NBN does glacier best (Post rotation and with core 2.0)

Cpt_nice 1920

So. Core 2.0. Waw. I think a lot of people saw it coming, but they did not expect quite this many changes. No more Account Siphon, no Parasite, no ETF, the list goes on. NBN got hit especially hard. They lost Astro, Breaking News, Sansan, some very iconic cards for the deck! Does this mean the faction's days are numbered?

Heck no! Sure, SYNC Boom is effectively neutered and FA is definitely a lot harder now, but the faction is still strong. Asset spam (ew) still has most of its tools available and will be able to adapt. But we are not looking at that today, let's revisit my old favorite corp ID, New Angeles Sol.

This ID is arguably the best in faction way of playing Glacier, as it has access to some cheap but annoying ice (News Hound, IP Block, Resistor) while also having a great way of taxing the runner out via keeping Scarcity in play at all times. The deck is kind of a sleeper but has won tournaments in the past.

So how do we update this deck for the new age? First off, we have a lot more influence to work with. The loss of BN and Sansan means you will have up to 5 or 6 extra influence to spend. That is why I added Ash (which returns in Core 2.0, yaay) to tax out the runner, along with one Warroid to keep them from trashing it. Red Herrings adds even more of a tax, which along with ice like Tollbooth makes agendas extremely annoying to steal.

If they do decide to bankrupt themselves to take your GFI, you can still do some shenanigans with HHN and EOI. While not nearly as good as before due to the loss of BN, exchanging 15 minutes or Beale for a GFI is still an enormous tempo swing. And if the runner decides to go full on tag-me, psychographics Beale is a win condition on itself. Biotic is there just in case you need to FA one from hand.

I am super excited for the post-core 2.0 format and I think New Angeles Sol has a strong chance to be one of the top contenders.

5 comments
14 Sep 2017 Argonwolf

I ran around with this last night and i confirmed my suspicions at first glance: This deck is pretty money-poor. Youre almost twice as likely to draw an agenda as you are an econ card. Im not counting biased reporting because it feels like its not going to help when you really need it.

Its trying to outmoney the runner but only has 27 econ card credits to do so. The rest is clicking, Scarcity helps for sure but it's still a rough prospect.

Granted my opponent at the LGS was playing a pre-rotation siphon spam, but he only actually got one siphon off and i was already pretty poor

I'm not sure what the solution is but there needs to be something

14 Sep 2017 Cpt_nice

@Argonwolf There are several things wrong with your argument. First off, even one AC is a major credit swing, that is 15 credits right there, so I don't know how you want to brush that off. This deck is post rotation for a reason.

Secondly, why are you completely glancing over Biased Reporting? This card does little in the early game, but that is why you run 2 and hold on to ones you draw early. But late game, when the runner has multiple programs and possibly 10+ resources, this card is usually a Hedge Fund (+ 4 credits) at worst and can give you much more. I have gotten a 12 or 14 credit turn out with it quite often. Kinda ironic, but your comment seems kinda biased.

If you feel the deck needs (even) more money, add Celebrity Gift or another out of faction money card. There is plenty of spare influence. Targetted Marketin is also an option. But I have never once needed it. And plenty of people have gotten first at tournaments with similar lists.

14 Sep 2017 Cpt_nice

Also, you are not trying to outmoney the runner at all. It isn't Weyland kill, where you need money for traces. The runner can have more money than you, they can still lose hard to this deck. Going through a Tollbooth, beating an Ash Trace and then being hit by Red Herrings, sets them back enormously. And outside of rezzing the Tollbooth the first time, this hardly costs you anything.

15 Sep 2017 Grimwalker

I found that the tagging tech cards were essentially wasted draws much of the time. I cut both HHN and EoI in favor of 2 Special Report, a third Biased Reporting, and a Targeted Marketing. I found I had too many games where I was unable to clear a troublesome Hacktivist Meeting, so some deck filtration (bonus Agenda Flood control) was in order.

Overall, a great list, though!

15 Sep 2017 Cpt_nice

@Grimwalker : the tag punishment is definitely just a personal flavor of mine. I have found it can be dead, and it can win games. It is a risk reward sort of thing. I definitely don't disagree with cutting them in favor of draw/money cards, if you want to solely focus on the glacier aspect. And Special Report is indeed great to deal with agenda flood. Thanks for your comment!