Paywall Gagarin

Eji1700 41

A modification of an older gagarin archetype for the current meta. Is hellishly taxing on the runner, but if ignored gains crazy econ/tempo.

I've so far managed to actually pull wins (although close) vs the wizzard/faust deck(and other anarchs), as keeping this deck down is actually expensive enough to even dent wizzard. Dropping expensive assets every turn until you can sneak out an agena or a public support, and then rezzing corp town to snipe wyldside and potentially turn off faust is extremely effective.

Still far from optimal, and with the econ this can generate it's very possible that some sea/scorch version is viable

Overall I wouldn't call it a rush/mid/lategame deck, so much as a "pressure" deck, in that the runner always feels like there's something they need to deal with, and if they don't deal with it you'll be using it to gain some sort of advantage (and dealing with it creates huge credit swings).

Basic strategy-

Early game you want to sneak out as many agenda's as possible. Either behind ice or even straight bluff. Getting econ up usually is worth at least one ice protecting it.

Mid Game/no agenda's is where paywall shines. You'll likely already be throwing down PAD's/Launch because it's your econ, but with paywall out it's absolutely worth it to throw down public support as often as possible, even if trashed. It forces the runner to waste clicks and resources getting rid of it while you gain money. If they ignore it you get archer/corp town fodder or a quicker win. If you've already managed to sneak out a 3/1 or 3/2 they'll likely be checking your facdowns as well. Installing 3 and watching the runner check your sponsorships/pads/launch's for agenda's will net you money even if they trash everything, and the trashing is going to leave them hard on cash. Faust is good, but it's great when subsidized by other breakers, and this deck makes that hard (and also makes playing their other tools a little more difficult).

If you can get a corp town here in your scoring server do it, especially if you just baited a run. SNIPE WYLDESIDE FIRST. Chronotype now does nothing and they'll actually have to draw through their deck for answers and god forbid spend clicks reloading Faust. Chronotype should be the last thing you kill as destroying their econ next is important so you can stifle their ability to use normal breakers and tricks. Trashing corp town hurts like hell and tends to open up a huge window.

Late game is mostly about Ash, Archer, Tollbooth, and Wormhole.

Ash does wonders as I've managed to have an Econ advantage vs several Wizzards with just a PAD+Expo behind a single ice remaining rezzed. It forces runners to nuke their econ or run something twice (a major weakness for faust).

Archer/Tollbooth/Wormhole are all about anarch's weakness in dealing with code gates, which they tend to use D4 or Faust to get around. Archer eats D4 tokens like it's nothing, tollbooth still taxes them, and wormhole is actually very obnoxious if behind an archer. They can burn through clone chips very quickly.

Obviously cyberdex is huge in this matchup (mainly to stop them from being able to parasite your larger ice) so i'm trying to fit a second. Even if not you've got the ability to recur ice pretty easily with 2 interns and 2 sponsorship, both of which are great targets for jackson reshuffles.

2 comments
17 Feb 2016 Saan

I mentioned some of this on Stimhack as well, but I'll throw it here too so others can see it if they're curious.

I honestly don't like Paywall here, largely because you needed to remove 2 ICE to get it in. When the biggest deck in the field is one that trashes as much ICE as you can throw down, you really need them in there, especially when 2 are Pop-up and 1 is an Archer (which requires a point to turn on). Plus, Paywall discourages running remotes, which blanks your ID.

I do like the addition of Cyberdex over The Root, since it was some of the shakier econ, and Cyberdex can help out with 90% of the field being on Anarch.

I dropped Expo Grid in favor of Mumba Temple, since Expo requires an asset to give you money, and Mumba has something to rez almost every turn, making it less conditional. It also has the benefit of making an extra remote for the runner to check. If I throw an upgrade on a PAD, there's really no mystery of what it is; it's the Expo, because nothing else makes sense. If I throw Mumba in a remote, the runner needs to go waste a click and a Gagarin access credit to go find out.

I also dropped Wormhole in favor of another Assassin (which you dropped for one of the Paywalls). Wormhole is great behind an Archer, as you said, but that's a best-case scenario. Worst case, it just gets wrecked by D4v1d. Assassin takes 2 D4v1d counters, so they can't just run through it a second time without some other plan, and hurts more on a facecheck, which is valuable.

Also, I dropped the Pop-up Windows in favor of keeping 2 NAPDs in the deck. I replaced them with a Caduceus and another Ice Wall, since they're cheap. The NAPDs are so damn good in this archetype that I think dropping them all together is probably wrong. Oaktown is a killer agenda, but the NAPD tax is worth the influence. 5 to steal out of a remote is brutal, especially if they had to go through an Ash as well.

Anyhow, that's where I'm at with it.

In case people are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, here's the deck this deck is based on, and here's where I'm at with it right now. I do like the idea of moving The Root to Cyberdex, though, as @Eji1700 did. It's a good card right now.

18 Feb 2016 sruman

Thanks for posting. I had the same comment as Saan in regards to the Wormhole as it's weak to D4v1d (and just waiting to eat a value spoon). Paywall is incredibly frustrating to the runner but I think it's a flex slot and could be a 3rd interns (to replace that destroyed ice probably) and another ice (or something). As for an actual original comment :) How about Chronos Project over the Future is now? They are devastating vs. FaustCakes decks.