Wanted: Actor with a real buzz about them (copy)IV (5th SC)

I have wanted to publish this deck list because it has done me some good at both a GNK where it didn't drop a game, and at a SC where it performed admirably helping me get up to 5th. I also think there are some changes I can make to it to continue to improve it, but this is a good step along the way as we step from one meta into another.

I also want to claim the list on ABR.

I also want to write a deck writeup which Chris D might approve of.

To that end I am going to try and go through all of the meta analysis and card choices that pushed me to make every call in this deck. I was known for a while for jank and I think I've actually started to stop playing jank so much now because I have more love for getting into competitive games. My instincts though are often to start with a combination of cards that interest or amuse me before driving into a more consistent build.

The deck began as a follow on from my Mushin CTM deck. Whilst that was initially set up in part for amusement (it has been described as going "full meme" in one quarter) it did also come from a place of me thinking there was something to be gained from the idea.

My inspiration goes back as far as decks such as the ones played by Brendan, a former Netrunner, when he played Sol to great effect some 2-3 years ago. His decks always demanded, through tempo, that you deal with the challenge he was setting you right now. Equally I have heard Chris, and various others, describe Netrunner as a game of tempo. Where the card that was the real tempo in Mushin CTM was Mushin (not in jest; 2 clicks for an install and 3 advancements is actually incredibly click compression) my initial plan in this deck was to use Casting Call and Dedication Ceremony for the same effect.

Of course, you will all note that no Dedication Ceremonies are here.

Originally the deck used Casting Calls, Dedication Ceremonies & Reversed Accounts as the cards that put problems in the remote. I found however that I would often lack key pieces. I started to use the pieces individually; I would advance a Reversed without the Dedications, I would use Casting Calls without the Dedication & the Dedications would sometimes be used simply for advancing a Maosulus. None of these were bad plays but I took my time, reassessed the deck, and asked if each of those pieces were stronger than other cards I could put in.

I would often find the remote was getting jammed whilst HQ was getting full. I was waiting for the exact combo I wanted; and I wanted to use the Reversed Accounts ahead of an agenda. So to solve this I made the call that if I had the opportunity to put a problem in the remote then it was fair to make that problem an agenda. I have been working a long time with the effect of Fly on the Wall. I have basically been convinced that the old Breaking News into EOI play is still viable & that just as there are various new cards that echo old meta cards but are less powerful, that Fly on the Wall does just that.

Gradually then the deck began to have a solid shape. Fly on the Wall needs to be installed advanced advanced in a remote, so a remote needs to be taxing to make the Hard Hitting News possible to land afterwards. The runner is often most starved for clicks rather than simply money; especially with Stimhack and bad publicity around - so Prisecs and Data Ravens ensured that the runner had to spend actual time and credits clearing tags if they wanted. I found that 1 Casting Call on its own was also good; 2 was always too many but a single install left the runner with few good options frequently.

Games would frequently come down to the needs for EOI once tag hell had become a thing, so 3 of them felt like the right call. One Closed Accounts worked as additional tag punishment, and was able to work with the Fly on the Wall in the way that Psychographics was not.

3 Rashidas was right as the deck wants to move very fast. 2 NGOs is right because otherwise too much reliance is placed on no hacktivist, and the deck had not room for currents.

The ice suite has to balance between an untagged and a tagged runner. An untagged runner can work through Resistor and IP block with relative ease but the Data Raven becomes a time sink. Once they are tagged however their money is often shorter and whilst the Data Ravens are now ignored the Resistors suddenly become far weightier problems. The Maosulus, Tollbooth & Slot Machine fit the runners in both modes; demanding cards, tags, or feeding me money depending on what they hit.

QPM also functions as additional tag punishment, as well as a reasonably reliable way to tie up a game. The SSLs provide a much needed tempo boost and enable me to threaten an early 5/3 score without sacrificing 5 credits over the medium term to do so. The 2 Foods have been Degree Mills but I found their defensive nature to be not difficult enough for the runner to go over. Many games have been lost to 2 5/3s and a 3-1 which might have been won had the Degree Mills been Foods. Admittedly the SSLs are still big targets, but the 5/3 problem is lessened by being 3 in number rather than 5.

What has been problematic is the danger of a relative agenda flood. That isn't so much bad luck as a nature of the deck; there are a lot of agendas and a lot of them want to be placed behind ice support and are poor when scored as a 3-1 off the table. To that end I will be making some changes.

The IPOs are likely to become Attitude Adjustments; the money will still be reasonably welcome but the real gift will be to put the 3-1s back in the deck when I don't want so many of them.

The Crisium Grid is also likely to become something else. It is a reaction to Embezzle, Wanton Destruction & Apocalypse but I am not finding it as effective as I would like. Those cards are all problems for me and very much the decks most feared matchup.

I would urge those despairing at not being able to play NBN, certainly the old style CTM decks, who miss the tempo and daring of that deck to give if not this but something like this a try. It goes fast, it presents the runner with interesting challenges and, I hope, is enjoyable Netrunner of that mould at its best.