The Devil You Know

tH3 d3vil yOu Kn0w - An Apex Deck

I love Apex. I've had the chance to play a few games with essentially this build (my first attempt was an odd Mass-Install/Cache/Sche/Leprechaun conglomeration) and it's been enjoyable and effective enough to learn how to play as a ravening digital Lovecraftian monster.

The build is based on Faust for aggression and Endless Hunger backup, Endless Hunger for threatening servers with E3 as support, and of course Heartbeat as flatline prevention.

Apex himself needs good card draw, which compliments Faust and which allows us to build an event-heavy deck for econ, rig-building and utility. Having events double-up as facedown installs lends adaptability, which alongside the very low install/play costs produces a deck which is fast and fun to play.

Let's address an elephant in the machine - Apocalypse. It's scary, I've flatlined myself twice playing it badly and no-one I've played against is sure how to play with/against it yet. Were I to drop one of Apex's faction cards and rely on it's threat, it would be this. After more testing and board wipes, of course.

Odd swing cards - Dyson fills in if I can't find a Heartbeat (hasn't happened yet), Ghost Runner is a cheap extra installed card that I can spend on trashing and using E3, and both of them can be installed and cost no influence. I'm testing I've Had Worse over Diesel due to the aforementioned post-Apocalyptic flatlines, Traffic Jam is a new include to deal with currents, maybe slow Fast Advance (really maybe) and, well, be installed. Could see Infiltration in this slot, too. Finally, Deja-vu is there 'cause I've played plenty of MaxX and am paranoid about losing the Levy, also I've found I can facedown strong cards that are weak early on, spend them with Heartbeat or Endless and then recur them later. Could see this becoming an R&D interface.

If I can see a weakness in the deck, it's not stockpiling lots of credits. Then again, damage is unlikely to kill you (it'll sure as hell slow you down, however, more than any deck I've played) and you have little that is worth trashing. Midseasons? Apex no watch TV. Sea Source? You can't spot a living digital virus from orbit.

Swordsman can suck, however. Maybe a single Mimic? ^_^

OH YES, honorable mention to Hunting Grounds. Between telling Komainu, Pop-up Window, Data Raven and Tollbooth to go suck it and messing up opponent's installed-card math, this card has produced the most annoyance to the Corp. It's ffin' amazing.