Tremendolous

CephalopodWizard 362

I just want to play Tremolo

So let's play all of the Borealis Criminal cybernetics. Eventually, we will make some barriers very sad indeed

But you can't choose a fracter that gets good after you've drawn 30 cards, these days you have to be ready to get into servers on turn 2! So let's break barriers with Boomerang until then. And now that I'm installing a lot of small hardware... I can think of a home that will let us draw cards, save clicks, and save credits. In fact, I think the whole Az thing has much better payoffs these days. It works decently enough!

Piloting

Trigger management rapidly explodes in complexity with this engine. Upon initiating a run, you have to decide whether to Q-loop or Masterwork first, try to keep a good card on top for Q-loop, keep in mind that you'll draw a card by installing with masterwork, and when you make a successful central server run from Zenit chip. By the way, if you have The Class Act installed, those card draws will actually change the top 2 cards of your deck, so you won't know what's on top anymore. Hopefully none of the cards you drew or peeked at change your decisions!

There is one practical rules thing to be aware of: Once you're resolving the "run begins" trigger (masterwork), you are during a run, and you can spend Cezve credits to install things with Masterwork.

Odd card choices.

Nuka and Telework: during deck construction, I had reached 45 cards and spent 0 influence. I wanted to cover some classic criminal weaknesses: drawing cards and making money if there's nowhere profitable to run. With all this influence, why not spend 2 influence per card? They also get a discount from Az, and paying 0 feels wonderful.

Buffer Drive: Many people live by the Criminal motto, "just don't take damage at the wrong time, and also just don't face rigshooter", but that can be challenging, especially when we're installing cybernetics! I am not good enough at crimes to have 0 margin for error, so this is 1 margin for error. At least it only costs 2, and at least you can use prognostic q-loop to install the thing you recur right away. No, it's not very good.

Changes I'm thinking about:

Prognostic Q-Loop is actually quite difficult to work with. The top of the deck keeps changing whenever you install something or make a central run, and I'm finding that I rarely install anything with it until the deck is down to just boomerangs. That makes it a perfect candidate to cut down to 1 copy, in favor of a 3rd Cezve. There's only room in the MU for 2, but we do want that as soon as possible.

Miss Bones: Honestly, a second copy would be pretty good. There's a lot of trash costs floating around these days.

Buffer Drive: I haven't installed it yet. Maybe I don't need it.

HHN: As is the fate of many jank decks, there is simply no budget to clear 4 tags. Maybe I should find room for Networking. There is absolutely no room for Misdirection, neither MU nor influence. I don't want to spend 3 card slots on Deuces Wild, nor do I want to rearrange influence.

Update: I have made changes

I cut both prognostic q-loops, because I found they just weren't firing at all, and I cut Buffer drive. In their place, I have added a third Cezve, Scrubber, and Networking. 3rd Cezve was great, you get 2 copies installed much sooner. Networking immediately pulled its weight against a tag & bag Outfit deck at netrunner night, and I had a really nice scrubber alt art I wanted to use. I highly recommend these changes, though you can do what you want with the scrubber slot.

5 comments
13 Jul 2023 AugustusCaesar

i think the buffer drive as a concession to rigshooter will be much more reasonable after rotation. But in a meta where rigshotter is useless because binbreakers, it feels like an unnecessary influence spend.

Like in situations where its your own damage trashing your programs out of your hand, you could have much more easily just installed the program before taking net damage (specially since we have unity over amina)

19 Jul 2023 CephalopodWizard

I did end up cutting buffer drive. And the Q-loops! (See review update). Both changes were great.

19 Jul 2023 Greasythumb

I running Citadel Sanctuary in Az, and it's alright. You've got a link, so it can generally shrug the odd tag for free, including your Baklan tag. It's obviously not the best vs HHN, but it's surprisingly helpful even there. If you and the corp are roughly even for cash, then it makes their post-HHN maths really awkward.

22 Jul 2023 mezzie

Have you considered environmental testing? It might be hard to achieve but for 1 click it goes +6 so it might be worth it. I'm considering playing it instead of telework contract. The downside is it isn't a connection or job so it doesnt get the bonus, but may be worth playing wtih

24 Jul 2023 CephalopodWizard

@mezzie I have not considered Environmental Testing, but I don't think this is the shell for it. Telework has the cute application of "saving you when the engine isn't online yet", and costs 0, but Environmental Testing would be completely dead in that situation. ET is difficult enough to use that I would probably look to Daily Casts in that slot, giving a much more reliable payout, influence-free, to gain only 1c less. I'm experimenting with Daily Casts and perhaps a Career Fair-based economy, but I'm not happy with it.