In A Red Dress and Alone (Jamieson's Store Champ Deck)

Lodan 394

This is the deck Jamieson from Bad Publicity used to win a recent store championship. His comments about the deck follow:

For those that follow the show, you already know I have been a dedicated Shaper player from the start and someone that places heavy value on creative yet still strong/competitive deck builds. The current card pool, I believe, is still deep enough that there are decks and combos here that have yet to be discovered. I would spend so much time just looking at all the cards that were coming out in faction(Shaper) that were being ignored. Trying to figure out the threads that tie them together and the synergy of the combined results. Shaper’s are by nature the Rig Builder faction. So what I wanted to do was build the most effective and powerful rig as cheaply as I could. All the tools I needed were available, I just have to piece it together.

This build has gone through numerous renditions and small changes over the last few months. It lacked ability to apply early pressure and although the wrong opening hand can still cause this, I have added in some tools to aid in those early game turns. It also took me a while to come to terms with cutting the “new hotness” out of my decks. I sat down with recent tournament winner Seth Stewart after his win to talk deck ideas and he helped set me straight on a few points and the changes I would make to my build before I entered the tournament, that I would go on to win.

The hardest part in building a runner deck is my personal preference, I don’t like to go above the minimum. If it says 45 I build for 45. There are cards I need to see and anything more messes with my changes to see them. Runners have a lot of cool toys and tricks to play but when it boils down if it didn’t fit the core theme I took it out. Lets look at what we have here.

Programs - The best standard (no trash to use - example Faerie or DeusX) breaker set of I could come up with combines Morning Star, Torch, and Garrote. Boom! With this combo I can eat through everything out there for really low cost. It was great busting through Double Eli’s for 2 credits stealing an agenda corp thought was safe. There is no denying that this is a strong pairing or programs but using these raise 3 issues. Memory to install ( full set is 5MU), Morning Star is a fixed strength breaker, and most important cost ( this we will talk about last since its the key to the deck).

Hardware - Lets get this out the way, as much as I hate using Plascrete, as it becomes a dead draw against non meat damage decks it really is a must include in tournaments. Before the last pack I was using Public Sympathy since it was an ability that I could always use.The extra hand size was nice and if they tried to hit me with meat damage I just took the damage as my hand size could afford it. The down side now is that EVERYONE is using NBN so you will see Sweeps Week played. I’m not letting anyone get 10 credit swing on me for the cost of 1 credit. So Plascrete went in. Two of my main issues with my programs needed to get corrected with Hardware. The MU was easy; since all I need is 1 more slot 3 copies of Akamatsu are used. Free install with Mac’s ability, and the 3 copies because I need 1 and that helps me come across it quicker. Early version of this deck used Dinosaurus to give Morning Star the strength boost it needed for those higher barriers. This proved to be really slow on the set up since as you will see timing is everything with this deck. Like a Yog + Dinosaurus you want to see the Dino first and get that installed then the breaker hosted on it. This was great since it tackled memory issue and strength but it was too slow on set up for me. If I don’t see the Dino I could very well be in trouble and then I cant even install the barrier breaker for the ICE that it doesn’t need the boost for. Answer was Personal Touch. Letting me install the breaker and boost strength later on. This also worked well because when I see what they are playing and didn’t need the boost on the Morning Star I could allocate it to a different program making cost to use lower. I do realize this was a gamble since even a 8 strength Morning Star could be stopped by Wotan, potential outer most Curtain Wall and some tricks to add strength value to an ICE but I played the chances I wasn’t going to encounter any of this. Again Mac’s ability saves you money here so you can spend credits on what you really want to spend them on - making runs.

All the Rest - Alright so the third problem I talked about, the cost of the breakers. How do we off set that. We want to install everything for 3 credits each.

These are the install combos:

Test Run out a program then Scavenge it so it is in play permanently

Test Run a program then end of turn its on top of stack so you can use Eureka!

Motivation at turn start, see its a program, Eureka!

Now Motivation is definitely not really needed but you could get lucky and save on a Test Run.

Motivation is really in there because this deck will be set for the release of Oracle May, (http://onosendaicorp.com/cards/runner/card/oracle-may?faction=N ) tell me that wont be great. In case you are not seeing multiple copies of Test Run, Eureka! or Scavenge you have Same Old Thing that can double as anyone of those, ready to bail you out of trouble.

I don’t use Clone Chips or Self-Modifying Code as searchers since that would cost too much. We don’t want to pay full breaker price. That defeats the deck style. Professional Contacts is expensive to play and sometimes if you have Motivation in play you don’t want to be drawing that much. There is always going to be times in a card game when you just are not getting what you need. Buckle down and deep dig with Quality Time. Don’t be afraid to discard the programs if you draw one of them, Test Run works also by pulling from the Heap.

I did talk about slow setup and this is where the idea from my buddy Seth came in. Account Siphon. 9 times out of 10 it is catching someone off guard playing this out of faction. We also have recurrence of it with Same Old Thing if you need to really drop punishment. You wont see someone hole up HQ as tight as they do R&D against a Shaper. And everyone knows early Siphon sets the corps plans back a turn and a bit. So I made some adjustments and added 2 copies of it in. Pure Punishment!

Nothing is better than that extra click when you need it. The surprise install with Eureka burns an extra click as a cost so I included 2 All-nighter’s. Helping you make an extra well timed run. Add in some standard economy cards and you have a deck.

But whats one more little mind game - Woman In the Red Dress. This card is amazing. It has the corp making choices he never thought he would have to make. It can save you from spending credits on an R&D run if the card is not drawn and also helps you see where agendas are. Its just a great icing on tasty piece of cake. I think that about covers everything. Really hope you enjoyed this write up. Thanks to everyone I got to meet and that recognized me from Bad Publicity your support of the show means a lot and is incredible.

22 comments
14 Mar 2014 sirbranedamuj

I really like this deck. nice and simple, and uses a lot of uncommon cards. My only thought is that I think All-Nighter is better swapped with Same Old Thing. Your rig assembly relies a lot on events. What if you've test-runned three times and you lose a breaker? You're pretty much SOL.

14 Mar 2014 x3r0h0ur

It has 3, would you like him to go up to 5? :P

14 Mar 2014 Heartthrob

This is an awesome deck. I too prefer strategies that are strong but employ cards that are completely void in the meta. A deck with Morning Star, Torch, Woman in a Red Dress and Eureka! I like it! Thanks for posting and thanks for the great strategy/deck building breakdown (I hate seeing published decks with little or no explanation about the strategy).

14 Mar 2014 Fry

So when Oracle May comes out, what influence are you cutting for her?

No multi-access makes me raise an eyebrow, but I guess if your runs are cheap enough maybe you don't need it.

14 Mar 2014 javistalker

Why do you include Scavenge? I don't understand it. But, I really like this deck :)

14 Mar 2014 javistalker

I just understand it, hahaha...

14 Mar 2014 scumblr

I feel like Tinkering would be great here, both to allow access to really heavy barriers... and to disintegrate Archer for 1c.

15 Mar 2014 Lodan

Obviously, since I am not the creator of the deck, just the re-poster of it, I can't comment on changes Jamieson would make. I just thought it was an interesting and original deck and thought the netrunnerdb community would like a chance to see it.

15 Mar 2014 DeMarko

@scumblr: wouldn't you be missing 1 strength if you used Morning Star to go through Archer?

@javistalker: please read the description, they mention why Scavenge is included. If you Test Run a program then Scavenge it to play itself, then you don't have to put it back on your of your stack from Test Run

15 Mar 2014 Lodan

@DeMarko: One of the three personal touches in the deck would allow Morning Star to break an Archer (with Tinkering). Of course, that is a few combo pieces, but still possible.

15 Mar 2014 Watzlav

I'm gonna try this deck with few changes. Since you won't use Kate's ability on programs and you use 5MU rig, this is pretty obvious:

-1 Kate McCaffrey, -3 Akamatsu Mem Chip, -2 Daily Casts, -2 Quality Time.

+1 Chaos Theory, +2 Diesel

16 Mar 2014 sirbranedamuj

@x3r0h0ur Did not even notice the three SOTs...d'oh.

16 Mar 2014 Lyonid

I've just a doubt. Since the current meta is still dominated by Fast Advance Corps, how do you counter them with no R&D nor HQ lock? Am I missing something?

16 Mar 2014 Maugman

Let's do the math. Eureka-ing a program will save you 4, 5, and 6 credits, once per game at most, and will usually require Motivation. Modded with Kate saves you 4 credits each time. So at best you are saving 3 credits with the use of 3 cards. Change Eureka to Modded and add RD interface, which you can pay for with a modded.

17 Mar 2014 Ozvaldo

Guys - After looking at this deck, I tested it on OTCGN for 10 games. BUT only after a few changes. Replaced quality time with deisel (quality time is expensive). Removed daily casts with inflitration (I wanna make sure I dont run in to an ambush after all the hard work getting the exp ice breakers installed). Replaced Morning star with Battering Ram (I tried morning star but it was so vulnerable to Weyland Ice's especially when you can advance a Hadrian). Results were 8 wins 2 losses, but losses were with 4 agendas in hand. My conclusion - this deck is GOOD!

Here are the reasons why this deck is so good, and answer to some of your issues: - Eureka is perfect for this deck. Because it combos with Test run. Often I used test run but didn't have scavage. Eurka helped in the next turn to install the program for free. Modded is also a good solution but then you do not need motivation in this deck.
- The beauty of this deck is having both motivation and woman in red dress installed. It gives you a great edge! Woman in red dress really f$%ks up the corps strategy. You do not need R&D lock or HQ lock.
- Account syphon is a must for this deck. I often had more than 10 credits at a time which is not seen much with Kate.
- Same old thing is also a life saver. Imagine using it for infiltration, when you need it most. or Test run, or Scavage, or most importantly Account Syphon!!

But you gotta play certain strategies with this deck: - Against NBN & W & HB you must run early to rez the ices and put pressure on corp. Otherwise you run in to problems and wait too long trying to create a full rig - Against Jinteki, just the garotte early will serve you well - Also in 4 games I nearly came to the end of my deck, so be careful how you play against Jinteki (do 1 net damage)

But last and not least - woman in red dress is probably the most under-rated card in the game. I'm surprised others do not use it as much. You learn so much about the corp deck and strategy - two thumbs up!

17 Mar 2014 evilgaz

I love how the Bad Publicity guys come up with something different and go back to older cards to see how they can be used as the pool develops. Lots of folk play the same old decks, or just use other people's - its great to see some innovation going on.

17 Mar 2014 rattkin

I've been playing with a deck quite similar to this one. My results were, ultimately, very different. While Eureka/Test Run/Motivation looks good on paper, it is extremely costly and luck-driven solution. You have just 3 cards you want to pull out. The chance that the next card in deck will be an icebreaker, and that you already have Motivation installed and Eureka in hand... it's just bad. And even if, you're losing a click. With Test Run - a lot of money.

Basically, you're relying on draw and tricks to set up your deck. By the time it's on the table, you have already lost. There's no R&D or HQ lock, there simply no way to seal the game and money-wise, it's still quite click-intensive. No Datasucker means paying a lot for every run. Without any interfaces or Maker's Eye, I fail to see how can you steal agendas with this setup.

I dumped the idea of such a deck, altogether. Maybe it works in your meta, I failed miserably with it in mine.

19 Mar 2014 HeirToPendragon

Why not just use Chaos Theory and replace the Akamatsu with some resources...

31 Mar 2014 weepinggorilla

Would consider running toolbox in this too?

2 Apr 2014 internetbully

Changes I have made: (-2 Quality time, +3 Diesel), (-1 Garotte + 1 Femme), (-2 All-Nighter, +1 Nerve Agent)

Diesel's just preference. I like the efficiency of Garotte, but with Motivation, you're probably going to Eureka something. That leaves you with extra Scavenges to redirect Femme's bypass. Nerve Agent over all nighter, just because I like multiaccess, and Nerve Agent compliments Woman In The Red Dress.

2 May 2014 EluThingol

I have to say I disagree with almost every syllable of rattkin's comment, based on experience with the deck. In order:

  • "While Eureka/Test Run/Motivation looks good on paper, it is extremely costly and luck-driven solution." Left out of this is Scavenge, which is actually the principal Test Run combo, not Motivation/Eureka. It's an exceedingly cost-efficient solution, and in fact Test Run tricks rarely cost more than 1 or 2 credits more than a SMC-based tutor strategy would do, while getting you a guaranteed monster breaker in the process (to say nothing of the cost effectiveness of a breaker like Torch once it's on the table). The bottom line is that there are at least 3 different combinations of cards that will get your breakers on the table for less than retail cost, and if there's one thing that Test Run ELIMINATES, it's dependence on luck to draw your breakers. Describing this approach as entirely luck-based is simply bizarre. Yes, it's possible jam up on awkward events, but there's not a strategy in A:NR that doesn't present some chance of awkward draws. With SOT there's insane redundancy, too, so I find the deck to be surprisingly consistent.

  • "Basically, you're relying on draw and tricks to set up your deck. By the time it's on the table, you have already lost." Sometimes that might happen, but not any more often than other big rig Shaper decks, and in my experience I find that if I can spend less time jerking around with hardware and programs like Prepaid Voice PAD and SMC, I'm actually much better off.

  • "There's no R&D or HQ lock" How not? If you can't figure out how to pound through HQ and R&D with that setup, I don't know what to say. No ICE is keeping you out of centrals with the rig this deck threatens.

  • "there simply no way to seal the game and money-wise, it's still quite click-intensive. No Datasucker means paying a lot for every run. Without any interfaces or Maker's Eye, I fail to see how can you steal agendas with this setup." This sounds a lot like tunnel vision to me. A few things: 1) Multi-access is not an absolute requirement as long as you can run efficiently. Stealing agendas one at a time is perfectly fine. 2) Datasucker is very powerful and can make for cheap or even free runs using fixed breakers, but it's not the only way to get 'er done. Again, I just don't know what definition of "cheap" we're working with here, but a Fracter than can walk through Eli for 2 credits WITHOUT having to ramp up a Datasucker in the early game seems awfully cheap and efficient to me. 3) Once the rig is set up, all you have to do is run, make money, run, make money. Kati Jones still makes a lot of cash, Motivation-Oracle May is absolutely terrific, and even the dead Test Runs you sometimes see in the late game can be used for shuffle effects if you want to find an econ card.

Besides, there's obviously got to be "a way to seal the game" if a guy is going to take down a Chronos Protocol event with it. Some games had to get sealed, at some point, by him, using this deck, for that to have happened.

Maybe the problem here is theoretical. People have become very, very focused on click efficiency, and have come to assume that click efficiency is the only method for winning games at A:NR. But in addition to click efficiency there's also what you might call click efficacy, or potency. This style of deck is much more focused on click efficacy than click efficiency, though of course there are some real efficiencies built into it as well.

The best illustration of this is the very smart choice of All-Nighter, which is a perfect example of a "click efficacy" card. It's true that all you're doing with it is spending two clicks (and a card slot) to get two clicks back later. This is hardly click-efficient. What it does do, though, is enable those two click s to actually matter when you have more information in the mid- to late-game. Rather than blowing them on draws or credits "just because," those clicks are stored so they can have the maximum impact at the critical time of the game. Faerie is another example. Yes, you burn resources on a card that just trashes itself a moment later, but you're able to squeeze maximum impact out of the card at the moment you need it because it's so cheap and easy to deploy, and is simply guaranteed to do what you hope it will do.

A final example is Woman in the Red Dress, which seems like an odd way to spend 3 credits until you consider the opportunity cost of attacking various servers trying to find the agenda that may or may not be hiding in them. WitRD makes it possible to avoid wasted clicks, enabling your runs to really matter when you need them to, rather than being spent flailing about. Think of the credits saved using that kind of approach, to say nothing of the blind draws you're avoiding with cards like Motivation.

Pro Contacts, a "2 clicks for the price of one" card, is perfectly illustrative of the power of click efficiency, but it's not the only way to attack the problems that A:NR presents to the runner, whose biggest issue of concern is lack of information. You could argue that this deck sacrifices a bit of efficiency at the margins (if you consider Test Run-Scavenge or Test Run-Eureka "inefficient," which I don't), but what it brings home is the importance of making really powerful plays in the early game to set up really powerful plays in the late game. And again, based on my experience, that's not always a bad place to be.

16 Oct 2014 Zepaw

Fun deck that can do a lot of damage. Only played it a couple times but I can tell it's not going to do me much good in my meta. Between Fast Advance not giving me enough time to set up my rig and Blue Sun with two barriers I literally can't break (outer Curtain Wall and advanced Hadrian's Wall).

I'm gonna do some tweaking and see if I can make it more workable because it has some really great combos I'd love to see in action more. I may need at least 1 or 2 SMC because my first match I went through 25 of my 45 cards before I saw any breakers or test run. The odds on that are low of course but considering there is only one of each breaker I need to be sure I can get my hands on it if my deck is just giving me nothing but hate.