Neal's Last Words

by Byron "Neal" Massey

Neal Goes Crazy

That's right, the eternal darkness of El Nino has driven me over the edge. I'm putting my hard-earned money on the table in my first-ever cash prize contest.

Send me your deck recipes. Not those tired, boring old ones that have been around since Charles Babbage. Send me your most original, most innovative, most entertaining, most successful deck ever. Something no one has ever thought of before, something that is fun, creative, and winning.

If you send me the best deck recipe, I'll send you an autographed card and twenty US dollars.

All entries must be made by email to neal@nealhere.com. Entries received after June 13 are automatically disqualified. A complete entry consists of a postal address, an email address, a name, a Netrunner deck list, and any explanation the contestant wishes to submit. Incomplete entries may or may not be considered.

"Send me your dream decks, someone has to win the money."

The winning entry will be published in Neal's Last Words. Contestants agree to allow such publication, free of charge, obligation or royalty, by entering the contest.

No prize will be awarded unless 10 complete entries are submitted before June 13. Each contestant may only submit one (1) Stack and one (1) R&D. Submitting a second Stack or R&D disqualifies the contestant.

Each entry will receive an email response listing the official rankings of their deck. All rulings, rankings, and decisions are final. Contestants agree to waive their right to dispute any contest issue through entry. Void where prohibited or taxed. No purchase necessary.

The entries will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Originality (0-10)
Decks that are based on concepts unknown to me will receive high rankings. Decks that are tired and well-known retreads will receive low rankings.

Creativity (0-10)
This is a measure of the ingeniousness of your plan. A two-card combo might be very Original but not very creative. Do something clever and you will receive a high ranking. Do something straightforward and you will not.

Use of Unpopular Cards (0-5)
If you make a Stack with Hell's Run and Rabbit, you get five points. If you make a Stack with ten Bodyweight Synthetic Blood and ten Loan from Chiba, you get zero points.

Use of Duplicates (0-5)
If your deck only has 5 different cards, you get zero points. If it has 45 different cards, you get 5 points.

Entertainment (0-10)
This catagory is totally subjective. It tries to measure how fun it is to play your entry. In general, having a great plan that requires some decision making during play is the best.

Strength in Play (0-10)
If your deck nearly always wins, you get ten points. If it could never possibly win, you get zero.

Remember, even if your deck scores zero in a single catagory, you can still win the contest if you do well in all the other catagories. What are you waiting for? Send me your dream decks, someone has to win the money.