Thule Runnings [2-3 at Scotland Regionals 2024]

SanguineMagpie 12

This is the new Thule archetype I've been working on for the last month or so, and my proper deckbuilding debut! I would've liked to publish it with a better tournament result, but I still think this deck is quite strong despite my piloting errors and has few (if any) truly bad matchups. Many thanks and much love to l0velace for help with the original concept, harmonbee, AceEmpress, and znsolomon for tuning and testing, and everyone else in QEH for their advice and also just for being the best testing group ever <3

The Gameplan

This is primarily a kill deck, although it does have the ability to credibly threaten a scoring win with Ontologicals, Élivágar Bifurcation, and a few core damage. The primary kill plan begins by giving the runner one or two core from stealing agendas (having them access an Ikawah Project with one click left is great for that) or firing off an Élivágar from a Djupstad Grid. You can also force core damage with multiple Mr. Hendriks in one server, which I usually make the scoring remote but can also work well on R&D or even HQ if they're more likely to run there.

At the point of two core damage, you have a lot of options. I find a lot of runners will take one core without worrying about it too much, and some will even willingly take two, which is ideal. You can score out with cheap Ontologicals if you're lucky enough to pull them, but continuing along the kill line, you ideally want to float a tag so you can Gaslight out End of the Line and send the runner off to meet Sundog. Jag and Ping can inflict tags, so stacking one of each or two of either on a server they can't avoid running is ideal, and will hopefully leave them without the clicks to clear it. A Hendrik or Ikawah in the server, though, will definitely finish the job.

At this point, it's kill time - if they have 3+ core, an EotL will do it alone, but if they have less, you can combo it with Hypoxia. Stoneship is a card to watch here, as they do have a window to use it in between your Hypoxia and your EotL, but even if they do, the click loss from Hypoxia is still nasty. I wouldn't recommend going through with the EotL if they pop Stoneship and deny you the kill, since you only have one, and they are highly unlikely to float a tag again after seeing it.

Oh, and for what it's worth, don't bother scoring an Ikawah unless you have four points already and it will win you the game. The ice in this deck is fairly porous against a determined runner, and we have no FA capability. They are primarily there to be stolen and cause runners headaches.

The Ice

A major part of this deck is flipping ice up and down repeatedly with Élivágar and Stegodon. Obviously Gatekeeper, Ping, and Ablative are great for this, but you can also use Élivágar to get a double draw out of Spin Doctor, or reload a Nico/Regolith in a pinch. Derezzing and re-rezzing Pings is a great way to catch the runner out and leave them with a tag, and in the worst case of a super-cautious runner, it at least slows them down clearing the tags.

You really want to score a Stegodon early on to set this up - an ideal first turn would be Hedge Fund, install Steg, and ice it to score on turn 2. I would consider mulling if you don't see either a Steg or a Djupstad (for getting the core damage going early) in your opening hand. The money, though minor, makes a difference over time if you're re-rezzing Pings and Ablatives a lot (half price!), and the weakened breakers tend to throw people's maths off.

What if they don't run?

If the runner is really conservative and won't run your remote, ice up a Djupstad behind a Ping or two, and fire off core damage until they have to. Don't neglect the centrals too much here though, an R&D lock can still be very threatening.

Potential changes

M.I.C. and Hákarl 1.0 are a bit questionable, you could very possibly mess around with those slots, although all the ice with on-rez effects should definitely stay. You could maybe cut a little bit of econ (likely Regolith) for Overwriters to really drive home the kill, they weren't too bad in previous versions of the deck, but you do need to play very efficiently in that case.

So how come you haven't done amazingly with it?

I've only been playing Netrunner for six months or so, and I'll freely admit I'm not that good at it. I've identified quite a few errors that I keep making - rushing too much too early and kneecapping my econ, not protecting centrals against shaper/crim enough, derezzing expensive ice with Steg for dubious benefit...but regardless, I really think this deck has legs and brings some fresh ideas to the Thule sphere. I hope you all have fun with it, and please do let me know if you try it and have any feedback!

3 comments
8 Sep 2024 oor_mate_vlad

This deck was an absolute blast to play against!

12 Sep 2024 minecrafttoward

One thing to consider might be the balance of cards that deal core damage versus those that benefit from it, ensuring you don’t run into issues where you can’t efficiently deal the final blow planet) clicker

16 Sep 2024 Beatrice

It is truly outstanding and very profound, slope; I learned a lot from it!