Runners dive deep at German Nats
although they sometimes come up empty
German Nationals 2024
10th – 11th August 2024
Berlin, Germany
50 Players
5 rounds DSS, Cut to Top-8
Watch the Swiss and Top Cut streams on Girometics youtube channel
Top Cut decklists are here
After sadly missing out on a nationals event in 2023, Netrunner was back with a bang in Berlin last weekend. An attendance of 50 made this one of the largest nationals of the 2024 season thus far—second only to last week’s US West Coast Nats—which is particularly impressive considering “rookie” TO Girometics (and their excellent support staff including Tradon, awildturtok, and [object Object]) admitted they had only run “small COs" before.
To nobody’s surprise, we saw Shaper (52%) and HB (46%) continue to rule the roost in popularity, though a commendable 26% for Jinteki was probably the biggest divergence from the meta seen at other recent events, with RH (5) and AgInfusion (6) leading the way.
Excluding the dominant PD (14), though, Corp IDs were quite diverse, overall. On the Runner side there were a decent number of Hoshiko (10) and Sable (9) players, but Lat (13) stood tall above the rest, especially when it came to Cut Conversion numbers (38% [5/13] against a baseline of 16%).
When it comes to the Top Cut, HB continued its strong form. 4 PD—mostly mimics of the recent decklist of the week—and an Asa all made the top 8, alongside some Corps with nastier intentions. ryanbantwins continued his good run of form with the MAD Combo Ob that he took to 2nd place at EMEA, while MihauStunet's R+ tried to fork the Runner with a mixture of assets and tag punishment.
Maybe the most menacing Corp list in the Top Cut came from the Jinteki genius known by many names: Council, Jinsei, or “Der Kaiser” (the name they registered with for this event) played an AgInfusion deck they described as "glacier with a hint of prison." Sisyphus Protocol and Cloud Eater provided a particularly nasty surprise for the unsuspecting Runner.
On the Runner side, the cut was dominated by Shaper, with 5 Lat and a World Tree Arissana in the top 8. Between “boring” Aniccam lists, the "Belgian” Swift Lat, and a lone LilyPAD list (akin to Bridgeman’s EMEA version), there was significant variety in the Lat builds, though most still featured Deep Dive as a potent finisher.
Tradon's Turbine Hoshiko was the sole Anarch representation, but perhaps the most interesting Runner list of the Top Cut belonged to ryanbantwins. The Belgian meta is known for its affection towards Swift Lat, but ryanbantwins reprised his Deep Dive Swift Sable from ICC, taking it all the way to 2nd place.
The Final
15 influence for 3 events might seem like a high price to pay, but a 6-click turn was enough for his Deep Dive to find the winning Ikawah Project against AugustusCaesar and reset the bracket during Winner's Finals. This set the stage for AugustusCaesar's epic showdown against ryanbantwins and the MAD Combo Ob that knocked him out of EMEA’s cut last month.
The Grand Finals was a cagey affair, with AugustusCaeser mostly controlling asset pushes in remote servers, though occasional pokes on central servers left him with a 5-point lead heading into the last few turns, which were so dramatic that they deserve their own deep dive.
Having run all 3 central servers and forcing the final Spin Doctor out of the game, the 2024 Swedish Nationals winner smelt blood in the water and took their shot. The players, judges, and onlookers all hold their breath as ryanbantwins methodically reveals the top 8 cards of R&D...
No agendas. The Deep Dive has whiffed… but it's not over yet. Thanks to Sable (hosted on DJ Fenris) and a Swift click of his own, AugustusCaesar plays the second Deep Dive from hand, dropping down to a single credit. Eons seem to pass in a matter of seconds as ryanbantwins forlornly shuffles his deck and flips 8 new cards off the top, adamant that this will be his undoing.
The script was written; having just lost to Deep Dive stealing 3 points in the first game of the finals, surely this was going to be how AugustusCaesar takes his revenge for EMEA. That is… unless this one also misses, but lightning can't strike twice... can it?
Against all odds, it can, and it does. With 0 agendas found in two Deep Dives, a pair of Stoneship Chart Rooms and the 4 cards left in stack are all that stands between Lat and an impending flatline.
Biotic Labor and Mutually Assured Destruction immediately follow from ryanbantwins, but after refusing to use either of the Stoneships immediately, one is trashed with the final click and the turn is passed.
On 1 credit and 4 tags, things are looking bleak, but Mystic Maemi credits and a Bravado help Augustus clear 3 tags and narrowly avoid disaster. With no Spin Doctors left, though, Ob fate is sealed, and a few turns later sees a single access on HQ paying off.
It would seem that Roman Emperors are "built different", as AugustusCaesar scrambled back the win after some horrible luck with Deep Dives. Despite a strong showing of local talent in the Top Cut, the wayfarer claims his second National title of 2024.
Though the recent changes to the Organised Play Season means we won’t see any tournaments by the name of 'Nationals' next year, this event left me in no doubt of the level of interest in—and quality of—the German 'District' & 'Megacity' Championship tournaments that we have to look forward to in 2025.
Final Standings
AugustusCaesar (TAI Breakers) - PD / Lat
ryanbantwins – Ob / Sable
ddark - PD / Lat
MihauStunet – R+ / Arissana
Watslav - PD / Lat
Der Kaiser - AgInfusion / Lat
lazychef - AgInfusion / Lat
Tradon – Asa / Hoshiko
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biggest Jonald fan here. Really enjoyed the report
Great write up! But who is my *favorite* commentator? I'll have to say it's a *tie*. B good, y'all.