The Ultimate Smoke (4th @both Wrocław & Katowice Regionals)

Odol 1623

Smoke has been something of my pet project pretty much since she came out, and now that the card pool for Netrunner is complete I can safely announce that so is the deck!

We all know how powerful a stealth rig is once it is set up, and this build aims at establishing it extremely fast – let’s just not be afraid to Peace in Our Time early and Stimhack away with SMC on the table to get our breakers for cheap.

Speaking of breakers, we are obviously using Netrunner’s most efficient suite and it feels amazing! And Atman is only here to handle an occasional Excalibur, save our Net Mercur from a Sadaka, protect our money from Universal Connectivity Fee if Acme becomes a thing, and also act as Dummy Box fodder.

Once we have the rig established we can contest any remote, while pressuring centrals for Mercur credits and Wheel counters, and close the game with either the subtlety of Indexing or the sheer power of The Turning Wheel loaded like a freight train.

There is only one current in this build, so let’s face it – we are not going to be battling Scarcity of Resources. Instead, let us answer a simple question: Would we play Net Mercur if it cost five, Beth Kilrain-Chang and The Turning Wheel if they cost four apiece and Film Critic (in relevant match-ups) if it cost three? My answer to this is HELL YEAH! The card that failed this little exercise was Smoke’s iconic Daily Casts, unfortunately.

I also found that 3 copies of Net Mercur is a bit of an overkill, as I only need a single copy on the board and perhaps a back-up in case something unexpected happens, but I can live without swimming in it. So instead of the third copy I slotted a single Ghost Runner in there, for some extra “oomph” against all these 8 strength Surveyors.

So here it is – I give it to you forever and, as always, all feedback is more than welcome!

4 comments
23 Jul 2018 Longi

Hey Piotr, I like the built and I think the timing for bringing Smoke back is ideal. With all the Jinteki glaciers that are being played right now... Well done;)

24 Jul 2018 rwknoll

How much extra card draw did you typically see from Astrolabe? I feel like asset spam has been reduced in popularity enough that another console might be justified, but I'm not sure what it would be if we aren't importing one.

24 Jul 2018 Odol

@rwknoll Typically anything between 0 and 1 :D I like to think of Net Mercur as my console, and of Astrolabe as cheap MU that I might need mid-game to SMC my last breaker. The problem I find with other consoles is their price - I like to keep my rig lean, and avoid any unnecessary tempo loss.

And when we do happen to face an asset-based deck, this build is nowhere near the level of economy we would need to contest it if not for the insane speed that Astrolabe suddenly brings to the table.

24 Jul 2018 PureFlight

@Odol Really dig that "Net Mercur as Console" mentality!