Speedy Snare! Delivery Service™

shazzner 830

Speedy Snare! Delivery Service

You Pay the Fare, we Deliver the Snares!™

The Harmony Medtech division needs a new direction. After several failed attempts at Medical Breakthroughs and even dazzling Tricks of Light, at a multitude of lavish Medical Research Fundraisers, turned up little in ways of profit or advancement. The Jinteki Board of Directors and Chairman Hiro himself have had enough. At quick and painless stay at a local retreat with the higher-ups, a decision was made. It was time to move things to the next level: that The Future was Now and Failure was Not an Option. That Future? Why Speedy Snare! Delivery Service that is! The AIs we licensed from Haas Bioroid, whom we were assured were completely sane and stable, told us that research indicates that more and more runners want to be delivered Snares! in a timely manner and it had just the program to do it!

This is my Harmony Medtech: Biomedical Pioneer deck, it was originally a concept of building a deck around the 'no jack out' cards and using Kitsune and Executive Boot Camp to force a Snare! access on runners. I've edited it a bunch including changing the ID itself a few times. The basic premise is this: leave HQ and Archives mostly open, build one score/kill remote server and make R&D runs taxing (though play out Boot Camp and Jackson in separate remotes as needed). If the runner encounters a Kitsune they cannot break, you let them access a Snare! in your hand. Don't have a Snare!? Why tutor it up from Executive Boot Camp mid-run!

Some quick overviews of some of the card choices:

Agenda Choices:

This deck uses the 6-5/3 agenda Medtech spread. This allows for a very low agenda density and requires only two agendas to be scored to win. If the runner gets hit with a Shi.Kyu and takes the -1 agenda point, that's three agendas they'll have to score to win.

Labyrinthine Servers: is really good here, try to score one early it's almost as good as a Nisei token in deterring the runner. Remember its token is a prevent effect and runner will often forget about it. Even if you don't have a guaranteed flatline a good deal of net damage is worth it.

The Future Perfect: is only just a harder to steal agenda. One can even be left in archives if it means they're getting hit with Shocks! every time they try and go for it.

Asset/Upgrade Choices:

Executive Boot Camp: is king here. It not only let's you tutor Snares! mid-run for Kitsune fun, but also acts as an economy card in rezzing Tsurugis/Shell Corps/etc cheaper. It can also be Indexing defense too, as you get a shuffle after searching.

Project Junebug: is the perfect card to reveal during a Celebrity Gift. Puts the fear of god in them but can also lead to a flatline win.

Shell Corporation: is your perfect economy/bait on your kill server. Protect it with a Snare! and Hokusai Grid.

Ice Choices:

Chum: is a card that I want to have more of but can't seem to move stuff around enough to allow it. Remember that an unbroken Chum -> Kitsune -> Snare! is a flatline victory. Runners will often be confidant if they have all of their icebreakers out to face the next piece of ice after Chum to not break it. Normally I throw this over an Architect to put it out of Mimic range.

Pop-up Window: is great at recharging credits for Snares!, be warned though that this is the only piece of ice that will let a runner End the Run if they refuse to pay it.

Architect: is always great. Can get your Snares! installed into the remote they're currently running and cannot jack out of, get Jackson/Boot Camps out on the board again, etc.

Tsurugi: a great taxing ice. Don't forget that it can optionally, at the corp's decision End the Run. Great to put over R&D to stop the runner if all Snares are accounted for.

Universal Connectivity Fee: I'm not sure on this one but it's another Trap that can nuke a runner's credits if they're Snare-tagged. Feel free to replace this with another Popup Window.

I've had a TON of fun with this deck, but it winning games is a nice bonus as well. Only loss I've had so far is a Kit deck that neutralized a few of my Kitsune's with her ability, it was a very close game regardless.

I'm still not entirely happy with the ice choices in this, so feel free to leave comments and suggestions. I've had Geminis in here, but found them rarely working. I've also tried Grail ice but found pretty so-so.

28 comments
9 Dec 2014 esutter479

This looks aweseome...that is all. :)

9 Dec 2014 shazzner

@esutter479 thanks! It's an absolute blast to play :)

9 Dec 2014 Bananifier

Chum in front of a Kitsune kills people. It does 6 net damage with a snare!

Also, why do you play Architect? Is it to get your Boot camps back? 4 influence points is quite a lot when you only have 12.

I have to say that I do like the deck quite a lot. It certainly seems fun to play with!

9 Dec 2014 shazzner

@Bananifier Chum/Kitsune does murder runners! Architect let's me do more tricks and it's an all around great piece of ice to fire off. My favorite being to Architect out a Jackson and Executive Boot Camp, Jackson in my Snares! back into R&D then Boot Camp one into my hand for Kitsune

Two might be too many though, I originally replaced one with a Reclamation Order to get Snares back but my ice was spread a bit too thin for my liking. Open to suggestions!

9 Dec 2014 vvribeiro

Damn, this is nasty!

9 Dec 2014 Phenix

What a fun way to flatline ! Give me the will to try both the ID and the concept ^^

9 Dec 2014 JamesG

How do you score your agendas? I'm dubious as to whether 2 junebugs will be enough to bluff an experienced runner. I think that Mushin no Shin ( and Ronin, maybe) will be quite useful

9 Dec 2014 shazzner

@JamesG Scoring is simply installing and double advancing in the kill/score remote. The runner has to guess it's not a Junebug/Cerebral and can survive a Kitsune->Snare/Hokusai/etc. Most experienced players will not take that gamble and will try for a safer route through R&D. Leela will probably try to bounce it to my hand but has to find another agenda first. Siphon is still a threat as always, which is why you should net damage the runner when possible to try and remove run events.

Mushin creates a new server which I don't want, I only really want one remote. Ronin isn't effective without multiples in 'scoring' range.

9 Dec 2014 shazzner

@JamesG actually the more I think about it, the more I think a singleton Ronin might be pretty effective. I think I'm going to try swapping one Junebug for it.

10 Dec 2014 SlySquid

I love everything about this, the write up was flawless and fucking fun, and the deck looks bonkers good! Great job!!!

10 Dec 2014 ItJustGotRielle

10/10 would order again

10 Dec 2014 chrispedersen

I use much the same tricks in my Genomics deck. But I would say since you only care about 1 shi, that you might do well to drop to 1 shi, since you can tutor with ebc and kitsune to shi on the occassion that net dmg wont kill.

Or then just drop it in archives.

10 Dec 2014 shazzner

@chrispedersen that's an excellent point, good catch

10 Dec 2014 Kroen

What would you suggest as replacement for Boot Camp for people without All That Remains?

10 Dec 2014 shazzner

@Kroen Boot Camp is really the secret sauce that fuels this deck so that's a tough request. I'm thinking maybe Precognition to at least stack the deck with Snares on top and to draw it quickly, but that's really a 10 second analysis. I'd have to think more on it.

11 Dec 2014 Dydra

This deck has several problems.

Let's start with Celebrity Gift. That's a card that you should never play in trap decks. You tell them exactly what to prepare for. Show them a Junebug? " Put the fear in them?" ... total BS ... show me a Junebug and if I don't come to trash it for your hand, install advance-advance I will run into that card 10 out of 10 times.

You have no Mushin No Shin to bait them with Advances into no-advance traps

You assume that the runner doesn't run Deus X , Feedback Filter, nor any AI breaker.

I commend you for trying something different, but it won't work well with that setup. At least not against good players.

11 Dec 2014 shazzner

@Dydra Guess it's not a Junebug is still guessing and I'm usually more interested in your guessing correctly and running. It's also important to note that you don't have to IAA every agenda, you can play an agenda down as another upgrade on a normally multi-upgraded server.

Mushin requires an entirely different setup. You will not find a Mushin in this deck as it creates a new remote and I don't want that. I want one remote, heavily iced, with Hokusai and Shell Corp. The counter to DeusX is having multiple sources of damage which a big remote allows for.

It's also a mute point to say that if someone techs against Jinteki they're going to have a hard time: all Jintekis do.

I feel you glanced over the card listings and declared it unworkable without understanding some of the deeper strategies involved as it plays differently than Cambridge/Worlds RP. Feel free to test out Mushin and let me know the results, I would be sincerely interested if it works well.

11 Dec 2014 Dydra

Your Ice are low STR. Won't cost much for an AI breaker to pass through them... Or Parasite...

Even if you setup an Agenda down the "normal way" and don't advance it pretending to be upgrade ... you still need to advance it to Win ... and then it's the time he will run your non-expensive remote.

Also, no1 is "teching against Jinteki" ... Every deck that wants to compete will have Feedback Filter in it ... Shapers will have 1x Deus Ex in 3 out of 5 cases ... that's a pretty realistic situation and not " teching against Jinteki".

I never said that this will have same playstyle as RP or PE decks, but just think about the fact that you have 1 trap that you can advance .... in a deck that relies on punishing them with traps. Insufficient ....

11 Dec 2014 shazzner

Popular AI breakers like Atman are not helped with meta-oddball strengths like 3 and Overminds fall over multi-sub ice like Tsurugi and Komainu, though I've honestly not faced off against many AI breakers. I can't help but feel their threat is overstated until Eater comes out, but by then this and many other decks won't be as relevant. Additionally, Tsurugi and Komainu are not cheap to break in the slightest.

I'm also happy for a 9 credit tax if they're feedback filtering a snare. I've got plenty more where that came from. I already addressed Deus Ex, Shaper only has so many Clone Chips.

Some have noted that a singleton Ronin might be effective or swapping an Architect with an Overwriter, things I'm likely to try out in the future.

The most interesting card of the new pack I'm looking forward to is Self-destruct as an additional upgrade on my remote.

11 Dec 2014 Dydra

Tsurugi and Komainu in : " Have you met my Parasite " ?

Self-destruct Will be good for your deck. Since you can Hokusai him for -1 first and then blow up the Hokusai.

However, obviously you don't have any good shapers in your meta, if you are saying things like " a shaper has only that many deus ex".

Overmind is a powerhouse and a lot of Anarch, Shaper and some criminal decks use it. Oh, have you forgot Knight ... maybe that card is also not commonly used AI breaker?

I haven't seen an Anarch build without Knight in it since ... it has been a while you know ...

I am just trying to help you patch-up your deck, but you are so reluctant to take feedback.

Let me tell you, I've been running things like kitsune into snare both in my RP and PE decks ... so I have some experience with that. So take my advice and patch up your deck, rather than to keep telling me stuff which weak players do .

11 Dec 2014 shazzner

@dydra please suggest alternatives for consideration then, your feedback is entirely theorycrafting

11 Dec 2014 Dydra

There are too many things I'd change ... Those 2 influences on Pop-up are wasted... your deck is already weak to Parasite as it is and it won't net you that much more money than playing econ cards. Chum ... theorycrafting is expecting someone to not break Chum and you Kitsune into Snare ... btw Kitsune Snare is 7c combo, with Executive Bootcamp 8c ... if you rezz Chum in the same turn 9C ... that means you need to prepare 7c to 9c at all times ( and that's without Scorch in the equation) just for that Combo-Ice. Expecting decent player to fall for that is simply naive. that's -3 ICE

I'd have Inazuma, or/and Lotus Field on their place ( that's some solid protection against Parasite).

That's just looking at your ICE ... I'm at work now and don't have time to dwell deeper into the rest of your deck.

In general - 1 Hokusai, and try to squeeze in maybe some DBS or/and more advance traps.

Oh I just saw you don't play Scorch as well .... even 1 of would be great.

and if you think I'm simply picking on you ... I haven't even mentioned Keyhole, which like any trap-jinteki deck, would wreck through :) So yeah, think about those situations and what you can come up with.

11 Dec 2014 invictus_blue

@shazzner Great looking deck. Once I finally try Medtech this is the kind of thing I would want to play.

From my own recent Jinteki experience, I've found that Hostile Infrastructure works great with Snare!. You could even keep it unrezzed in it's own remote until the runner hit Kitsune; the catch is that the runner will only trash it if it doesn't kill him, and then you'll have to find another Kitsune. Even so, it could keep the Snare! in your hand if they don't trash it or ping away that extra card needed to finish them off.

11 Dec 2014 Fox Ex Machina

Hi! I've been tooling around with the deck a bit and it's really fun to play. Some changes I've made:

I find the influence on Pop-up Window isn't as strong there; in fact, I went up to three Architect instead. The extra card went to a second Chum.

Universal Connectivity Fee is actually pretty awesome behind a Kitsune and in front of, say, a Tsurugi. If they run, they get the tag, get their credits wasted, and then Tsurugi eats them for breakfast. It's fun.

I'll keep messing around with it to see what I can find! This is helpful, especially in my meta, where Atman doesn't see much play.

11 Dec 2014 Myriad

Hostile Infrastructure helps some against Keyhole out of Jinteki, but I don't think this deck has space for it right now. An interesting choice though to be sure.

11 Dec 2014 shazzner

@invictus_blue and others: I'll try out Hostile Infrastructure, I felt it was a little too costly but I'll give it a one-of slot

@xenoman that's great! I think that sounds good for a popup replacement, let me know what else you find

12 Dec 2014 Badeesh

Love this idea. Creativity and strong strategy using actually released cards. Good job.

22 Jan 2015 gravyk

Love this. Can't wait to try it out.