Mandatory Mushy Brains

TheseGlyphs 265

Shout out to Phrydephisch for their awesome Dain Bramage deck (http://netrunnerdb.com/en/decklist/21923/dain-bramage#), which I've had a blast playing over the last few days and inspired this slightly different take on the Mushi / Cerebral formula.

Basic idea is use Mushi to drop out agendas or Cerebrals - if they're brave enough to steal an agenda, double Punitive Counterstrike for the flatline.

Adding x3 Mandatory Upgrades is the big change here - with Mushi you can score them in 2 turns which is just bonkers.

Fake one out early as a Cerebral Overwriter with Mushi and you've got the rest of the game locked up. If they do steal, it's only a 2-pointer and once they've seen it they pretty much have to run your next Mushin - which of course is going to be a Cerebral! 4-click turns in any Corp deck are crazy, but here they're particularly savage: one extra card draw (or 2 with Jackson) per turn is huge in a smaller deck, and the 4th click opens up possibilities for top-level jank such as double Mushin, triple Punitive with Archived Memories, triple-advanced Cerebrals out of hand, etc.

If you Mushi out a Cerebral and they're too scared to run it, stick a Shell Corporation under it and start powering it up to boost your Punitive Counterstrike traces.

As much as I love the Domestic Sleepers from Phrydephisch's original, I cut them here to free up a couple of slots for ICE, as now that there's the 2-pointers in there they don't do quite as much. Added Vipers so there's at least some ICE that can't just be clicked through.

Also swapped out Green Level Clearance for another Restructure and x2 Enhanced Login Protocol - with such a powerful current in faction it seemed crazy not to run it, and I've found Jackson provides enough draw given the smaller deck size and lack of one-ofs.

Anyway this is my first deck posting here so thoughts / comments / criticisms all welcome!

5 comments
15 Jun 2015 StarryVeck

I like it. I like it so much I think I'll try it. Mandatory Upgrades plus Enhanced Login Protocol is a fantastic piece of synergy. The click swing towards the corp must be seriously painful for the runner.

As you generally finding you've enough money to use the Restructures/rez the Heimdall 2.0s?

15 Jun 2015 TheseGlyphs

Thanks man, let me know how it goes!

Econ-wise, this deck can actually run pretty poor - installing a 3-token Overwriter with Mushin costs precisely 0 credits, and you only need 3c to fire if they access. If they don't run it, then you've got protection for your shell corp, which enables big money. I've not paid to rez a heimdall yet - that's what PriReq is there for :)

18 Jun 2015 LimiterDrive

I like the deck, I have made many similar changes to my own build, particularly the ice suite. Enhanced Login Protocol is a great idea. I will echo the idea that the deck can run poor, so long as you can use Jackson to help keep your hand clear. Shell Corporation will probably help with that.

My question is how do you find the Punitives with only four 3 pointers?

18 Jun 2015 phrydephisch

So, @LimiterDrive was logged on on my computer, and I didn't realize until I hit enter on that last comment that it wasn't my account. Sorry!

19 Jun 2015 TheseGlyphs

I'd say hitting a 3 pointer punitive isn't necessarily the primary win condition of this deck, although the threat of it is crucial. Once the runner has hit a Cerebral with 3 tokens on it (either from Mushi or a scored Mandatory Upgrades), you can flatline with any of the agendas in this deck, so as soon as you have a Punitive in hand you can score out with impunity. Most games I've won by hitting 7 points rather than with the flatline.