Raiders of the IT Department

DJP 56

Always wanted to do a Grail Foundry deck, but people were always going on about how weak the ice is and parasite would make a mess of your deck. To get around this issue, I have put #IT Department in the deck. Let me know what you think, all feedback is welcome

2 comments
23 Jun 2015 TacMage

I have been playing against a similar build a lot the past few weeks, and I can definitely say that I wouldn't run both the Grail and NEXT suite together. They are both very weak to ICE destruction. I think the Grail ICE are great when backed up by the other taxing HB bioroids like Eli 1.0 and Ichi 1.0. The Grail gives you the hard ETR that Bioroids need, while still keeping everything taxing while you go and fetch the other copies of the ICE you need.

23 Jun 2015 Jashay

They are sort-of right. Galahad and Lancelot are weak to Parasite. Merlin is pretty sturdy, though.

However, I've been playing a delightfully murderous Foundry deck (see here) that runs both Grail and NEXT.

What you need to consider is what you're getting out of the various bits of the Grail suite. Galahad is good for gear check, but as soon as they get any Fracter out it's only about as taxing as Wall of Static in a lot of cases. Lancelot suffers from the same thing; Mimic just laughs once it, or any common Killer, hits the table.

Merlin, though, can stand on its own. STR 4 is not weak. 4 net damage with the Foundry ability is something you have to prepare for, but it isn't cheap for most of the common Decoders.

Also, something to bear in mind for the overall deck is the amount of ICE you have; 22 pieces in a deck that tutors ICE is super-excessive. I run 17 and end up with piles of the stuff. I would drop all the non-Merlin Grail, add in NEXT Gold. This saves influence and a couple of slots, which you can use on whatever you like. I prefer Sweeps Week, personally.

The basic plan is sound, though! I wish you luck with it.