Locked in here with me

presheaf 621

This is kind of a stupid deck. As you might have guessed from the operations, this is a kill deck. As you might have guessed from the ice section, it's not gonna go late. But what this deck can do is kill people turn 3. With 3x Consulting Visit and 2x Midseason, you have 5 cards in the deck to stick a load of tags on the Runner if they steal an agenda early. So why protect it? With a Midseason in hand, often your turn 1 can be Restructure, install money agenda, ice HQ/Sealed Vault. If you lack the Midseason or the money advantage, there is some binary ice to make do.

There are problems with this. One of them is Film Critic, for which there is (tutorable!) Snatch & Grab, and another is Runners who just build money, then no longer fear you. So you gotta go fast! Think of every click you do not spend scoring agendas or setting up the kill as wasted. Sometimes you need to do it, but always have a reason. If you have a Hostile Takeover in hand, but 2 clicks left, don't wait for next turn - IA it. Your ice is terrible, so your defence has to be "steal from me and I will murder you".

Let me be clear: this has problems. But try it! It's a lot of fun, and doesn't do as poorly as you might expect.

4 comments
10 Jun 2016 DayCart

Cool, cool deck. I appreciate playing Corp more and more these days because I can play stuff like this and know my game is going to end in a reasonable amount of time.

What advatages does GRNDL offer over Argus for this deck? The spare influence of Argus could get you a couple Snares.

Also, since you're trying to find agendas more quickly with this deck than others, have youconsidered going down to 45 cards? Maybe -1 Sealed Vault -1 Traffic Accident -1 Subliminal Messaging -1 Vanilla?

Also... Watchmen?

10 Jun 2016 presheaf

The main advantage of being GRNDL over Argus is that you start out in Midseason range. Argus needs to money up before being Midseasoned is something the Runner needs to worry about. As GRNDL, surprisingly often your first turn can be Hedge/Restructure, install agenda, ice HQ/install Sealed Vault with a Midseason in hand. While that's a better first turn than most, it's not at all uncommon for you to have played a money event, have Midseasons/CV in hand, be safe from Siphon and have an agenda on the table after your second turn.

While I have not tried, I cannot believe Argus can do that consistently. That said, I do think Midseasons in Argus will also be good. The ID power makes tracing them easier after they steal an agenda, for one. I think you'd have to play a bit more ice, and rely on scoring your first money agenda by gearchecking, at which point you'd be in the economic lead you need. The extra influence would also be great. I went with GRNDL because I wanted the great early game and not have to rely on gearchecks as often, but I do think Argus is a great suggestion and worth trying.

As for 45 cards, I actually started out with 45 for the speed you suggest. Finding agendas isn't a problem that often, I find, but not drawing the kill can give the Runner time to score out (or even clear tags if the trace is close), so there is definitely merit to a smaller deck. I went up to 49 mainly to fit Cyberdex, Subliminal and an extra piece of ice, so cutting those is an option.

Now, for the Watchmen, the short version is "it was late and I just went with whatever was on my mind". The slightly longer version is I had this game in which my opponent dropped a turn 1 Medium/Maker's Eye and snagged 3 agendas, and then felt sorry for me because they got so lucky. I then got to turn the tables with a click 1 Restructure, click 2/3 Midseasons, followed by a kill a turn or three later. For some reason it reminded me of the prison scene. But there is definitely room for a "shop" name here. :)

10 Jun 2016 Greasythumb

I really like the heavily reduced ice-suite compared to my version. I think you're onto something there, although my current revision still has more than yours. I also respect the second Midseasons, especially in a 49 card list. Consistency is the key. I'm skeptical about Posted Bounty (Is it useful often enough?) and Snatch and Grab (Can you really beat the runner's economy twice?) but I see the value in both cards.

Your comments let me know that you are hardwired to the deck's philosophy. Please keep me up to date with how it goes.

11 Jun 2016 presheaf

I go back and forth on the ice suite. Most (?) games the ice is largely perfunctory as I win/lose depending on Midseason, but some games having the ice to rush a Profiteering is what keep the Runner scared of Midseason. I have even scored out behind a Vanilla/Quandary once, so there is definitely some value to it.

As for the second Midseason, I have been considering making it 1x SEA Source, 2x Anonymous Tip, or even 2x SEA Source. Sometimes this can get kills too. The former would also turn on an NBN alliance, meaning you could fit Salem's Hospitality, which would be cool to try.

Regarding Snatch and Grab, as you say, there are definitely problems with it, as you need to beat the Runner's econ twice. It does some work against Aesop's and Kati Jones as well, but it could be that it actually should be a Contract Killer instead, as I saw you suggested in another comment.