Adam's Rabbit Run V1

yonderer18923 7

This is my attempt at building an Adam deck that doesn't rely on click-based economy to get running. This deck was inspired by all the Sunny decks out there that churn out a monster of a late game at the expense of needing time to set up. The idea is that Adam bridges that gap by being a monster early game to force the Corp to slow down while getting that economic backbone up and running ASAP. It has .... mixed results right now. With HHN being a strong card in the meta right now, Adam has had some tough times. The influence for Adam has always been tight, cutting economy to the razor edge, but the new packs have made running poor not really an option anymore. I'm publishing this mainly because of the new Adam directive that's coming, to clear my palette so to speak.

How To Play

The cornerstone of this deck is the drip economy. You start with immense HQ pressure with ABR and NAT, but that's going to stop once the Corp has ICE in place, so you'll want to have Dr. Lovegood to give you your full click bank to get set up. Overmind is your main breaker. Don't be afraid to install it even if you don't have a lot of spare memory, you have 3 copies and a specialty set of breakers to fall back on. Once you're set up, put the heat on HQ and R&D with R&D Interface, Neutralize All Threats, and The Turning Wheel.

Programs

Overmind - This was not my first choice for main breaker, I originally had cheap low-influence breakers plus Special Order, but it was inconsistent and clunky, expensive on influence, and sometimes I lost a breaker to an unlucky Snare. Overmind is a natural choice for Adam, consistently giving him an answer to most problematic ICE. It also has natural synergy with his console, which is a plus.

Cyber-Cypher - Tollbooth used to be a huge problem for this deck, being extremely taxing to break on its own. I tried Torch and Femme Fatale to answer, and Torch was a beautiful card, but 4 influence is killer and the install cost wasn't nice. Cyber-Cypher fills the same niche, but at a fraction of the install cost and at one less influence. The disadvantage is less of a big deal, with Adam, you still have ABR and Overmind to punch through code gates.

GS Shrike M2 - Komainu and Brainstorm are nightmares for this deck lategame. I used to run Deus X and Mongoose instead, but Mongoose usually wasn't cheaper to break things than Overmind, and while Deus X is a lifesaver of a card that I'd like to squeeze in, GS Shrike M2 fills the niche just as well, saving a card slot and an influence. Bonus, it's a cloud breaker.

GS Sherman M3 - This used to be Inti for the Wraparound takedown, but Hive, Ashigaru and NEXT Silver are also really good cards at taxing Overmind. I tried Morning Star and Battering Ram, but GS Sherman M3 solves those ICE better, as well as big ones like Hadrian's Wall, Curtain Wall, Heimdall, and Wotan, just in case.

Multithreader - I don't like this card. I originally had this and Cyberfeeder, but it wasn't worth the influence cost. I tolerate Multithreader because there's no other clickless influence-free long-term economy I can squeeze into this deck. It synergizes well with Sunny's breakers, at least.

Econ

This deck runs unfortunately light on economy. Because of NAT, Sure Gamble is hard to rely on. Daily Casts and Dirty Laundry are the economic lifelines in this deck, and the drip economy is the key. You'll need a Rabbit Hole and 2 memory reserved to bring the drip online, but once you're reliably getting 3 credits a turn it becomes substantially easier to keep momentum.

Of special note is Temüjin Contract, which is not in this deck. This is a really great card, but in testing I found it's a lot less great in Adam. Because of ABR, you can't play it 1st click, and because of NAT, you can't really play it on a remote server, so it often doesn't get value if the Corp ICEs the central you target, which they're likely to do anyway because ABR. When it works, it's incredible, but in my experience the Corp doesn't let you take advantage of it often enough.

Quality Time - Card draw is essential in getting your economy online as fast as possible. Admittedly, I haven't tested QT very much in this deck. I'd much rather have Diesel, but it's extra influence. Street Peddler seems like it would be a decent alternative.

Hardware

e3 Feedback Implants - A beautiful card in Adam. It combos perfectly with ABR, as well as and Overmind. I've tried cutting this card, and it's just too good to not be an auto-include.

R&D Interface - Adam already has native HQ pressure, this is to encourage the Corp to also ICE up R&D, to slow the Corp down and give you time to set up the full rig.

Rabbit Hole - Decent at what it does, which is get you 2 link to turn on Underworld Contacts. The fact that it really weakens the value of traces shouldn't be underestimated though.

Brain Chip - A decent console for Adam, this gives him a lot of momentum once he snags an agenda. Safety First will really shine, and Data Folding will stay chugging all game. It also effectively turns off the kill option late game, except in thousand cuts style decks.

Dyson Mem Chip - These used to be Sports Hopper, but I found that I was using them for link vs NBN more often than using them for card draw (it doesn't block flatlining very well when your hand size is 3). And plus, sometimes you don't snag agendas early game. This gives you memory in those cases so you can keep Data Folding online.

Feedback Filter - Because there's no recursion here, thousand cuts decks are especially vicious. I've tested out Net Shield as an answer, and it worked well, but I think the bonus brain damage protection makes Feedback Filter a dead draw less often.

Resources

Dr. Lovegood - I'm not a fan of this card. I've tried putting in more run events like Early Bird and Credit Crash to offset ABR, and Scrubber and Paricia to offset NAT, and it's just too inconsistent. Dr. Lovegood is invaluable when the Corp has figured out how to turn your directives against you, and it's too good to leave out.

The Source - This used to be Chakana to substantially slow the Corp down and stop Breaking News shenanigans, but when Dr. Lovegood went into the deck, this became the obvious alternative since it synergizes well. This will usually gives you an extra turn to set up.

The Turning Wheel - This is an R&D Interface but I don't have spare influence. It's actually a really good card, it builds up counters naturally with ABR, but my one complaint is that it can't sustain R&D lock unless the Corp gives you a soft ICE to bounce off of.

2 comments
4 Oct 2016 DrMarodi

Why not Gordian Blade instead of Cyber-Cyber? If you have the econ to fuel it...

5 Oct 2016 yonderer18923

I haven't tried Gordian, but I did test out Zu, and it's not really solving any problems that Overmind doesn't already cover.