Gods Among Us v2.0

Glitch 385

I've changed a few of the ice around from my original build to incorporate more of the Galaxy ice, which is integral to the deck.

After going over a few suggestions from my original build, I've opted to cut out Restructure and replace it with Beanstalk Royalties to give me a quicker start and quicker recovery. I've also added Errand Boy as a tax and additional target for things like Parasite and the new cutlery events, hoping it keeps my Archer and Nebula alive longer.

Crisium Grid was added in hopes of battling the Eater + Keyhole builds, giving me enough time to fortify servers with taxing ice.

27 comments
27 Jan 2015 DydraFan#1

WHAT!?! THIS DECK AS WAY TOO MUCH ECON LOL. YOU BETTER PLAY DYDRA DECK, HE'S THE GREATEST! -#1 4EVER.

27 Jan 2015 IonFox

Well here's my thoughts after a glance:

Have you considered high risk investment? I feel that it combosextraordinarily well with titan's ability and can net a lot more creds than geothermal.

I personally run builder with 1 tyrant and swarm and people usually don't see it coming, and think it's just a beefed up ice/fire wall, so it might work.

Lastly, would you consider devoting a slot or two for searchlight? Otherwise I feel that a scorch win is rather hard to setup.

Great deck idea and I think that a titan advancable ice deck can do pretty well (sry BWBI).

28 Jan 2015 cranked

``@IonFox` I like HRI in Titan as well, not because it's better than Fracking, but because it's better than the 5/3 alternatives in Weyland. The only time those agenda counters aren't useful is if the Runner is broke, but that ends up being a boon in and of itself, because it means that unless you're broke too, you're all set up for a Scorched play. Also, the minute the Runner gets an influx of cash, you can spend your next turn doubling up on their credits, which, again, sets you up for a Scorched play.

The only concern I have with this deck is maybe a lack of ways to leverage all the money I foresee this deck making. I could see a card like Troubleshooter being pretty strong in this deck in order to get an Archer or Nebula to stick, or maybe even Ash. Or if you wanted to get more ice in there, play Orion, which could serve double duty of taxing ice and ToL bank. That might get away from the FA/rush gameplan a bit, but having 20+ credits isn't as cool if you're not doing anything with them. Otherwise it looks like a really strong contender if you can get the Atlastrain on the rails, and if you lose one, you still have a backup win condition with Scorched.

28 Jan 2015 Glitch

@IonFox I think I'm too cautious of a player to give up the sure thing credits of Geothermal Fracking; also a 4 cost agenda can be scored from hand with 2 Trick of Light but a 5 cost can't. I love the idea of scoring a High-Risk Investment and seeing the opponents face as they realize they no longer have more credits lol.

How have you found Builder? I wanted to slot it in but thought it might be too clunky.

I thought about adding a single Searchlight if I also added Builder to the deck, but with my current build I don't think it would get enough advancement counters to make the trace threatening. Also, with the bad pub the deck takes, I'd need to invest more tokens onto it.

Thanks for the critique!

28 Jan 2015 Exo

I really like the setup! :) I think at this stage, this is going to be a good competitive deck. Plus Crisium Grid is going to be very important when O&C will be out(I think it's already a very strong card). Wormhole seems crazy good! I am really looking for that card. :D

28 Jan 2015 hatman

Interesting set-up! If you're having a lot of trouble with keyhole, Data Raven could slot in instead of SanSan City Grid for extra scares.

How quickly do you usually get the Galaxy ice up? I've been playing with the morph ice, and like them a lot for rushing out agendas.

28 Jan 2015 IonFox

@Glitch I totally forgot about scoring fracking from hand with ToL. Builder works a lot better in my deck probably as I also run a lot more advancable ice like tyrant, swarm and fire wall. I also find that a single reclaimation order has some nice synergy with this deck, letting you pull back burst econ or ToL.

I also think @hatman and @cranked have valid points as this deck makes stupid, stupid amounts of cash, making both data raven and ash valid considerations as credit dumps which help you win either by scorch or score. Ash might be less important though if you only want to ToL and not build a score server.

If you do decide to run more advancable ice, the root and shipment from kaguya can also work well.

Lastly, as the point of this deck is to make central servers as hard to run as possible, one may need to seriously consider witness tampering as all the hostile and fracking bad pub can add up.

P.S. While I do not especially care about certain people's attitudes and responses on this site, I will admit that the shipment from kaguya and reclaimation ideas came to me after seeing Dydra's deck.

28 Jan 2015 cranked

@IonFox That's a good point about Reclamation Order. If you have to double-ToL out a 4/2, you're a little screwed on scoring that last agenda. I think dropping the SanSan is probably the best way to get the influence, as ToL isn't as easy to trash.

Alternatively, you could drop the Scorched plan, but I'm always a proponent of a deck having an alternate win condition like Scorched, so I'd be more inclined to drop the SanSan.

28 Jan 2015 IonFox

A possible change without going super advance ice (which is totally awesome and worth a try) would be -1 sansan, -1 jackson for +2 reclaimation. Which you can then cycle with jacksons and atlas. You could also just -1 sansan for a single order and slot in a chum or lotus field or something.

28 Jan 2015 Glitch

@cranked I think you're right about needing something other than SEA Source to leverage the amount of money the deck can make, and really like the idea of Corporate Troubleshooter. There's nothing scarier than an Archer you can no longer break.

@IonFox I honestly didn't even think of extra recursion for the ToL; Reclamation Order is a fantastic idea!

I'm thinking -1 SanSan City Grid for +1 Reclamation Order and +1 Corporate Troubleshooter but I'm unsure of the other card to cut to keep the deck at 49 cards.

I've also tried the deck with both Shipments cards and found that it just wasn't fast enough. To answer @hatman's question, the Galaxy ice is up quickly, I usually just install, advance, advance them so they immediately cost 3 and have enough counters for a ToL play. There have been some occasions in which I don't advance then immediately, rarely due to credit issues, more so that the runner believes it's an Archer (this usually happens after I score a Hostile Takeover or Firmware Updates and wipe the counters).

28 Jan 2015 IonFox

@Glitch You could perhaps remove a single archer as 3 may be unnecessary when your main objective is to score out. You could also remove a single beanstalk royalties as this deck usually doesnt have cred issues. It's basically a choice between another big, scary ice which delays you victory, or some cash which helps solve early or unforeseen financial issues.

28 Jan 2015 IonFox

@Glitch One other thing is: Have you considered space camp? I gind that it's really really good at defending archives, loke a weyland shock.

28 Jan 2015 evilgaz

This thread started with DydraFan#1 making me literally lol and then IonFox talking about "combosex" as I misread it. I'm going to have to wipe the salty tears of joy from my eyes before I can continue.

There.

Any particular reason for Executive Retreat? Would one of the Hades Fragment or something perhaps serve you better?

28 Jan 2015 Glitch

@IonFox I could remove a single Hedge Fund. I like Beanstalk as a way of recovering from a big turn of rezzing ice or AS, and it's only 1 less credit gain from Hedge Fund. I don't want to remove ice, I think that 16 is the sweet spot for most Weyland builds.

28 Jan 2015 Glitch

@evilgaz Executive Retreat was suggested in the comments of my original build to help combat against Wanton Destruction so I can just get my hand back, twice if needed. I'm not sure if any of the Fragment agendas would serve better; Hades may serve as well as Exec Retreat. I may go through an agenda shuffle between Executive Retreat, Hades Fragment and High-Risk Investment as time goes on and the meta shifts.

28 Jan 2015 Wookiee

So, is there a 3.0 version now?

29 Jan 2015 akonnick

@GlitchThis list is exceptional - really clean, really powerful. Aside from also agreeing with others that the Executive Retreat should be a High-Risk Investment, I wouldn't change a thing. I thought of a couple different configurations for this ID, but didn't like the ice suites I came up with. Since you did the hard work for me, I know what I'll be sleeving up next time. Thanks for posting it and hope you have fun with the deck!

29 Jan 2015 IonFox

I personally gave up on the scorch threat in order to focus more on the glacier FA style. I just find that the scorch threat, while absolutely valid also dilutes the deck's potency on the FA front.

29 Jan 2015 Glitch

@Wookiee I'll probably create a 3.0 once I've been able to test it some more with the changes

@akonnick thanks! I'm definitely going to give both Executive Retreat and High-Risk Investment their fair share of play time to see which is more needed. I'm glad I could assist you with your decks by doing the hard work lol

@IonFox you're probsbly right about the Scorch suite diluting the main focus of the deck, but I feel like a blasphemer just thinking of not running it in Weyland. Who knows, Wanton Destruction might be enough to make me stop running it.

29 Jan 2015 BreadRising

Alright, after giving this deck a shot, I definitely realize how strong this ID's ability is. If anything at all, it allows for one thing: Atlas-train.

Use SanSan to score it from hand. Next turn, use the agenda counter to find another Atlas, score it. Repeat. And hopefully, Mark Yale is out this entire time, essentially helping to minimize the cost.

Geofracking is nice and all. Firmware Upgrades is neat and can do awesome things with Trick of Light. I replaced Executive Retreat with High Risk Investment, to take advantage of the extra agenda counter. That's all fine and dandy.

But honestly, I'm considering getting at least a second San San into this deck, just for the purpose of Atlas-Trains. That's really dangerous and crazy fast as long as you can protect the San San.

Awesome deck build! I have a feeling this is going to be a fun one.

29 Jan 2015 Wookiee

Yeah - I took out a ToL for another SanSan in my version. Seems like the train is worth it....

29 Jan 2015 cranked

Last question, and this is more just me not playing a ton of FA: is 16 ice enough? I feel like your early game might be tough, as the only ice you'll really be able to rez are the Ice Walls and the Enigmas until you get some money in your pocket to advance the galaxy ice/score an agenda to turn Archer on.

30 Jan 2015 wilk

I am literally itching to try that deck out. My only worry would be that you have one and only card to tag the runner. Do you find that this singleton SEA Source warrants the inclusion of 3x Scorched Earth? How often do you win by flatline? I'd be inclined to drop the SanSan City Grid for a Data Raven, but then again, I don't know how powerful the WeylandTrain will prove. If the SanSan proved itself really necessary, I'd think of a way to cram Posted Bounty in.

30 Jan 2015 Glitch

@BreadRising and @Wookiee the only thing that stopped me from the deck running 3 SanSan City Grid was the bad pub the deck takes. It turns that sizable 5 trash cost into peanuts for the runner. If it works out for you, definitely let me know, the Atlas train is just so powerful.

@cranked I haven't actually found the ice composition to be a detriment since you can install, advance, advance an Asteroid Belt early in the game and have it up for 3 credits. I'm still testing the deck however, so time might tell. I've mulled over using Fire Wall in the deck instead of Asteroid Belt, so that may be a switch that's more comfortable.

@wilk I don't really worry about only having a single tag source because I try not to rely on the Scorch win, it's a back up. Plus, you can always search for it with an Atlas token if the opportunity arises.

30 Jan 2015 BreadRising

Gave the deck a true test tonight (4 games). Here are my thoughts.

1) The ID ability is strong. Mark Yale turns those agenda counters into some pretty crazy economy. Honestly, I was using the 3 counters on Geothermal to just get 9 with Mark Yale rather than take more Bad Pub. The ID's biggest strength is the Atlas Train. Either use the free Atlas counter to FA another Atlas or simply grab your kill cards. Very impressive.

2) There is not enough ICE in this deck and too many Agendas. 12/49 cards... that's over 1/5 Agendas! My starting hand in almost every game was terrible. The only starting hand that was decent was when I started with SEA Source, Scorched and Beanstalk and was able to win in 2 turns, but that was due to the Runner's poor caution.

That being said. ALL of the Agendas in this deck are awesome. Firmware Updates is actually incredible. Basically, I'd score it, advance an Asteroid at the end of my turn, then advance it at the start of the Runner's turn, bring that ICE down to 3 cost immediately. At the same time, you're making 2 credits with Mark Yale from the spent counters. Then later, you just ToL. I love that Agenda.

Hostile Takeover was a bit econ card, but I feel it may be too much. This deck already makes easy money, even if it is nice to get an extra 3 credits per Hostile Takeover with Mark Yale. Even so, there are just too many 1 pointers in this deck; it's nice for the Archers, but terrible when you're Agenda flooded.

3) This deck needs more ICE. I'd say -3 Hostile Takeovers, +1 High Risk Investment, +2 pieces of ICE. That would balance things out nicely! I'd never say no to another Enigma or a Firewall.

4) This deck needs another San San. San San is the card that makes it sing. There were many games that would have gone much smoother if I had another San San in the deck. I was so desperate to get my San San back that I removed a Jackson to get it back into R&D and then spent a precious Atlas counter to fish it out. I'm thinking -1 ToL and +1 San San. Just my observations. ToL is nice, but it requires a bit more setup.

5) Money is not an issue. You will be rich and it's wonderful.

6) Sea Source is a much better option than Mid Seaons; I'm glad it's in here! It's cheaper and triggers on every successful run, which can catch the runner off guard when they're expecting a Mid Seasons play. Good call with that.

Overall, very fun! It just needs a little tweaking and I'm convinced it can be an extremely strong deck. The biggest issue is the Agendas and lack of ICE. Just a tiny balancing will suit it nicely!

2 Feb 2015 sruman

I can definitely see how I more san-san would be a great addition, but what to drop for that inf ? Would it be worth dropping one of the tricks of light, seems like a key card in the deck. Outside of that, only option is to drop the scorch option and 1 jackson to get it, which might be viable way to go.

11 Mar 2015 Thymaius

Do you install Mark Yale in a naked remote or defend him with ICE? He's probably crucial for your economy but I usually want my scoring remote to be free when I want to score an agenda...