CBI 2026 Player Profiles

An introduction to the Circuit Breaker hopefuls

Circuit Breaker Invitational Top Cut
24th January 2025
15:00 PST (24th) / 23:00 GMT (24th) / 07:00 AWST (25th)
Online
16 Players
Double Elimination

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Top Cut decklists are available on cobra

Commentated streams can be found on the official NSG twitch and youtube channels

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The Circuit Breaker Invitational is an exclusive tournament, with invitations awarded throughout the year to the winners of NSG sanctioned events—AMTs, circuit openers, districts, megacities, continentals, and the world championship. It is an annual celebration of the end of the netrunner season, and it is, by its very nature, one of the toughest tournament environments that you could ever hope to play in.

Circuit Breaker hopefuls divided themselves into three regionalised pods, and after 7-8 brutal rounds of swiss, the top 5 players from each of APAC, the Americas and EMEA will join 2025’s Circuit Breaker to compete for the title of Circuit Breaker 2026.

So who are they? What are they up against? And who will be our 2026 Circuit Breaker?

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APAC Pod

1. Thomas Haas (he/him)

2nd at Megacity Denver 2025

Thomas Haas has been a fan of AU Co. since Elevation’s release—coming 2nd at Megacity Denver with a Touch-Ups + See How They Run + End of the Line build. It was that tournament that won him an invite to the CBI, and it was a similarly lethal AU Co. deck that got him first place in the APAC Pod, and a place in the Top Cut. Will the other hopefuls be ready for what Thomas has in store?

Team: Logic Bomb
Runner Deck: Alarm Clock Sable
Corp Deck: Oppo AU Co.

2. analyzechris (he/him)

13th at Worlds 2025
4th at Americas Continentals - Online 2025

After narrowly missing out on Top-16 at Worlds 2024, analyzechris was top of Swiss at Worlds 2025—finishing in 13th. For the CBI, he’s chosen to stick with a 7-agenda LEO build, but has switched to a much more polarised Runner—Seb with Marrow. I don’t know whether the Marrow is specifically to improve Seb’s matchup against Measured Response—Seb prefers to play at low credit totals which can make him vulnerable to this sort of strategy—or whether it was a more general meta call, but in either case it appears to be doing the job. analyzechris went 3-0 with Seb during swiss, beating MirrorMorph, AU Co. and Ob.

Team: Snare Bears
Runner Deck: Marrow Seb
Corp Deck: 7-Agenda LEO

3. ManintheMoon (he/him)

3rd at APAC Continentals - Online 2025
6th at Americas Continentals - Online 2025

Many people will know ManintheMoon as the TO of the iconic Showdown events, others will know him as the prolific deckbuilder behind such hits as Shoot the Moon PD and AMAZEing Ob. ManintheMoon has played Anarch at every event in 2025, but even he has struggled to find the “perfect 45”. Still, it’s a good looking list, and, in the hands of a practiced pilot, it could go all the way.

Team: Muntal Bost
Runner Deck: Crew Charm Hoshiko
Corp Deck: Measured Response AU Co.

4. viljums (he/him)

2nd at Megacity Brno 2025

One of the newest players in the CBI Top Cut, viljums has been on a competitive hot streak since Worlds—winning the November AMT and coming 12th at the New Year’s Showdown! Most of his tournament success has been with Ob, but for this event he’s playing a twist on the World Championship Epiphany deck, and went 3-1 with it in Swiss.

The Surveyor is calling viljums "one to watch" in 2026.

Team: SCRUBS
Runner Deck: Companions Hoshiko
Corp Deck: Cohort Epiphany

5. RJorb (he/him)

14th at APAC Continentals - Sydney 2025
2nd at Megacity Adelaide 2025

Rjorb's tournament history stretches back to 2013 and contains a lot of top finishes at tournaments in and around Sydney—including winning Australian Nationals in 2019. More recently, RJorb took home the title at two District Championship, and he finished just outside the top 32 at Worlds 2025. An Anarch player by habit, this is his first event playing Shaper in more than two years. It’s a good looking Lat list, but will it be enough to dismantle the many threats of AU Co.?

Team: Hupe Machine
Runner Deck: Transfer Lat
Corp Deck: Measured Response AU Co.

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Americas Pod

1. Bullfinch aka Gruntownie (he/him)

6th at Megacity Łódź 2025

A big fan of flexible runners, it’s no surprise to see Bullfinch playing Hoshiko, but he is only a recent convert to AU Co. He claims that he still feels like he’s playing the deck wrong, but he went 4-0 with it during Swiss, so he’s clearly doing something right! To quote his decklist write-up: “full steam ahead, let's make the runner make some hard decisions”

Runner Deck: Companions Hoshiko
Corp Deck: Measured Response AU Co.

2. davz131 (he/him)

2nd at Worlds 2025
1st at EMEA Continentals - Köln 2025
7th at Americas Continentals - Online 2025

The list of davz131 top tournament placements over the last year is as long as the beanstalk itself—which he was also ranked top of. davz is out here to show everyone just what it is that made him player of the year 2025. With that goal in mind, he is playing a Hostile Architecture AU Co. build favoured by EA Sports, paired with Seb. Of all the popular Runner choices, Seb has the most polarised matchup spread. davz131 should make short work of any Epiphany or AU Co. that he faces, but will he be able to triumph over LEO and Ob?

Team: EA Sports
Runner Deck: Seb
Corp Deck: Hostile AU Co.

3. coldlava (he/him)

2nd at EMEA online Megacity 2025

coldlava is an East Coast regular who has almost exclusively played Ob since the boat was first released. He’s played everything from Bladderwort prison, to Eminent Domain rush, to oversized Clearinghouse monstrosities. It’s this last variant that he’s chosen to play at CBI, paired with a 46 card Loup deck that wouldn’t look at all out of place if it was played in Hoshiko.

Team: TAI Breakers
Runner Deck: Chisel Charm Loup
Corp Deck: Clearinghouse Ob

4. ThatsNoMun (he/him)

2nd at Seattle Districts 2025

Despite a bit of a hiatus in 2025, ThatsNoMun is coming in hot. He went undefeated with Epiphany in Swiss, and his Afterimage + Crew Hoshiko deck oozes confidence. It’s a breaker suite that knows what it needs to break, and has all the tools to break it in the most efficient way possible. “Fair” Corp decks had best watch out.

Team: Muntal Bost
Runner Deck: Companions Crew Hoshiko
Corp Deck: Warm Reception Epiphany

5. Icecreamcollege (he/him)

11th at Worlds 2025
3rd at Megacity New York
1st at Americas Online District

After bubbling out at a string of continentals, Icecreamcollege was finally able to take his place in the Top Cut of the World Championship in Edinburgh, and here as well at the CBI. Ranked the #2 player on the beanstalk, he will be hungry to use this opportunity to win one over on davz131—his leaderboard rival—and to take his shot at the title.

Team: TAI Breakers
Runner Deck: Aniccam Lat
Corp Deck: Measured Response Ob

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EMEA Pod

1. Pinsel (he/him)

8th at EMEA Continentals - Köln 2025
World Champion 2019

An old hand at fast advance combo HB and runners that install cards at instant speed, Pinsel is right in his element with Footgun PD and Illumination Arissana. He doesn’t play in as many tournaments as he used to, but he is a fiercely competent player, and he will have all of the Circuit Breaker hopefuls sweating.

Team: NWE
Runner Deck: Illumination Arissana
Corp Deck: Footgun PD

2. Tyrus (he/him)

8th at EMEA Continentals - Online 2025

A pillar of the German netrunner community, when he’s not organising tournaments for new and returning players, Tyrus is out there cooking decks and making Top Cuts. This tournament he is representing the Hostile Architecture AU Co. build favoured by EA Sports, alongside a triple Hermes Sable deck that wants to touch as much cardboard as possible. 3x Jailbreak, 2x Cupellation and 1x Eru add to the standard WAKE + Twinning multi-access package—with 2 x Reprise as a brutal follow up. Expect to see some explosive late game Runner turns.

Team: EA Sports
Runner Deck: Multi-Access Sable
Corp Deck: Hostile AU Co.

3. Sumpurnis (he/him)

1st at Megacity Berlin 2025

Sumpurnis quit Netrunner in 2018, but returned in 2024 to play at the incredible EMEA Continental championship in Bergamo. His win at Megacity Berlin with Mercury and AU Co. secured him his ticket to the CBI, where we find him coupling a similarly unusual Runner deck with a similarly proven Corp. It’s a combination asset-spam / asset-hate meta call that has secured him a place in the Top Cut, but will it take him all the way to the end?

Team: The Board
Runner Deck: Chisel Charm Loup
Corp Deck: Cohort Epiphany

4. Minstrel (he/him)

7th at EMEA Continentals - Online 2025
15th at EMEA Continentals - Köln 2025
1st at Wrocław District

Minstrel has been a Magdalene enthusiast ever since she was released, piloting KnickKnack builds into the Top Cut at both EMEA Continentals. What this latest Mags deck lacks in a compelling win condition—Minstrel asserts that Cataloguer is definitely not “it”—it more than makes up for with an ability to get into the game early with cheap installables like Solidarity Badge and Azimat. Against a field of AU Co. and Epiphany this seems like a very smart way to build Shaper, and the 1x Hush could do some serious work against Ob.

Team: The Board
Runner Deck: Solidarity Badge Mags
Corp Deck: Measured Response Ob

5. The Cook aka CyberSeal (he/him)

11th at EMEA Continentals - Online 2025
16th at EMEA Continentals - Köln 2025
8th at Megacity Sheffield 2025

The Cook is well known for his inclination towards flatline strategies that are designed to blindside the Runner, but his lethal brews are usually found in Jinteki, and the CBI marks his Weyland tournament debut. In this case, the blindsiding comes in the form of Stavka + Hafrun. It’s a trick as old as Parhelion, but it might be enough to secure him the title of Circuit Breaker.

Team: SCRUBS
Runner Deck: Bling Hoshiko
Corp Deck: Eminent Ob

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The Circuit Breaker

Kikai (he/him)

5th at Worlds 2025

Although he ran hot with back-to-back-to-back CBI and district wins at the start of the year, Kikai was looking pretty washed up after the Elevation release. That is, until a tricksy False Lead Au Co. deck carried him all the way into the Top Cut at Worlds. Will a last minute pivot to Measured Response Ob—with a weirdly controversial 20 agenda points—put in similar work? Or will he immediately find out the hard way why everyone else is playing 21? Without any Swiss results to go by, I guess that we’ll have to wait until the weekend to find out!

Team: EA Sports
Runner Deck: Audrey Lat
Corp Deck: Measured Response Ob

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Tune in to the NSG twitch or youtube stream at 15:00 PST (24th Jan) / 23:00 GMT (24th Jan) / 07:00 AWST (25th Jan) to find out who will be our new Circuit Breaker!