You Shall Not Pass v1.0 (2nd Adelaide Regionals)

ODie 725

Gunning for a Glacier build with limited Fast Advance option. Tyrant is a potential surprise stopper, and can build to be very expensive, but if you see a hint of Morning Star then don't waste too much time on that and charge up Ice Wall instead. The original build had two Tyrants but they are too situational to really merit inclusion. I should have dropped the second for a Hive, say, but then the deck name would be meaningless, so I kept it. ;-)

There's some cute tricks such as Matrix Analyzer and Neotokyo Grid to get free advances mid-run (spend and get the refund from NtG). If the Runner is seeing you benefit from this too much (Trick-able counters, Tyrant building up to Hive level subs) then they may choose to avoid the server altogether. Otherwise it can help steer them away from otherwise vulnerable central servers that are being hit to prevent the free advance from your Identity ability, because you're getting a click-free advance anyway.

Aiming for taxing Ice with Tollbooth, Wall of Thorns, Ichi 1.0 (I'm finally a convert, @Ber), and Susanoo-No-Mikoto, Cell Portal and Inazuma to make life painful if there isn't a Decoder installed.

Cash can be tight with only eight Op economy and two MMC for credits but going remote with PAD Campaign or Mental Health Clinic assets turns off the identity's ability if the Runner just runs these remotes and Bank Job is a possibility as well. If you can stick to the game plan and Ice only the three centrals and one well defended agenda scoring server then the MMC can help to pay for the high cost Ice you're trying to rez. I found in the tournament that the Successful Demonstrations were perhaps the weakest inclusion economically, as when you're getting run through and need to rez just to cost the Runner credits or 'sucker tokens, the much needed payout isn't coming. It feels like a 'win more' card in this deck; when you're on top of the game then the bonus credits from SD are great, when you're struggling to get back into the game something else is required.

Surprisingly I found that Jackson Howard wasn't really missed. I did get stuck with one hand of three Agenda in one game, but was losing already so that wasn't the issue, and Jackson wouldn't likely have been the difference maker.

The Agenda suite is designed to support / be synergistic with the ability, with both Nisei MK II and Unorthodox Predictions potentially buying you another shot at the free advance, which can lend you more Trick of Light counters or possibly just clicking along an installed Agenda chained with the Unorthodox score. To make room for the Ice and econ, this runs an atypically low number of Ambush cards, but a mid-game Secretary or Junebug can set the runner back enough turns to move to match point and secure the servers enough to make it your game.

A late change to the deck swapped out two Rainbow for the Swordsmen which was an invaluable change (thanks to @kage02 & @Ber for the testing and advice there).

The deck has proven to be surprisingly resilient, coming back from Siphons and early agenda bleeds to be able to win. The free advance is an incredible ability if you can play to it, which is what the design is trying to enable as much as possible. The one really devastating archetype that seems to have its number is Kate Parasite recursion, which ran all over me twice (once in Swiss, once in the double elims and probably would have a third time if we'd had to go to that game). This might suggest that it is also weak to Andy with static breakers and Datasuckers, but that bears testing. Her star is fading these days anyway, and i didn't face one all day.

Hope you like it!

2 comments
17 Jun 2014 TheRyanBurke

If the Runner is seeing you benefit from this too much (Trick-able counters, Tyrant

I don't believe you should get the Neotokyo credit when advancing ICE protecting a server. Should only be for cards in the root of the server.

17 Jun 2014 ODie

@TheRyanBurke, you're correct, it does only pay out for advancing cards in the server. It was clumsy phrasing on my part that implied you'd get a credit back for advancing the Tyrant. I never played it that way. Thanks for pointing it out though.