Are you watching closely? v1.1 1st at Madison WI GNK 10-5-15

linuxmaier 702

I got 1st place at a 14 player Game Night Kit event in Madison, WI with Geist (interesting!) and NEH Team Sponsorship (boring!).

There's a much longer explanation at the original list, so I'll just go over the few changes and talk about some cards not included.


Changes

-1 Faerie +1 Shiv is basically because in most cases, Shiv is the better card. Faerie has game against Archer which is very important, but the most common sentries you'll be breaking are Caduceus, Architect and Ichi these days, and all of those are well within Shiv's effective range and Shiv gets you a bonus card for your trouble.

-1 Cerberus Rex, +1 Passport was to make sure that I had an un-drainable decoder for HQ. My previous version was pretty weak to stacked code gates over HQ since it would drain my tokens really fast and if I couldn't find enough Crowbars to get in, I'd be suffering. Passport means that as long as I've got money (and if I can get into HQ I'll tend to have it) I can keep getting in.

-1 Plascrete +1 Same Old Thing is because I found I didn't need both plascretes to survive the murder matchups as long as I was careful, and extra Same Old Things are more Siphons which are the bread and butter of the deck.

-1 Legwork +1 HQ Interface is probably the most borderline change. HQI is more expensive and slower than Legwork, which is definitely a downer in the deck. On the plus side, it works with Street Peddler, doesn't tax Same Old Thing and, most usefully, it provides a good backup to Siphon if they manage to spend all your money before you get in. It also increases your baseline pressure against HQ which is valuable for forcing ICE rezzes when you want to pressure RnD or a remote instead.


Other Cards

I tried out Fisk Investment Seminar because I thought it would be awesome for the deck, given the amount of money denial you employ. However, it turned out that if you didn't play it at exactly the right time, speeding up the corp when you're trying to lock them down is really bad. If I put a card in the deck that's going to be tough to play effectively, I want its upside to be a lot better than Fisk Investment Seminar.

I also tried several builds that put Dyson into the deck, including Sneakdoor Beta builds, Medium builds and even a Parasite build and I didn't like any of them. The late game is definitely better if you can install power cards like Sneakdoor or Medium, but what ultimately gets cut to make room for them is money cards like Security Testing. Simultaneously making the deck poorer and more expensive is tough pressure to put on this deck's early game, which is probably the most crucial phase (since if you can get a Siphon in successfully early, you're in really good shape).

I don't like Fall Guy in this build either, since its efficiency doesn't reach the level of any of the cards I'd replace it with. Some people have have enjoyed swapping the Sure Gambles for Fall Guys, but I'd rather have the extra 2 credits than the card early. The same goes for every other card in the deck as it currently is; they're all giving me a better baseline return than 2 credits and a card (Shiv, Spike and Crowbar are often giving me at least that much in savings, plus letting me into servers and Dirty Laundry is often 3 credits and a run I would have made anyway, so I could just use the spare click saved from that run to draw a card and I still end up ahead of Fall Guy).

One card I almost pull every time I edit the deck is Levy AR Lab Access, but I think it should stay in for now. It mitigates variance by giving you a way to recycle your pressure if the agendas manage to avoid you long enough for you to deck yourself. Most games you should win before you Levy, but if for some reason you don't, Levy lets you lock in a win that would have otherwise escaped you.


Let me know if you've got any suggestions! I'm particularly looking for a card to cut to allow me to play a 3rd Crescentus, as that card is just golden and the earlier you see it, the better.

13 comments
6 Oct 2015 moistloaf

Glad to see the Passport change. I slightly modified your list for my first experiments with Geist and that was one change I made. Passport is just so incredibly efficient.

7 Oct 2015 yann

Maybe cut Cerberus "Rex" H2 for Crescentus now that you have Passport? I guess code gates over Str 5 on a remote would be really bad. But how often do you see them? Althoug you couldn't derez Tollbooth on a remote anymore. Probably bad.

7 Oct 2015 yann

Oh you can derez Tollbooth with Crowbar if you have a Clone Chip and Crescentus in the heap. Still not sure it it's a good idea.

7 Oct 2015 linuxmaier

I try not to rely on the B&E breakers to get me in, since their transitory nature means they can't always be relied on to be there (and they are easier to exhaust by bluffs). Cerberus "Rex" H2 is effectively permanent for a scoring remote since it's easy to recur with so many other programs to install, so i feel like it's an ok compromise between reliability and influence. If i was just using Crowbar for remotes, Quandary Enigma server would be a nightmare and I'd almost certainly have to start packing expose to make sure i didn't waste any precious tools.

I view B&E as hybrid running econ/Inside Job penetration tools, except they draw me cards, are paid ability speed recyclable and combo with run events. Relied on to be primary breakers, they'll let you down.

9 Oct 2015 FBI.Net

Im collecting as many geist decks as i can find. really Liking this one. I think geist well be a solid contender one day. Just a note on strength 5 code gates. I would say there very common. Turing seems to be going in decks in there 2 and 3s because noise HB anyway. And Secondly Tollbooth.

16 Oct 2015 Nil0

Add a third Crescentus instead of the second Security Testing? Worth it, or not?

16 Oct 2015 linuxmaier

@Nil0 it's a close call, but i think I'd keep Security Testing. The reasoning is that it's money that requires no investment to start paying off in the early game, which is really valuable. In the first 4 turns of the game,.sec testing makes you money while Crescentus costs investment. I currently wouldn't want to upset the cost::economy ratio if i can help it, but sec testing is the weakest econ card and Crescentus one of the more powerful denial cards, so it's still a close call.

16 Oct 2015 Nil0

What are you doing against common sentries like Architect and Rototurret?

16 Oct 2015 linuxmaier

@Nil0 aggressively derez. If they insist on paying 4 to charge me 0 (and sometimes draw me cards) over and over, that's perfect. Sentries tend to be expensive to rez compared to their break cost, so if you sniff then out focus your Crescentus on those to wage economic war.

16 Oct 2015 Nil0

Ok thank you. Going to win a tournament tomorrow with your deck. :D

17 Oct 2015 linuxmaier

@Nil0 good luck! Let me know how it goes!

17 Oct 2015 Nil0

It was amazing. 4th after 5 rounds with 19 participants. Geist performed well (3 wins?) and was super-fun to play. My corp was BabW by the way. I will stick to that runner for sure.

19 Oct 2015 ArgusSec

I've had good games with this, except when i need that extra strength. I'm trying Access to Globalsec because that was the only problem I've had so far. Changed 1 Cres and 1 Rex to AtG's