Blackguard of the Red Queen - version 2.0

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Blackguard of the Red Queen
Inspiration for
guardia roja v1.0
There's a Noisy Woman in a Dress Causing Havoc on the DLR
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Heartthrob 2490

Version 2.0 of my Reina+Blackguard deck...

Important changes to V 1.0: - 3 Raymond Flint -1 Hemorrhage -1 Daily Casts -1 Liberated Account -1 Sharpshooter

  • 2 Katie Jones
  • 1 Sacrificial construct Trimmed the fat off so this is now a 45-card deck.

The deck wants to force the corp to rez all the ice that we want them to rez, when we want them to rez it, and at a premium price using Blackguard + Xanadu, Rook and Reina's ID + Snitch.

After some testing, it's clear that this deck loves Snitch. Get it up early and make sure you know what ice are out there before you get the Blackguard out there.

Blackguard + Snitch combo with Xanadu + Rook = Sicknasty!

But you have to be very strategically deliberate with what you force them to rez. The combo works best when...

a. They have a lot of ice in a lot of places b. They don't have money to rez more than one or two pieces of ice c. They have multiple remotes with unrezzed ice and have to choose to install an agenda in one (hint: make them rez the unused server ice and make them broke) d. You know where all their lame non-ETR ice are

BTW it is hilarious to force them to rez a Pop-Up window for 4-credits when they can't really afford to...sorry @PatFizzle22.

Although it still hasn't happened, I still dream of the game where I Blackguard an Archer and the corp is forced to sac a Project Atlas...oh baby.

Testing is going very well for the Queen's Blackguard. The 3x Mr. Li has been key to getting what you need early- and mid-game as well.

11 comments
3 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

Side note: Chimera is this deck's best friend ever.

3 Mar 2014 Crazimir

What about MU - have you had any issues there? I see not a lot of room for Caissa or Keyhole with a suite of 3 breakers, a Snitch and 1-2 Datasuckers? How do you handle that aspect?

I love the idea of Blackguard in a Reina Roja-deck, btw! :)

3 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

I was worried about that too when I built the deck, but MU hasn't been a problem yet. The +2 from Blackguard let's you keep everything that you need out there to run the combo.

One thing about this deck is that a lot of your runs you won't even be using breakers to get in, instead you are forcing them to spend money on the wrong servers. Thx to snitch you know exactly which breakers you need and when you'll need them. It's so powerful to take away the corp's surprise element with their ice, too. Very late game you won't need snitch or rook anymore, so you can have your three breakers, data sucker and a keyhole.

I love the idea of Blackguard in a Reina Roja-deck, btw! :)

Thx bro! @AKanderson threw out the idea first and I took the concept and built it. Realized it was not only feasible, but pretty powerful. Hope other people can play test it a bit and find some good tweaks...

3 Mar 2014 DarkeningLight

Just a note that you can never force the corp to rez something like Archer. They are forced to pay it's rez cost, 4. But they can choose not to pay the additional cost and derez archer.

3 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

Interesting @DarkeningLight. Now that you mention it I think that you're right (well....maybe. It does say they must rez the ice if able). Ruling needed? Or is there a precedent ruling already out there that I haven't seen?

But doesn't that make Blackguard even better? Even if they haven't scored an agenda yet you can force them to pay 4 or more credits for an Archer that doesn't get rezzed. It's still great for the runner!

3 Mar 2014 AkAnderson

DarkeningLight- can you explain that, please? I'm not disagreeing, I just want to know what ruling or situation makes Archer different than other ICE. Thanks

3 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

Ok, so let's break this down a bit...

Archer:

ICE: Sentry - Destroyer • Rez: 4 • Strength: 6 • Influence: 2 As an additional cost to rez Archer, the Corp must forfeit an agenda. The Corp gains 2. Trash 1 program. Trash 1 program. End the run. Next time, read the Terms of Service more carefully. Or you might find yourself in the danger zone. Weyland Consortium • Mike Nesbitt • Core Set #101

An expose triggers Blackguard, which in turn triggers the effect that "the Corp must rez it by paying its rez cost, if able." The cost of Archer is 4 credits + the Corp must forfeit an agenda. That's its cost to rez. The forfeit of agenda is not a trigger from rezzing. So if the corp can pay rez costs, then they must do so. It works as originally thought. In fact, if there are no scored agendas then Blackguard has no effect on Archer - they pay All or Nothing.

This seems more consistent with rez costs.

4 Mar 2014 tavocado

I'm playing a very similar deck with Crescentus + Emergency Shutdown to force the corp to keep rezzing the same pieces of ice.

Main problem I'm having with it is I'm struggling to cycle through my deck. Normally I use John Masanori if I'm making a lot of runs but with Snitch being such a prominent part this isn't possible. Been thinking about quality time but might to try Mr. Li instead. Also it takes a while to get the rig up and running and if NBN have their first Astro scored it can be difficult to catch up.

I'm using Djinn to help with the memory problem plus I can tutor Datasuckers and Parasites. I've also included Clone Chips to recycle my Rooks/Parasites/Crescentus but I'm yet to find a time I've needed to use them.

My concern with this deck is 2x Stimhacks + only the 1 Plascrete Carapace you might struggle against a Weyland Scorced/Counterstrike/Power Shutdown combo deck.

4 Mar 2014 tavocado

OH also running 2x Lemuria Codecracker as it's essentially a payed version of Silhouette ability but I haven't had a chance to use it.

7 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

@tavocado. I tried the crescentus combo to make them pay twice for the same ice, but I found it unnecessary in most instances. Usually, the Rook+Xanadu+Reina makes the first forced rez painful enough.

I love Mr. Li in this deck to get to Snitch early on. My deck runs like a normal Anarch breaker with Blackguard+Snitch as a killer mid-game combo that makes the corp broke and punishes ice placement errors.

You're right about the stimhacks, it's switched now to +2 Blackmail, -2 Stimhack. If you make them properly broke you don't have to fear the Weyland Scorch combos as much...I beat a Power Shutdown combo last weekend by winning the money game.

Blackmail is good in this deck because you can force them to rez Muckraker or Fenris and make them take that bad pub at the right moment.

9 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

Of course the recent ruling means this combo does nothing to Archer...oh well, you're still safer than most runners because of Snitch.