The Intervention of the Sabine Women

Sorry for mobile formatting.

Shout out to Jackmade on NRDB - whose deck I sort of scavenged my own Rosetta deck into. I have been playing Test Run in criminal for a while, and thought that Rosetta offered an interesting middle space between Test Run and Special Order. The main benefits of the Test Run were surprise Sneakdoors and cheap Femmes - 2 things Rosetta 2.0 can also do. When I saw Jackmade's list (found here https://netrunnerdb.com/en/decklist/43970/1st-place-regional-g-ttingen-wild-sneaky-andy-) I really picked up what he was putting down. 3 Sneakdoors is a killer idea that keeps the option to both install one 2-3 times per game, but also turn them into breakers when the runs aren't valuable. It made much more sense than trying to force janky install chains or play unimpressive econ cards (cache) just to pawn them.

What I found with Rosetta 2.0, is that while it APPEARS to be best in a toolbox style criminal deck, in practice, consistancy is key. You're going to draw 9 cards right off the bat, and any programs you draw into, are going to need to be hardcast rather than tricked into play. This meant that 2-3 copies of your programs is much stronger than a ton of singletons. Especially with hunter seeker and other hate cards out there, it feels way too cramped playing with no redundancy (or watering down your deck just for Sac Cons). To me, the ultimate goal is for cards to be useful at all stages of the game and provide strong enough value that you would play them even without Rosetta 2.0.

16 programs is kind of a lot, but the extra redundancy makes the plays much smoother. 3x Sneakdoor/3x Crescentus/3x Magnum Opus means you don't mind using them OR selling them, they move through your board much more fluidly and adapt to provide you the most value.

Magnum Opus - As is the mantra of the deck, 1-2 was fine, I just found that I durdled around with other cards, which watered down the core strategy. Even though you might take a loss if you pawn it, it vastly outperforms other econ options like cache or datasucker. I'm always reluctant to pawn them since 1. you usually install another one, and 2. without Kati Jones or Security Testing(/Aenas etc.) you actually wind up clicking for credits a lot. but I think turning it into a Femme Fatale for a remote run or a Sneakdoor on a Juicy HQ are both strong plays.

Femme Fatale - again, since you wind up having to pay 9 to play it from hand, I wanted at least 2x to be able to search for it more often. I found pawning Femme for a new Femme to be a pretty reliable play, so I went up to 3. It can be a pain to boost, but not many high STR sentries out there to watch out for, and Magnum Opus covers some of the damage.

A lot of strong picks for rebirth based on the board state. Early game I tend to go for Leela, contest remotes and money up. Steve can also be a good pick, and gives you some trickiness in a deck whose pony has only one trick.

If I were going to make one change in the next iteration, it would probably be to find space for Same Old Thing because the deck isn't very threatening. More multiaccess or central punishment would go a long way. I am not smart enough to figure out how to squeeze Faust into this deck, but a smarter deckbuilder who felt up to the challenge, would be well rewarded for their efforts: all your extra redancies turn into accesses.

Title is a snarky way to reference Rosetta and Magnum Opus, 1799 was the year The Intervention of the Sabine Women was painted, and the year the Rosetta Stone was discovered. Not that I knew that before using google to help me come up with a quippy title.