RP Zombie

sondayn 38

i.e. BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINS

Been fiddling around with getting an RP brain damage deck working for a while, and I'm pretty happy with where it's at right now!

Protect your centrals with Batty behind Viktor/Enforcer and Hanzō behind something that causes net damage (Hokusai Grid is nice, or anywhere you want if you've scored a House of Knives). Sit on them until you know you can score a brain damage (preferably you have Defective Brainchips out and hit for 2). Runner gets the choice between accumulating brain damage by running centrals or letting you score on naked remotes. Once they've taken some hits, Hiro/Ronin or an lucky Snare hit can win the game (remember if you have Hiro sitting in a remote, you can rez it after the Runner's final click but before their discard phase to bring them into Ronin range). Interns/Recruiting Trip/Crick keep your bring your pieces back from the dead, obviously.

State of the Deck: Only consistent problem I get is against Noise if they can successfully mill some key pieces. Even then, though, you can sometimes get them. I'm torn between this version and a version that's +1 Hiro -1 Hokusai.

Advice/additions/"this deck suxx" welcome.

Happy hunting!

P.S. I had a longer, more flavorful deck description about zombies, but my browser crashed and I lost it. If people like the deck, maybe I'll write it up again.

11 comments
14 Dec 2015 lilelia

How is your economy working out? Jinteki has always been good at turning money into bad things for the runner, but generally needs a bit more money generation/siphon protection than other corps to compensate, and this looks like it has significantly less.

14 Dec 2015 DarlingSensei

This looks really fun! I'd suggest cutting a brain chips for a Jackson, as he is a much stronger card and will actually find you the 2 chips anyway. I'd love to see more hedge funds, but I'm not sure what to cut. Initial thought would be -1 Tori -1 hokusai -1 MRF.

14 Dec 2015 Jackson Howard

I love the Data Mine/Tori Hanzo synergy. Never thought of that. Can't you find room for a couple of hedge funds though?

14 Dec 2015 tiedyedvortex

I think there's some really good ideas here, and some ideas that could use some work.

  1. I'm not sure RP is the way to go, necessarily. It does make it easier to force them into a run on a Tori Hanzō server, but then you can't have her in your scoring remote, which is where you really want her. Since you're already running things like Data Mine, House of Knives, and Hokusai Grid, why not try Chronos Protocol?
  2. Viktor 1.0 just isn't a good card for landing brain damage. They only need one click to prevent it, and the surprise factor is gone as soon as it's rezzed. Maybe it's okay with Marcus Batty but I'm still skeptical.
  3. Edge of World gets really strong with Defective Brainchips. Would definitely put that in.
  4. I think that, if you're running Batty, Neural Katana is a much better way to land the killing blow than Ronin.
14 Dec 2015 lilelia

@DarlingSensei I definitely wouldn't take out a Defective Brainchips, given how much Employee Strike can wreck this deck.

14 Dec 2015 GrantZilla1979

Ryon Knight may be worth a look.

14 Dec 2015 Phoenix

If you are running Victor 1.0, I would definitely recommend Inazuma. Inazuma into Victor 1.0 is pretty awesome.

14 Dec 2015 Saan

You seem to have forgotten that Netrunner takes credits to play, and only included 15 of them in your entire deck.

14 Dec 2015 Phoenix

That too, although I didn't want to push the suggestions too much.

Other problem you have is i do not know how you are going to score out as you have very little non clickable end the run ice. The runner can just run every card you advance.

15 Dec 2015 sondayn

Thanks for the comments/suggestions, everyone!

@lilelia Econ actually hasn't been much of an issue in practice, though early account siphon pressure can be annoying. Like any deck, if you sense the siphons coming, focus more on protecting HQ. Ultimately the deck doesn't need a ton of money to deal with the Runner - I usually hover in the mid-high single digits for much of the game. There's also no problem in having a turn of 1)cred 2)cred 3)cred or 1)install an upgrade 2)cred 3)cred. Playing passively is fine, it's not about outpacing the Runner but about setting up your pieces to strike. That being said, Hedge Fund is certainly "card 50" for the deck.

@DarlingSensei Definitely need all three Brainchips, for the reason @lilelia said as well as ensuring you can replay it if an agenda is stolen. I'd potentially take out a Hokusai for a Hedge, but I like MRF a lot better because of the lower cost. It doesn't matter if the Runner has more creds than you.

@Jackson Howard Thanks! The Hanzō Mine idea came in a 4am burst of inspiration. See above comments for my thoughts on Hedge Fund.

@tiedyedvortex 1. I definitely think the potential is there for other brain damage builds in Jinteki. The crucial concept for this deck is punishing the Runner for the required running on central servers, so it really has to be in RP to work. I don't ever ice or Hanzō on any remotes when playing this deck, though that's something you could do. If I were to make a Chronos Protocol variant, I'd definitely throw in more ice and Caprice. 2. Viktor/Enforcer are included because they're the cheapest brain damage ice. You can sometimes get a quick-rez surprise-factor brain damage (preferably 2 with Brainchips out), but it doesn't matter if the Runner knows it's there once you have a Batty behind it. :) 3. I really, really like Edge of World as a card, but since I don't ice remotes, there's no place for it here. I'd put it in the Chronos variant you bring up, if I were to make it. 4. This is a good point, and I'll probably return to Neural Katana for its synergy with the upgrades and the great zombie-movie flavor. I replaced it with Komainu because my local meta wasn't giving it enough credit, but Neural makes it a better deck overall.

@GrantZilla1979 I like Ryon Knight (he shares my name, after all), but in a choice between him and Cerebral Overwriter, Overwriter wins for me. It's more reliable of a game-ender, especially once the Runner gets in Ronin range and you can bluff with it.

@Phoenix Inazuma->Viktor is a solid transition, but I would only put Ina in a deck with more ice so I can play it more flexibly. Here it would basically be a dead draw until I could get a Viktor out.

@Saan You're right, Netrunner does take credits to play!

@Phoenix (part 2) The Runner can indeed run every card I advance! That's no problem, though, because to do that they have to run centrals and take brain damage once my pieces are set up. I don't try to win by scoring agendas (aside from maybe a HoK early or a Philotic for a kill late). I'd only try to score an agenda to bait the Runner into running on centrals once they're all capable of producing brain damage.

15 Dec 2015 GrantZilla1979

Ryon Knight with Defective Brainchips up will land one less BD than your IAA'd Cerebral Overwriter for one cheaper. If you are running the face-down shell game, it's likely he's going to get hit.

Might try it...not as a replacement to Cerebral Overwriter but a supplement. Say they get stung by Cerebral early on, and are wary of checking advanced remotes. I can easily see getting a runner with both. If you were lucky enough to land both while Defective Brainchips were up, rez Chairman for the flatline.