Nothing Special Andy

This is a deck I've iterated a few times, across different criminals. Cards can waver highly, but generally, the Nothing Special Skeleton really only has one aspect that is infact, qutie special: the breakers. Everything after that are staples of the criminal faction, and there aren't too many cards that make a surprise appearaance.

Criminal is in a rocky place right now, no doubt about it. There will be tough match-ups for this deck, but I think it rewards the pilot who takes the time to learn the way she ticks. This is in comparison to say, a Noise deck, that doesn't necessarily require nor reward trickier play (I've played Noise at regionals for two years, so I'm not hating, I'm just comparing the feeling between the two)

I think the ways it adapts to the new meta while sticking to basics make it a contender in any game it plays. I call it Nothing Special, because I don't think anything I've done reinvents the game, but I do think that it has good numbers to back up good fundamentals.. You play classic Netrunner, juking and sneaking and tricking your way into where you want to go.

Walking through the card choices:

Key Cards:

Faust: obviously, the strongest breaker in the game right now, between special order and an 18 card mulligan, if you want Faust early, you can have it early. And for only 2 influence, its a hard sell NOT to include one in a toolkit style criminal deck. Faust works like a super charged Inside Job in most cases, picking up work as a sweeper breaker while you put your rig together. Without Levy (you could wring 3 influence out of the deck if you had to, the bigger problem is having enough good draw to blow through the deck quick enough to warrant it) you will eventually need to rely entirely on breakers if the game goes long enough.

High-Stakes Job: a much easier card to land in a deck with Faust. Between Account Siphon, Faust, and good fundamentals, its a pretty easy to get your successful run. Nonetheless, 3x felt brazen, and you don't want them chewing up too much real estate in your grip.

Kati Jones: I think there's too much ICE in decks that give you the most trouble to really rely on Security Testing for heavy lifting. 1x is fine for this deck because you would never really want 2 ST installed anyway, and it can be used to complement Kati Jones as necessary. Faust makes ST better than with no Faust, but its still too unreliable compared to Kati Jones.

Peacock: realistically, there are only a couple of code gates that Faust doesn't break/break efficiently enough. Peacock is for your decoder for cards like Turing and Tollbooth, breaking them for a modest 4 credits each. You could shuffle around the influence a bit for a stronger decoder, but like I said, it breaks most relevant code gates for a reasonable cost (2/4), with Faust breaking the meaner code gates.

The rest of the deck:

2 emergency shutdowns: just 1 copy felt like I was waiting on it too often, and since it can always be Faust food against a rush/FA deck, I've been pretty happy with 2 copies

1 Inside Job: this deck really wants to be prodding every server, not pounding too hard in any one place, and without better central threat that combos with Inside Job, its mainly just for remotes. That's great early, but it gets durdly later without more powerful multiaccess. With Faust taking much of the burden off Inside Job for your early remote access/threat, you really shouldn't need more than 1.

Quality Time: I felt like it was best use of a single remaining influence. 3x Earthrise Hotel doesn't quite cover my drawing needs, and being able to surge your hand for important runs is clutch, its like a ghetto Stimhack for Faust when it needs to be, and powerful draw when it needs to be--the kind of double duty you want out of your influence. I might play 2 in the future, since my draw power still can wane.

2 Special Order: 3 copies is just fine, but you can coast on Faust/Mongoose well into the mid-game, making a full regimen of Special Orders feel like overkill.

3 Desperado: 2 would be fine, but its Desperado. Better safe than sorry. Its Nothing Special.

1 Plascrete Carapace: obligatory 1x, though it feels likeits not consistent enough to justify always justify itself; if I'm not playing 2, it can easily be too late before Harpsichord has the kill on hand. Still, its earned its keep plenty of times, and worst comes to worst, feed it to Faust.

2 RDI: 3x can clutter your grip and force you (or just psych you out) into focusing harder on R&D than is really necessary. I think 2 is just fine. Nothing Special.

3 Earthrise Hotel: I really dislike Drug Dealer, and especially since this deck isn't actually a Faust deck, despite how many times I'll be mentioning Faust, I find drug dealer to be too painful at times, too slow at other tomes, and mess up your math. Plus, like I said, Faust is your swing breaker, making up for Inside Job and eating duplicates, its not your primary breaker if you can avoid it. Better to stick to basics and keep those credits flowing.

Film Critic/The Source: I'm not sure I would play either without having both. Like many of the cards in this deck, they are there as specific counters to specific problems, so don't feel too worried about losing one or the other to net damage or Faust in most cases. But Source can't be purged away, you don't really have the MU, let alone the recursion or search, for clot to be any good anyway, and The Source can't be so easily wiped off the board if you have Film Critic, too. I Might swap them out for a 3rd RDI and 2nd Quality Time if I was a more cocksure runner.

Femme Fetale: plays second fiddle to Faust and Mongoose most games, and is often a benchwarmer, but I'm always glad to have it on hand (unlike other criminal decks I've played, where its often the first card pitched if I have to overdraw). Also covers for Peacock and Corroder against high strength ICE, or if you need to make a big play.

Mongoose: Mostly, this came down to deckspace and the fact that without parasite, you can be beholden to killers to make sure you don't faceplant into a swordsman or other prickly ICE. Faerie, I felt, was too intensive and too inconsistent to backup Faust reliably. Since all killers suck in one way or another, this felt like the best complement to my deck. You could play 2 Mongoose over the Femme Fetale if you wanted to, but I think the coverage you have with 1 is fine.

Sneakdoor Beta: pretty obvious, back to basics card that can wreck a corp's day. Plus, Faust allows you to generally keep your MU low enough to actually PLAY Sneakdoor all the way through the mid-game.

So that's my deck. Its nothing special, but it does a great job rewarding a savvy runner.