I can't come up with a witty name for my NEXT Design deck.

Thike 1203

So, this is my pet deck that I've been working on for a while. I haven't done that much testing in this final form, but it's been pretty solid so far. It roughly plays like your standard NEXT ICE-heavy deck rush deck, but that often fails due to the inherent randomness in NEXT and ABT. It's the various contingencies that make it shine.

AGENDAS: The goal with the agendas is basically that, whichever one you score first -- and you will often score one right off the bat in a server protected by two cheap ICE -- will help you immensely based on its effect alone. Gila Hands Arcology works as it always does, being nice reliable economy. Mandatory Upgrades is also great, and probably my favorite first agenda. It allows you to transition to fast advance, and set a significant economic advantage. Also da bomb with Melange. Accelerated Beta Test is the standard for NEXT. Scoring one can shore up your defenses immensely. Project Ares is my most recent breakthrough. It was previous Vitruvius, to recall dumped agendas and be fast-advanceable post ManUp. However, that never really helped me all that much. If I didn't score an early ManUp, Vitruvius was often the last thing I wanted to see. Ares, on the other hand, can change the game. It can basically reset the board. Advance it like a ManUp, and you can reactivate your binary ICE. I'm often scoring a 6-8 advanced Ares, but I will just do it for points if I'm feeling secure. Even if they choose to trash their resources instead of their programs, that's a lot of tempo lost as it can be expensive to go through tons of ICE.

ASSETS: Melange Mining Corp. is another good option for that early scoring server. Get all the credits you'll ever need while they scramble to get in. Hard rez a Wotan for bonus points. Project Junebug and Aggressive Secretary will save you if you're behind. Either they reactivate your ICE, flatline the runner, or scare them away while you slowly advance big agendas. Each is a 1x, so they're always a surprise.

UPGRADES: Mmmm... Ash.

OPERATION: Fast economy for lots of first turn rezing. I'm considering finding room for another Beanstalk.

ICE: All the cheap ETR ICE! NEXT Silver will eventually go in here, but I don't know where. Notables: Hive makes for a super secure scoring server for the first few turns. Inazuma is an MVP. Reactivates Rotos, makes Paper Wall hilarious. I'm considering adding a second. Even if I only get it and two other ICE in my opening hand, I'd rather only take the two free installs because it is just so powerful early game. Sherlock 1.0 is under-rated, IMO. Expensive, yes, but incredibly taxing and can also reset the ICE for a turn or two, if timing is good.

PLAYSTYLE: Generally, I want to finish my first turn having played an economy operation, ICE on HQ and R&D, and a scoring server with two ICE and an Agenda (Melange as a runner-up). Enough of the ICE is dirt cheap that you can withstand early pressure. I generally don't put too much effort into protecting R&D off the bat. ICE density is average, but they can't do much else to me. Very little is trash-able. At that point, you want to rush out your next agenda over the following 1-4 turns, depending on how much economy you can manage in face of early aggression. Always fire ABT unless you're in a comfortable position. With 26 ICE you usually get two, and ditching the odd agenda isn't a big deal. The traps are especially useful if they've seen ManUps and Ares.

2 comments
27 May 2014 steevo15

Thomas Haas might be good in a deck like this. Disguise it as Manup, junebug, or agsec. It can help a lot with siphon recovery and even provide an unexpected burst of money that the runner isn't expected when calculating whether you can rez ice or not.

28 May 2014 Jashay

You're right, the ICE makeup isn't too different from mine, especially since I've swapped a Caduceus for a Hive.

I see what you mean about the Sentries. I was leery of having much non-ETR in my deck which limited my options somewhat. Sherlock is an interesting one; I've been running Ichi 1.0 instead of Fenris as my recent change. I might change back and put Ichi 2.0 in instead of Janus, but I'll have to find time to give Sherlock a swing too.

And yes, I agree, Sherlock is underrated.