[Project CROW - 3] There has been a t e r r i b l e accident

Project CROW

This deck is part of the Project CROW mini-campaign for beginners familiar with System Core 2019. It is meant as a glimpse into current competitive Standard decks. The campaign starts off with a match of Reina Roja vs. NBN: Making News and progresses in 4 Steps to the classic Valencia Estevez vs. NBN: Controlling the Message matchup and introduces and discusses the use of new cards step by step. The final decks are the winning Corporation of Worlds 2018 and an adjusted version of the winning Runner deck of the Taunton Regional 2019.

If you are confused by the name, there is a great meme in the netrunner community around the Corp deck. And if you have feedback regarding these decks, feel free to contact me on Slack!

Decklists

Corp 1: Hard-Hitting times Runner 1: Getting to know the basics

Corp 2: Recursion is everything Runner 2: I can make news as well

Corp 3: Enter the Bankers! Runner 3: There has been a t e r r i b l e accident

Corp 4: Final stop: AMERICA CtM Runner 4: Final stop: FREDPI-ish Val

Overview lists by @presheaf:

These great lists show you what cards to put in and out for every game transition: Corp overview, Runner overview

Common Part

We're now reaching the current meta. Thees decks would stand a pretty good chance in the current competitive meta, even if some card choices would seem a bit odd.

On the Corp side we've now finally switched over to our destination ID: NBN: Controlling the Message. The ID itself is directly helping to protect assets. Together with it goes Mumbad Virtual Tour (MVT in short), which forces the Runner to trash it, if able. If they're not able, they're typically in range of HHN anyways, which makes this a great card. This is used to protect assets further, which allows to play the more fragile econ Asset: Commercial Bankers Group (CBG in short). This asset cannot be protected by ice and has a meager trash cost of 2. But on a MVT it is a great threat that will spin Corp economy out of control very fast.

Furthermore they now have access to Global Food Initiative, which is a 5/3 agenda, that only gives 2 points to the Runner. This is great to not lose games as quickly, when trying to swap a QPM for a 3-pointer with Exchange of Information.

On the Runner side we have some more tools in our arsenal to deal with this Corp threat as well. One key card is Mining Accident, which can be devastating. The Runner already starts the game with one bad publicity. If they get a second or third one, the game can be over pretty quickly for the Corp, who can lose their entire board state to a rampantly trashing Runner.

Secondly we're adding some normal programs back to the deck. One is D4v1d, which in this matchup only targets Tollbooth, but allows you to get through that one very cheaply. The other and more important one is Aumakua, which is a virus AI breaker that gets stronger whenever you access a card. And since there are a lot of un-iced cards to be accessed, a single Aumakua can often solve all your ice problems.

To combat this, the Corp includes IP Block, which normally is a rather porous piece of ice. The Runner can just beat the trace[3] and get through unharmed and even without needing their barrier breaker. But if they have an AI breaker installed, this tags them, which in turn activates the End the Run subroutine.

Runner part

Dealing with the Mumbad Virtual Tour + Commercial Bankers Group combination can be tricky. If they install two cards in one server on turn 1, one way of checking it is using Dirty Laundry. Since you're paying 2 to play the event, you're dipping below 5c (even taking bad publicity into account) and can not trash the MVT anymore. If you find a CBG on it, you still have 2c to trash it and just take the tag from the Corp trace. Afterwards you can still play Sure Gamble to get back up in credits and remove the tag.

You have some cards that are special tech against this matchup. Turntable helps you undo the Corp swapping agendas with Exchange of Information. And No One Home makes it so that the Corp needs a significant money lead to land HHN.

But the most interesting card here is Mining Accident. It can be either an ok way of making the Corp poorer or a great way of punishing a Corp for being poor. Even a single additional bad publicity can help you take apart their board state very much.