NEXT best thing v1.3

I've made some more changes to the deck, mostly ICE. The agenda setup is pretty much how I want it, although I am giving consideration to dropping to 2 Vitruvius and going up to 2 NAPD. More testing required there.

Mother Goddess is out. I doubt it will come back. I got caught up in the idea that it could be a STR4 extra bit of NEXT ICE, but in reality when you lay down as much ice as this deck, if they get any icebreaker they can get through it. At the same time, I have no interest in going back to Fenris. As ever, I'm in the market for decent sentries.

I've taken a few beatings with this deck recently, and although I won some of them it was far tighter than I would have liked. In all cases it pretty much came down to the same thing; once the runner has a full rig I don't have much of a way to slow them. Agg Secs very rarely fire, and Ash can only be used once or twice. When Will o the Wisp comes out, I'll switch them in for the Secs.

In the meantime, I need a better way to slow the runner. Ichi seems like the best option, and I do need to boost my sentry suite. I've also considered Chimera, although I hate the repeating cost. It does force the runner to get every breaker, though.

Some other considerations which I will test in due course: There are now 4 bits of ice capable of destroying programs, so I will consider giving the corporate troubleshooter a whirl. My concern is that this deck is never overflowing with money, so I might simply get outbid.

Alternatively, this deck is pretty fast at heart, and is meant to capitalise on early ICE advantage. With this in mind it could be worth investing in a Fast Track or two so that I don't get stuck waiting for agendas whilst they get their rig together.

Effectively it's two ways of approaching my late-game problem: Do I let the late game happen and adjust accordingly, or do I try and maximize my early advantage and be that much closer to winning when the late game rolls around?

Interesting how being on the ropes has really got me thinking, but I guess it's a case of 'calm seas never made a sailor' and all that! Anyway, I'm going to try the Ichi-Troubleshooter route first. A little worried about the increased cost of the ICE suite, but all my sentries have been expensive the whole time, so I guess I'll just have to hope these are expensive but useful.