DQ: Draft Queen

It's lovely! Quetzal is always a <3.

This thing I've been wondering about, even as an Anarch player myself (mainly considering Quetzal: Free Spirit, and soonish Omar Keung: Conspiracy Theorist):

Is the early game ID ability so good not to do the same deck in Rebirth Valencia Estevez: The Angel of Cayambe? Just add 3 Blackmail and two whatever cards and change to Quetzal later?

This is not saying anyone's doing anything wrong, I'm actually, duly curious about peoples' opinions. I have no proper answer to this personally.

A lovely piece of standard Anarch stuff, anyhows! Brain Chip is cool. Would you change it to Omar's console once it hits the cardboard_internet? Three extra influence into whatever useful?

Thank you for the feedback, Crauseon. :) Switching to Val is something I'd consider, sure. The bad pub is really nice, no doubt. My idea behind this was to get by simple barriers, like Vanilla, Wraparound, Bako, Static, Eli, etc. early on. If I suspect hard hitting sentries, I just turtle for a while and farm Suckers, forcing them to spread ICE out. After I get my breakers and am fortunate enough to find the Chip, it's all downhill from there!

I did have some issues against HB recently. Those issues turned out to be misplays on my part. One was faceplanting a Janus with 3 cards in hand; the other was allowing a Sandburg to power up a NEXT suite and then getting bombed with a Gold. Faust has enough merit here, along with Rumor Mill, to warrant not switching to D4v1d.

As far as Omar's console, I may consider it, but going tag me without making sure all my resource econ has already been collected might not be a great call...we'll see though.

Thanks for the reply. :) I'll continue with the ramblings, since I just noticed how much this resembles my current 'just the basics' Anarch deck which I built a few weeks ago stirctly for fun free-for-all gaming.

A nice note on D4v1d. I didn't even notice it, but to be fair, it's pretty excellent. Good thing you don't worry about missing one!

Good catch with tag-me and resources. I'm pretty positive that with careful planning you don't probably need to worry about them hitting your resources (make Liberated Account a pseudo Day Job by install + click + click + click and see if they're willing to spend their clicks to thrash it for example), but I see where you're coming from. We'll see how it goes, as I'm definitely interested in trying it out.

With that you could get a David and a singleton Special Order though. Or something.

What I'm mainly interested in is still the issue of NOT running Val and Rebirth. I'd love to, but thinking strictly game: have you done any analysis on the early game pressure Quetzal gives you compared to finding Rebirth, say, mid game? Or Edward Kim: Humanity's Hammer, for that matter? Or any other identity?

In this particular build, does Quetzal: Free Spirit actually give you more than a host of Blackmail, or is it just preference and a feels thing? Cause if it is, I'm always ready to give it merit as well. :) It IS a game of fun, afterall!

Yah, the thing with D4v1d, is since I have Rumor Mills, it's not missed. Timing will, of course, be key when playing PSK (Princess Space Kitten), and that sometimes is my biggest problem and reason for losing games, ultimately.

I couldn't Special Order a D4v1d, though...cuz it's not an Icebreaker. :( Unless you mean to use SO on Faust or something else that's key at the time. I generally rely on my draw/sifting abilities though, and so far, it's worked. :D

Early game, Quetzal's ID can get you in through Wraparound, Vanilla...basically stuff that rush decks lean on for early scores to try and throw you off your rhythm. I like it, and if I get Faust early enough, I will facecheck basically with impunity. Against a Jinteki though, it's a bit trickier. Gotta watch out for Swordsman, for sure...not to mention Komainu, which is hell on a Faust w/o e3 on the board. Overall, though, I find the early game pressure to be sufficient when you need some.

For me, it's preference and perhaps feel. I don't doubt the nastiness of Blackmail at all; I guess I just prefer Quetzal to force rezzes and tax the Corp more...or something. :) I couldn't agree with you more about it being a game of fun! I like to run at least semi-jank most of the time to keep things fresh during league games at my local store. I don't need to walk in and see a bunch of IGs or same-old Kates every week, lol!

My thoughts exactly! :) It's not like I don't play to win, in a sense - you always try to maximise your efforts, for sure - but what's the idea in just playing what's already tested for ultimate efficiency (at the time)? We already know it works!

So always look for alternatives to shake up your mates. :) But know what's the mathematical 'best' course of action, to play better against those who do enjoy the "Meta Deck Of The Week". And give them a run for their money.

I know about D4v1D and Special Order. I've just sometimes felt it'd be worth an include, just for a Yog.0 sometimes or something. Some of the draws just might kill your game. I don't play SO at the moment, but I've held the card more than once while thinking about my present vanilla Anarch (which just happens to be Rebirth Val for no particular reason), thinking of replacing Net-Ready Eyes with a copy.

I guess that's where Quetzal's ability comes in great. You don't have to worry about the draws. The ability's there.

Too bad I don't get to play more often than about twice a week. There'd be so much to experiment with - the issue of Rebirth against the passive ability from get-go being one very interesting.

Yah, due to my work schedule, I don't get to play more than a couple times a week either. :( I'm always racking my brain, however, trying to get different things to work and theorycraft on here before I actually put something together and test it out.

I do know the pain of not being able to get your breakers at opportune times, but things like Making an Entrance (and Deja Vu after Inject) help when you get them. It's partly how you use your deck slots, and partly how you time your draws/plays. Ultimately, that is what's being tested here.