Fated Encounters v2.0

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Deep Red Nasir v1.0
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paddosan 3408

The test version of my Nasir deck was an utter and complete failure, so I went at it again and worked a much more efficient deck, which has given me quite some satisfaction, thus far.

The key cards of this deck would be:

  • Rook: absolutely a beast, and with Shaper's recursion there is no end to pain, for the Corp;
  • The Personal Touch: one of the very few pieces of ice that are so dangerous for Nasir as to ruin your game is Archer, since it costs 4 credits only to rez and you don't get enough to break it. With TPS on Ninja you just need 5 credits to be safe from Trash Program subs, which then means you just need either Xanadu or a Rook.
  • Escher: one of the strongest Shaper cards, hardly used though, it's possibly the strongest weapon of all this deck. Nasir loves to run against unrezzed ice, especially when set up with Xanadu and a Rook. Swap the rezzed ice with unrezzed ice on the server you need to run into, and you're done. There's hardly a case where you can be stopped when each ice costs them 3 more credits to break then normal.

Emptying the credit pool before you actually encounter a rezzed ice is extremely important, unless you fancy losing money needlessly, so that's why you have Personal Workshop, Clone Chip and Self-modifying Code.

Paid abilities are your best friends here, since you can "waste away" your money to pay for Icebreakers, Plascretes, whatever just so you're broke right before getting some cash thanks to the Corp. I must admit there's something incredibly satisfying in being helped by your enemy!

Considering how bad is Creeper (not in general, but very much so for Nasir), I had to spend two influence points for Ninja. Could have gone with two copies of Femme Fatale, which is a good option too (also due to TPT), but 9 credits to install are a lot, for a Runner that spends half his time being broke. If I had influence left for 2 copies of Stimhack, and not just one, I might have gone with FF, but Ninja still feels a better choice also because of Archer.

Lastly, I didn't mention Xanadu as a key card of the deck motly because Rook is much better, but whenever you draw the Anarch resource, install it as soon as possible. One extra credit is often the difference between an abrupt stop, and a flawless run. Pop-up Window isn't really a big deal anyway (you can always stop, click a credit, and run again), but with Xanadu it gives you the money you need right away, and that means no clicks wasted.

My advices, when playing Nasir, would be the following:

  • manage your economy perfectly, wasting money is a sin; losing one credit might be A-Okay, but losing more might get you in trouble;
  • don't rush your decisions, because running just to have the Corp spend money into rezzing suddenly is not such a good idea anymore, you need the money from those juicy pieces of ice, now;
  • keep some money on Kati (if you can), because you might need a boost to your economy later on, and also keep a Sure Gamble ready to make an expensive run if you really have to
  • Escher, Indexing and Stimhack are your tricks, don't spoil them too early and use them when you can achieve the maximum effect, so don't go using Indexing on unrezzed ice on R&D, because you might not have enough money to go there again to steal those Agenda you saw. Escher can radically shift the game in your favor in mid or late game, so I don't really see the need to use it earlier. If they don't know you have Stimhack they can lull themselves into a false sense of security, but it's a one-time-only option so use it wisely.
  • since you really need at least some of the key cards and some credit-removal option (PW - CC - SMC) in early game, don't hesitate playing Levy AR Lab Access, those 5 credits would have been wasted on the first run anyway. And waiting is bad, because the Corp might notice your uneasiness and rush things on, leaving you behind.

Now, talking about the deck's own problems:

  • the economy could use a bit of help. In those occasions where you need to move faster, you might notice you actually lack some credits here and there, so Fast Advance heavy decks are probably your worst enemy.
  • NAPD is quite difficult to steal. I usually ignore this one, unless it's late game, where it shouldn't be a problem. If you really want or have to steal it, you should probably force the Corp into giving you the money for it by having them pay extra, but that might take too much time to set up. I'm way more worried by Utopia Shard, though. If that is scored, your best bet would then to go for R&D with Indexing.
  • Jinteki shouldn't be so dangerous because of the cost of their AP ice, which basically gives you all the money you need by itself, but of course traps can be pretty nasty, so you should abuse Deus Ex to avoid stuff like Psychic Field or Snare! from completely ruining your plans. Traps heavy decks which rely on very little ice can be weird, but shouldn't be a problem since you can also work your economy like any other runner out there, it's still an option for Nasir after all, when no unrezzed ice is involved.
  • Traces can also be annoying, so you should always break them, but Bernice Mai or Ash 2X3ZB9CY can both be a real problem. No real trick about them either, you just need to trash them or work around them somehow. The deck could benefit a lot from Rabbit Hole, and I might add at least a couple by removing Creeper (never actually used it, since you can recover Ninja with CC anyway) and a single Diesel. We'll see.
  • Worth mentioning that Corporate Troubleshooter could be problematic as well, but it really depends on the rez cost of the ice, and the credits the Corp has left after paying an increased rez cost. No real protection from this Upgrade though, so things could get hectic if you end up facing it. One suggestion would be to avoid using all the copies of Clone Chip, cause you might wanna be able to recover an Icebreaker in case something like this goes wrong.

All in all, i've been pleasantly surprised by Nasir's own playstyle, which makes the Corp quite uneasy about rezzing stuff and allows for a totally different approach to the game. Definitely like this identity and the fact that it has enough versatility to be built in many different ways. Another good option would be with stealth-powered breakers such as Switchblade, and cards like Ghost Runner plus enough recurring credits to go on running.

11 comments
8 Aug 2014 CJFM

Very cool build! I feel like all of these Nasir builds (including mine) are all trying to make his ability "less bad" while this one attempts to really exploit it. These are a few comments from a dedicated Nasir player: hope they help in future brews!

Ninja is a tough include for me, but I understand your rationale for it. It gets through Grim on first-rez, and it's good against Rototurret. However, it can't get through Archer on first rez, not even with TPT, and even with a Rook, you give the corp 2 cred (which isn't that bad, admittedly), but it's difficult to assemble. There might be an argument for Sharpshooter or Femme to get you out of a pinch. Femme is expensive, but you generate a TON of cash from running and you have PW to help out. I'd say that Femme is almost a must-include for Nasir, since it gets through Archer and other troublesome ICE when you need it. You can even activate Nasir's gain-money ability and THEN bypass if the ICE is particularly expensive.

Creeper is just awful. Pipeline is better for Nasir because it's an "until-end-of-run" breaker. Both are bad, but maybe Pipeline is less bad?

Memory seems tight in this build, with only 2 Deep Red for the Rook and 13 programs in total (2 are SMC, which make things harder on you late game).

Since you're playing Personal Workshop (and Stimhack), you might as well just play The Toolbox. It's better for Nasir overall, helps run your programs, and gives you link. You might add a Mem Chip if you feel overly taxed in memory. I know what you're trying to do with Rook (I've been working on an aggressive Rook build, but it's not worked as I'd hoped - too many moving parts) but there's no real problem in just installing Rook and then hosting it before running. You lose some flexibility mid-run if you'd hosted it on PW.

8 Aug 2014 paddosan

When this identity was first spoiled, I too thought it was pretty weak.

After some theory-crafting and some initial tests, though, I found out it had a lot of potential and my approach was precisely to try and exploit it as much as possible.

I recently had a discussion about how this ability is supposedly bad in late game with some players, but I disagree with that idea because in the games I played, late game wasn't much of an issue. Escher does wonders, and you can still gather money like any other runner, if you have to. The Corp can't install fresh ice all the time after all, and won't be able to rez it all the time either. It's mostly a matter of management of your somewhat frail economy, so I think play experience is needed. I'm still fairly new to Nasir myself, and this deck probably ain't optimal yet, so any suggestions an comments are more than welcome!

About your interesting arguments:

  • Ninja works nicely with The Personal Touch and is a fairly efficient Killer, which can't be said for those in-faction, unfortunately. As you rightfully said, Creeper is horrible, and Pipeline is a money-drainer, so I had to find a cheap option (influence-wise) and this classic Criminal Icebreaker proved to be my best bet. I gotta say I was very undecided between one copy of this, or two copies of Femme Fatale, and still are... so more games might tell me a different story!

  • Good one about Sharpshooter, I love that little Program and didn't actually think to include it, but I'll immediately add it in place of the single Creeper! It might actually discourage the corp from rezzing an Archer altogether, once you have it installed, or if they know you have it. Kinda like the perfect tool for the job, I'd say.

  • Memory is tight, that's for sure, but I had no problem with it thus far. This is what I usually do to avoid MU issues: host every Icebreaker you actually draw on Personal Workshop and possibly slow their installation down by adding other stuff (Plascrete Carapace, The Personal Touch or whatever you get). Do that until you get all your rig (unlikely) or a Self-modifying Code, then use this one first to get what's missing. The second copy of SMC has never been used, but it's there just so you hopefully draw one sooner. Having no program installed also works perfectly for Nasir, since the risks from naked runs are very low and you can actually get the money you need to prepare your rig. It's nice to face-check a Data Raven and get 4 credits for no risk, since you don't take the Tag but get rez money anyway. Obviously, this naked run thing is a bit risky when Jinteki is involved...

  • It is true that The Toolbox is probably the best option for Nasir, but it's very expensive (4 times Deep Red, then some) and it would also increase the chance of memory issues for me. Basically it would limit my freedom in using Rook (which is the number one key card of this deck) and that's really a no for me! Installing a Rook on the fly, on a piece of ice before the corp can rez anything saved me more times than I remember. If I had to involve an extra click in this process, it would drastically change the way the deck works.

  • Link would possibly be the best improvement this deck could have, and that's why I'd like to find the space for a couple Rabbit Hole. Don't think it's worth to use The Toolbox for that, though, for the reasons I mentioned above.

That should be all, sorry for the wall of text and thanks again for your input @CJFM! Let's make Nasir a major player in Netrunner. ;)

8 Aug 2014 CJFM

@paddosan Definitely understand your reasons. I think you should stick with Deep Red and report back after a few games with it. Some questions to consider after a few games: What do you do when you don't draw Rook? What do you do when you don't draw Deep Red? Can the core of the deck win without them? There will be games when you just don't get any Deep Reds until turn seven or eight. Can the deck function without them? I've had in the past with a Rook/Red build with Nasir. Maybe he just needs more draw to power through the deck?

(I had an Overmind/Rook build going last week, but maybe in a shell like this it can actually work... maybe I'll resurrect OverMeidan.)

Here's my current build of Nasir. It's a bit different, but any comments would be appreciated! :)

9 Aug 2014 paddosan

Good questions, I'll try to anwer based on the play experience so far.

| What do you do when you don't draw Rook?

If I don't draw one quickly enough, I'll usually go fetch it with Self-modifying Code, unless I already have Xanadu, in which case I can usually wait some more time. I had a particularly unlucky game, in which I didn't draw any of the key cards for early game (Rook, Xanadu, some economy...) and that was terrible.

What I did in that case was to play Levy AR Lab Access to get 5 new cards. Because the corp was already starting to accelerate and I didn't wanna lose control over the game. Paying 5 credits for an event with Nasir is not a problem anyway, since that money won't stay around long given his ability.

| What do you do when you don't draw Deep Red?

I found that Deep Red is not really so important in early game, but more in mid to late game. This is because unless the corp already has a points advantage, you can usually spend a click more to set up a Rook. I also don't usually have my full rig so soon, in early game, so memory isn't a big issue either. When agenda start making an appearence, and you need to speed up, the possibility to install a Rook on-the-fly, especially via Self-modifying Code or Clone Chip, becomes very useful to save time and maybe surprise your opponent, or twart his plans by adding an unaccounted rez cost increased to his calculations.

| Can the core of the deck win without them?

This really depends on the opponent's deck and if you're without Rook for a long time, a fast advance deck can possibly gain too much of an advantage. That's why I go with 3 copies of Rook and 2 of Xanadu; I need to increase the chance to draw either, as much as possible. Most of the ice can be broken with just the money it costs to rez it, but the problem comes with AP and Destroyer types, you might wanna delay their rez as much as possible by making the corp pay a lot for them. Tracer types can also be dangerous, but they don't usually cost a lot to break. With a The Personal Touch on Ninja, even Flare is just 4 credits to break, and gives you nine after all.

| Maybe he just needs more draw to power through the deck?

Possibly, and paying 3 credits for Quality Time is not a problem, so it might be worth adding a copy or two. But what I usually end up missing is some reliable economy card like Armitage Codebusting or Kati Jones, which for some reason always elude me in early game (it is my personal curse: bad luck with economy cards), so if there was some space for it, I would rather add some neutral economy like Daily Casts.

Daily Casts could give you enough money at the start of your turn to go for a run against a few ice pieces, and that would allow for some more time saving, which would be good. I always had to spend a click getting 2 credits from Armitage or the 3 I loaded Kati with the previous turn, just so I could take on a rezzed Ice Wall or Pop-up Window and go for the unrezzed ice behind it.

10 Aug 2014 SlayerCNV

I'd try to use some multiaccess cards and sharpshooter. Cuz u could fix ur problems against surprisin archers

10 Aug 2014 SlayerCNV

I'd try to use some multiaccess cards and sharpshooter. Cuz u could fix ur problems against surprisin archers

10 Aug 2014 paddosan

I went for Indexing for multiaccess, instead of TME / R&D Interface because right now in my meta it's full of Jinteki decks, and not accessing the cards right away is a huge plus.

Sometimes I do miss extra access on HQ, but Shapers so far have nothing like Nerve Agent or Legwork / HQ Interface, and influence is limited, so I just focus my attention more on R&D and what's installed, rather than going for HQ (which is also quite risky against Jinteki anyway)

No multiaccess against HQ would be a problem mostly against Cerebral Imaging, and with the upcoming Ashigaru I think it might become an even more popular Identity, but I guess we'll see about that!

13 Aug 2014 paddosan

After a few more tests, mainly against the archenemy (Weyland's Tag n Bag) I noticed that Sure Gamble was actually quite hard to use, so I removed it entirely. I also removed the followings: -1 Creeper, -1 Xanadu and -1 Stimhack.

That was done to allow for some recurring credits (I know, I know... shame on me!) by adding 3x Cyberfeeder and then 3x Rabbit Hole, which as I said previously was a much wanted improvement.

Not only Link can shield (somewhat) from Tag n Bag, but it can provide a very useful economic relief against Tracers, which are quite abundant anyway. And traces are a real issue for Nasir Meidan.

Anyway, that's what I tired to change thus far... I'll keep on playtesting! :)

13 Aug 2014 CJFM

@paddosan I've been using Rabbit Hole in my stable Nasir build as well, and it's excellent. 2x is enough, though. Then again, I'm also playing The Helpful AI. ;)

15 Aug 2014 paddosan

Lately I've had such a bad luck drawing a Self-modifying Code early, that I'm pondering about adding a third. Might be added by removing either the second copy of Escher or a copy of Rabbit Hole as you suggested, @CJFM.

I always get SMC when I always have all the Icebreakers installed... but it takes such a long time that I'm already falling behind, by then!

19 Aug 2014 CJFM

@paddosan -3 Armitage +3 Pro Contacts (trust me on this). I also agree that having the third SMC is a good idea. One Escher is probably enough, as is one Indexing. You can fit in the extra SMC and even the third Kati Jones that way.

Why Pro Contacts over Armitage? Both are great cards for Nasir, certainly, but take a look at your build: it seems to want to find those necessary cards while gaining cash (and most of your cards are cheap already!). I'd started with Armitage in my Nasir decks, but switched to 3x ProCon, 3x Kati, and 3x Ghost Runner. They solve the problems I've been having--not enough click-efficiency while I spent turns durdling with Armitage to get cash. Another thing, both ProCon and Kati are renewable, so you won't ever run out of them. You will be rich with this combo, and be drawing through your deck faster.

Ghost Runner is great even in non-stealth builds (and especially for Nasir). The three credits during a run is just massive, helps you steal/trash/SMC. Definitely give it a try and see how it fits your build, but from what I can see, it's an aggressive build that needs aggressive running-centric economy. :)

Consider going down to 2 Personal Workshops and adding the extra Plascrete (depending on your meta -- mine is full of Midseasons/Scorch and GRNDL).