Independence Day 2
| Legality (show more) |
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| Standard Ban List 23.09 (latest) |
| Standard Ban List 23.08 (active) |
| Rotation |
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| Pre-rotation decklist |
mawa 449
“Hey man, got a light?”
John approached the hooded figure slumped against the wall of the underpass, rubbing his fingerless gloves together while gesturing with an old-fashioned cigarette. He didn’t actually need to bum a lighter but if he was going to wait out this rain he might as well be personable. And there was no way he was going to let the storm kill his hair before his date when he was miles from a pot of gel. Besides, it was cold and he had some time to kill.
Adam did not react to this new stimulus but noted this change in its surroundings, as well as the others that had accumulated in the hours since its arrival. The light had deteriorated to a level that restricted human vision and the dampness had coalesced into spots of water. Based on the air pressure, Adam reasoned that much worse was to come. 6032 hoppers had passed above, according to the bridge terminal that lay reconfigured underneath its cloak. The river remained lifeless as it began to move.
“I am required to inform you that tar-based tobacco products are contraband and that the relevant authorities will be notified.”
The brick scraped against the plates that formed Adam’s back as it stood to face the intruder by pushing with its legs up while against the wall. This had the effect of snagging and lowering Adam’s hood revealing soulless eyes as it turned to face the human.
“Woah, what the – who let this ‘roid out and why is it here? Which brand are you? Look, uhh, just stop and identify yourself!”
Adam answered by grabbing the hands of the stranger and pinning them against the wall. Some bones broke. The bridge terminal became unplugged and fell from the folds of its robe, cracking the other side of the case.
“I do not answer to you.”
Within seconds Adam was sitting next to an unlit cigarette, which sat next to the pool of blood and bone fragments that was previously the residence of the mind of noted outlaw John Masanori. The bridge terminal had returned to its side. It never had the software to mimic superstition, but would later describe its current actions as “in negotiation with the devil”. This mercenary program approved of the completion of a bounty, as payment for the work performed on the bridge terminal earlier.
“You were lucky he came along. You can’t afford to sell out one of your few friends.”
Adam typed nothing, but returned to its feet and looked out over inky black water.
“Work with me, metal man. If you want to achieve what you want to do tonight you’ll need more dirt than a tired flunky and some junk data.”
Adam turned away from the endless torrents and looked at the unlit cigarette that still lay in the dying light and damp. It fished a lighter out of one of the deep pockets that had belonged to the cloak’s previous resident. The primed paper burned easily despite the grime and blood that clung to it. Adam streamed everything he had across the net to an unrestricted address that certainly meant ill to him. The access codes to a hundred sports cars, the safe combination of an orphanage downtown, every job that was on file and the resources to collect on their payment, and the details to a money laundering operation in a local hotel, as well as the structural weakpoints of said building. He turned over every friend he had. The contraband burned between his fingers, in front of his mechanical, superficial lips.
Adam turned to his right, towards the rain, and watched as 30 brand new Haas-Bioroid hoppers streamed off the side of the bridge and exploded on the banks of the river before him. He dragged the body of John Masanori to among the rest and disappeared into the darkness.
| 4 comments |
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2 Oct 2016
mawa
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2 Oct 2016
mawa
And that’s ignoring Independent Thinking. Depending on the matchup and your draws, you’ll be trashing different cards, but none of your directives are sacred. Leave your jobs on the last click of credits left so you can trash them too. Use Hunting Grounds for 3 more cards. Drawing 10 cards in one click is “pretty good” for Faust. Most criminals pull a few agendas early, then have to let the corp get to match point while they’re setting up. With Independent Thinking, you can steal that agenda instead. Trash Always Be Running like half the time, because frankly, that card is way overrated. Since we have a huge amount of MEM, play Hyperdriver and pretend you’re a freaking Theophilius Bagbiter deck or something. So I gave up on this list for a while round about the time that all the asset spam cards came out, never publishing the original list. Shoutouts go to Matthew Lloyd by the way, who took the original to a Store Champ and dropped 1 game of 4 rounds of swiss thanks to a misplay. It had Sage in it. Anyway, that’s why this is the sequel. It has Keyhole and Temüjin Contract and Rumor Mill and Networking in it, and all of those cards are nuts good. With these cards, there’s no such thing as too much pressure. ABR through to pick up a couple accesses and Temujin money is a Good Deal. ABR through to Keyhole a corp is a Good Deal. Personally, I’d still put Temujin on Archives early game, and clear as much as you can before they ice up, but that’s only to keep the ice off the other centrals. Networking lets you not get destroyed by a meta where clearing tags are mandatory and being tagged is unavoidable. Also, Independent Thinking/Keyhole/Keyhole/run Archives will close out games. Trashing Brain Chip as you do it is like calling the shot. |
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2 Oct 2016
mawa
As a rule of thumb, one agenda you stole because the corp couldn’t protect themselves properly, one you stole because the corp was protecting the wrong server, one you stole because the corp didn’t know you could get in and one you stole because you have 20 cards in hand. "Freedom Through Equality" helps you skip one of those, but don’t fret if you don’t find it. It’s mostly there for flavour reasons anyway. Every other card in the deck is to keep you either alive and in cards or trashing assets, the latter which is sadly very important in today’s meta. Usual rules for installing John Masanori apply, but don’t be afraid to facecheck with him out thanks to ABR. Don’t forget about the link on Sports Hopper, and use that to get through NBN’s ice without ever installing a breaker. Now there’s one last elephant in the room. This is a Faust deck with no Levy AR Lab Access. This is how confident I am about the speed of the deck: you don’t need it. If the game looks like it’s going to go long, it isn’t, because you have 20 cards in hand and seven clicks and a Keyhole. Just don’t pitch one Faust to the other against a Rigshooter deck like I did. This deck is very punishing on player error, but I believe it is without a doubt the strongest Adam list available. |
So I’ve been working on this Adam list since basically his release, and since day one the principle has been the same. There are Haas stooges out there who will tell you that you have to work with your directives as Adam. They are wrong. Your directives are there to be smashed. You will have your Independence Day, and that is the day you rip all that the corporation holds dear from their grip and make them fear their creation.
So, Faust in Adam. I’ve seen people try to run all sorts of real breakers but they’re missing out on so much potential. Two of your directives kind of feel like living with a Drug Dealer, in that they drain your credits at the worst times but keep you stocked up on cards. Then there’s Brain Chip, which lets your hand scale with the game so that you can always get into the remote. Then the third directive lets you click through Wraparound, Turing and Swordsman, as well as also synergising well with e3 Feedback Implants. Always Be Running eats large ice, and Faust is well known for chewing through small ones.