Homeless Kasparov v2

db0 2882

This is a combo deck based around 3 cards, Pawn, Scheherazade and Deep Red. Please read about the strategy and combo here: http://netrunomicon.com/b003/

This is a tweaked version of this deck to increase tempo and initial aggression, as I found that MO was both too slow and just not used enough during the game to be worth it. So I replaced it with Armitage to increase speed

I've replaced Kati with Aesops and I need clicks rather than pure money, and Æsop combos great with both Armitage, Daily Casts and even the leftover SMC or first pawn you play on your Scheherazade.

v2: I've removed all Knights and added an Imp and a Sneakdoor instead.

Imp is there in order to somewhat counter combo and Fast Advance decks, as initial Sansans or full HQ with Operations is difficult to crack. The Imp further combos with Æsop, Scavenge and Scheherazade which is also very nice.

Sneakdoor is there to put pressure on Archives because very often the corp will just leave it open and double or triple down on HQ and R&D, making your pawns much much slower. This now forces them to scramble to protect archives, leaving you usually with a single ICE you can put your pawns on. And if not, it at least provides easy access to HQ for your Imp to do its work.

22 comments
17 Jan 2014 Kallin

Doesn't Public Sympathy work against the deck strategy?

17 Jan 2014 db0

How so? It actually allows me to keep running without having to consider how many cards I have to discard afterwards.

17 Jan 2014 JWHamner

No Sure Gambles!? Be still my heart. I like it though and am going to give it a try. I love, love Sneakdoor in Shaper.

17 Jan 2014 db0

I used to have sure gambles but I swapped them for Dirty Laundry, as it syncs better with the playstyle (do a run, take the money, draw some cards).

20 Jan 2014 falseidol

I guess what I’m not understanding about the build is that it looks like it takes 4 cards (deep red, scheherezad, and 2x pawns) to basically be a single click of professional contacts? Right? You’re net gain in a perfect run is 1 card and 1 credit? And it seems pretty easy to disrupt it from even being that. And I don’t want that to send like a put down, there are a lot of moving pieces in the deck and seems like once the engine is going you’re getting a lot free swag from running, but if you’re not financing net 0 cost runs or better, is it not more effective to just run desperado/datasucker?

22 Jan 2014 Gianzu

No. The gain for a perfect successful run is 2 cred and 2 card. Imo the deep red is core in this kind of strategy. It allows you to install the pawns on the ices immediatly without spending a click too. The Sneakdoor is pointless here because the corp HAVE to protect the archives anyway to not allow the combo.

23 Jan 2014 db0

Actually Gianzu, you're wrong. The best way for the corp to prevent the combo is to leave archives completely open and cover HQ and R&D with 2-3 ICE.

@falseidol: Actually the only moving piece which is not doing anything by its own is deep red. Everything else works even if the combo happens to fail. I've had games where all 3 deep reds were in the last 12 cards and I managed to function nevertheless. Scheherazade is great even on its own. It manages to cheapen almost everything in my deck, particularly, imp recursion and tutoring. Pawn along with Aesops function either as an extra Sure Gamble is Scheherazade is down, or an extra Easy Mark if it isn't, none of which is bad.

And if the combo works it's much better than Prof Contracts. Not only can you get 2 cards and 2 creds per run if you get 2 pawns, but the most important is the tempo increase. Particularly you get to draw and gain money while you're checking cards. This cannot be discounted.

23 Jan 2014 Gianzu

If the corp leaves the archives open, whenever i run on it my pawns on the r&d and HQ move foward and activate the combo

23 Jan 2014 Gianzu

I have to playtest it anyway

23 Jan 2014 db0

Your pawns need to move to the end of the server to activate the combo. If they have 3 ice to move through, you'd need to run Archives 3 times before you drew 1 card and 1 cred.

23 Jan 2014 x3r0h0ur

by that logic desperado is just as good as clicking for a credit. You're writing off the power of these effects on a run. Desperado is amazing because you get money while being aggressive. This combo is insane because you get a BIGGER benefit while running, at the risk of it being program trashed. I've watched all of the videos, and I'm eager to try it out, but I'm beta testing a lot of my own decks.

I'm curious if I could increase the chances of run success, and add john masanori and have off the charts draw power. Hrm

24 Jan 2014 db0

Desperado gives you 1 cred always. 3x Iced servers need 3 runs before they give 1 cred and 1 card. I'm not saying this is bad, I'm saying that this pretty much defangs the combo. Hence why one needs sneakdoor, to force ICE on archives where you can move your pawn to, to improve up the combo efficiency.

You draw power is already good if the combo hits, and Masanori tags can be a problem since the deck is very resource dependent.

26 Jan 2014 Greek Geek

I run a similar deck, and last game I was screwed by corporate troubleshooter+archer. I will definitely run Sharpshooter with this deck once I get the Data pack.

I like Atman and sneakdoor neat inclusions. Public sympathy not so much - I prefer drawing programs than tutoring for them and these are 2 places for 2 more programs...

27 Jan 2014 db0

Public Sympathy is also a less focused defense against Jinteki Net Damage Grind and even stuff like Punitive Counterstrike or sometimes 2x Scorched Earth. And now with Fenris, Brain Damage becomes more common as well, so it helps.

29 Jan 2014 thrazznos

Hey db0 I have a question. I was reading through the Netrunner FAQ, and it mentions that parasite cannot be hosted on djinn, because it already has a host, which is the ice. I assume this same rule applies to caissas. This means that after you have Deep Red out, Scheherazade would no longer provide you with that credit (assuming you use Deep Red's ability). Do you think this breaks this deck?

Links: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/android-netrunner/support/FAQ/Android-Netrunner%20FAQ.pdf (Page 8 Under Parasite)

29 Jan 2014 thrazznos

Just read the text on Deep Red which clears up this issue. Deep Red doesn't let you host a caissa on a piece of ice immediately, instead it removes the cost of moving the caissa to a piece of ice after installing. So technically, you install pawns onto Scheherazade and move them off right away, allowing you to gain the credit.

30 Jan 2014 db0

Exactly. Unfortunately due to the wording, it ONLY works with Pawns.

30 Jan 2014 marobaro

do you like this better than street chess?

30 Jan 2014 db0

Of course :)

30 Jan 2014 rahmal

gotta try is one out

30 Jan 2014 rahmal

gotta try is one out

29 Mar 2014 CodexShredder

Maybe try adding two borrowed satellites and put an underworld contact in there somewhere instead of public sympathy? Hand Size + Link can really help you out against traces and possible scorched attempts and if you could fit a modded in there somewhere it could justify the costs.