Clotline Bling - 1st GLC Finals / 2nd ChiLo Grudge Match

ekayohlee 1439

"You used to fast advance your Astros.."

I brought this deck to Chicago's Netrunner weekend extravaganza, with the ChiLo City Grudge Match / Great Lakes Circuit Last Chance Qualifiers (an ANR Pro Circuit event) on Saturday, and the GLC finals on Sunday. It went into ChiLo's Top 8 as the top seed (44 players), eventually taking 2nd place. At the GLC finals (24 players), the deck went into the Top 4 as the fourth seed, going undefeated and winning me $500 -- paired with my Detroit winnings, I'm pretty sure this makes me the highest-paid pro Netrunner player :P

The deck's record for the entire weekend was 12-3, with two losses to Spags' NEH TS/TB (three wins tho), and one to Travis Chance's Argus. That seems pretty good! Especially considering the events attracted the best players from seven different states, including many regional winners, T16 Nationals players, T16 Worlds players, etc. I really wanted to bring Noise to the U.S. Nationals this year but stuck with Whizzard since I didn't have any practice with the former, and I regretted it after the Master Gamer completely failed me. I immediately picked up Noise after Nationals to see if I can play him adequately.


"Late night when you need that win"

Ohio is filled with strong Noise players who are better and more experienced with him than me, so I had to rely on watching their games, asking for their advice, and running ideas/card choices by them to figure out how to play the ID. Much thanks to those guys! I also learned a lot playing against Pacer at Nationals and watching his games. Like most other modern Noise decks, this uses hi_impact's Good Things on Sale build as a base.

My build is closest to Josh (1.0) Wilson's, though, as I tried to take a lot of his ideas and make it work with my play style. Both Cyber Feeder and Daily Casts help make waiting for Aesop to show up bearable. The single I've Had Worse is good for surviving some damage, fueling Faust, and drawing for pieces. I hate losing Deja Vus and important pieces to Street Peddler, so I only have two -- Josh doesn't play any, but he draws more aggressively than I do. The two Clots are critical. I wish I could fit in a third Lamprey, so I can headlock easier when those opportunities come up.


"I know when that Clotline Bling.."

I've heard Noise has a weak match-up to Team Sponsorship HB and NEH, but I never felt like I didn't have control against the former, and I got better and better against the latter as the weekend progressed against the latter. It's obvious, but just check every remote, recur Clot, drop Faust if they try to score behind ICE, recur Clot, maximize Aesop use every turn, recur Clot, keep extras of Wyldside and Aesop in hand, recur Clot, check archives after a virus wipe, recur Clot, poke the weakest centrals, and recur Clot. You don't even need to Imp the Team Sponsorships sometimes (or SanSan City Grids!) since they're never going to score once you're setup.

Tremendous thanks to everyone who helped organize the absolutely stellar ChiLo and GLC events, along with everyone who ran and participated in ANRPC tournaments. Big ups to the generous folks who made/brought special prizes to share with the community (Tony Sarkees, Jack Otto, Joseph Man). Congrats to our new ChiLo champion Spags.

5 comments
25 Sep 2015 desertfox42

Congrats on a glorious Noise finish!

To my mind, you've made 4 choices to build on what I consider a 41 card Noise shell, and I'd love to pick your brain about them!

  1. 2 Cyberfeeders and 2 Daily Casts to round out the econ. Picking from cyber, casts, shez, or dirty laundry all seem like meta-call, and 2-4 of that bunch seems good. What were your thoughts on this composition?

  2. Second clot. This I'm 100% on board with. Moving on!

  3. Adding an IHW. This would be nice to have in a scorching meta and has utility for Faust/dig. But at what cost....

  4. Cutting 1 D4VID and 1 Street Peddler for those +2 slots.

The IHW seems like a straight swap for the third peddler, and if we hold onto the 2nd clot, then a D4VID fell for an econ card. Could you elaborate on these two choices and whether you'd keep as is in future competitions?

3 Oct 2015 travisrchance

@ekayohlee Hey, Eric! Nice job! I have built this deck, card for card, and played 40+ games--doing quite well after a few small revisions.

I know it is the cliche for someone else to "improve" upon a list, esp without trying it as is, but I played about 12 games with the original list and encountered the same issues over and over.

I think the deck can just get awk openers--I mulligan a lot. Things like Chronotype, which does nothing without good ol' Wyldside, were only made worse by the one-off I've Had Worse--which I have since dropped. I had 5+ games where I had no Faust, and just sat there as the game happened. I feel having this breaker to get to work on faster decks/ballsier players is more beneficial than 1 I've Had Worse, hoping if they go to kill me it pans out in a flatline situation.

Further, I was not finding Peddler to be very helpful, as games can often drag out if you are collaterally milling things (ICE/econ/agendas). I love Peddler, esp. for the ambush tactics, but I often found myself losing cards I would have rather drawn--every virus can count, as milling is a viable option. I felt like barfing when cutting this, but I just continued to be put in a situation where I was losing more than gaining, even in a pinch. Games tend to go long, so planning accordingly seems correct.

So the changes I made:

-1 I've Had Worse -2 Street Peddler +1 Lamprey +1 Faust +1 Daily Casts (why not)

Part of me wonders if Feeder is really worth it. The investment and tempo hit to install feel substantial when you are grinding. Leaning on Faust means that I am only ever using this for cheaper installs--unless Corroder or Mimic hit the table at some point. To this end, 2 Daily Casts are prob fine also. I love Wanton Destruction in Noise, as so many corps will leave their hand open and it is soooooo high impact. I also wonder if a single Kati and Symmetrical Visage are the ticket, as they provide a nice lifeline in the way of credits and throughput--esp the later when you are digging for Wyldside.

Just some thoughts. I have always made fun of Aesop's/Wyldside, as it takes time to cobble together, and time is the most valuable resource in the game, but I quite like this deck. Thanks for sharing and hoping to see you soon!

3 Oct 2015 travisrchance

BAH! I thought I detailed my Feeder issue further. My other issue is that the investment, over the course of a game, if not drawn early, can feel nominal. I would want to use Feeder at least 4 times to feel like I was making headway, which makes me iffy on its inclusion. Were I using my other breakers, and paying through more often, I would think it a fine inclusion. But if I am poor, paying for this seems questionable. If I am rich, it doesn't really matter much. But it is damn nice when you get down two early in the game to abuse it.

As is, it just feels like a window of opportunity for the corp.

9 Oct 2015 LSK

Do you think Noise wants Trope these days?

21 Oct 2015 Xiaman

@ekayohlee I know when that clotline bling....

Fast advance don't mean a thing...

Ever since i played a clone chip YOU..

Started sweating more and scoring less now...