Sandvich (aka Friendscoats) - Redcoats Revisited

'There's only one Biotic in there?' -inniscor

'Sandburg? Really?!?' -scd

'Good gods.' -after multiple FIHPs

An early Xmas gift, from me to you, is my latest sojourn away from yellow dex. I wanted to try out the new ID, Architects of Tomorrow (AoT), and tried a build similar to this in it. However, the ability just wasn't firing enough. Of course, the deck, like most HB, are just better suited, and run better, in Engineering the Future (ETF). So, I ported it over, swapped out the bioroids for the NEXT ICE suite, and the rest is history.

I remember meeting Nordrunner at Gencon 2013, after playing him on OCTGN a bit. We became friends instantly, accentuated by the fact we were both from Wisconsin. He really hit his ANR fame with his revisiting of ETF glacier, naming it Redcoats, due to its heavy taxation. The name has been used and bastardized ever since. This build, relying on the addition of 3 Friends in High Places (FIHP), feels very taxing in its own right, if not being traditional glacier; hence, the goofy alt-name from Simpleton, Friendscoats. So, let us dig into this ode to Nords.

[a quick shout out to people who helped on this. I played at least 60 games with this on JNET, and Zach Cavis (webster), a true ANR gem, watched quite a few of those, giving me tons of notes. Aaron Andries (aaandries), he of the Worlds Best Kate fame (BTW, he has only made that beast of a deck better since), gave some notes, as well, mainly the addition of Sandburg. Peter ‘foilflaws’ McOwen has provided positive feedback, as he always has.]

AGENDAS

These are pretty straightforward. This is the standard ETF agenda suite you’ll mainly see, and is well suited to both fast advance (FA) and glacier. Nine is a great number to have, and scoring a Global Food Initiative (GFI) is not as hard as you’d think, despite having no true defensive upgrades.

ASSETS

This is where the deck truly shines. The money comes from the assets, as well as the tax. I first played Eve Campaign when she arrived on the scene back in 2013, and haven’t looked back. The ETF credit helps to soak some of her rez cost, and the five trash cost is where she really showcases this deck’s power. Use them early versus Siphon dex to soak those attacks, or get them for free on Breaker Bay Grid (BBG).

Howard is a great aggressive draw engine in here. You will make a fair amount of remotes. Howard is one of those, and it feels great playing him unprotected. Oh, your opponent wants to trash him, because there is nothing in the bin? Let them. Once they see you FIHP him back once, they’ll never trash him again. FIHP is such a freeing card in here, not having to worry about Howard’s life. This deck was originally constructed to withstand Rumor Mill (RM), and does that well, even with Sandburg. If you really need Howard’s ability, just FA something, and then use him immediately. I could almost drop Howard, but he’s still useful v. agenda flood. I mainly fire him to get back FIHPs.

Sandburg was a late addition, but makes sense. I have even bumped up to 2 of them, just to see it early, and force the Corp to trash something else, as well. I originally had a pet card of mine in here, Corporate Troubleshooter, but this makes much more sense, especially with the NEXT suite. People note that there’s a lot of RM out, nullifying this card. One, I haven’t seen as much online as people think. Two, this deck doesn’t need Sandy. It just provides an extra surprise oomph of power when they least expect it. Three, the deck can FA well enough to bump RM almost at will.

UPGRADES

Standard FA stuff. A huge percentage of Runners are winning these days with Medium, so I feel that CVS is a nigh must in Corp dex. I wish I could fit more, but, when under virus duress, a few FIPH usages to refresh CVS onto R&D usually buy you enough time.

The deck has influence to spare, hence the multiple SanSan City Grids (SSCG). Webster noted that it may be the best defensive upgrade in the game. I would agree. One doesn’t think of it as a defensive card, but it really is. It is a kill-on-sight card, which is great in a highly taxing deck. Plus, with FIHP, you can reset that scoring threat at will; I have even trashed them early, keeping them hidden to apply the pressure later. I have often NA’d a GFI on a SSCG, with Biotic in hand. The constant credit pressure, along with some ICE, usually dissuade a run on an unadvanced card when the Corp is on 4 points. This leads to a great way to end a game on turns 9-11, which I have done more than you’d think.

BBG doesn’t need any explanation. Recycling lost ones with FIHP feels good.

OPERATIONS

FIHP is the star of the deck. Most people would think to immediately abuse it in a true asset spam deck, like IG, or Gagarin. It has a place there, for sure, especially at 1 Influence. I felt it worked perfectly with the asset economy already inherent in HB. Plus, with the large amount of ICE destruction in the environment currently (thanx, En Passant), FIHP can be a nice way to bail one out of a midgame cutlery crisis.

People question the singular Biotic. It could go completely, or get bumped up to 2. To me, it’s a bailout card. It helps when one is flooded, or can be used in the example above regarding GFI NA’d on SSCG or single advanced.

ICE

I decided upon the NEXT suite for a number of reasons. It’s cheap, and provide a hard end the run (ETR), something harder to come by in the bioroid faction. It combos up as the game progresses, increases the tax just by rezzing ICE. Finally, it’s downright sick under a strong Sandburg. I know, I know, Parasite wrex it hard; I get that. However, that card is not seeing the usage it once has, especially with people gravitating slightly away from Anarch during Store Champs season. Smoke and Power Tap/Link dex are on the rise, and thus they have to suffer under the NEXT tax.

The other ICE is malleable. I have made tons of changes, and still will. Turing could be a Fairchild 3. An Ichi could be NEXT Gold. Wall of Static could be Vanilla or Bastion. Feel free to play around with the ICE suite as you see fit, if you play this.

In summation, I have had a lot of fun with this build. It’s a bit different, and provides a lot of lines of play. Do you smell Siphon? Hold back a bit on rezzing assets. Do you think they’re a durdle runner? Are they setting up stealth or link? Rush out behind ETR ICE, or just NA stuff. After you start spamming remotes, they usually give up checking after a while. Cavis noted that the deck feels like Replicating Perfection from early 2015. I would agree. Like that deck, this relies primarily on asset econ, and punishing ICE. The main difference is that this deck can move much quicker. The quick cash can allow for SSCG usage much earlier. Another similarity is that usually remotes are established before centrals. My ICE order usually involves remotes, HQ, and R&D. Nordrunner was always a fan of trusting your R&D, and you really need to do that here, to establish your econ.

I occasionally fire ABTs in here, but not often. 16 is decent amount of ICE, but I have a rule of usually not firing unless my ICE density in R&D is around 40+%. You can have a Howard onboard, which makes rash firings less painful.

The deck takes some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, I think you’ll find it fun. Even against asset hate (see: Whizzard), you can push enough at them to overwhelm their assault.