Confidential Sources

sabre0001 97

"It's amazing how much people will share when you look like someone with authority," Valencia Estevez thought to herself as she slipped on a white doctor's coat. Entering the room, she greeted her patient with a smile. "So, tell me about your work on the Beanstalk...and when did symptoms present themselves," she asked...


Here is the Valencia deck that I've been playing and tweaking for quite some time. She's done quite well for me at Store Championships (no, not one of those undefeated decks - but top 4, top 8), particularly against decks that take their time. She was great against Foodcoats that didn't try to push early and Weyland builds and performed admirably in the few matchups against RP. Where did she fall apart? NBN typically.

This deck is all about The Source. It's a good card in its own right to slow games down, but particularly if Corps are using assets / upgrades to try to get you to waste Blackmails. Now when they want to score, they have to show their hand somewhat. Not only that but it can buy you a turn - played against an RP recently that installed and advanced once. But then The Source arrived to push that score out a turn. It also means that those pesky horizontal-put-agendas-anywhere decks have to either protect or advance and hope you don't run. And that's why Valencia is the choice for this deck. Once they show your hand, you can Blackmail with impunity.

"But The Source requires you to pay to steal and gets trashed when you score," you say. That's why it combos well with the good doctor (Dr. Lovegood). Turn The Source off at the start of your turn and play Netrunner like normal. In a pinch, it can switch off Wyldside. And if you don't find Lovegood in time, Imp is another solution - Not ideal, but it'll do...

As for other inclusions: Hunting Grounds - If you see Data Raven (particularly against Corps with QPM), Tollbooth, or Komainu often, this is a great include. Worst comes to worst, Turnpike is less of an inconvenience or you deny the Corp getting a credit from Pop-up window. Utopia Shard -Legwork plus this is fun, but it also comes to the rescue after a Sea Source, an agenda steal when you know they're playing Midseasons, a 24/7 News Cycle, and more. Scrubber - Turn Val into a Whizzard with Blackmail at her disposal. Helps keep on top of horizontal Corps, provided you can find it, set up your board, and keep all their assets at bay. Turntable - Turntable can win games. Take away their Astro, Nisei, or Atlas token, take a Global Food that they scored early, or trade up for an agenda worth more. More than happy to spend 4cr on an NAPD if I get to swap for something of value.

Any feedback or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

6 comments
28 Mar 2016 Imperialcreed

Turntable absolutely won you the game we played in Galway man. Me on six points, you on four, you paid four creds for a NAPD you immediately turntabled for an Astroscript with a token on it. Six points a piece and I just could not close out the game after that.

Awesome deck. terrifying to play against.

28 Mar 2016 Kaos64

I'm a huge fan of the deck having managed to narrowly avoid defeat against it last time out. Scoring windows become extremely hard to judge and trying to score out 3 pointers or NAPD is a nightmare. The deck has gone through the tournament mill a few times now so there isn't a whole lot of fat to trim without fundamentally changing the deck but the one area where you might have wiggle room is with Imp and Scrubber. Did you find both useful or was one more useful than the other?

28 Mar 2016 sabre0001

@Kaos64 Imp and Scrubber are probably more flexible. Imp is great for pesky pieces of ice or things like Midseasons, Scorch etc. And if you can't find Lovegood. Scrubber has done some work for me (online moreso). Would love to see people trying something slightly different to see what works - particularly in the NBN matchup.

28 Mar 2016 Kaos64

@sabre0001 how to improve the NBN matchup.... The imps could be dropped for a 2nd medium as scrubber does more work in the FA scenario and R&D lock was the classic pre-clot means of defeating NEH. On the flip side the imps are better in the scenario where NBN wants to find your house and outsource some demo work to Weyland. Tough call really. The funny thing is that on paper you'd think the NBN match up would be OK since you have the source for the pesky FA shenanigans and scrubber + bad pub to blow up the assets.

29 Mar 2016 RubbishyUsername

I imagine Fall Guy is a good solution to FA: they like to power through your Source and trash it so they can FA a proper agenda the next turn.

31 Mar 2016 Bobdole

I'm a big fan of this deck, it's deliciously oppressive. As I was looking at the deck and changes I might make (trying to add Fall Guys, perhaps a touch of DLR) I started to wonder, instead of six influence on the Source, why not two-three copies of Clot and three Sac Constructs? You expose yourself a little more to CVS and purge but it does mean you can ditch the Dr. Lovegoods as well, perhaps fit in a Levy and another Deja Vu? Again, just thinking out loud here.