HB ETF: Under Armour (8-1-1); 1st and 2nd at SC

ZQQLANDER 183

Sometimes a coat is too much.

This is the ETF deck I have been mostly playing with since Worlds. It's record over 2 store champs is 8-1-1; getting me to second at the Louisville Game Shop on 12/10 (13 players) and first at the Bloomington Common Room on 1/7 (17 payers). The only loss came to a Power Tap Andy.

I chose this particular build because it's incredibly versatile and has the best (yes the best, don't change anything!) ICE suite. The ICE is actually the exact same as yeoda's "Bleed Purple" World's list. The rez to break cost is fantastic, most of it has teeth, and Faust struggles to get through. I actually played yeoda with his ETF at the Icebreaker at FFG in November. It was a marathon game which took 50mins and my Nexus Kate couldn't break through. I lost, but learned a lot in the process.

I see the three most important aspects of this deck are (1) never advance, (2) board state is anti-run econ, and (3) pace.

(1) Never advance is an aspect of the game I didn't really appreciate until I played Travis. This deck runs 14 assests/upgrades which can be bluffed out as non-advanced agendas. Try and interpret how close your opponent is to creating a rig to break your remote. The important thing to remember is the runner will steal agendas, just make sure it's on your terms. It might be appropriate to jam a 3/2 which the Runner can steal, but will have to break their back doing so. Also, the only thing better than one Mumbad Virtual Tour in a remote is two.

(2) The board state of this corp deck is great in a run econ meta. If your opponent is clicking for credits, as long as it's not off Magnum, then you are good. Denying all avenues for Temujin, Sucker farming, Security Testing, Dirty Laundry, etc. is crucial and should be the number one priority. The Advanced Assembly Lines and Mumbad Virtual Tours actually make Temujin a liability. Voiding a Temujin is a much needed tempo hit in Smoke match-ups.

(3) The pace of this deck is very flexible depending on what your particular match-up is. Facing a runner with a great long game? Jam early and biotic to close the game. The AALs are crucial to this line as they help build up econ and the board state which will allow you to jam early. Facing a runner with no legs? Shore up centrals and build a hearty credit pool before you begin using biotic to score 3/2's. Against anarchs a double Turing remote is usually enough. If the runner isn't trashing your Team Sponsorships and you feel a little cheeky, discard a 3/2 in a protected archives, biotic the following turn and smack the archived agenda in the remote.

Flex slot: Reclamation Order. This card is extremely situational (your Biotics are getting milled from DLR and you want them back), but in almost every game it was extremely useless. I would almost rather have another Restructure, a Archived Memory or Domestic Sleeper. I would be open to hearing thoughts on what this could be!

My audible call for the day was Caprice instead of SanSan. My reasoning was SanSan helps your already robust FA plan (3x Biotics), it doesn't really do anything in the match-ups where you are a dog. Powertap Andy will Siphon you into the ground then trash SanSan. Smoke and Kate run Clot which largely negates a card you spent four influence on. Yes this deck runs two CVS, but that is mainly for Medium and Suckers. In my mind it's not really feasible to have enough money to rez SanSan, rez CVS (if that even does anything with Sac Con), score, and rez ICE the following turn. Caprice is quite a valuable asset in those match-ups; none of which run Rumor Mill as far as I know. Off course anarchs run Rumor Mill, but you are typically going to biotic until you build a remote with Turings. Caprice was my only out in the finals against Nexus Kate. I was getting demolished and knew I had to IAA a GFI with the hope I could win four psi games for the win (I didn't have enough money to rez ICE and play the psi games). Miraculously I pulled it off.

Always leave yourself outs.

Cheers,

ZQQ

11 comments
8 Jan 2017 FightingWalloon

Congratulations! Great write up. On Reclamation Order, have you thought about a second copy of Friends? If you really want to backstop for milled Biotics, a copy of Archived Memories might do that same job with out the two-click cost and the problem of forcing you to discard or hold multiple copies of cards in in your hand.

8 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

Yeah FIHP is a solid choice as it can help recur the important one-of assets (Caprice and Crisium). I agree Archived Memories>Reclamation Order. Much more flexible. I think AM might be the way to go moving forward (at least until Eli 2.0). Glad I'm not the only one.

8 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

Thanks for the compliments btw! I didn't really expect anyone would read this and kind of did it just to put my thoughts down.

8 Jan 2017 scd

Congrats on the fantastic job yesterday -- winning four consecutive psi games for the win was pretty fun to watch.

8 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

Thanks Sean! I was really in disbelief. I was resigned to loose that game after about turn 10.

10 Jan 2017 mohaymen

Thank you for sharing this. Is the money tight? Do you put team sponsorship in a protected server? Do you play differently when playing against whizzard? Wouldnt you prefer 17 ice, especially since youre trying to secure all central servers early for Temujin?

10 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

@mohaymen

(1) The money level is actually quite good. It's common to end the first turn on 10 credits. The key is managing that money. Try not to biotic out too early if you can help it (if you aren't flooded). Using AAL (or a fired Architect!) to install a card on the runner's turn is really crucial to get those extra credits. Employee Strike really made several of my games difficult. If that's the case, don't be bashful in clicking for credits (rather than drawing for Hedge Fund) or biotic'ing an agenda. Also make a mental note that they played Employee Strike. I can't say I've come across too many runners who have Employee Strike AND Rumor Mill, which means your Caprice may very well be in play.

(2) I typically always install TS naked unless I'm playing Whizzard. Four credits is a good tempo hit for you. If you really want to keep them around pair them with a MVT. Usually the runner will know what is up and wait to trash until you get one use out of TS. With an AAL in archives, If you have one TS in play you are basically biotic'ing for 4 (remember to install on the runner's turn!) which is value if I've ever seen it. It got to the point where runners were hesitant to run my remotes because they knew I was using MVT's so you can use that tendency to your advantage.

(3) I actually had a terrible record versus Whizzard in mid November and I found it was mainly due to the fact I was trying to score out much to early. Prioritize centrals early and don't be stingy on HQ unless you are certain they aren't running Siphon or Vamp. Stopping the Sucker farming action is priority number two. Placing weaker ICE in front of stronger ICE helps against the cutlery, i.e. Vanilla in front of Eli. That way the runner has to knifed twice to destroy Eli.

(4) 16 vs. 17 ICE was an issue I was torn on for quite a while, but I came to the conclusion I would rather have 16 ICE + an extra econ card (to help me rez the ICE) than 17 ICE. Letting the runner net 8 on a first turn Temujin, while not ideal, isn't the end of the world. It's basically a Day Job. The problem comes when they are starting on their second Contract. The MVT's help in cutting into that credit advantage if you don't draw the ICE. Voiding a Contract with MVT or an ICE installed from AAL is a straight kick to the gonads. Forcing the runner to check remotes to make sure gives you that much more time to set up.

Hope this helps!

12 Jan 2017 AkAnderson

Hey nicely done! I played the same list that Travis did at worlds and I must say, I like your changes. MVT seems pretty awesome to stem the runs and help open up scoring windows. I ended up adding a single Domestic Sleepers to my list, as I kept losing when I was at 6 points. I've loved it since then, but I know some people don't like the card. Thoughts on the sleepers? If you were forced to include it in this list, what would you change?

12 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

I actually really like Domestic Sleepers although I have a hard time justifying a card slot for it unless I run 3x Team Sponsorship. Unless maybe you think you can get enough value out of 2 TS? Considering those changes I would definitely drop a Reclamation Order and regrettably a CVS.

13 Jan 2017 AkAnderson

I am playing the Sleepers with no TS. Just simply as a 2/1 so to speak. For me and my style, it works wonderfully. I'm all about the value town of TS, but I couldn't find the room. I think you can cut the reclamation for pretty much anything. Travis and I had it in to bring back all 3 AAL, but friends does that better now.

13 Jan 2017 ZQQLANDER

Sounds like I will have to give it a go then :). Up for anything over Reclamation Order.