Starving the Net v1.2

This Deck has placed 16th in the Double Play Community Event in Berlin 2018.

It's my take on a not quite so vegan variety of Palana - aiming to both tax the runner on net damage and credits.

The option to kill the runner exists, in 2 ways though both are unlikely:

Firstly the classic Komainu + House of Knives which is easily avoided by careful runners, and secondly the sneaky Neural Katana + Marcus Batty , the latter of which may be used multiple times, if he is guarding the server in a twin duo or triplet trio.

Marcus May even actually protect an Obokata Protocol by firing the 3 Net Damage from the Neural Katana, (or 2 from Chiyashi or Wall of Thorns ) which does not only potentially prevent the runner from stealing the agenda, but also set the runner back those cards - which should be the preferred way of protection of these agendas. In a pinch the end the run of the barrier ICEs might work as well.

Archived Memories gets defensive upgrades - like the aforementioned Batty - back, or recur an MCA Informant to get rid of these pesky Film Critics.

On tournament day, I could only get Informed on one Film Critic. Don't show the MCA Informant with Celebrity Gifts if facing a Film Critic prone Runner with this deck. A wary runner who installs a Film Critic in the turn where the intention is to access a potential Obokata will avoid this form of hate entirely, which one of my opponents managed to pull off flawlessly - well played!

Of the many shapers I faced, all played Film Critic, and most games I didn't see any MCA Informants offering their services.

The Seidr Adaptive Barrier is a taxing ice that actually ends the run and enables the Alliance with HB to give access to the Product Recall which came in handy to get rich quick (tm) from no money at all, trashing a palana agroplex. If the agroplex or Mental Health Clinic have outlived their usefulness, they can be recycled with this card as well.

Houses of Knives have 3 uses here: Never Advance Option - to score the 3rd agenda needed besides two of the 3 pointers - with the additional bonus of this getting rid of annoying currents the runner might play. So this Palanas stakes in the Current Wars are low and on the defensive side of things.

Most devastaging in this can be a well timed Interdiction to prevent the timely rez of defensive upgrades. Other currents like Hacktivist Meeting or Employee Strike do hurt, but are not crippling.

Secondly, a scored House of Knives doubles as protection for Obokata Protocols, and finally taxing the runner in net damage.

Ash is used to tax the Runner in credits additionally to the cards needed - enabling the DNA Tracker as an Ice with an effective end-the-run.

Overall it was fun to play, although sadly I did not manage to surprise flatline anyone. Since the Deck managed a performance of only 1 Win (and 2 ties), It became clear that taxing out the runners - almost exclusively Val and Smoke - is quite difficult. A Cyberdex Virus Suite might have helped stopping the Tapwrm + SacCon engine short, which is too efficient for this deck to keep up. Also a more effective counter than MCA Informant against a well timed Film Critic play has yet to show.