First National Bank of Evil, 1st Dublin GNK, 4th Dublin SC

Relenzo 63

I think the stock of Weyland Tag n' Bag is currently under-valued.

This deck carried me to victory on a GNK as well as top cut in a Dublin SC (though this was before Armed Intimidation). I had to play Runner during the cut and almost certainly would have ranked higher if I'd gotten to play Corp.

Historically, the biggest weakness of Tag n' Bag is the possibility that the Runner will simply accumulate a pile of money and refuse to be baited into runs until you try to score. If they did this, there was relatively little many Weyland decks could do.

This is no longer the case. The deck here can easily bait runs without forfeiting points--all five assets included are very good at this. And it has a huge number of ways to attack the Runner's credit pool: notably Tollbooth, Armed Intimidation, and above all, the unbelievably powerful Economic Warfare.

It's hard to overstate just how much power and speed Economic Warfare gives to this archetype. The entire gameplan of Tag n' Bag, if you think about it, is built on the idea that you can tax or drain the runner's credits. If they have time to build up a big savings account, you can't land tags that stick, you can't win multiple traces, and your deck essentially does nothing.

But the faster you can go, the sooner the runner has to stop covering their side of the board in resources and the sooner they have to start spending. Speed is of the essence. And this deck can slam cards down on the table. If you're not afraid to go for a reckless score every once in a while, it simply isn't possible for the Runner to avoid running against this deck--and once they do, you have them in the crosshairs. The economy of this deck is incredibly sturdy because Bryan Stinson fires almost every game. I'm not afraid to use an Econ Warfare to set him off. If they have too many credits to land a Hard-Hitting News and stick the tags, just play one anyway and force them to spend a turn buying them all off. Then force them to run and play another one.

The number of options available when using Titan is a big component of this speed. I wasn't sure which Weyland ID was best for this archetype for a while, but now I'm convinced. Atlas counters can be used to fetch other Atlases, but I will more often forfeit the counters to fetch operations like Econ Warfare and Hard-Hitting News when I need them. The turn 'Econ Warfare, Econ Warfare, Hard-Hitting News' can destroy even Mopus decks by driving them into the ground for turns at a time, and open gaping windows to find a BOOM! I'll often over-advance Atlas counters just to get more of these sweet, sweet punisher cards at instant speed.

Mumbad Construction Co. provides a fast advance option if you really want to score something, and is a threat that cannot be ignored for multiple turns. It also provides a way to burn credits for speed if the runner is on a Tapwyrm economy (this was very important before the MWL update).

[NOTE: Commenter has pointed out that this doesn't work--which was not caught by myself or others for four events...I'll just go hide in a whole now. But leave this as a warning for posterity I guess]

ICE: There is enough non-porous ICE in the deck to defend centrals and rush a quick score early on, but the suite is primarily designed to be taxing. I've found Veritas to be very effective in taxing a runner as long as they don't have an active Aumakua or Mongoose. Since Criminal is in retrograde right now, I've had no regrets. Tithonium is also more taxing than it may first appear--I have gladly forfeited Atlases to tax the runner 8 credits, because once I've driven the runner broke, I control the board state for the rest of the game.

MVP: Armed Intimidation. This card is almost as good as Corporate Sales Team in a deck that relies on taking away the Runner's money. No matter what the runner chooses, they'll be taxed to the tune of a whole turn's worth of resources. It really shines, however, in combination with 24/7 News. This combo can easily end games.

Honorable Mention: Best Defense is a very valuable tech slot in this deck. I took it out for 24/7, but if I thought I would run into a lot of Tag-Me decks I would find space for it somehow. Getting rid of Obelus is important.

1 comments
9 Apr 2018 Ino209

Maybe I'm missing something, but what does Mumbad Construction Co do in this deck? You have no face up agendas, no way to turn agendas face up, and no Trick of Light type effects.

Unless you're fast advancing ice?