Pressure Sillouette

Greasythumb 565

This is the first deck I've made that I consider both good enough and original enough to be worth making public. A friend of mine, MasterAir, took a version of it it to the London regionals and went 4-2 with it. This might not be quite the same as his, but it's very close.

This is a dedicated econ denial deck. Your game is about ensuring that the corp is broke and agenda flooded. If you hit their money hard enough and early enough, you should be able to work out a win from that point.

Economy

This deck packs strong econ, and it needs it. Blackguard is a stoopid expensive console, and Femme's not cheap either. You'll also want to invest in stomping asset econ. Do not suffer any PAD campaign to live. Early big money comes from Lucky Find, Kati Jones and Account Siphon. Those last two don't play so well together. You're playing full on tag-me, so expect Kati to die at some point.

That big burst economy package won't last you forever (did I mention how expensive Blackguard is?). Step forward Au Revoir. First and foremost, it's like a delayed reaction Magnum Opus. Once you've found your second one, you can almost always find a way to click for 2. But in this deck it's more than that. Au revoir will pay you for playing this deck's other tricks. Nothing feels better than doing something that's strong anyway and then being paid 2 for your on top

Warfare

Account Siphon spam is good economic pressure that everyone knows about, so I won't labour that point, but that's only the start of the pressure this deck can exert. With two copies of Eater and three of Snitch, this deck can almost always Face check with complete impunity. That means the corp will be paying money to rez its ETR ice right from the off. Better still, those two cards form the core of the horror to come, so your improving your rig long-term by installing them.

Next comes the derezzing. Eater will get you in to land Crescentus and Emergency Shutdown on the corp's most expensive ice. On top of the Account Siphon pressure, they should be feeling pretty miserable by this point.

Then you play Blackguard. Wince a bit, it's really expensive (I think I may have mentioned that already). But look what you get! Two beautiful, beautiful and the ability to dictate the corp's board state in the most unfair way imaginable. Does the corp think they have enough money? Foolish corp! Run HQ - with account Siphon if you've got it. On the way in, you can rez an ice with snitch. Then Silhouette's ability can rez another ice on R&D. Presto! All your 'the corp having money' problems solved. That was one click. You now have three more with which to run the remote and play emergency shutdown.

Getting in

You may have noticed that this deck is pretty single minded. At some point though, you're going to have to deal with some rezzed ice and get some accesses in order to, y'know, win the game. You have a limited pool of criminal tricks to achieve this end: Inside Job and Femme Fatale will both get you past one Ice when it's important. Planned Assault and Same Old Thing let you threaten an Inside Job or Legwork when you're not using them for Account Siphon - that's really important flexibility that helps keep you a credible running threat.

You've also two of the standard anarch breaker splashes. Don't make the mistake of installing them like a suite you're building up, that's not what they're for. Eater is your breaker. Yog.0 and Corroder are can openers for when your opponent realises that Quandary and Icewall are his best friends against you. Play them to do a job when you need them - is really tight in this deck, especially before Blackguard hits.

Finally, you've got Sneakdoor Beta. 2 is a pain, but the extra pressure and surprise access to HQ are potentially brutal.

Problems

I've mentioned Icewall and Quandary, which are annoying because they're not worth derezzing but they still block access with Eater. The other really obvious issue is upgrades on HQ. Crisium Grid and Caprice can both be used to turn off a lot of your tricks. This is definitely bad news, but you do have some answers - the precious 'getting in' cards discussed above. If you're dealing with Caprice, find a way of making the corp broke before going to get her. This might mean an early Blackguard install that affects your precious pace, but needs must. With tag-me decks, closed accounts is always a worry, although once Snitch/Au Revoir is down you have a solid recovery plan.

On that subject, be aware that Blackguard can potentially 'turn off' Snitch/Au Revoir as an economy engine. I've not found this to be a problem in practice, because the corp almost always has an unprotected server or an ice they can't rez, but it's something to be aware of.

I've mentioned memory a bunch of times, and it's certainly something you need to play around. Don't install Crescentus if you don't need it! You'll regret it. There's no card that you absolutely need on the table - even Eater is sometimes unnecessary, but play towards having a base rig of Eater, Snitch and 2x Au Revoir. Once Blackguard's down, that gives you 2 to play with for shenanigans. You know, trivial esoteric stuff like Corroder.

Potential Changes

I've not tested Sneakdoor in this deck. There's a lot of other less flashy cards that it could be. An extra Inside Job or Same Old thing would be nice. Possibly Crypsis as an expensive but all purpose access solution. That said, Sneakdoor is cool, and the advantages are obvious. I'm particularly enamoured of its potential functionality vs. Caprice.

I'd like to find a replacement for Kati - as I mentioned, she doesn't play well with Siphon. At the moment though I can't find any other card that drops a big wad of Blackguard installing money in my lap in the same way. As an additional bonus, if there's a deck that makes the corp resent paying , 2 to trash a resource, it's this one.

The second Eater is a notably profligate use of influence. I really like having it - Special Order feels so clunky - but potentially the deck could be improved by spending the influence elsewhere.

I'd like to end by indulging my inner Timmy and pointing out that with Running Interference this deck could potentially force the corp to rez a Curtain Wall for 28. Just saying.

6 comments
21 Apr 2015 MasterAir

I'd like to end by indulging my inner Timmy and pointing out that with Running Interference this deck could potentially force the corp to rez a Curtain Wall for 28. Just saying.

Sadly this doesn't work. You are never mandated to pay additional costs. But whatever. This deck is super fun to play and did me proud at London regionals. 10/10 will play again.

26 Apr 2015 Fassbinder

Great design, nothing pleases me more than the ability to turn Jinteki's HQ into a clown's pocket. Lotus Field is causing me a bit of grief, I might sub in Passport and free up an influence point.

26 Apr 2015 StarryVeck

This deck is beautiful. It's hilarious being in control of how the corp spends their money. Bravo Mr Thumb person. I don't think I've mastered piloting it yet but it's been unexpected enough that the opponents I've played with it have just kind of crumbled. Played against Titan/space ice which did make for a potential problem, with triple advanced space ice being immune to this decks tools. Femme did good work though.

Are you one of the Leamington/Bam lot?

27 Apr 2015 Fassbinder

I forgot to add, cycling Blackguard on Grim (or any other Illicit) and then Crescentus/Emergency Shutdown, ad nauseum is some of the most (legal) fun you can have.

22 Jun 2015 esutter479

"You are never mandated to pay additional costs."

I guess the corp just won't rez ICE then. :) Either way, RI is a win for any deck bold enough to use it.

23 Jun 2015 Greasythumb

The problem with Running Interference is cost-to-benefit. I was joking about using it. A four cost double event needs to be absurdly strong to justify deck space. Increasing ice costs for one run simply isn't good enough. Mandatory rezzing would probably make it worth it, but even then it would be quite situational and difficult to use. As it stands, the card is worth an access given the correct circumstances. Other, better, cards that can make the same claim include Inside Job, Femme and any economy card.