Northwest were almost evenly divided, but The Collective collected a slightly larger percentage and made up some of the ground it had recently lost to Laramy Fisk.
For now, Laramy Fisk remains in the lead, but this coming weekend is packed with events and promises to deliver more action and more opportunities for The Collective to replicate its recent turn of fortune across the network.
Keep checking our site for updates. We’ll have more on last weekend’s Toronto stops, and you can look forward to all the top news from this weekend’s events. In the meantime, you can join the conversations on our forums and on Twitter (#pluggedintour)!
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Source:
Plugged-in to the Pacific Northwest
