Deep Space 9% Tax

xjohncandyx 82

This is a very beta version and it's possibly terrible.

The idea behind this deck is to tax the Runner's credits when possible while dripping your way into Scrooge McDuck territory...basically Weyland RP.

MY THEORY:

The ID basically adds 1 to every installed card's trash cost, making asset drip economy annoying to dismantle for the Runner. This deck is meant to run a bit horizontal because of this. PAD Campaign costs 1 to access and another 4 to trash while both Private Contracts and Marked Accounts cost 1 to access and 5 to trash. This is typically a losing proposition for the Runner.

I think NAPD Contract is a must-include with this ID. Now after spending through the nose to get into your scoring remote the Runner must spend 1 credit to access and an additional 4 to steal NAPD. I don't think they'll expect an NAPD in Weyland considering it's a Bad Pub faction and the extra credit to access could even throw a wrench into mental math. Combine that with several taxing ICE and there may be something here.

The key to making those two points work is taxing ICE. Datapike, Pop-up Window, Pup, and Tollbooth are all imported to tax the Runner's credits. Errand Boy and Caduceus are both indirectly taxing in that they could give you a card or credit advantage on encounter. Ice Wall, Fire Wall, and Hadrian's Wall are hard ETR ICE to put down as a last layer of defense. You want to glacier up targeted servers and make the runs as costly as possible while keeping them out.

Crisium Grid is included as a deterrent against heavy Siphon or Eater decks. Throw it on HQ or R&D, whichever is applicable. Or both. I don't know if you can get away with not including this anymore.

ISSUES:

The deck really has no teeth. No Archer, no Punitive Counterstrike, no Scorched Earth. It's built to push for economic advantage so the Runner can't do much but I'm not sure if it's quite there.

ICE. Your biggest ICE are Hadrian's and Tollbooth and you really need them to work out. Caduceus and Datapike could see early obsolescence based on breaker choice while Pop-up, Errand Boy, and Pup are Parasite-magnets.

Draw/ICE composition: 8/20 ICE are hard ETR if you include Tollbooth. I could see a potential problem in drawing into only taxing ICE, but there is enough crossover where it shouldn't be a huge deal. Hopefully a few random accesses doesn't hurt too bad.

I'm not sure if Atlas is worth including. There are no combos here so searching for something is mostly a fringe benefit, making it a blank 3/2 in most cases. Not that that's a terrible thing. You could add another 5/3 and go down to 8 Agendas by cutting Atlas but I feel like that pushes you into Punitive territory, which you'd have to make space for. Utopia is the only 5/3 I'm sold on since it goes with the strategy so well. If you do manage to score it there is even more pressure on the Runner to focus on money which gives you time to do your thing.

11 comments
5 Feb 2015 darwindeez

I love the thought you've put into the your strategy and ICE suite. It seems likely that you will get the upper-hand economically, whether they trash your assets or not. But won't you need Ash to translate your big bank into scoring opportunities for those 3 pointers?

Also High-Risk in a taxing deck is probably wrong, right?

Looks like fun!

5 Feb 2015 xjohncandyx

@darwindeez Agreed on both points 100%. Ash could be exactly what this deck needs. Working on fitting 2x and possibly Reversed Accounts, but Ash is probably enough.

The Agendas were semi-placeholders. HRI could pay off if the Runner stocks up on a turn before a run (4x MO, Day Job, etc) but it's very limited. I'll probably go 2x PriReq or something.

Thanks for reading!

6 Feb 2015 Dragindeth

I've been toying around with this ID, currently using Utopia Fragment and Government Takeover with the Punitive Counterstrike included. Haven't played a runner yet that has the Econ to keep up.

6 Feb 2015 darwindeez

I took a shot at this on OCTGN tonight. Here's what I came up with: netrunnerdb.com

The GRNDL Refineries enable you to tax later in the game via the small scoring remote (it will be puny). If it works, it can open a scoring window or put you back in the black economically. You can also just install them unadvanced out in the open and then click-click-trash them next turn for a melange effect. Serves the same win-win function as Reversed without costing you precious influence.

Having 1x Closed Accounts is our way of backing up our 5 tagging ICE, which will mostly just be tax anyway, since they won't want to keep tags vs Weyland. But if they figure it out, Closed is there to punish any tag floaters, and it can open a scoring window in that case if you're set up with an Ash.

Draco is multi-purpose and my favorite little guy. He's good for a cheap tax on centrals vs 0 link runners, major Siphon defense should you need it, and it can even be used to score in a remote if you have a large enough credit advantage to both boost the trace and the strength enough to keep them out (Ash helps).

6 Feb 2015 Myriad

I tried a similar concept out of Gagarin. I was kind of disappointed, but I ran it even more as a dedicated shell game deck ala NEARPAD. It went fine usually so long as my opponent did not run either desperado or magnum.

Unfortunately, both are extremely popular cards.

I think Gagarin right now caters more to a deep server strategy with multiple upgrades rather than a sideways play.

The comment about asset economy is super valid and I am a bit surprised you didn't try the root! At +1 to access/trash its a pain in the butt to deal with and so long as you get a single use out of it, it makes you money over the runners access and trash.

6 Feb 2015 xjohncandyx

@Myriad Runners with easy economies like that will be difficult, especially Criminals. It depends on whether they really want to sink the clicks into checking everything out if you get a good Asset sprawl going though. And once they get in, do they really want to trash a PAD? I just want to come ahead if they do put in the effort (MHC is 1 click to install with a free rez vs 3 clicks to MO+run to trash it). I'm hoping to overwhelm the Runner akin to Cambridge PE.

Multiple Upgrades is another direction to go. I'll probably look into that next week when I have some more spare time.

The Root is interesting, I just don't know if it has that many applications in my latest version. When I originally made this deck I had it confused with Off the Grid thinking it was a zero trash.

6 Feb 2015 darwindeez

@Myriad I have been doing a version with 2x The Root and it is amazing. MVP. Sometimes worth 5-6 credits per turn. Here's where I'm up to: netrunnerdb.com

People seem to avoid tags until their last turn so I've dropped 1x Closed and 1x Shadow for a third Pup and a third Draco. Haven't tried these two changes yet but I've been playing the rest of the cards and whittling. Not a stellar deck by any stretch but it's kinda fun to play different cards.

7 Feb 2015 xjohncandyx

Maybe I should take The Root more seriously.

@darwindeezYeah right now this is more of a challenge/shake it up deck but who knows what could be in a month or two. Fun to theorize anyway. Sometimes it's just one missing card that makes things tick.

7 Feb 2015 primeape

I also think the root will work well here, I've been fooling around with a similar deep space build and have found that getting a root online is amazing, however in practice I find that even when it is defended, it gets trashed on sight by most runners.

7 Feb 2015 darwindeez

My latest draft: netrunnerdb.com

I cut the Boot Camp when I learned you can't use it to save a credit on PAD Campaign. 16 ICE. Haven't tried the Rainbow yet but I think it's actually the perfect kind of ICE. It's porous but you do have to pay something to get through it (unless you have Yog.0 and suckers). Unlike Shadow which gets ignored later in the game, but is probably better earlier.

Snatch and Grab has been good. Dead some games but you can't afford to let them sit back and Kati up. Also works on Aesop. Noise can get super rich these days, but he also dips way down.

Closed is back in since those darn Siphon floaters are out there.

Veteran's Program because having Bad Pub from Valencia is actually a huge detriment to the asset strategy, let alone Blackmail. Plus it lowers our Agenda Points total by 1, and it's score-able with only 3 advancements which can help if we're forced to score 4 Agendas to win rather than two 2-pointers and the 3-pointer.

No high strength ICE so Darwin decks with Incubator can actually be a bit of a challenge. Virus Suite works here like Ash. Vs Atman we have a lot of diversity in strength plus 4 variable strength ICE so we might do OK.

7 Feb 2015 Myriad

@Garbo Absolutely. It will get trashed relatively quickly because if its left online, it will save you a ridiculous amount of money. Like, Sundew level of credits.