Pretty Good Spy Camera Geist

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AntiSpam Spy Camera Geist
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internet_potato 962

This is the result of a few iterations and discussion on the stimhack forums. CodeMarvelous and I converged on similar lists and he is a much better player/builder than me so that seems like a good thing.

I think this deck is Pretty Good.

This deck lives and dies by its Tech Traders. Mulligan for traders and/or Hostages so that you can have at least one on the board within the first turn or so, preferably more than one.

Your trashable stuff provides tons of damage protection. Forger and Decoy provide tag protection (the Decoy was CM's suggestion-- being able to dodge a full Breaking News cuts off a lot of NBN plays that are otherwise game-losing). Get a Film Critic if you think you need it, and try to be rich.

The crown jewels of the deck are the Spy Cameras. They give you great R&D pressure, let you stretch your disposable breakers, earn you money and generate draw on-demand. Replicator gets them to your hand, Bazaar lets you install all 6 on a single click. See my review of Spy Camera for some more detail on how to use them to their fullest extent.

Win by forcing the corp to heavily protect both R&D and HQ. Use good Jackson counterplay with Spy Cameras and Political Operative to keep pressure on Archives. Use your disposable breakers to fund your long-term breakers and grab stuff from remotes.

Room for improvement

I think it could use an Account Siphon. I could probably drop the third Technical Writer, but I'm rarely sad to see one and they keep your econ perking along until you can bulk-install all of your cameras. You don't need the money from Account Siphon, but you have to keep people scared of criminals attacking HQ.

8 comments
6 Jun 2016 DarthIA

Nice deck indeed. In this deck, with disposable breakers, I'm also not sure about Account Siphon, since you don't really need the money, though it can keep Corps in line. I'd leave it like that.

The mix between Forgers, Sports Hoppers and Decoys doesn't feel completely right to me... Is it really that important to avoid a Breaking News, with the other options you have for insta-drawing? I'd play +1 Forger, -1 Sports Hopper, -1 Decoy, +1 Fall Guy

Why the single Déjà Vu? What about changing Passport for a ZU.13 Key Master?

6 Jun 2016 internet_potato

Thanks for the comments!

re: Breaking News- I'm not worried so much about the damage as I am the other tag effects. Maybe it's just that recent matches have left a sour taste in my mouth, but I've been hit hard by The All-Seeing I and by Exchange of Information. Plus, at least one person I play against regularly is running Timmy Wong's SYNC deck (which likes to pile on tags with Big Brother after landing the BN). That being said, the decoy is a dead draw in other matchups (since I have no siphons) and I might take it out. A third Fall Guy could help deal with ASI.

re: Déjà Vu- it's there because I had 2 influence free and didn't want to spend them on tech slots until I'd played enough matches to figure out what tech is really required. It stuck around because it can work in a pinch to retrieve a used Political Operative or recover a trashed resource (typically Tech Trader or Film Critic), but it's not integral to the gameplan.

I like the idea of changing Passport to ZU.13 Key Master and dropping Déjà Vu. I haven't (yet) had trouble with getting locked out of remotes by code gates, but it's definitely a risk. Maybe -1 Passport -1 Déjà Vu, +1 Fall Guy +1 ZU.13 Key Master. That leaves 2 free in my full rig as well.

So I'll probably try:

-1 Déjà Vu -1 Passport

+1 Fall Guy +1 ZU.13 Key Master

And optionally drop the Decoy for something generally useful like Legwork or Inside Job or something fun like "Freedom Through Equality" or Raymond Flint.

6 Jun 2016 DarthIA

I'm going to give this a try with those few changes. I'll play with Forgers and Hoppers numbers a bit, but I have the feeling you got it right. Wanna see if Bazaar+Replicator combo really works here :)

6 Jun 2016 CodeMarvelous

@internet_potatothe real issue with Geist is that his slots are so tight that any changes radically alter how he plays.

6 Jun 2016 internet_potato

@DarthIA it works, but the trick is to keep building your board and applying pressure while you get it set up. If you just have the Replicator, you can do without the Bazaar for the first few cameras (then use the ability to continue the process). This is still fundamentally a Tech Trader deck, SpyCams just happen to do a lot of work in it :)

7 Jun 2016 Zenit

I think that a good addition to the deck is New Angeles City Hall instead of Decoy. You can protect it with Fall Guy or Film Critic, and it seems you wouldn't have any trouble with money to cope with the cost.

7 Jun 2016 internet_potato

oh, man, I totally missed the fact that Fall Guy can save New Angeles City Hall if you steal an agenda. That's not bad at all.

7 Jun 2016 Zenit

Before Spy Cameras I was playing Geist and that was a tech card alongside with The Source. Now I feel that i can drop The Source, but must to keep the Hall, due the current meta.