[Startup] Mind Games Hyoubu

My two most favorite things about Netrunner are alternate win conditions and mind games. And what corp is better at that than Jinteki? But we're not looking to just play some shell games here. We're looking to mess with the runner in every way possible. We don't want them to just sweat about what's in our remote server, R&D, or HQ, we want them to sweat that we might know exactly what they have in their grip! Why? Because we'd have a Complete Image, that's why. Ready to mess those runners up in the head? Let's get into it.

Win Condition 1: Simply Score Them Out

While this deck does have some kill conditions, the primary way you're likely going to win is via scoring. In truth, this deck is a bit of a fast advance Jinteki deck. By having nothing but 2 point agendas, you can easily score them out the turn after you install them, provided you have a Seamless Launch or La Costa Grid installed for the 4 cost agendas of course. And that's exactly what you should do. You should (almost) never spend a click to advance any card you install in your remote if you're not going to score it out. Just spend your last click installing something in there, and leave the runner guessing. This way, they can never know for sure if it's an agenda, or possibly a Spin Doctor, Urtica Cipher, or a Snare!

Speaking of which, this server almost always creates just one remote. The only time you may create more than one is if you're low on ICE early game and want to try shell gaming/psyching out the runner. Because who would install an agenda unprotected?

Win Condition 2: Nail Them with a Complete Image

Complete Image is probably the jankiest kill card in Netrunner. It has so many prerequisites before it can fire, it's only guaranteed to kill if the runner has a single card (or less) in their hand, and it's an operation with a trash cost! But we don't care, because when you do kill the runner with this card, it's the sweetest mind blowing victory you can achieve.

Of course, we're not against trying to setup a kill for this card either. While the runner hitting a Snare and using their last click to remove the tag can be a perfect (or near perfect) setup to nail them on your next turn, Ronin can provide that guaranteed damage if needed. The tricky thing with Ronin is that we don't want the runner to hit it when it's in your remote. This is why it's important to never advance a card unless you're going to score it out. That way, if you install a Ronin and never advance it yourself (just let La Costa do the work for you), if the runner chooses to avoid running it the first time around, and you don't score it afterwards, they're likely to think it's a Snare, Spin Doctor, or Urtica Cipher. All you need to do is wait, and when the runner has 4 or less cards in hand at the end of their turn, send your Ronin in, read their last card (if any) with your corp ability, and then send them packing with Complete Image.

Now you may be thinking that it sounds awfully hard to setup a kill with this deck. And yeah, it kind of is. It's not as guaranteed as other kill decks are, but it can do the job. And this where having nothing but 2 point agendas in your deck helps. Normally, your opponent having two agendas stolen is bad news. But requiring them to find four agendas for a win helps stall the game out just long enough for you to either score first, or setup the kill. Especially since you need them to have at least 3 agenda points stolen anyway.

So now that we've discussed the win cons, let's go over the other cards.

-Flower Sermon: An amazing card you're going to want to try to score at least one of if you can. The 5 agenda tokens you get is probably all you'll need the whole game, and it's perfect for messing with R&D access, especially with Snare! Stargates and Khusyuk's do unfortunately negate most trickery you would want to pull, but you might still manage to scoop an agenda from the runners access.

-Longevity Serum: Mostly here because it's easy to fast advance, and the slight recursion it offers can help get some key discarded cards like Snare! back in your deck.

-Nisei MK II: A solid Jinteki card that's still with us from the very beginning of the game! An instant End the Run effect is always handy to have in case of emergencies.

-Project Yagi-Uda: Once again, this is mostly here because it's easy to fast advance, but don't be afraid to advance it once more for an agenda counter if you have a La Costa or Seamless Launch. Being able to save a future agenda's bacon by swapping it out with something worthless (or deadly) could save you the game. If you're feeling extra gutsy, swap an agenda for a Ronin to all but guarantee the runner won't access it later on, assuming they fall for your bluff of course.

-Ronin: We've pretty much discussed the purpose of this card. You'll want to be careful when you install it in the remote, since it could clog up some scoring opportunities. Try to wait until you have a Complete Image in hand and/or a La Costa Grid installed before you put this bad boy down.

-Snare!: What Jinteki deck is complete without three Snares? Truly a philosophical question for the ages, but in the mean time, this deck gets to have extra fun with them. Whether it's using Flower Sermon to put them on top of R&D, revealing HQ with Celebrity Gift that also has an agenda in it (do you feel lucky punk?), reinstalling a Snare! with Drafter, or swapping it with an agenda or asset via Yagi-Uda means these little suckers can be just about anywhere.

-Spin Doctor: Mostly here to help with some card draw and agenda flooding. Also useful to trick the runner into running your remote only to get a handful of nothing.

-Urtica Cipher: Why only one? Simple my friend. MIND GAMES. If the runner sees this card in your deck, even if they're trashing it from HQ or R&D, they're going to be worried that there are others, making them even more cautious about running your remote. And of course, once it's in your Archives, you can just Drafter it back into your remote if needed.

-Celebrity Gift: A pretty staple Jinteki card made even better with this ID since you're revealing a card (or cards) from HQ, netting you a whopping 11 credits (8 credits gross) at max! Not bad at all.

-Complete Image: There's not much left to say about this card that we haven't already covered. The only thing I'll say is to not get too obsessed with having to get the perfect kill with this card. If the runner only has two cards in hand and they just trashed your fully loaded Ronin, maybe pull a pro gamer move by trying to reveal both cards with your corp ID and then attempting to correctly read which card Complete Image will zap first. If you get the 50/50 guess correct, you win the game!

-Hansei Review: Here to help boost your economy. Great cards to trash are Subliminal Messaging, Urtica Cipher (mind games!), a spare La Costa, or a piece of ICE you don't need.

-Hedge Fund: Need I say more?

-Seamless Launch: Useful to score out those 4 cost Agendas in a single turn, or to make a Yagi-Uda a little more useful. Could also be used to ramp up a Ronin quickly if needed, though only if he and Complete Image on your second and third clicks can get the kill (meaning the runner has 3 or less cards in hand).

-Subliminal Messaging: Did you know that when you retrieve this card from archives due to it's rules text that you technically reveal it? That means this card gets you 2 free credits baby! That alone makes having at least a single copy of this card in Hyoubu worth it.

-Anoetic Void: Useful for those times when you really want to keep the runner out of the remote (or you want them to think you really want them to stay out of the remote).

-La Costa Grid: While a bit expensive (though it's also expensive to trash) this thing simultaneously makes your agendas easier to score while also freely boosting your Ronin and Urtica. This might make the runner always want to run whatever you install in the remote server so it can't grow too deadly, but that's when you punish them with a Snare!

-Letheia Nisei: What mind games deck would be complete without Psi Games? And Letheia is quite handy at either keeping the runner out, or forcing them to go through the ICE grinder one more time, which just might put them in killing range (or open a score window if it drains their credits).

-Bran 1.0: Bran is here just in case you need to keep one of your servers locked up good. I have yet to use him though, so he might be able to be swapped for something else.

-Eli 1.0: I had to use that extra influence somewhere, so why not on a solid piece of early-game run-ending ICE?

-Palisade: This would be another Eli if I could afford it (perhaps 3 Eli's is better than a Bran and a Palisade?) but it works well enough since you usually only have one remote.

-Diviner: A surprisingly subtle piece of ICE that can catch foolhardy runners off guard. It's stopping power isn't guaranteed, and 1 net damage might not seem like much, but once again, that might be all you need to get the runner in killing range. It's cheap rez cost is great too.

-Engram Flush: The signature ICE for Hyoubu (boy am I glad it's not banned in Startup). Install it wherever you expect the runner to go often, take advantage of that great rez to strength ratio, and hopefully you'll get to see the runners entire hand.

-Drafter: A key card to help keep your trick cards coming back. Or to just get some econ back if that's all that's left. The downside of this ICE is that a Mimic, Bukhgalter, or fully powered Echelon makes it pretty much worthless, so once those are out, it's probably not even worth rezzing. Against anything else though, it's quite good, and it's another card the runner may be foolishly tempted not to break for the sake of saving a few credits.

-Saisentan: Speaking of being made worthless by sentry breakers, Saisentan is mostly here to help provide nasty face check punishment. Once certain Killers are on the board, this ICE probably isn't worth rezzing.

Final thoughts: While this deck is rather janky, it's really fun to play if you love playing mind games. And it's speed shouldn't be discounted! I've found it can be quite good if you just fast advance to victory, as the agenda suite is surprisingly strong. That said, some runners, particularly Loup, will probably trash this deck (in more ways than one), but fear of the unknown is a powerful tool against anyone. Use it well!

As for some possible card swaps, I mentioned the possibility of swapping Bran and Palisade for 2 more Eli's (the more I think about it the more I like it), and Urtica might be able to be swapped for another Subliminal. But otherwise, I think this deck is pretty solid. Let me know if you have any suggestions though!