The Hostile Protocol v0.2

I've played several games with the first version of this deck, made a few tweaks and arrived here. This is my first writeup, so be gentle, Netrunnerds.

The Idea

The shiny centerpieces of the deck are Hostile Infrastructure and Encryption Protocol. Together, these two cards make trashing cards hellish. If you can get three of them in any combination rezzed, you've put the runner in a bad spot for trashing pretty much anything. Executive Retreat is there to get you these cards that much faster, and allows for mind games when you install something other than what you showed them. The rest of the cards play around this idea. If the runner does not trash your stuff you can ensure each run is painful.

Agendas

All agendas can be laid down and scored the next turn except Fetal AI and the first Medical Breakthrough. I chose to go for more of a 2-pointer/1-pointer mix to allow getting to the all-powerful Match Point faster than a more all-out "thousand cuts" 1-pointer spread. Other than that, it is a fairly standard choice; I only have 3 3/1 agendas, which House of Knives is my choice for, especially because of the Komainu killshot.

Economy and Assets

My only operation is Celebrity Gift, as I want to maximize the pressure on the runner to start trashing things. Shell Corporation is beautiful. You can stack them behind RSVP, under a Snare!, or even on top of a Hokusai Grid that happens to have a Fetal AI sitting on top of it! There truly is beauty still left in this world. I will usually take 6cr off of it, but if I want to really pressure the runner into a server I'll pile it on further. No scumbag hacker wants to see the Corp get 9 or 12 credits in one click.

Marked Accounts, PAD Campaign, and Ronin tempt the runner into being proactive about trashing things, which is what we want. One could even show them a Ronin with Executive Boot Camp to get them motivated. Strangely, one of the biggest threats to this deck is a runner who doesn't mess with me at all until the late game, when they can break ice and draw up after each steal. That's why points pressure is important, along with some motivational tools like Kitsune and Swordsman to ensure some pain. Also, even with only two Ronin in the deck, Executive Boot Camp lets to fetch your second one if you want to threaten the Double Ninja Finish. TOASTY.

Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics

Pretty light. We want the runner to come to us, but pay through the nose on the way in and once she arrives. Eli 1.0 is there to eat clicks, along with the surprising Hourglass. RSVP forces a decoder if they want to trash anything either from your hand, or you can stick it in front of one of your Hostile Takeover for extra credit.

If the gamestate calls for it, it is possible to build a taxing server if you prioritize what ICE goes there. Sometimes that is needed to get that runner spending credits for late-game scoring windows.

Swordsman to deal with those pesky Atman, Darwin and Overmind that show up, and Kitsune to set up a Snare! killshot.

75% of the ICE costs 3 or less to rez. Only Komainu, Hourglass and Neural Katana cost more, at 5, 5 and 4 respectively. This leaves you room for Snare! activations as well as Hostile Infrastructure rezzing on a successful run and a couple credits on hand to score stuff with.

Options

The ICE can be shifted around, and I likely will do this. I have Neural Katana only because it possesses kill power where Komainu on it's own does not; that being said, with how badly I try to score House of Knives, the second Komainu may turn out to be the better choice.

I find that any less ICE in these deck is usually a mistake, as repeated runner turns of "run, draw draw draw" become a very reliable way to beat you.

I would love to fit Neural EMP in somewhere, but it's like deciding whether I love my sister or my mom more.

I may swap an Executive Boot Camp for a Jackson Howard after a few games. Slighty less consistency in getting my power pieces, but card draw and recycling things may prove to have more utility; I doubt I would swap out more than one Executive Boot Camp, though.

The asset selection can be messed with. The main point is that it is a threat to the runner. If there are traps, they need to be active: Ronin, Reversed Accounts, maybe even Docklands Crackdown. The runner needs to have a reason to run your stuff, and if they don't, you need somewhere to dump that money so you can turn it into points or a kill.

If you made it this far, thanks! I would love feedback, especially if you're able to run it yourself. Stay frosty.