Killing Time v1.1

Jashay 715

A highly taxing Stronger Together deck that I've been working on. The basic idea is that the bioroids cost far more for the runner to get through than they do for me to rez;

Over half the ICE costs 4 or less to rez. Half the ICE has a strength of 5 or higher. Only the Chimeras have less than 2 subroutines.

So the game here is to make the runner spend large amounts of or . To help the ICE along, we have ELP, which often leaves the runners less s to work with. Heinlein Grid, Ash and Caprice can hopefully make it so all the runner's efforts were in vain.

Changes

I've tweaked the agendas slightly, removing 2x Priority Requisition in favour of a Project Wotan and a Utopia Fragment. Eden Fragment was also considered, but you've usually got your servers set up before you score this. Still, it might find its way in soon.

I took out all of the Eve Campaigns. The 2 per turn was just too slow in a deck where all the ICE costs 3+ to rez. (Except Chimera, but they're new too). I also dropped one ELP and added in 2x Private Contracts and 2x Successful Demonstration. The PCs, whilst less click efficient, are cheaper to rez and can give me a burst of money when I need it. The Successful Demonstrations work pretty well in this deck, as the taxing nature usually means a lot of failed runs. Caprice Nisei also plays to this strength. Still, they're not as reliable as I would like, so they're under scrutiny.

I've gone down to 1 Heimdall 2.0 and dropped the Janus 1.0 and Rototurret entirely. Janus 1.0 was too much hassle to rez, and would be even worse without the Pri Reqs. Rototurret wasn't pulling its weight at all.

I've added in 2x Chimera and an Ash. That way I can use Caprice to protect centrals and Ash to protect my scoring server. The Chimera add some actual ETR to the deck. They work well throughout the game, until people get all their breakers out. The -draining nature of this deck often means that it takes tham an inordinately long time to get the breakers out, too. My slight concern is the drain on the economy.

How to play

Despite how taxing bioroids are, an ETR bioroid is still porous; the runner can get through if they really want to. Double-stack ICE for the centrals at least. Even the two cheapest bioroids (Viktor 1.0 and Eli 1.0) will make for an expensive server that cannot be entirely clicked through.

Don't worry about trying to get an early score. Try to keep your economy going and shore up your centrals before anything else.

Because of the porosity, it can be risky to play the ELP early. Sure, it will slow them down, but it is also the time you are most vulnerable to Legwork/Maker's Eye, which are not affected by ELP. It is always worth putting Caprice on a central. Ditto Heinlein Grid, although it won't stop a Siphon. Ash can protect a remote pretty handily.

e3 implants are your bane, but ELP really helps, and Heinlein Grid laughs at it. In such cases, it's worth going three deep on a server. Technically Markus 1.0 can nail them, but I won't lie, it's unlikely.

The Future?

I'll have to see if Chimera works out, but the deck does need a bit of solidity.

I'm considering taking out the Inazuma and replacing them with Changeling or Wormhole. Even though Inazuma is incredible, I think Wormhole could be a bit more flexible, if a little more click-intensive. Changeling can be used to force two equipment checks throughout a game, and a STR 4 ETR Sentry is surprisingly annoying for people.

Mother Goddess might be a good one. She's almost unbreakable if she's the only bit of rezzed ICE, and after other ICE is rezzed a STR 5 ETR ICE for 4 is solid.

A second Architect is a sore temptation, as they are glorious at helping the setup, and can potentially recur all the trashed upgrades and assets. However, they lack stopping power, which makes it difficult to consider them.

A straight-up destroyer like Grim is also up for consideration, but I worry that the Bad Pub would detract from the taxing nature of the deck.

2 comments
10 Jan 2015 CodeMarvelous

This looks interesting, How has it been performing for you thus far?

11 Jan 2015 Jashay

It's doing well, but it still needs work. In the early turns when you only have one bit of ICE on each central you are vulnerable to things like Account Siphon, as they just click through to land the punch. Arguably, them having to spend a whole turn to accomplish one run is a win, but it really won't feel like it!

The other thing you can see is people paying through most of the ICE and clicking through the last bit. This is another 'technically a win' situation, but again, you won't like it.

The support is what makes the deck, and I'm not 100% convinced I've got the right balance there. Caprice, Ash, Heinlein, and ELP push it into 'downright obnoxious' territory, and I find that if you ever get any two of them down you'll be in a much better position. I'd really like to find room for extras of all of them. Testing continues.

I'm not 100% on Chimera; if I get them early they are great, if not they are just taking up space. And I feel I really need a solid destroyer; people often think 'well, I can click myself safe' and facecheck a surprisingly large amount.

To end on a positive note, though, once you get two bits of ICE on a server and any of the 4 support cards, there's a tipping point where the runner will be unable to run more than once every other turn, if even that. You don't even need the support sometimes; it depends who you're facing.

If you end up three deep on the relevant servers, it's nuts. I've had decks with MOpus take three turns to get enough money for a run. (18 in 9, 2 for the run, didn't have enough to beat the Ash trace at the end).

The most efficient deck I've faced was a Kit Stealth build, that had two 5 stealth credits per turn, Refractor, Dagger and Corroder out. It gave me massive grief early on, but mid game managed only 4 runs in 10 turns.

Tl;dr: The taxing pressure is absurd once you get going, but the early porosity of your ICE is your Achilles' heel. I'm still learning, but I think you need to use your upgrades aggressively, perhaps even sacrificially, early on if you're facing a run event heavy deck.