[TWA] Making Space - Gagarin Midrange

Looking good. Needs moar Expo Grid IMO. (you know, pad campaigns on steroids)

@Badeesh It's one of the cards on the fringe for sure. The problem is it doesn't help with asset density and them trashing assets turns it off. I'm not 100% convinced that it's better than PAD in the deck.

Oh no I wouldn't drop the pads for em. They go together so deliciously in Gagarin. I might consider one less Caddie to get in a singleton. Then just drop it in your pad server.

What about Paywall Implementation? But what to cut? Much TWA love btw :)

Really like this deck. Tried Asset Gagarin for awhile now, but it's insane how the Universe of Tomorrow pack unleashed the potential of asset weyland decks.

This just does what weyland needs to do, glacier, have ways to tax the runner and score with the threat of SEA Source.

3 Archers is just too many. I don't think it'll be long before people assume playing Gagarin doesn't exempt the runner from Archer fear (where before Hostile Takeover was a liability), and with three of them the runner will have little trouble figuring out that a particular server isn't actually being protected.

I've been playing a vegan midrange Gagarin for awhile. I think it's a trap to try to squeeze the Scorch package in this style of deck. It's tough enough to kill through Plascretes, IHW, and Paparazzi right now. Moreover, the decks that actually will trash things (PP Kate, Whizzard, decks with Imp) aren't going to be giving up too much money to do so. I haven't listened to the episode but what percentage of wins are coming from Scorches? Perhaps it's a meta thing. I'm also skeptical about Caduceus when most the good Runners are starting at 1 link, and Sunny will soon be around with a base 2. Gagarin does not want to spend credits tracing; Architect is a much better choice IMO, and the influence isn't hard to find.

Thanks for your feedback/thoughts everyone!

@greyfield it is true that sometimes your opponent can figure out that a server is unprotected, but you can mitigate that. It only happens in a narrow subset of scenarios where you don't have another ICE to protect a server, and you don't have a Public Support/Agenda to feed to the Archer. Even then, the opponent has to continually press on that server in the window of time before you do get food for the Archer online.

I also like having more than one possible Archer rez a lot of the time when I do have food for them. Having one on a remote and on R&D allows you to be reactive to their attacks and stops it from being such a difficult choice about where to put the first Archer you install.

@Badeesh - I would be loathe to cut ICE for it. I can see that with a PAD it becomes pretty good, but I often have PADs unprotected. If the opportunity cost is low enough and the payoff good enough though, it'd be worth including, so I'll give it a go!

@moistloaf - I don't really find it to be a trap to have the Scorched Earth package - except as far as the runner is concerned (hahaha?). It can be hard to kill through protection, but I do get a lot of kills with it. Maybe 40% or so?

If you wanted to try a 'vegan' version with the SEA Source and Snare! influence redirected, of course you could (Turtlebacks, Ash, Tollbooth, Architect are all good splashes in that sort of list), but I think that sort of game is one dimensional and lets the runner off easier than what a list with Scorched Earth does. I think Scorched Earth is one of the most powerful cards in the game, and if the deck can support it, I like to play it. I think this one can.

@DrunkAlex and @GoHawks, thanks for the props!

The scorch package is definitely at home in Gagarin, however it's going to be hard for you to assemble the pieces quickly, which means that unless they have no defence at all surely it will fizzle? I go for 3 Project Atlas for over-advancing and 2 Daily Business Shows to get the pieces quickly. You probably like the agendas as they currently are, but I'd definitely recommend swapping the influence of the second SEA Source out for a pair of DBS, it works wonders in Gagarin.

Can I ask why you have more Caduceus than Tour Guide? In my experience Tour Guide ends up being more taxing, and it's less porous (except the first turn, maybe).

@AKirkland - The Atlas/kill plan is great, but I find that the level of reliance I have on the kill combo is just about right at the moment. The agendas all help to provide resilience (Global Food Initiative, NAPD Contract) or speed (Oaktown Renovation), so there is some opportunity cost to moving to Project Atlas.

At that point the deck is quite different, and that is the sort of deck where I would like to see Turtlebacks, and would definitely play a third Tour Guide.

As the deck is now, there will be times where you will dip in number of assets rezzed, which makes Tour Guide on centrals less reliable.

I like having a good mix of ICE that is best on remotes and centrals, and I feel that having the 3 Caduceus helps to protect my centrals early very cheaply (often for 0 credits). Not leaking of agendas early is important for being able to make riskier remote plays, and with the present number of assets, Caduceus helps in that regard in a way that Tour Guide doesn't. At the moment, Tour Guide is best on remotes protecting assets.

Paywall Implementation ?

@GoHawks I think I'd probably rather have Expo Grid or Turtlebacks as my next economic option, but Paywall Implementation would certainly be good!

I just find currents to be a bit unreliable, and Paywall Implementation has the particular problem that it's only going to trigger at the times when the runner is most likely to trash it by stealing an agenda. It has potential, but I find it a bit inconsistent compared with the other options.

Love that snare. Gotta keep em honest.

Yeah agreed on Paywall not being quite right here. It's much less versatile and less hardy than than a well timed expo, nevermind it being run dependent. Turtles could be interesting but where to cut inf. The agenda suite is too good atm with GFI's, the snare is darn cool, and 2 each of Ash and Sea Source I think is non-negotiable. It'd have to be the snare. And even then, Turtles only start winning when there are two in play, so you ideally want three in your list anyway. I need to play more with this list though. Mine is heavily based on rushing an ITD so experience may be tainting my comments.

Apologies for text wall... First, off, thanks @DonutTaganes. This deck is such a blast. I've been running it with a couple changes:

+1 Casting Call, -1 Snare, +1 The Root, -1 PAD

I can't recommend this strongly enough. An early Root behind Caduceus is a big deal. If they run the remote before anything is rezzed you can rez Root, use it to pay for rezzing Caduceus, get paid 3 credits and be in the same place you would have been if you had just rezzed Caduceus but not Root. And now the Root is behind taxing ice and costs 5 to trash.

The Root plus Oaktown is bonkers. Turn one: install ice, install Oaktown, advance Oaktown with Root, make two credits. Next turn, advance Oaktown three times with Root credits and make 6 credits. If Oaktown is king of tempo, Oaktown from the Root is God-Emperor.

Public Support makes runners less likely to go after the Root if they are on the board together, too. Rezzing Archer with Root and actually making money (after the rebate) is the single-most smugly self-satisfying thing in Netrunner. Le sigh, I could go on and on. I never lose when I get the Root rezzed inside of three turns.

As for Casting Call, well, I find it better than Snare in all situations. I haven't met a runner yet who face checks all my unrezzed remotes. It's nice when you are sitting on Scorch but no SEA, it's nice when you need a tempo boost and really want the runner to pay out the wazoo for coming after Oaktown. It's the bee's knees with Ash. Consider: 4-5 credits for breaking ice, +1 credit for accessing, +2 clicks and +4 credits after for removing tags without help. Running the remote wherein lies Oaktown is typically 3 clicks and 9 credits. NAPD is 3 clicks and 13 credits. And that's without Ash. This is the very definition of a gambit (and exactly the play for a supermodernism in deep space build like this). I don't actually care what my opponent chooses. If anything, I often want them to steal an Casting Called agenda.

I have a very similar Gagarin deck, using exactly the same agendas :)

I would like to ask you guys what do you think about some cards that could fit in this archetype, such as Worlds Plaza, IT Department, or even RSVP. Having a well-protected server with Plaza could be safer than spreading the assets in unprotected remotes. Combine that with ITD and install some RSVP on top of that, and they won't access a card ever!

I am currently playing with a vegan version, including some Executive Boot Camps too. Thanks for sharing this list, and great videos too!