Nexus Reina

WayneMcPain 420

I've made some key changes since publishing that really streamline the deck.

-1 Crescentus, -3 Access to GlobalSec, +1 Rabbit Hole, +3 Earthrise Hotel

More draw, faster link setup, and thins the deck out providing a much faster setup.

-Cutlery, +2 Vamp, +1 Rook

Cutlery wasn't doing much here and way too situational. Vamp allows for draining the Corp and then Rook ing a remote to get in during scoring windows. Lots more HQ and econ pressure here.

-2 Symmetrical Visage, +2 Kati Jones

More sustainable econ. Allows for big vamp plays as well.


This deck is MWL legal.

There are a lot of great Reina decks out there, but few, if any, make use of all her ID has to offer. Link used to not offer much outside of paltry trace benefits and Underworld Contact, perhaps the occasional cloud breaker. But now traces are everywhere, there are more cloud breakers to choose from than ever before and we have a monster of a console in the form of Security Nexus. Many have turned to Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: Digital Tinker for an out of faction Nexus build, and for good reason. But I wondered, are we missing a golden opportunity with the under utilized Reina Roja and Edward Kim: Humanity's Hammer in not building around their link? This deck is an expirement in doing just that.

Disclaimer: I'm not a great deckbuilder by any means, but I have yet to see anyone try this so I wanted to throw it out there and see if people much better at this than I am can be inspired to make something awesome out of this.

Eater/Keyhole is the main win goal here. Cutlery events and Wanton Destruction give Eater added utility, and Hades Shard is there to close out the game.

DDoS and Security Nexus let you get into 2 Ice deep servers without a breaker and can allow for remote pressure. Crescentus not only opens up DDoS windows but also makes the Corp pay to rez ice multiple times, at an added cost with Reina and Rook (only to be bypassed by Nexus or killed by Eater later.)

Access to Globalsec and Rabbit Hole get your Underworld Contact economy set up and powers Nexus. As an added bonus, you laugh at traces. (Lookin at you Ash.)

The rest is econ and draw. Career Fair helps with Liberated Account and DDoS. I'm a little worried about not having enough draw, the setup time, and possibly getting remote locked. Also Swordsman can be bypassed, but not shutdown which means it will eat up my Nexus use every turn.

Hope you like the deck! Suggestions are definitely welcome.

7 comments
6 Jan 2016 husserl

Great idea, though I have two concerns:

  1. Lack of long term economy. most Kate Nexus decks have Magnum Opus to ensure they will always have money. There is a worry with this deck you will run out (maybe Kati Jones?)
  2. Crescentus has an anti-synergy with Security Nexus. On top of that, a Turing on R&D really screws this deck. Maybe swap the 'influence' of Crescentus for Parasite?
6 Jan 2016 gandrasch

And I would always use a third rabbit hole because then you can cut the Access

6 Jan 2016 iceqs

definitely not enough draws. You wont have enough clicks to do everything.

6 Jan 2016 WayneMcPain

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. After some testing, I've found that the deck does need more draw and long term econ. Also the Cutlery wasn't doing much here. Here are the changes I've made:

  • 3 Access to Globalsec
  • 1 Crescentus
  • 1 Knifed, Spooned and Forked -2 Symmetrical Visage

  • 1 Rabbit Hole

  • 2 Kati Jones
  • 3 Earthrise Hotel
  • 1 Wanton Destruction

I may not stick with Nexus after all but if I did these are the changes I would make. Gives more draw and econ, easier link set up and more HQ punishment.

6 Jan 2016 WayneMcPain

Or, possibly drop Wantons for Vamps.

6 Jan 2016 WayneMcPain

@husserl Turing is a prime candidate for Nexus. Granted, if there are two on RnD, that is a problem, but I really don't want to lose the synergy between Crescentus, Rook, Reina and DDoS for an edge case that really only applies in one faction. I think I can play around Turing. Now, econ wise, I agree. This deck needs more permanent econ options. I'm making changes to accommodate that. Thanks for the suggestions!

@gandrasch I was worried about the influence but I'm seeing now that it will streamline the deck tremendously. Thanks for the suggestion!

@iceqs you are absolutely right. In testing, I needed a lot more draw. Will address that as well. Thanks!

Here are my changes in light of these suggestions and testing:

Minus: 1 Crescentus 3 Access to GlobalSec Cutlery cards 2 Symmetrical Visage

Plus: 1 Rabbit Hole 3 Earthrise Hotel 2 Kati Jones 2 Vamp 1 Rook

More draw, more econ, more HQ pressure and synergy with Reina and faster link setup.

19 Jan 2016 InsetoVermelho

It has three days I'm testing your deck. The strong point is the Security Nexus + Globalsec and Underworld contact. I confess that the economy is very strong. Keyhole + Eater is very "meta". I loved it and I confess I've seen this a lot in MaxX decks.

As a suggestion for improvement, could work much more taxing on the corp with credits. Xanadu, Ice Anlyzer (get extra credit for installation), Compromised Employee (earning credit for every rezz). Pay 4 credits Keyhole + 3 Eater is also complicated. Maybe it's because I still find it very strange spending four clicks to earn 10 credits to day job. I miss using cutlery, always comes in the wrong time.

The deck is cool, lack refine more. Thanks.