Haastile Infrastructure v1.0

tpsviper 252

Hey Folks, I've been tweaking this deck and playing it on octgn and I've been getting a lot of positive feedback on it. So I figured it's time to share it! Feel free to make any suggestions or criticisms at all I'm not shy and can take a beating!

So lets break my thoughts down:

Concept: I really liked the idea of Hostile Infrastructure out of faction, I immediately gravitated to HB to host this awesome card for two reasons. First is that HB already does a great job taxing creds and clicks so adding the taxing of cards feels like a nice way to round out an HB deck. Secondly HB has a ton of assets, some that are heavily used and some that are packed away in our binders never to be seen again. Me being the huge fan of making janky cards work wanted to take a second look at these cards and re evaluate their value when the trash value also includes Net damage. I also needed cards that are such high value for a corp that the runner feels obligated to trash them putting the runner in a very awkward situation. So in essence this is a control deck where it forces the runners hand into situations that are not ideal.

Agendas: Pretty standard composition here, the idea is to lay down the 2 pointers and score them making the runner second guess every card I lay down. The Hades Fragment has great synergy with Executive Boot Camp to recycle assets and Eden Fragment has great synergy with ETF for more econ.

Assets: Since there are so many I won't break down the obvious ones that are there. Boot Camps are essential for getting my Hostiles early and are also very nice for dropping snares into the hand right before that legwork access. Alix T4 and Haas Archology I'm extremely excited about in this deck. Alix with the extra tax of damage that the runner really has to consider if it's worth it or not and Haas Archology can bait runs through protected servers with no reward for the runner, they either trash to take damage or allow me to fast advance.

Ice: With Yog leaving the meta Viktor 1.0 really becomes a stellar card and I love it in this deck. Eli has lost some strength but is still solid. The Heimdalls are pretty easy to afford in this deck and can do some much needed brain damage making the hostiles and snares even more dangerous. Architect in a deck like this is a must to recycle those assets. Ichi 2.0 is nice to hide in those heavy remotes, tax or damage the runner and let them through to see something else they can't trash. Janus as a one of (why not!) and Rototurrets which are incredible as they are taxing even if parasited now with net damage.

Upgrades: I don't even need to get into how strong ash is in a deck like this or any deck for that matter.

Operations: Archived Memories...enough said.

So that's my deck! I hope you like and get a chance to play it! Let me know how it goes and I would love to here your feedback!

tpsviper

23 comments
11 Dec 2014 invictus_blue

Looks fun, certainly original. I assume you play a very horizontal game? With only 14 ICE, do you prioritize placement on centrals? How often do you score the 3-pointers?

I'm a big fan of Hostile Infrastructure, glad to see it being used OOF.

11 Dec 2014 tpsviper

It is a very Horizontal game yes! But I do place ice on usually one or two remotes for scoring and taxing the runner. Depending on the runner HQ doesn't need a ton of protections because of the snares and R&D usually will have 2 or three on it by the end of the game. I have scored 3 pointers but not often only because there is only 2 in the deck. They are fairly easy to score when protected with ash.

11 Dec 2014 Glitch

Is there a particular reason you went with Alix T4LB07 over PAD Campaign? The latter of the two options is more taxing to break and I feel a more reliable source of income.

11 Dec 2014 tpsviper

Yes there is actually! PADS Runners can live with as the reward is slow and the trash cost is high. Especially when a hostile is out and rezzed PADS will never be trashed. Which you may think is a good thing but in this deck i want the runners to be tempted to trash things and take the net damage. Alix on the other hand builds up fast after a few turns and can easily net me 14-20 creds within a few turns. The runner then has to decide if its worth taking the net damage to trash it or let me be rich the rest of the game.

12 Dec 2014 SlySquid

I love this deck, I was excited about it when you started talking about it weeks ago @tpsviper, the theme is flawless and I think it's going to be a real pain to deal with! @Glitch the point is to leverage the fact that the runner can rawly and more than likely really wants to trash your econ assets, because they are some that gain you loads for fat cash, but you have to remember that there is an extra tax of up to 3 credits and net damage...

I also love how you also have an answer to blackmail recursun decks with Executive Boot Camp

12 Dec 2014 tpsviper

Thanks @SlySquid! I really love how Boot Camp performs in this deck. Two of the major concerns this deck has Boot camp has an answer to, get the hostiles out quickly and fill the hand with snares in an emergency situation.

12 Dec 2014 Sojourne

Cool. An extreme horizontal set-up to support a glacial remote complete with Ash 2X3ZB9CY. Have to try it out myself for fun. I keep getting a feeling money might be an issue though especially with the need to have cash to keep Snare! live and to rez Hostile Infrastructure.

Suggestion: Switch out an Executive Boot Camp or 2 for Daily Business Show?

12 Dec 2014 tpsviper

Granted ive only had i think 4 games with the deck i can tell money wasnt much of an issue. Every game i hovered anywhere around 10-35 creds most of the game. But more testing is needed. Hmmm daily business could be fun. Worth a shot!

12 Dec 2014 Lord_Reynardine

This looks well worth a try!

My first thought when reading your write up was Encryption Protocol: in faction, trash taxing... Already lots of assets, but worth a try? Not sure how I'd squeeze it in, though.

Looking forward to trying this on OCTGN.

12 Dec 2014 tpsviper

I worry about adding Encryption only because there is that thin line of "i'll take the damage" for the runner and "Fuck it I won't bother". I think Encryptions hitting the board leads the runner to the latter. But that's my prediction and I could be wrong. I do feel like this deck would benefit from enhanced Login Protocol however.

12 Dec 2014 rossi

Can confirm, this is nasty to play against. Glad you posted it--I've been watching since our crazy game the other night.

12 Dec 2014 Toomin

I agree with @Lord_Reynardine that Encryption Protocol would kick ass, I'd suggest swapping out the 2x Alix for them?

13 Dec 2014 tpsviper

I guess @SlySquid and I are alone with our love for Alix :( lol

13 Dec 2014 Oisin

Very interesting list. I've been messing around with a NEARPAD deck, and that has been driving my friend crazy. This seems to be a similar asset/tax strategy. I think I'll try to come up with a list.

13 Dec 2014 Oisin

Working with it, I can see how solid the card choices are; everything in here works well. I ended up working in 2 Cerebral Overwriters and 2 Shell Corporations (to add those four cards, I took out one Adonis, one Alix, one Melange, and one Architect).

Perhaps I'm way off here, but it seems like some kind of trap might further prevent the runner from face-checking agendas; and, since shell is an upgrade, it gives you flexibility.

But this definitely feels like a unique, cool list. Nice job!

13 Dec 2014 tpsviper

@Oisin - i do imagine that as it grows traps will make it in my deck as well and overwriters seem like the most likely candidate. Almost every game i hit the runner with brain damage off the ice so the extra brain caused can seal the game for me. I had shell in the deck before i published it but swapped them for miners. That being said shell is extremely easy to keepalive as well. Thanks for the input and i hope you enjoy playing your versions :)

15 Dec 2014 mecha-nico

Tried this deck yesterday in our monthly tourney. I love it so much!

Here's a tourney report:

  • My 2 Corp wins were against Shaper decks, a Kit and an Exile. I rezzed the Hostiles and called it with EBCs on my first few turns, then started rezzing my asset economies. Delayed them during the midgame (because they were pondering whether they have to trash Hostiles or not), and I was able to remove their Scavenges, SMCs, and Test Runs from their hand while trashing them. I won the game against Kit when I scored Hades to return my Hostiles and unused Jacksons, then played the shell game when I purposefully called a Snare with EBC and installed ABTs instead. I won against Exile by using a well-protected Arcology to fast advance my ABTs, and when he miscalculated his creds to break the Ash trace on Hades, then faceplanted on my Heimdall 2.0 on his last click.

  • I lost against a teched Andromeda and a Noise. Andy was reluctant to trash my Hostiles first, but then called out the Scrubbers to remove them. Didn't give me a chance to cred up with my asset economies afterward. As for Noise, I missed an opportunity to install Snare on a remote protected by Janus. He was attacking that remote server for quite a while, and I didn't read him correctly (my mistake). He won by putting out Mimic and Yog.0 to attack my HQ, which had 2 Architects and a Viktor 1.0.

Here are some of my observations about the deck:

  • EBC helped lower the rez cost of my Adonis and Eve cards, but I was too focused to use it to call out the Hostiles first. I was also reluctant to rez Alix since I'm not used to the card. Maybe replacing it with Thomas Haas could help? I dunno.

  • I think Aggressive Secretary and Cerebral Overwriter could find a slot in this deck for shell game purposes.

  • The asset economy is great, but I think there should be some kind of backup operation economy to help against teched decks. Maybe Diversified Portfolio could help?

@tpsviper, you're the man for making this deck! I really hope you could give us an insight of what to prioritize first in the opening hand, and when we should rez Hostiles and use EBCs to call them out. Also, what do you think should we do against Noise and Scrubbers? Thank you so much!

15 Dec 2014 tpsviper

@mecha-nico thanks so much for the kind words and breakdowns of your games and thoughts on the deck. I'm honestly still trying to discover the inner workings of this deck myself and i find im maybe just above 50/50 with the deck. Imp or any other trash power cards i found are an issue for sure. So ive already started tweaking the deck and will be looking at a release for version 2 shortly.

I agree that more traps is a great way to go so ill find some room for those for sure.

Part of the reason i chose ETF is the freedom to still make econ without needing operation econ so i install all the time regardless if i feel they will be trashed or not for that cred and more taxing situations for the runner.

I find the best hands so far are an architect and a viktor to start. Archtitect over hq and viktor over R&D. Architect makes great siphon protection as you can install an asset, rez it and go broke before access early game. Then an adonis or eve and a boot camp would also be nice. I prefer the runner spend all his early game creds trashing the adonis and eves to slow his tempo. Once he is low on creds you can start controlling the runners playstyle from that point forward. I think a one or two of for diversified portfolio could work well. Hedge funds could also be an option for a quick boost. Almost every game i played alix it has net me a lot of creds so i personally dont think im taking it out but i would love to hear about variations without it :)

Also i think i will be replacing two ABT's for 2 more NAPDs in the deck. It will give that much needed protection when needed and it will help with the traps and the Archology AI. There will also still be 4 agendas to bluff out mixed in with the assets.

Stay tuned for version 2 after more playtesting. :)

16 Dec 2014 the_eigensheep

Seems like their might be good incentive to add paper wall?

16 Dec 2014 the_eigensheep

There*

Also, I don't suppose Howler counts as the Runner trashing the card?

16 Dec 2014 tpsviper

They both trash on their own so no effect with hostile

22 Dec 2014 SlySquid

When am I going to play this....!?

5 Jul 2015 Robotron5673

Have you thought about using Test Ground in this deck? By using it, you can get extended use of Adonis Campaign, Eve Campaign and Haas Arcology AI.