Aggro Headlock Reina

tf34 1380

Traditional Headlock Reina builds wanted to take their time setting up and then eventually Vamp to ruin the corp’s position. This build drops negative tempo cards like Liberated Account and Kati Jones in order to set up and begin pressuring the corp as quickly as possible.

Playing this deck reminds me of playing Parasite Gabe back when life sucked for corps (i.e. before Double Time). You start ravaging ice and credits and never stop. The corp scrambles to secure its centrals but is always a step behind. Eventually, your easy accesses turn up enough agendas to win.

Notes

  • I know what you’re thinking - “don’t you struggle against Foodcoats?” Actually, the matchup is favorable. Their ice is very expensive, and almost none of it is the hard end-the-run that they need to protect their Adonis/Eve Campaigns.

  • Lotus Field is a pain. If RP has it, your plan is to Crescentus it as much as possible. I tested Spooned, but I think Déjà Vu is just better.

  • Faust is necessary for Lotus Field, worthwhile in a few specific matchups (e.g. Blue Sun, Grails), and can answer the corp rushing an agenda in a remote. But if you don’t need it for one of those things, then ideally you never install it.

  • Inject and Street Peddler let you set up quickly, but they also burn through your deck. Running out of payload cards or food for Faust can be a very real concern. In matchups where you need Faust and the game could go long, consider saving econ and draw cards for Faust rather than playing them. Even when not using Faust, it’s sometimes better to forgo or delay playing Inject or Peddler.

  • On the flip side, be aware of the possibility of milling the corp to death with Keyhole.

9 comments
5 Dec 2015 Cispiollo

what do you think about Ddos?

5 Dec 2015 Bigguyforyou518

It seems like your main strategy (except against Bioroids) is to bounce off ice and then Parasite it. 3x Crescentus seems...optimistic, considering how few breakers you actually have.

I must admit to being very uncomfortable with Inject and Street Peddler here. Your deck is pretty much split down the middle between events and programs, giving both of these cards huge opportunities to wiff and wipe out big chunks of your deck that you actually wanted. I guess your reasoning is sort of MaxX-esque? Go really fast, and hope good stuff doesn't get trashed?

On a side note, foodcoat's ice is actually extremely cheap - most of it is usually 3-4's (before Reina). They shouldn't have too much issue installing and rezzing one once a turn.

5 Dec 2015 tf34

@Bigguyforyou518

Parasite is generally for low strength ice (enigma, popup, spiderweb)

Crecentus/D4v1d handles anything bigger (tollbooth, turing, ichi 2, assassin, susan, archangel). Good corp decks are consistently using these ice. Crescentus is almost always a relevant and integral card. No corp wants to rez tollbooth twice for 18 credits, when it is of little cost to the runner.

It's easy to find these tools considering how quickly the deck cycles. The only ice in the game that is a real struggle for this deck to handle is lotus field. Everything else there is a quick answer for.

Inject here is great. Who cares if you trash a program when you are finding clone chip, deja vu, econ, more draw tools, and desperado at lightning speed?

Street peddler can occasionally be sad when it hits knifed or deja vu (which is why it's a 2of and not 3), but the card is simply too good to not have here. I am okay losing a sure gamble and dirty laundry if it means I can find desperado 3 clicks quicker.

I did not expect this deck to handle foodcoats the way it does. Their cheapest ice is eli and enigma (occasionally wraparound and wall of static). Both cards have easy answers (parasite, knifed). After that, they are spending a minimum of 5 credits to rez anything for the rest of the game. This becomes a serious issue for them when you start recurring crescentus. Keeping them out of asset economy is the key, which is doable considering how few hard end-the-run ice they run.

5 Dec 2015 tf34

@Bigguyforyou518

Parasite is generally for low strength ice (enigma, popup, spiderweb)

Crecentus/D4v1d handles anything bigger (tollbooth, turing, ichi 2, assassin, curtain wall, susan, archangel). Good corp decks are consistently using these ice. Crescentus is almost always a relevant and integral card. No corp wants to rez tollbooth twice for 18 credits, when it is of little cost to the runner.

It's easy to find these tools considering how quickly the deck cycles. The only ice in the game that is a real struggle for this deck to handle is lotus field. Everything else there is a quick answer for.

Inject here is great. Who cares if you trash a program when you are finding clone chip, deja vu, econ, more draw tools, and desperado at lightning speed?

Street peddler can occasionally be sad when it hits knifed or deja vu (which is why it's a 2of and not 3), but the card is simply too good to not have here. I am okay losing a sure gamble and dirty laundry if it means I can find desperado 3 clicks quicker.

I did not expect this deck to handle foodcoats the way it does. Their cheapest ice is eli and enigma (occasionally wraparound and wall of static). Both cards have easy answers (parasite, knifed). After that, they are spending a minimum of 5 credits to rez anything for the rest of the game. This becomes a serious issue for them when you start recurring crescentus. Keeping them out of asset economy is the key, which is doable considering how few hard end-the-run ice they run.

7 Dec 2015 sruman

Not sure I follow the reasoning for 2 mimics (kinda iffy on why 1). It can't just be for swordsman so is it for architect, ichi, etc. that cost alot of cards?

7 Dec 2015 tf34

@sruman

Mimic is mostly for architect but also great with data sucker vs higher strength sentries (assassin, ichi's, archer) . Spending two to three cards from your hand every time you want to trash an adonis/eve or check to see if they are never advancing an agenda is not sustainable.

7 Dec 2015 MasterAir

I doubted the omission of Vamp when I saw the list, but gave it a go as is. I handily beat a foodcoats list, which I too thought would be a bad matchup. Congratulations, this is a sweet deck. Not sure whether it's better than the vamp versions, but it certainly poses plenty of challenging questions.

The only card I missed was Earthrise Hotel, but I'm not sure you're rich enough to play it.

3 Jan 2016 catch8088

I hope you can edit this to fit the NYPD Most Wanted.

3 Jan 2016 tf34

It's mostly dead. You can cut desperado for vigil and street peddler for armitage. It plays the same but way slower.