Theory of Chaos Theory

LSK 4662

So, I've been thinking a lot about what it means for a Netrunner deck to be "aggro" or "control". In most games, an aggro deck wants to end the game as soon as possible, and a control deck wants to prolong the game until they build up a commanding lead. The traditional definitions for those words don't feel right when applied to the Netrunner dynamic, though; you can't end the game when you want to in Netrunner.

To me, the aggro/control dynamic in Netrunner is whether a deck wants to disrupt the corp by creating threats or by making it impossible to score. An example of the former is the traditional MaxX build, with Siphons and Keyhole - the corp simply has to answer these cards, or they'll lose before they can score out. An example of the latter is a well-played Prepaid Kate, which can build up money and access agenda servers when necessary.

This strange deck is definitely control. You have Clot, which is the premier tool for stopping fast advance; you have Plascrete, which is the best way to slow down Butcher Shop. Your entire game plan is to slow the corp down until you do weird things.

Let's talk about those weird things.

This is, above all else, a Chaos Theory deck with Hyperdrivers. There have been a few predecessors in a similar vein - most notably, Faust Theory (which uses Game Day/Bagbiter to draw the entire deck and fuel a Faust) and my own Hypershitfucker (which inexplicably tried to mill the corp with DLR).

The above decks aren't the end-all be-all of CT Hyperdriver decks. Bagbiter has lots of moving parts and doesn't have the influence for Clot or the ability to run before the combo is set up. Hypershitfucker just isn't guaranteed to get you points.

More than those decks, this deck is influenced by the playstyle of Daine's drip-econ Kate deck, which is as control as control gets. That deck seeks to disrupt every avenue available to Corp victory, down to Stimhacking in to steal agendas, until it assembles enough drip econ to prevent the corp from closing the game. Like this Kate deck, this CT deck aims to disrupt corp scoring attempts by actually accessing their agendas. Without Feedback Filter or Film Critics, this deck's disruption package is somewhat less robust, but still generally sufficient to prolong the game.

The biggest difference between this deck and the above Kate deck, though, is the payload. While the Kate deck aims to R&D lock with multiple RDIs, this deck tries to end the game immediately as soon as it reaches a lead, with the now-familiar mechanism of Hyperdriver/Keyhole.

The specific combo turn is something like this:

Use 2 or 3 Hyperdrivers (hosted on Leprechauns)

Vamp the corp

Legwork the corp

Keyhole a lot

Run archives

Play any Notorieties

Unlike Faust Theory, you won't always have all the pieces - you might not have Legwork, and you might not have all your Notoriety - but the Vamp/Keyhole line of play is so good, it doesn't matter. You'll almost certainly see enough agenda points to end the game, and if you don't, you still have the corp at 0 credits and a Keyhole out.

Since the combo is how you want to end the game, it's important to clear any Jackson Howards in advance. If there's any ambiguity as to whether a server has JHow in it, you can stall; this deck isn't under any pressure to run until the corp is threatening game point.

The breakers are cheap but functional. Chameleon is your in-faction Mimic. It's not great but you're only using breakers for a few runs in any given game, so they don't need to have a lot of long-term efficiency.

Specific omissions: Levy AR Lab Access, Film Critic, Feedback Filter, Employee Strike. These depend on the metagame you're expecting. You could play Employee Strike for the Haarp matchup. (In that case, the last influence would go into Utopia Shard, to make Legwork that much better.)

3 comments
29 Dec 2015 gandrasch

If you really just want to run this one turn wouldn't be a DDoS/False Echo more efficient instead of vamping?

29 Dec 2015 Wyrm

Bagbiter has lots of moving parts and doesn't have the influence for Clot or the ability to run before the combo is set up.

I don't believe this to be true, given how it was run during King of Servers. The deck you link even has Clot in it (which was swapped out for Vamp in KoS). You have the ability to make key runs prior to your setup, similar to Val with blackmail. Except with CT Bagbiter, you're using QT/(SMC/Faust) to enable.

29 Dec 2015 LSK

@Wyrm: That'll teach me to read the decks I link! The version of Bagbiter I ran at ChiLo didn't have a Vamp or Clot and felt generally ill-equipped to handle fast advance or make early runs. In my hands, at least, this deck feels comfortable making early runs.