Mushin No Blueshin

So, you might have heard of the Mushin/Off the Grid combo that was popular for a while. It basically works like this:

1. You make HQ really, really hard to get into

2. Put a Crisium Grid on HQ

3. When you're ready to score, Mushin no Shin the agenda into a new remote and install the Off the Grid into said remote, then rez it

This way, the runner has to run your HQ, trash the Crisium Grid, then run HQ again so that Off The Grid gets trashed, then he still needs to have a click left to go steal the agenda! The best thing about this combo is the fact that, thanks to Blue Sun's ability, you can bounce the Off the Grid, which is otherwise very vulnerable, regaining your six credits and your combo piece. Yay!

So why was this combo deck fun, but not very good? The first reason is that Sneakdoor Beta is a thing, and it is very, very good against this deck. You can protect HQ easily, but protecting all three centrals gets expensive fast, not only in ICE cost, but also install cost. The second, and more important reason why this deck was not so good was that you always needed to score three agendas, which gets pretty hard later on, when you lack combo pieces, but have never built a traditional remote. Thankfully, you now have the ability to win with two agendas (a 3-pointer and Vanity Project), and so very few people play Sneakdoor that I decided to revisit this deck.

Since the gameplan is pretty straightforward, let's talk card choices:

• Agendas: HRI is my three-pointer of choices because it gives you money. You will need a lot of money to cover install costs, and you will always want to score this agenda first, even rushing it out by Mushin and then throwing Hive or something over it. Vanity Project rocks, and few people see it coming. Winning with two agendas is not very common.

• Assets: Junebug is your last chance to win if things go wrong. If you can identify a window where the runner will barely get in, Mushin it and throw OTG over it (or ICE). Acting skills required.

• Upgrades: Crisium/OTG for the combo, Cyberdex because you often won't be able to protect Archives properly, but you don't want your opponent to amass Datasucker tokens either.

• Operations: I included one Freelancer as a anti-DLR measure, because that just straight-up wins against this deck. It was initially a 2-of, but I haven't seen a lot of DLR, so I put in another Cyberdex instead. Housekeeping is great at slowing the runner down, and it will often stay for a long time since you only run 6 agendas. This might be better as another card though, but you don't need too much ICE because install costs get high fast, and I didn't think Lag Time was worth it.

• ICE: Weyland has weird ICE, but we can make do. Hive is amazing for this deck, because it protects HQ/R&D when setting up, but can also be used to rush out an agenda with Mushin. Spiderweb is a little Hive, which is good enough. Meru Mati is okay, but nothing to write home about. Sometimes you just need a cheap piece of ICE for Inside Job protection; this is it. Datapike is pretty much an upgrade to Enigma in Blue Sun, and you can just bounce it if Yog comes out. Tollbooth is the best ICE you can get for two influence, and Assassin is amazing at discouraging R&D runs. Wormhole is a recent include, it's okay but might be changed to something else.

If you hate Vegan Weyland with a passion, Punitive Counterstrike is an obvious include here. It's probably easiest to swap the Housekeeping and Freelancer for it, keeping your scoring plan reasonably intact. If you play Punitive, you might as well play Government Takeover, freeing up the influence from Vanity Project. I have not tested the Punitive versions of this deck a lot though, because I feel the vegan version is more solid (though still shaky). Punitive just adds more cards you want to keep in hand, which is not great in a deck with a lot of combo pieces.

So, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy playing this deck. It is very fun, and I have been having a blast figuring out how to score when your combo doesn't come together. But remember, kids: Don't try this at a Store Championship if you want to win it. This deck is not T1, not by a long shot.

And Merry Christmas!