Reports from the Second Week of the Chronos Protocol Tour

Over the course of April, two megacorporations dueled in the shadows, spending untold resources to cajole, bribe, and blackmail those who would decide the fate of the Chronos Protocol. Which one had the most success? Will it be Haas-Bioroid or Jinteki that becomes the new leader in mind-mapping technology?

On Tuesday, we gave you a summary of events from the first week of Android: Netrunner‘s Chronos Protocol Tour. Today, we bring you the next five stops on the Tour!

Atlantis–Hamburg, Germany

Atlantis in Hamburg played host to the Chronos Protocol Tour during the second week of April. The event drew a group of dedicated, local players determined to swing the vote in favor of their preferred identity.

Atlantis’s players were almost equally divided between Criminal and Shaper for their Runner factions, with more than a third of the players fielding Andromeda. However, it was a Chaos Theory deck that eventually won the event, using Prepaid Voice PADs to pay for run and economy events and seize victories from unsuspecting Corps.

On the Corp side, competitors slanted heavily toward NBN and Haas-Bioroid, but every faction represented itself in the top eight, including the lone Jinteki player. The winning HB deck was a departure from the popular fast advance strategy, instead relying on taxing ICE and scoring agendas.

Patriot Games–Sheffield, United Kingdom

Patriot Games hosted Chronos Protocol event during the second week. This was the largest event of the Chronos Protocol Tour, drawing a spirited and competitive crowd.

The Corporation faction breakdown was fairly even, with NBN and HB in the lead and Jinteki and Weyland trailing. Surprisingly, Jinetki and Weyland took six slots in the top eight, only sharing the spotlight with two NBN decks.

For the Runners, nearly half the field was Criminal, with three Gabriel Santiago and two Andromeda decks seizing the top five, leaving Reina Roja, Kate, and Noise to take the last three spots in the top eight.

The champion, Nathan Holmes, brought Replicating Perfection and Gabriel Santiago, using a punishing suite of ICE on the Corp side and Datasucker and run events on the Runner side to bring him to victory.

Gamerz Nexus–Essex, United Kingdom

Another UK event took place a few hours south at Gamerz Nexus in Essex, where the players were determined to win at all costs.

While every faction made a solid showing at registration, the ever-popular Andromeda: Dispossessed Ristie led the way for the Runners in Essex, seizing six spots out of the top eight, including first place.

The Weyland Consortium was by far the most popular Corp faction, controlling exactly half of the field, followed by NBN in popularity. Similarly, Weyland scored and scorched its way to five of the top eight decklists. However, an NBN fast advance deck was the one to actually seize first place.

Playoteket–Malmö, Sweden

Farther north in Europe, a Chronos Protocol event was run at Playoteket in Maimö, Sweden, where devious Runners and powerful Corps struggled for power.

Bucking the trend of Criminal popularity, the competitors at Playoteket heavily favored Shaper; Kate “Mac” McCaffrey won the tournament and Shaper decks as a whole took three slots in the top eight. Criminal fans were not deterred, taking three spots of their own.

The corporate field was a near perfect split and every faction was represented in the top eight. However, an NBN: The World is Yours* deck scored its way to victory, again demonstrating the power of NBN’s fast advance strategy.

King of Cards–Auckland, New Zealand

On the other side of the world, players were playing tense matches at King of Cards in Auckland, New Zealand. The players in New Zealand were witness to a number of exciting games, including one in which a runner won by trashing the Corp’s entire R&D and a separate game where the Corp ended up with just one card left in R&D.

Shapers were quite popular on the runner side, with four identities in the top eight, including one Professor deck. William, the tournament champion, fielded a solid Chaos Theory deck, taking advantage of the Shapers’ ability to hit R&D hard and often.

For the corporations, NBN, Haas-Bioroid, and Jinteki were all substantially more popular than Weyland, which only saw two players. However, William piloted his Building a Better World deck to an undefeated record. He reports that the star card of his deck was an out-of-faction Aggressive Secretary, which allowed him to surprise several runners and destroy their rigs.

We’d like to thank King of Cards and all of the other stores that hosted the second week’s events. They were a huge success, and we look forward to hearing more from these great Android: Netrunner communities in the future.

Who Has the Lead?

While many players competed in the Chronos Protocol for glory, there is a greater prize yet to be awarded: the Chronos Protocol identity. During the second week, players continued to favor Jinteki’s brand of targeted mind-mapping, but there was a loud contingent of players who supported Haas-Bioroid’s more permanent solutions. It’s still anyone’s game, so stayed tuned for our next report from the Chronos Protocol Tour!

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