Long time reader, first time commenter…
The short version is I get a ton out of reading decklists and general discussion here, but still make lots of silly mistakes, and would like to read more about play analysis, and so I’m going to pose for discussion two of the (to me) interesting decisions that came up. Part of the problem is that it’s hard to recreate the game state completely or even very well from memory, and so maybe I’m looking less at “what’s the right line of play in exactly this situation”, as “what is generally the right line of play, and what is most likely to make you change your mind”.
Decklists (both shameless card for card netdecks), and slightly more about me/the tournament after the questions.
1: Me Stealth Andy (no Kati) vs. Tenin (looked a lot like Tomasz)
Line, short version: losing interfaces to pup damage in order to make money off Security Testing+desperado:
I was not happy to see this ID come down, as with mostly run economy it felt like I could get poor and it would be ugly. R&D and HQ got iced several deep, with a pup on archives and later a swordsman over it. I had Mr. Li and security testing, and a little later desperado, and the line in question is that I wound up spending several digging for the rest of the stealth rig (maybe I had faerie?) with Mr. Li, putting down any piece of that I find, and then running archives, taking the pup damage so that I would make some money.
Mostly this seems like a fine line, except I wound up losing both R&D interfaces and my HQ interface to the pup damage…but I was just too worried about being broke, and playing interfaces wasn’t going to help that…
I wound up winning this game. He only got to use the Tenin ability once, and eventually I got the stealth rig out so I could make the archives run without taking damage if need be, and used an account siphon to make him go broke rezzing ice on HQ so that I could get cheap R&D access – turns out he had a Successful demonstration in hand that he never got to use.
But ditching all that multi-access seems like it could have backfired…
2: Me ToL NEH (“the alternative” from nrdb) vs. Leela (looked like Dave’s ?)
Line: using astro token + breaking news to trash Kati, his only economy in sight.
He didn’t have desperado or security testing. I hadn’t yet seen the lucky find – his only source of money was kati. I’d scored an astro off of san-san – Leela didn’t get to triggered because I’d rezzed everything. He had then trashed the san-san, and I didn’t have another, or other agendas in hand at the time. I remember ice walls on the HQ and R&D, maybe a pop-up, too. I didn’t have any drip economy going.
I really think this play was a mistake – the astro-train is just too strong, and I was just short-sighted in breaking it up to deal with the immediate threat. Wound up getting agendas piling up in my hand with no way to get them out. Interesting bit later where he ran HQ, with a decent chance of plucking an agenda out, and so I rezzed a pad campaign before he accessed, because it was the only thing he bounced. Of course, this tipped him off, and he went back to the HQ well a few times for the win.
But, more generally, when is it right to break up the astrotrain to take advantage of Breaking News tags? I feel the answer should be rarely, but not “never”.
Decklists, for easy access:
licoricemaniac’s "The Alternative: Red + Green=Yellow
Near-Earth Hub: Broadcast Center (Upstalk)
Agenda (11)
3x AstroScript Pilot Program (Core Set)
2x Breaking News (Core Set)
3x NAPD Contract (Double Time)
3x Project Beale (Future Proof)
Asset (8)
3x Jackson Howard (Opening Moves)
3x Marked Accounts (Cyber Exodus)
2x PAD Campaign (Core Set)
Upgrade (3)
3x SanSan City Grid (Core Set)
Operation (11)
2x Fast Track (Honor and Profit)
3x Hedge Fund (Core Set)
3x Sweeps Week (True Colors)
3x Trick of Light (Trace Amount) ••••• ••••
Barrier (5)
2x Eli 1.0 (Future Proof) ••
3x Ice Wall (Core Set) •••
Code Gate (8)
3x Pop-up Window (Cyber Exodus)
2x Quandary (Double Time)
3x Tollbooth (Core Set)
Sentry (3)
3x Shadow (Core Set) •••
17 influence spent (max 17)
20 agenda points (between 20 and 21)
49 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Upstalk
Decklist published on http://netrunnerdb.com.
Kookoobah’s Stealth Andro(no)medium
Event (15)
3x Account Siphon (Core Set)
3x Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control)
2x Inside Job (Core Set)
1x Legwork (Honor and Profit)
3x Special Order (Core Set)
3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)
Hardware (9)
3x Desperado (Core Set)
3x Silencer (Double Time)
2x R&D Interface (Future Proof) ••••
1x HQ Interface (Humanity’s Shadow)
1x Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead)
1x Feedback Filter (Creation and Control) •
Resource (10)
3x Ghost Runner (The Spaces Between)
2x John Masanori (Opening Moves)
1x Mr. Li (Future Proof)
3x Security Testing (Honor and Profit)
Icebreaker (7)
1x Corroder (Core Set) ••
2x Faerie (Future Proof)
1x Passport (Honor and Profit)
1x Refractor (First Contact) ••
2x Switchblade (Up and Over)
Program (3)
3x Cloak (Creation and Control) ••••••
More background: I’ve only been playing since this summer, but watched a lot of worlds coverage and it’s gotten me fired up (I understand all the complaints people had about how it was ran, here, but as a near-beginning spectator the coverage was great at getting me into the game), and since then I’ve won the last two GNK tournaments at my local store (Sheffield, UK) – the first had 16 people and I won playing Spag’s Kate deck from worlds and a PE deck pretty close to Hinkes, with a little Minh-ish stuff (sweeps week, not shattered remains 
), and the tournament this weekend had 9 people and I ran the decks above. In between, however, I came in middle of the pack in a 25 person GNK in York – the lowlight being losing to a Professor deck. Although, that tournament was great because it was won by the Sheffielder who went out, who had been the runner up in each of the recent Sheffield tournaments. This last tournament, after his Leela beat me, we were tied, and whoever won the last game would win the whole thing…but he was playing PE, and Stealth Andy with Feedback Filter is so ugly for that deck.