Faster Tennincat! Kill! Kill!

This is a slight refinement of the deck I brought to Fall regionals in 2014, where it went 4-2, both losses due to subtle misplays. (One was rezzing Shinobi without taking a Helpful AI into account, and the other involved me holding agendas in hand against a runner that didn't facecheck remotes.) There have been a few new cards that help the archetype, but not a crazy amount.

The idea with most Jinteki decks is to force the runner to do certain things--with a Cambrige PE deck, it's draw cards; with an RP deck, it's make 3+ click runs; with most Tennin decks, it's force the runner to make economically draining runs on centrals (as they play without remotes). This deck plays a different game--instead of a list of "musts", it gives the runner a hidden list of "must nots," each of which is disguised in a field of unrezzed cards. In essence, it wins by stacking win conditions until the runner can't safely fire off their strategy.

Three Server Shenanigans

The most powerful tool in this arsenal is a three-remote setup. Typical corporations either run without remotes, with one scoring remote (and Jackson), or with ten billion remotes. This deck does things differently. Instead of laying down servers left and right, this deck aims for a very controlled release of assets or agendas. For the most part the difference between agendas and assets doesn't matter--you expect most assets to only be down 2-3 turns. Same for agendas. Most assets can be advanced for a profit, or else turned into Trick of Light batteries.

Typically, the three-server play starts on turn two. I'll choose a card from hand that I'm okay with losing, and put that in a remote. Snare!s, House of Knives are both good choices here. I'll leave it undefended, and make sure I'm above 4 credits. If they run it, fine, I know they run undefended remotes now. If they don't, fine, it gets an advancement counter and a piece of ice. That's server 1. Server 2 goes down turn 3, and has no ice unless Security Testing comes out. Server 3 is built by turn 5 or 6, when I typically am running good amounts of money, and sits around 3 ice deep. Ideally, one of these is Shinobi.

The rules for these servers are simple: don't spend clicks to advance cards unless you can "score" them that turn, and only score what you need--ie, if you have an unused Nisei MK II scored, and another one sitting at 2 advancements, let it hang out until you need that server. If the runner hits remotes hard, feel free to play a few Snare!s, otherwise, drop your agendas in whatever server is free when they come up.

This feels very vulnerable while playing, but to the runner, three hidden cards is just enough to keep track of. And this deck plays enough ice to make rig building a problem. Can the runner risk losing four cards (plus whatever that unrezzed ice will take from him/her)? If not, that two-advanced GRNDL Refinery is safe. What if that unadvanced card is a Nisei MK II? If the runner doesn't run successfully, you can score it. But can the runner get good accesses from RnD? What about HQ? If the runner doesn't run, this deck can just advance out a few agendas and win.

Please! Come on in.

Despite the "fast advance" option of this deck, it's happy to give the runner one successful run a turn. In fact, Medical Research Fundraiser and Subliminal Messaging encourage running! That's because this deck, despite having a fast-advance option, is still very spikey.

Tori Hanzō is the real MVP here. You can usually count on her for 1-2 brain damage each game, which makes cards like Project Junebug extremely scary for the runner. If you count House of Knives as another brain damage, which is pretty reasonable, then you're looking at some pretty serious soul-searching before running on a 2-3 advanced card.

In addition, Shinobi gives the runner more headaches. I won't go over the math here, as I wrote it out on the card's page, but the win condition there makes 1-2 servers a festering trap.

While some might count the positional ice as a weakness, they fit right into this setup. Typically you want to surprise runners with a blast of pain, but that only works if they're poor and you have unrezzed ice. Positional ice tax the runner, while letting your Komainus and Shinobis lie in wait. Remember, if they hit a Chum and jack out, the corp is back on the fast-advance train. That happens quite often with this deck.

I suppose I should kill you now

The final problem for this deck is deep central digs. While Snare!s dissuade some runners, having no Jackson Howards means that an ambitious runner could just run all interfaces, all the time, and hope to run to a win.

This deck has the typical counter-plays--installing more ice; scoring out faster--but also has two Ronins to force some remote play. If the runner takes a brain damage or two (remember, Tori Hanzō!), and the corp has a House of Knives scored, a single card at 4 means the runner can't run without risking a Ronin-Neural EMP combo. Whether or not the play is in hand at the time is irrelevant--seeing one of these cards leaves the runner trying to find answers. If their answer is to run on remotes, see if you can't threaten flatlines at every stage.

Notable Card choices

• Yes, there's no Jackson Howard. No, you don't need him. Yes, recursion is harder. No, you don't need Jackson. If you're really in pain, find room for Archived Memories. Also, try icing archives. If it's a no-run Noise, score faster--clicking to draw is okay for that.
• Wraparound is here specifically to hose AI-decks. I prefer Snowflake on its own, but this is sentry-heavy enough that Swordsman takes up too many cards slots. I know, I'm the guy touting Swordsman everywhere. Sue me.
• This ice could be easily changed around. Architect and Neural Katana both die to Mimic--a better card might be Mamba, but that's effectively 8 to rez, and there's enough expensive sentries here already. Yagura is basically a cheap gear-check.
• The first version of this deck included a Scorched Earth and two Cerebral Casts, but that not only never gave the win, it rarely even forced a brain damage. There's too much influence spent on GRNDL Refinerys to have more than one copy of Scorched Earth, and runners typically play their plascretes preemptively.
• Labyrinthine Servers is likely the weakest agenda here, but it adds another win condition--starting a run on the wrong server. If you're more conservative in your agendas, consider -2 Labyrinthine; +1 The Future Perfect, +1 NAPD Contract. I don't often see runners hitting those, but perhaps I'm just a lucky guy.
• Use Medical Research Fundraisers early, when most of the ice is derezzed. Make them guess what they need installed. Information is the limiter here--that's why there's no Celebrity Gift.
• Tenma Line lets you bluff with your ice, if need be. An unrezzed Inazuma looks like an unrezzed Komainu to the runner.

Final thoughts

This kind of deck requires the player be able to "feel" the runner's choices, much like a fighter "feels" his opponent's moves before they're made. Very rarely is there a clear right or wrong move during the corp's turn-two or three options typically present themselves. It all depends on the runner.

With that in mind, here are some tips: Pretend that this is all a "game" and that these agenda points are "arbitrary scoring values." Tell yourself that it's better to have fun than win whatever you're fighting over. Giant mousepads? A box? Whatever! Make plays that seem like jokes. Sing a little song in your head while making them. Talk to the runner about whatever they're doing.

It's likely that this decklist can be made better. On the other hand, I've not seen a runner just walk all over this deck, even when they have me on the ropes. Maybe the three-server idea could be made better; or maybe this isn't the home for it. Hopefully, this inspires new ways of looking at Jinteki--instead of making runners think "I must do X to be safe," maybe Tennin can remove the option of guaranteed "safe" runs altogether.