Supernova V1.0

Phoenix 246

When Brainstorm was released it was generally dismissed as too expensive, easy to break with Mimic and Parasite fodder.

I really liked the card and, being an avid Blue Sun: Powering the Future player knew I could mitigate two of those weaknesses. Pop in two Corporate Troubleshooter and a metric tonne of cash to combat the third issue and you have yourself a brutal combo.

At last count (yes I'm sad and have been keeping count because it is fun) I have landed more than ~200 brain damage. Everyone seems to assume Weyland=Boring Barriers or Destroyers so let's face check with no breakers out and get the rez. Good times.

I decided to run it in a minimal agenda, fiery death style of Blue Sun: Powering the Future as it will really allow you to capitalise on landing some brain damage. I've Had Worse isn't much use if you have a hand size of zero.

The minimal agenda suite also has other benefits - Hive is at its most taxing for a long time and Housekeeping ruins some decks.

Other Card Choices:

-Crisium Grid - I'm Weyland, it's influence free, it's awesome.

-Snatch and Grab - Film Critic, Pro Co and Kati all suck for this deck. And now we have a tutor for it....

-Consulting Visit - Really important card. Grabs Snatch and Grab, Housekeeping, Punitive or Oversight usually.

-Agenda suite has been chosen so that if I do eventually score, each helps my game plan. I don't need The Cleaners. I have brain damage and loads of meat damage. I need credits!

The card I would most like to drop is Taurus - unless a runner has 3 Hoppers or 3 Plascretes I am probably OK to kill them. Taurus tends to not do too much (although killing consoles is also fun).

Anyways, give it a go, see how much brain damage you can land. They deck is good and faster than you may think.

6 comments
11 Jul 2016 RubbishyUsername

I'd swap out the Taurus for Shattered Remains. Continues to deal with stacked Plascretes, but allows you to play double advance mind games since you can rez and return to hand if the ploy fails.

12 Jul 2016 Phoenix

I did considered shattered remains, but I am loathed to cut ice. The deck is already at 15, which is pretty low.

12 Jul 2016 RubbishyUsername

I can't help but think you could drop a Crisium, an operation and the Private Contracts for more if you really wanted more ice. A great way of stopping Criminals Siphoning you is to just slap an ice on it.

12 Jul 2016 Friff14

Unfortunately, like most things, the Brainstorm - Corporate Troubleshooter combo is easily countered by Faust. Discard your whole hand to increase strength right before encountering and suddenly it became a very expensive Komainu.

I love the idea though; if they end up banning Faust I'm all in.

12 Jul 2016 WayneMcPain

I like this deck a lot! Brainstorm out of Blue Sun sounds great. I am going to echo @RubbishyUsername here and say that you could probably drop Private Contracts and the 2nd Crisium for more ICE, and Shattered Remains would definitely be a better option than Taurus. In addition to the money required to get the trace to fire, it also costs extra to install in front of other ICE. Just seems like a lot of money you can't recoup just by bouncing it back to hand, and you need that money for other more important traces.

I would also really want to find room for a second Housekeeping. So so good in low agenda density decks.

12 Jul 2016 Phoenix

@Friff14 yes it is true that Faust counters the brain damage. However, remembering that Corporate Troubleshooter acts to the end of the turn the ice has kept them out right? So as far as I'm concerned, if I get am agenda out of it,I am happy. Also, if they continue the run they won't be ending the turn with 4 cards in hand, also likely a win.

@WayneMcPain Private Contracts is an absolute must. Hedge Fund, Restructure and Oversight, in an Anarchist heavy meta, is just not enough economy. I would drop almost any other card over an economy card. The Crisium Grid are also important. Early game they act as almost another piece of ice and this deck loses hard to account siphon. I could go to one but I like seeing it early. Feel free to try it out though and let me know how it goes.

In terms of Housekeeping, the Consulting Visit can get it for me which is why I only run 1x. It is brutal though.

In terms of Taurus, I actually put it in to hit consoles but it is not important. I would rather put it another piece of ice. An considering ice, given my agenda density I don't think 15 is too bad a number. Don't think I could justify any less though.

As I said above, I did consider Shattered Remains, but I've not yet found myself being too concerned about Plascrete. I can burn through it easily enough. I would prefer a Project Junebug or Cerebral Overwriter or even a GRNDL Refinery as a bluff.