All I see is Ice<T>

(MWL-Legal)

The deck is based around three simple observations:

1. Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman makes the first ice into a code-gate. has the best code-gate breakers.
2. Security Nexus is amazing, if expensive. It turns an ice per turn into "pay some to bypass".
3. Once the corp gets more than 2 ice on each server, Escher invalidates all that hard work.

To get the boat-load of money required to get Security Nexus out, with sufficient , and an efficient breaker suite, we'll rely on Magnum Opus.

A side-effect of this deck's construction is that it side-steps many of Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhumans fundamental weaknesses, but this is another topic, for another day.

Security Nexus

Security Nexus is expensive. Modded and Magnum Opus to get it out.

To use Security Nexus effectively, we have to have a significant amount of , and our base is 0 . Thus, we have 3x Rabbit Hole, and 1x Dyson Mem Chip.

Other options for more that could replace Dyson Mem Chip include Access to Globalsec and The Helpful AI, but neither of these combo with Modded. Additionally, Dyson Mem Chip's extra helps early game if we don't draw into our Security Nexus to enable Magnum Opus + cheap decoder + Self-modifying Code.

Decoder package

We want to be streamlined, and not rely on much , so we'll rely on Torch rather than Refractor. To get the Torch out, we're cheating it out with the Test Run/Scavenge combo.

This combo is not fast enough to provide enough early pressure, so we have ZU.13 Key Master for a cheap face-checking answer on any server, and Cyber-Cypher to consistently threaten R&D early, and to threaten the remote. The latter combos with Scavenge well.

To stretch the investment we make in Torch further, and further empower the "one breaker to rule them all", we add the Paintbrush late-game.

Target Rig

Late-game, we're shooting for some subset of:

• Security Nexus
• 3x Rabbit Hole
• Torch
• Paintbrush
• 2x R&D Interface
• The necessary pieces from Cerberus "Lady" H1 and GS Shrike M2

Threats

Early game, a Cyber-Cypher on R&D or the remote does work. Tinkering adds remote threat early on. Stimhack adds quite a bit of burst that adds threat that normally isn't present in an Magnum Opus deck.

When using Security Nexus, the threat is contingent on us having more s than the corp. If not, they can cause the Security Nexus to fail. This is another motivation behind Magnum Opus, and is the hardest constraint to play with in the game.

R&D is a consistent threat, and getting an early R&D Interface with a strong The Maker's Eye run is common. Late game, 2x R&D Interface and The Maker's Eye runs win the game. Early R&D and HQ attacks serve the second purpose of getting scouting information for which ICE are possible where. This is essential for the next item...

Escher is used for one of two things.

1. Open up a closed R&D for a final push of R&D accesses (often after 2x Jacksons have been used).
2. Open up the remote to prevent the corp from scoring out, and increase the pressure on HQ, and on using Jacksons.

These are used in different situations. We err toward the latter if the corp is on game point. We err toward the former if they're far from game point, or if we believe they don't have the agendas in HQ.

Phases of the game

I've been playing this deck for 1.5 months, and I've found that this deck plays in a number of distinct phases:

1. Get Magnum Opus. If this goes beyond turn two, you're in trouble.
2. Early pressure. Find either an Self-modifying Code, or one of the 3 cheap decoders and apply pressure on as many servers as possible, but with a focus on R&D and the remote. Trash econ assets, unless they're going strongly horizontal (Turtlebacks are a good sign of this), in which case you need to focus on the centrals.
3. Econ up. This is not a rush deck. It goes late. Knowing when to econ up is key to winning. Magnum Opus economies broadcast scoring windows like no other. If you don't have Stimhack, then you simply need to up. Given the Security Nexus math, you likely want as many s as the corp. The point of this is to threaten the remote. An easy way to lose is to not go to this step early enough, or to put too much econ pressure on yourself by hitting R&D or the remote too hard. If R&D is still open, goto 5. If they attempt to push assets into the remote, goto 4.
4. Remote Snipes. Clear out the remotes when possible. Tinkering is there to help out with this somewhat early game. Certainly clear out econ assets, but it is worthwhile to also clear out upgrades that will cause you problems later (Caprice, I see you!). We need to clear out Jacksons to enable 5. We should always have enough money to snipe the remote at least once. We often don't play key pieces of our rig until we believe an agenda is in the remote, then throw it down.
5. R&D. A strong focus on R&D to make sure that they ice up, and spend their limited money to defend. This often includes a single R&D Interface with a The Maker's Eye with the threat for more.
6. Escher. If we are threatened with a loss in the remote, then open up the remote, and goto 4, while keeping the R&D threat open. If not, open up R&D, or put all the un-rezzed ice on it if they are poor and goto 7.
7. R&D Lock. Now we need at least 2 R&D Interfaces, and we hammer R&D. Remember to goto 3 to maintain a threat on the remote if they can draw past the lock.

Match ups

The worst match-ups, given the setup speed of the entire rig, are against rush decks. It is not uncommon to use a Self-modifying Code for a Cerberus "Lady" H1, and draw for one of the decoders. Together, these provide most of the necessary access and disruption to slow down the rush. Against astrobiotics, we have the money to trash the sansans, and we need to. If they score the early astro, winning will be hard, but is possible. R&D Interface and The Maker's Eye win it for us. We don't focus on getting Security Nexus out against these decks. The rig is often just conventional breakers.

Similarly, -rush is tough. You have to be OK losing the first 3 points and focusing a little more on rig. The up-side is that while constantly forcing rezzes, these decks often don't have enough money. Just make sure that you can switch to remote sniping on a dime if they drop an Oaktown.

SYNC and Spark aren't that bad to play against due to Magnum Opus and high .

Haarp is often a loss. 24/7 is annoying. I don't like Plascrete Carapaces. If you don't want to lose against these decks, then include 2.

I don't see RP being played that much, but I can only imagine this deck does not fare well at all against it (i.e. normal Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman). GS Shrike M2 is a key card if they are on Komainu/Tsurugi. Self-modifying Code for GS Shrike M2 early on is typical. If RP gets popular again, we'll need Film Critic and likely Councilman.

IG is a decent matchup due to Magnum Opus and Chronos Protocol just means that you need to sit back before key pieces are out so that they aren't sniped. ZU.13 Key Master remains useful (as a cloud program) as good Power Shutdown protection.

The best current match-up is against foodcoats. They will likely get an early Eve or Adonis, and that is fine. It has the effect of buying us time to get our rig up. Force rezzes everywhere, and don't let them get econ after the initial tick-down. These decks have so much expensive ice, that Escher is often gg.

Influence and NAPD Most Wanted

The most wanted list obviously hits Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman as she has such a small pool of influence. This deck only uses Cerberus "Lady" H1, making Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman's influence effectively 9.

The necessary uses of influence are

• 2x Security Nexus (we want 3x, but we're Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman, so we don't get nice things)
• 1x killer. I use GS Shrike M2 in this version, and I've seen a lot more Tour Guide and Komainu recently. The slot used to go to Femme Fatale, but that can complicate dealing with Archers. The fact that this is a cloud breaker is actually just an accidental bonus.
• Cerberus "Lady" H1 because barriers.

This leaves us one additional influence that is effectively a flex slot. Options are:

• Stimhack because it is one of the best cards in an Magnum Opus deck, and provides one more way to get the Torch out, along-side Self-modifying Code.
• Utopia Shard which applies a little more HQ pressure, and helps against kill decks
• Corroder could replace Cerberus "Lady" H1 if the new hotness is small barriers (i.e. if super-modernism comes back)
• Power Tap or Compromised Employee to help with the traces, and get a little auxiliary econ
• Copycat because comboed with Escher, this is a "get in cheap" pass to a remote. Without recursion, I don't think this gets a slot, even in jank decks.
• Mimic if there is some sentry ice at strength 2 or 3 that takes over the meta. This is actually less necessary now than it was before the most wanted list as Architect will be less common now. If strength 2 becomes quite popular, then Net-Ready Eyes would likely replace Dyson Mem Chip before +1 Mimic.
• Scrubber if the new hotness is must-trash horizontal, though I'd likely try Paricia first as it is tutorable.
• Femme Fatale which turns Test Runs into Tinkerings.

Because I'm old-school, and have been playing Magnum Opus for all of the times, I'm taking the simple answer and going with Stimhack.

ICE Analysis

The breaker suite of this deck is odd. You run through most ice with a single breaker and a console, regardless of the type of the ice. However, the corp catches on to this, and will triple ice servers. At that point, you need an answer to the third ice. The difficulty with most decks is that it is quite difficult to ice 3 deep on 3 servers, especially when 1/3 or more of your ice is effectively blank (all code-gates).

Sentries

Sentries bin into five categories, each with different answers.

• Trace 'em - Assassin, Gutenberg, Caduceus, Data Raven, Resistor, Troll. These popular(ish) sentries are dependent on trace. We should have 4 or 5 (with Dyson Mem Chip), which makes most of them have significantly less bite. Gutenberg is the exception that will still require 3 s if not boosted by the corp. On the other hand, it only costs a + to get rid of the tag if you have to run through it. With Magnum Opus out, paying the 3 for the trace effectively saves a (since = 2 ).

• Natural protection - Ichi (1 and 2), Cortex Lock. through the Ichis. Magnum Opus and some rig provides good protection against the Lock. GS Shrike M2 is quite expensive for Ichi 2.0. Again, if that is quite common, then Net-Ready Eyes is the answer.

• Kill 'em - Komainu, Rototurret, Tour Guide, Errand Boy, NEXT Gold. Most of these is relatively cheap to pay through with GS Shrike M2, and some are OK to run through.

• Kill 'em with a tear in your eye - Grim, Tsurugi, Lancelot are all the magic +1 strength over what GS Shrike M2 makes efficient, thus costing 2 s more than you want. If these dominate the meta, then Net-Ready Eyes is a reasonable include. Security Nexus these, if possible.

• Cry - Architect, Archer, Susanoo-No-Mikoto. You can get through. It'll cost you. Good Security Nexus targets.

The thing about this deck is you don't have to have an efficient answer to all eventualities, and you don't need it. You have the ability to get through two ice of any type each turn. The preference for most of the expensive ice is to Security Nexus through them. This is the plan for their first encounter. If they are in a compromising position (or stacked), you have three options: 1. Tinkering which effectively act like inside jobs, 2. Escher - an essential card in this deck, and 3. Paintbrush.

Barriers

We have three options here, regardless which barriers are played.

1. Security Nexus through them.
2. Torch through them if they are outer-most.
3. Escher them somewhere else.
4. Tinkering to get a surprise access on a remote.
5. Paintbrush them into a code-gate.
6. ...oh, did I mention Cerberus "Lady" H1?

To be clear, we make the cost/benefit analysis for rezzing code-gates quite bad for the corp, and Cerberus "Lady" H1 does the same for barriers (especially combined with Scavenge and Test Run).

Code Gates

Kit. Need I say more?

...Yes? OK, how about Torch. Done yet?

As noted above, we have 4 decoders to speed up the deck, and pressure remotes early.

There is a single code-gate that we don't want to deal with with Torch: Tollbooth. We want to try and use the Security Nexus on it, if possible.

Notable Omissions

What typical cards are we missing here?

• Clone Chip - This is often used as an additional Self-modifying Code, or to recur expendable programs (Parasite, Sharpshooter, etc...). It is obviously useful to hedge against program destruction as well. It isn't very effective at either here. We don't have the to recur Self-modifying Codes. We don't have cheap enough programs that we want to pay their install cost multiple times (Hi Torch!). We don't have the influence or for Parasite. Though we'd like Sharpshooter, we have Security Nexus for the same purpose.
• 3x Sure Gamble - This is often seen as an auto-include (in all but a few Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire decks). Factoring in the cost of draw the card, it isn't significantly more efficient than Magnum Opus, thus it is often a wasted slot in an Magnum Opus deck. However, it is validly used in some decks to smooth out the variance of the first two turns. If this is a major concern for you, then -2 Tinkering, -1 Dyson Mem Chip, +3 Sure Gamble. The question is do you want to smooth the variance in the first 2 turns, or the variance on being able to pressure in the mid-game?
• Mimic - This card is a staple in many decks, including decks. It could be nice to have here, but the main package can often avoid the ill effects of Architects in many cases, and other Sentries are dealt with using other means (see the Sentry analysis below).
• Vamp - Vamp Kit is a thing. It is awesome. It doesn't work that well here for two main reasons.
  
  1. Influence. We need an answer to barriers, and with the NAPD Most Wanted List making Cerberus "Lady" H1 an influence, we're even more influence pressured. We need a sentry answer. Taking 2x Vamp means no Femme Fatale which means you have to slot for Creeper...sigh. 1x Vamp increases variance on the Vamp plays.
  2. Anti-synnergy. Vamp is great because it lets you get into remotes. Vamp 'em to 0 s, then run into the remote trashing all the upgrades, and stealing all of the things. This plan is often reliant on not enabling the corp to rez many ice on the remote. If they have, then it is difficult to make it in post-vamp, as your Kit ability and perhaps your Security Nexus have already been expended on HQ. We often need to force rezzes on remotes to trash assets early on so that the corp can't run away with the econ game. We're somewhat slow to set up, so we don't have the luxury of letting remotes go uncontested early on.
  3. Redundancy. We are already attacking the economy of the corp. We force ice rezzes quite frequently while not spending much to get through. Then we make that ice near worthless with Escher.
• Stealth. The consensus seems to be that stealth Kit is the best Kit. Zeromus aside, most seem to be on the stealth train. That's fine, but there is a lot of merit in cheap Torches, and Magnum Opus economies. This is just another Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman prototype that I believe is quite valid.

Best Card in the Deck

This brings me to the crux of the deck, Escher.

The corp works so hard throughout the game to build their three-ice servers to keep us out, which often requires large commitments of , and the use of code-gates as outer-most ice. After doing this on R&D (often 4 ice thick), and on a server, it is hard to do so also on HQ, and have the money to rez all the ice. After all this hard work, Escher essentially says:

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻.

A great game against ETF culminated in 4 deep ice on R&D (2 rezzed), 3 deep on HQ (none rezzed), and 3 deep on Remote (all rezzed). An Escher later = concede. The 30+ s valuable investment they worked so hard to Eve and Adonis disappeared in a single run. Put another way, Escher makes you happy to see Popup Window. No sigh. No groan. Just a smirk knowing what will happen with that Popup in 6 turns.

With Escher, small ice is a liability. With Security Nexus and Torch, large ice is an unfavorable exchange.

• Escher in many cases replaces Parasite. Small (especially porous) ice will help you soon to open up the remote or R&D. This ice is often the target of Parasite due to low strength.
• Escher replaces Vamp. Want to open up a remote? Stack porous ice on it. Want to make the corp poor? Force rezzes that don't cost you much, then make that investment worthless with stacked expensive ICE on archives and HQ.
• Escher enables sustained R&D lock. The corp understands that R&D is a long-term liability. Stacking 4 ICE is common. If two code-gates can be moved from elsewhere, then you can reinvigorate your R&D runs.
• Escher produces the highest number of rage quits. Work hard on your walls? Invest time and sweat in them? Nothing as demotivating as watching all that work go to waste.

Drawing the Combos

Yes, this is a combo deck.

• Scavenge + Test Run for Torch and/or Femme Fatale.
• Security Nexus + Rabbit Hole
• Security Nexus + Torch + Escher
• Modded + X

As with most combo decks, we need to draw into our combos. Given this, we have the ability to draw 27/40 cards for 14.5 s (converting 2 s = 1 ). This comes from

• Quality Time - 5 cards for + 1.5 with Magnum Opus.
• Diesel - 3 cards for .
• Rabbit Hole - essentially 2 free draws or, viewed another way, a shrunk deck to 38 cards for + 3 s for the to conversion, and making the simplifying assumptions that we don't draw two rabbit holes in our starting hand, and that once we draw them, we use them. Note this actually is more expensive than just clicking for cards, but we obviously get the benefit of + 3 .

That's almost a draw ratio of 2 cards/ while using the draw cards. Considering we will (on average) need to to draw the remaining 13 s, we have 40/(13 + 14.5) = 1.45 cards per on average. For a simple assumption that whenever we are spending our s on getting resources, we spend 50% on Magnum Opus, and the rest of drawing, we have 1 /, and 0.77 cards/. This is comparable credit efficiency to Prepaid Kate, and slightly better draw efficiency pre-Levy AR Lab Access. See http://stimhack.com/a-comparison-of-event-based-runner-economies-in-anr/. Post-Levy AR Lab Access, is likely analogous to no draws for this deck (i.e. it has the desired board state), thus every resource click is simply 2 per which rivals post-Levy AR Lab Access Prepaid Kate (which, if lucky, averages around 7 s per turn). Note, of course, the well-known Magnum Opus tempo hit for install is the main downside of the economic engine.

Unfortunately, that's never the whole story. the deck has a large number of dead draws. These include:

• 2x Magnum Opus
• 1x Security Nexus
• 1x - 3x Decoders (depending when you draw them)
• 1x - 2x Self-modifying Code as once our rig is complete, we're out of .
• 7 draw cards that aren't a real "quality" draw themselves (see http://stimhack.com/a-comparison-of-event-based-runner-economies-in-anr/)

This totals a maximum of 15 dead draws. Factoring this into the draw efficiency, we have 40/(13+14.5) * (45-15)/45 = 0.97 cards/. This is really not great, but seems in play-testing to be sufficient.

Note that in combo decks, the variance on drawing what you need is more important than the mean draw efficiency. I'm going to have to work more on the QuantANR simulator to get the variance values. My play testing so far has yielded the following intuitions on this:

• Waiting for the Test Run + Scavenge combo to be reasonably aggressive and threaten remotes is not viable. Thus, we have 3 low-cost (Self-modifying Code-able) Decoders to threaten.
• We have enough time to draw into our Security Nexus if we draw aggressively. Were this not the case, then +1 Trade-In.
• This is the normal Magnum Opus package (Test Run + Self-modifying Code + Magnum Opus) which yields around a 84% chance of Magnum Opus first turn.
• In some decks Scavenge is a dead-draw after you use it in the combo for your big breaker. Not so here. It is still useful for Cerberus "Lady" H1, Cyber-Cypher, and converting ZU.13 Key Master or Cyber-Cypher into a trashed Magnum Opus or Torch.
• If we draw the Torch, it is often worth it to just bit the bullet and play it. The amount of time spent drawing the Test Run/Scavenge combo is likely more than the 4 clicks for credits that pay for the Torch. A Modded in hand makes this play a no-brainer.
• This is the most important observation: Once we get set up, we really don't need to draw much. This means (as with Prepaid Kate), our economic efficiency goes crazy late game as we can avoid drawing, and instead = 2 for days.