Got Sol, but I'm not a soldier

Jashay 715

I never really play NBN, but Sol really caught my eye. I've got a soft spot for the currents, but their transient nature works against them. But here's an ID that lets me use them consistently? Sign me up!

Agendas

AstroScript Pilot Program, even with the MWL nerf, is still just too good. Project Beale makes it in as a spectacular 3/2. Breaking News is great, 15 Minutes is great... couldn't decide, so I went with both. That left me with 6 points to fill, so I went with Explode-a-palooza. 2 GFI was considered, but I found my influence a bit tight.

Operations

The Currents are obviously essential. I went with Targeted Marketing and Paywall Implementation as they are 0-cost and can generate money (although TM is much better as a 'mess-with-you' card). I found ELP and Surveillance Sweep also quite effective, but I've opted to keep costs low.

Other than that, money.

Assets

Jesus Howard, of course. I put Marked Accounts in because I always seemed a little short of , and it's sturdy. Team Sponsorship is a beast, especially when you have 8 agendas that can be scored from hand in the right circumstances. Plan was to recur all the upgrades, but it's not actually come up so far.

Upgrades

Agenda protection, Agenda rushing, and Virus-b-gone. Simple enough.

ICE

News Hound is the tits in these decks. Absolute value. Pop-up Window is nothing but profit, too. Wraparound because of Faust, curse his hide. Tollbooth rocks, but I'm thinking that 3 may be excessive, for all its amazingness.

Originally I had Architect and Eli 1.0 filling in gaps, but there's a lot less influence to go around, now, especially for those guys! I replaced Architect with Data Raven, which has worked pretty well as a bit of ICE that taxes. Most people seem to clear tags these days.

The swap of Eli 1.0 for TMI was terrible, and I should hang my head in shame for considering it. Basically, I want a cheap bit of ICE that is a sod for the runner. Suggestions?

Archangel is great, everyone should try it. Assassin is a holdover from the Surveillance Sweep version, but it is mean enough to hold its own here.

How it plays

In theory, the idea is to get Targeted Marketing down early to mess with their setup by naming something like Sure Gamble... but thus far I've never managed to play it first turn. From there on out it's a fairly standard tactic of 'Use the Grid and win', or use Ash 2X3ZB9CY, News Hound, Tollbooth and make an honest-to-God beefy server. If you can get the AstroTrain rolling, you're in the pink.

If you can land a Targeted Marketing, you are sorted for money. If not, Paywall Implementation and Marked Accounts will cheerfully keep you afloat.

Things to consider

TMI needs to go. Don't know what to replace it with, though.

Three Tollbooth may be excessive, but that might be because I'm not rolling in cash. Perhaps I could do with bringing the average cost of the ICE down a bit?

Not convinced by Explode-a-palooza. Perhaps it stands out because it's the only one I can't easily score from hand. The 5 is great, but is it enough? That said, what do I replace it with?

Team Sponsorship is hard to judge, because everyone trashes it on sight. I do love it... If I dropped them, I could use the influence for 2 GFI instead of 3 Explode-a-palooza, and use the extra card for a second Cyberdex Virus Suite, but I'm not sold on that. None of the other 2-pointers seem worth it for a straight swap.

Data Raven might not be the best choice; perhaps a second Archangel instead?

So that's where I am with the deck after a few games. Questions, comments and criticisms would be greatly appreciated!

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