6 Agendas, 6 Mushins (51st at BLM, 4-2)

branimated 602

I am both of those people while playing this deck


I built this deck a few days before the excellent Black Lives Matter tournament hosted by the good folks at NISEI, and almost didn't play it because I mean, look at it, this is a deck for poltroons.

I took it anyway, because despite the extreme clown factor, it was winning/losing quickly in testing, and I'm scared of brain fatigue in a long event. Imagine my bafflement as it put up wins at a greater rate than the standard 419 I had paired it with. Imagine my horror as I realized that I was winning twice as many games with HARMONY MEDTECH as FOUR ONE NINE. What could it mean? Well, mostly it means I'm a rubbish 419 pilot, but let's just focus on this Corp for as long as we can stomach it.

Fundamentally, it's a Ronin machine. But also it can score two 5/3s and win (while my opponent will probably have to steal 3 agendas). Or maybe they'll just run a big Junebug. Sometimes they run out of cards touching Snares. The basic premise of the list is to exploit Mushin No Shin and Kakurenbo to create situations in which I spend very little brainpower (let's say, two or three almonds' worth) and force my opponent to either do four-dimensional calculus about what my advanced card could be, or spend a pile of money checking R&D again. Is this a reasonable thing to do? I have no idea, but it's fun! God help me, I had fun playing this deck.

If you're curious, here's what happened.

Round 1 vs Apoc Hoshiko (Win by scoring out)

Got things going with a Mushined Food. I weathered some Stargate hits while setting up some money, then IAA'd a Junebug. My opponent responded with an Apocalypse. I followed up with IAA Obokata Protocol. My opponent did some stuff that wasn't running the Obo, so I scored out. They didn't think it was an Obokata and didn't factor in that a second 5/3 would let me win.

Round 2 v Counter Surveillance Hoshiko (Loss)

I didn't draw enough Mushins, and my opponent was on Counter Surveillance. They had a string of I've Had Worses that allowed them to aggressively call my bluffs while setting up for a monstrous CS dig that closed things out. Fair enough!

Round 3 v 419 (Loss)

Caldera + DoF + Falsified = Dead trap deck. Hmm, maybe this deck sucks.

Round 4 v Freedom (Win by Otoroshi + Junebug kill)

Freedom's free trashes and I've Had Worse established a pretty crushing board presence for 90% of the game, but I was able to get Slot Machine and an Otoroshi installed on R&D, and a string of whiffs on single accesses allowed us to enter the lategame, in which the Freedom somehow ran out of cards and credits (this ice is pretty taxing, admittedly). Against all odds and good taste, I set up a naked Junebug and their next R&D run led to a resolved Otoroshi subroutine, which ended the game. At this point Harmony has twice as many wins as my 419 (2:1)

Round 5 v Hoshiko (Win by grind out Obokata score)

I was unable to cover as much ground as I wanted to in the early game, and the midgame saw a lot of ice, called bluffs, and more ice. Eventually Zer0 + Hoshiko draw took its toll, and their Apoc was unable to stop me from IAAing an Obokata they couldn't steal. I did not build the deck to win this way, but I'll take it.

Round 6 v Leela (Win by Ronin)

Round 6, my brain is sludge, my opponent is a fellow Texas metamate. I Kakurenbo a Ronin to get the party going on turn 2/3, and they wisely choose to leave it alone, but perhaps less wisely decide to play more cards, passing back on two cards. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do. We ran the matchup back for funsies afterwards, and had a much more involved match, (but I scored out in that game as well). Sometimes the universe speaks, doesn't mean we have to be happy about what it has to say. Oh, and at this point I had 4 wins with Harmony Medtech, and 2 wins with 419. Incredible.

Play this deck if you wish to learn as little about the game of Netrunner as possible, while giving yourself a nonzero chance to win. So long as they aren't playing Caldera, Diversion of Funds, Falsified Credentials, I've Had Worse, or Stargate, you should be in pretty good shape! :D

Big ups to the TOs, commentators, and everyone who donated ($12K+ for The Bail Project is incredible). This community rules, and deserves better than playing against this deck. Love y'all!


What's that? You're still reading, wondering whether this deck could be further improved? Sigh. Ok, cut the Celeb Gifts for 3x NGO Front, and the Neural for a CVS. Now get outta here already!

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