Neural ETF

afishisborn 2810

Ok, this is the meanest deck I've ever built. Here's why.

So the general strategy is pretty boring, and probably obvious. Hit the runner with enough brain damage to finish them off easily later. Neural EMP, Efficiency Committee, and an archived memories or 2 is often enough to murder people. It's also pretty easy to give yourself an agenda victory too, especially if you make the runner nervous. Alright, let's see what we've got here.

Fenris. This is actually probably the most important Ice we've got. It does 2 things stupidly well.
1: It punishes facechecking. Hard. Listen, this deck is designed to turn 2 brain damage into a decently likely win condition. 3 is a guarantee. If Fenris lands that first blow, you are already 40% of the way to victory. That's stupid and fantastic. I love it.
2: It eats Faeries. Listen, Janus is our superstar. Janus at the right time is devastating. And you know what? That time will never come when Faerie is on the table. But if you run on a server with a Faerie out and this bitch pops up? Yeah, Faerie's gone now. And every Faerie this thing eats is a Faerie less when Janus makes his unwelcome appearance And if you're worried about the bad pub, don't. Heimdall, Janus, and even Ichi are stupid expensive to break naturally. 1 BP makes little difference.

Alright, let's talk about False Lead. Goddamn. Goddamn. This agenda does 3 things stupid well. 3 things that all bring you closer to winning.
1: This card makes your bioroids incredible. Heimdall and Janus become almost guaranteed to land at least 1 brain damage. Ichi will probably trash something. When every brain damage is precious, every tool to help you land one is priceless.
2: This card can help you score your 5/3's and Efficiency Committees. Sometimes, a perceived scoring window is an illusion. When prepaid Kate can go from 0 to 9 credits in 2 clicks, the ability to immediately end that turn is amazing. Given that you likely need at least 1 scored Committee to win with net damage, that's pretty big. And sometimes, you need an agenda win. Feedback Filter is usually just discarded vs HB, but if they catch wind of your emps, you might find a flatline win impossible. False Leads are low-risk, easy to score, and can transform themselves into 3 agenda points with ease.
3: You can stop the runner cold in the middle of their turn. If they let their hand drop into kill range, stopping them from drawing up is glorious. This is not the most common scenario, and a veteran runner probably won't fall into this trap, but it feels so good when you win this way.

Adonis/Melange. Very simple. These cards give you major economic advantage and are prime targets for running. Use them to bait the runner into your bioroids, or just enjoy the copious credits if the runner doesn't bite.

Snoop. Listen, I think by now, everyone realizes how amazing clickless, unpreventable net damage is. This card is brilliant.

Awakening Center. I could be persuaded away from this. Cerebral Overwriter might be more relevant, even, or Corporate Troubleshooter to push Janus out of Deus Ex range. Listen, this card is in here because I love it, and I want it to work. We'll see.

So that's it. HB excels at baiting the runner and still prospering if the runner doesn't bite. Take advantage of that.

To date, I've only played this on OCTGN thus far. Stealth Kit wrecked me, as well as 1 game where I drew into 3 ice and died to medium/nerve agent digs, but in every other game this deck has been solid.

1 comments
6 Dec 2014 vor_lord

I'm interested in how Awakening Center works out. I've tried to use it without much success, but never with the intent of just getting a few brain damage.

I think any runner with hand size extenders would give this a tough time.