Siphon Nasir

Card draw simulator
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BTrain 2971

This is a fast-tempo deck that is still very much a work in progress, and I'd love feedback, especially since I'm sort of going against the grain meta-wise on this one (no parasite? GTFO?). It feels counter-intuitive to run Siphon in Nasir, because it may or may not have negative synergy with his ID, but at the same time I have trouble seeing how hurting the corp's ability to rez ice is a bad thing. This is still Netrunner, and we still want to get into servers. Just make sure to leave yourself room to clear the tags.

Kati Jones is out: I found myself much more willing to click Mopus for an immediate 2c than clicking Kati for a future 3. Net Celebrity is gone because it was more meant to combat the hypothetical presence of a corp current, but that's not my style - I'd much rather play my own game. Same Old Thing Siphon for an added punch (best practice is to avoid getting a SOT on the table before Siphon if possible, just to delay any tip of your hand), or use it to Test Run out a breaker, or even Scavenge a Femme (pro play: corp sticks on unrezzed ice on the outside of a late-game scoring server, aiming to drain you of credits to stop you from getting to the last agenda. Scavenge a Femme, put her bypass token on the unrezzed ice, and enjoy keeping your credits).

The big decision is to drop Parasite entirely, and I'm still not convinced this isn't a mistake. So far though, I'm able to justify dropping it because a) the 2 I was running added up to 4 inf. and b) so many times I'd find myself either without the means to tutor it up when I really needed, or without the willingness to spend the tutor on it; it was mostly a "blast through a surprise Pop-Up provided you're okay with a 2MU SMC sitting on the table until that surprise comes" card, and I feel that careful rig building coupled with Ghost Runner and Cache makes those surprise low-costs much less of a problem. Clone Chip is still in to recur Cache, though that card can also be Scavenged in a pinch. Morning Star is out and I've swapped in Battering Ram just because I really haven't been a fan of the huge overhead it takes to get Morning Star up and running, and the 4 inf. lets me run Siphon; plus for what you pay for it, it still can't break all barriers - most but not all. Battering Ram will need some testing because I think when all's said and done, if I weren't running Siphon I'd have left Morning Star in.

3 comments
20 Aug 2014 CJFM

Too many RDIs here, -1? +1 SOT or Indexing or Clone Chip? Nerve agent is fine, but I prefer Legwork with Nasir, esp since you're running SOT. I do think that a build like this can work very well, but I think it's going to only become viable when we get Astrolabe, which replaces Toolbox in aggressive Nasir builds. I love Cache with Ghost Runner here. MOpus is always good.

You said above that the deck is "fast-tempo" but how does that work with Toolbox/PW/Battering Ram/Opus? These cards each take a while to get going. In testing, how quickly can you get the rig out?

It's very promising, though. But I've not been able to get a Siphon version of Nasir to work, yet, and I've tried a LOT of versions of Siphon Nasir. Still, let me know how your playtesting goes. I've been taking a 'scientific approach' (to use a buzz-phrase from GenCon) with my Nasir, and I'm getting decent results.

20 Aug 2014 BTrain

I can see the case for having too many RDIs, and I probably would have agreed with you in earlier builds of this deck, but as it stands, there's not that much I want to clone chip out, and the SOT is really for Siphon. I've very rarely found myself needing to recur a Test Run or Scavenge (or Diesel lel), and so I figured with the extra slot I'd make my R&D runs more efficient. Get two on the table and every run becomes a Maker's Eye.

And I've found this deck can be incredibly fast, as long as you do whatever it takes takes to get Mopus on the table as quickly as you can. Seriously. Get it in play. SMC it out, Test Run it even without Scavenge and just click up to 6 creds so you can install on the next turn. So many people have been running Nasir with the mindset that you can rely on the corp to pay for your rig, and that's just not the case. I'm going to start keeping careful track of how much money I gain from corp rezzes throughout the game, but I have to think it's maybe only 30-35% of my overall income. And that's nothing to shake a stick at, but that alone does not a big rig make. One of my all-time favorite plays with this deck is waiting for the corp to diligently finish their turn, make sure everything is in check, and when they pass play over to you, look 'em dead in the eye: "Mopus for 8. Your turn." A Nasir flush with cash is terrifying, especially once you have something beefy sitting on the workshop.

As far as the build only being viable once Astrolabe drops, I'll half-agree. I've had huge success running Toolbox, though to be fair, it was far more important before Cache and Ghost Runner came out. Now that those two are out to cover the in-run credits, yes - Astrolabe all the way please :)

What's your "scientific approach" to deck testing? I'd love to hear more!

21 Aug 2014 CJFM

@BTrain. Yeah, there isn't that much you want to 'Clone Chip' out here, but the thing is having another Clone Chip after using SMC is like having another SMC, which means it's easier to get your rig out. However, with so many Test Runs, you probably aren't having any difficulty anyway. ;)

I personally think you're underrating Net Celebrity. Having an extra cred during the run is wildly relevant for Nasir, especially after encounter. I'm not saying it's best for this deck, but it's more than just countering an opposing current. With all those Mem Chip, you're clearly not having memory problems, so Cache is likely a better plan anyway.

I agree with you on Opus' usefulness for Nasir (and for all runners who can squeeze it in). I was playing Opus in my earlier builds of Nasir (the deck was similar to this but minus Siphon and plus a parasite or two). I'm glad that it's working. This just confirms my suspicion that Nasir is a very flexible runner whose ability allows for many varied styles of play.

Oh, the 'scientific approach' was mentioned by Damon in the GenCon interview by TeamCovenant. Basically he just meant doing a lot of testing against certain archetypes to see which cards allow for a more even win-percentage. He was suggesting players avoid the 'numbers game' wherein you say "weeeell, this runner wins 60% of the time, therefore must be better." He was suggesting that other runners can also do this if enough testing is put into the deck. :)