The mother and the turtle (11th at Dutch Nats)

Cpt_nice 1908

You know the fable of the mother and the turtle?

I sure hope so

If you want to see my corp deck and read my tournament report, click here. This deck list is all about theory crafting.

While I did play Smoke at the Belgian Nats and enjoyed it, I still went back to Sunny for this event because she has become somewhat of my signature ID. People actually came up to me at the event to ask if I was playing her. So yeah, this is the latest version I've come up with. The deck performed well, going 4 - 1, with the loss being against an amazing player who had a great start. I will go into some of my choices for the deck below.

Let's get started

time for some extreme theory

Turtles rule, GS breakers (sorta) drool

I think the biggest pitfall of playing Sunny is relying solely on Nexus and her breakers to get into servers. This might be sufficient in the late game, when you are filthy rich, but early game her breakers are too expensive to install. Also, they are pretty bad against single sub ice and only really shine against edge cases (Tour Guide, Komainu, Endless Eula). That is why I think every good Sunny deck should play Aumakua. Not only does the turtle allow you to break single sub ice for one credit and bypasses the need to get 3 different breakers to deal with different ice until you really need to, it has unbelievable synergy with Sunny's cards. Jak gives you free counters, Nexus lets you dodge annoying anti AI ice like IP Block and Chiyashi, Sec Chip is a zero cost Dean Lister which works wonder for the non-boostable AI. I can't count the amount of games that I've won without installing a single GS breaker. You unfortunately need to play them, as other wise you might get locked out of double iced servers.

Deuces Wild + Dirty Laundry

These two provide draw, tag removal, ice exposal, burst econ and get you virus counters, so you should definitely play these. Deuces Wild especially is one of the best cards of the format and great value in every match up

Sunny's Falsified Credentials

This probably is the most interesting include in the deck, especially at 3, but totally worth the influence. Worst case, you use this to find out whether you should bother going into a remote. Best case, this is another copy of Sure Gamble that gives your trusty turtle a virus counter to boot. It also deals well with shell game match ups, which you are not particularly great against. I used to run 2 but I found I wanted this in my hand way more often than I had one be dead at 3. Often corps will purge, thinking they get a scoring window, so you put down a surprise Sec Chip, play FC and then go in hard to steal their shit

they never know what hit them

2x Security Nexus

I would never tell you three is bad, but two is enough imo, especially with lots of draw and the turtles.

Stimhack is bork

Sort of catches people by surprise, as Sunny is usually more about drip econ than burst econ. Great for when you are set up and need that extra push to ride the waves. Also, deals nicely with MVT, Jeeves, and other expensive must-trash corp cards.

1 Data Folding, 1 Earthrise

I used to not play these cards, but I often felt like I was just dumping Career Fairs, because I had no targets so I added 1 of each. Controversially, I don't think you need 3 DF in Sunny, as too many expensive resources slows you down and 4 drip per turn is plenty of cash.

E-strike is best strike

Sort of a must in Sunny, as you lose hard to Scarcity and MTI is the best corp atm. Critic + The Source (as in one of my earlier versions) is nice to curb fast advance but it costs way more influence and time to set up. You win against FA by going fast.

I know the DJ

Oh man, where to even start. Outside of the pirates and Jesminder into Liza, Sunny definitely gains the most out of being friends with the DJ. Steve is all-round amazing for recurring power cards and has helped me win so many games. When in doubt, you always take him and cackle maniacally as you run HQ, gain a free Sure Gamble or Deuces, steal an agenda, after which you pop Maxwell and derez an expensive piece of ice, only to install a new one. As far as other ID's go, Reina is good against a poor corp, Los is great when the corp has lots of unrezzed ice and you are ready to apply the thumb screws but need cash, Liza is ok with Citadel Sanctuary on the board. I find I never go into Hayley, as any situation where I would want her, Steve just helps more. Regardless, having options is good. DJ gives you options. So there.

He's the coolest

3x Maxwell

This card was nerfed hard, but it is still amazing tbh. 1 link for 1 credit is great value, you want to see it early to make your Office Supplies playable, and you can still apply early pressure by running a remote, forcing a rez, running hq and then popping Maxwell.

No Black Hat and 1 White Hat

Both are strong but situational. You only play Black Hat when you are winning and want to go for game, and White Hat is fun to slow down corps but is often just a staller. If you want to play multiple, pick white over black.

No (one Home)

Obviously because of your high link, when you pop this, you are pretty much guaranteed to dodge HHN or Snare when you can't afford to take it on the chin. Also, Sea Source Azmari is a strong deck and they can outmoney you after an expensive run. But not twice. This card is extremely versatile, so it is def worth a slot.

No Deep Data Mining, Divide & Conquer or Emergent Creativity

4 influence for a high stakes run where you potentially whiff is a bit too risky for my liking. Likewise, I'd rather pay the iron price for Nexus and spend my influence elsewhere.

I hope this has been informative, and that you give Earth's best mom a chance at one of Nisei's upcoming events. Keep it Sunny, lovely people.

duuuuude

2 comments
24 Oct 2018 Aerosaucer

I like the idea and it feels good to play, but with almost all the influence being blue, wouldn't this just be better in 419? You'd only have to cut the stimhack, 1 chip, DJ, Folding, donuts, and jak, but in return you get 419's tax/expose, 45 card deck, mostly better backup breakers, and access to the citadel+power tap combo with rogue trading and even credit kiting for Nexus and Amina.

45 cards + another earthrise compares pretty well to 3x donuts when it comes to finding the cards you need (and you could always throw in a fisk investment seminar).

I love Sunny so hopefully this is actually better than just playing the same thing in criminal, but from a theorycrafting perspective it's hard for me to see.

24 Oct 2018 Cpt_nice

@Aerosaucer "wouldn't this just be better in 419" > I have literally thought thay many times and the answer is, maybe. But the deck as it is now works near- perfectly and Sunny has the influence to make it work. 419 does not. You mentioned a LOT of cards that would need to be cut. His ability is good but I feel Sunny's influence and 2 link are actually on par with this.

"45 cards + another earthrise compares pretty well to 3x donuts" > I very much disagree. Doughnuts is not susceptible to Scarcity and doubles as a Sure Gamble for zero credits.

Also, I think you VASTLY underestimate the power of DJ Steve. That one combo has won me several dozen games against Argus, Jinteki, Glacier, you name it.

I think the logic of wanting to extrapolate this deck to 419 is solid and you could, but you would make a different enough deck that this particular one would be unrecognisable. And tbh, as someone who also loves Sunny, I feel that alone gives it a reason for existence and to stand on its own merits.