The New Nexus - NM Punk v0.1

Shiiuga 1266

This was sort of a chain idea from the Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord I also just published.

I like Nasir a lot, and have had some of my most fun games of Netrunner whilst piloting him (first turn Government Takeover steal victory ftw), but he suffers from a number of very obvious flaws.

Chief among these is his ability to be royally hosed by ICE with on encounter abilities, like Data Raven or Tollbooth (particularly Tollbooth). In that respect, I think Data and Destiny has been kindest to Nasir amongst the current crop of runners, with two new cards, Security Nexus and Hunting Grounds.

Security Nexus, with enough link to back it up, is a great prospect in Nas. Remember, on your turn, your triggers all happen first. For example:

You make a run, and the corp rezzes a piece of ICE. A Tollbooth, let's say. As per usual you dump any current credits you have in to a Personal Workshop or Self-modifying Code, or maybe even to pump a Study Guide. Next, you 'lose' all your credits, gain the 8 from the Tollbooth.

But, instead of then losing your 3 credits, you trigger the on encounter effect of the Nexus. Hopefully you already have All The Link installed, and the Corp can't afford to up the trace. Anyway, you'll be getting credits from your Power Taps, and if they still have the muscle to beat you, drop a Disrupter on them.

Next turn, when you won't get the boost from the rez, just walk through a glorified Bastion with Hunting Grounds.

Nasir has always struggled with really big ICE, but now the Wotans and Curtain Walls of the world can be skipped for the price of a caramel Freddo.

I'm going to take this to my local games night tomorrow and test it out. Let the hilarity and looks of bemusement ensue.

12 comments
2 Nov 2015 Nil0

I don't see no use in Hunting Grounds since most of the ICE you ever encounter does not have a "when encountered" ability. Even with Nasir.

2 Nov 2015 Mechanoise

I think you're on to something with Security Nexus. I'm going to try this myself. Let us know how it gets on.

2 Nov 2015 Shiiuga

@Nil0 I play in the London meta, and since we are all Murderous Bastards, it's more useful than you think. Tollbooth is still a big deal, and at the very worst in a good portion of games you're going to deny the corp some money for Pop-up Window.

2 Nov 2015 Shiiuga

@Nil0 Also, turning off Grail ICE isn't to be sniffed at, nor is rendering Komainu useless, a piece of ICE that Nasir can struggle with.

2 Nov 2015 Bigguyforyou518

Maybe I'm missing something huge, but...how exactly does Nasir get hosed by "on-encounter" ice? Even the two you specifically mentioned seem to work out fantastically for him.

Tollbooth:

  • Corp wastes 8's rezzing it
  • You spend your credits on what you like, as usual (probably buffing Study Guide here), and then lose the rest
  • You get 8 and then immediately lose 3, leaving you 5 to break a 5-strength ice or just bounce off and keep

Corp spends 8 to give you 5? The only person getting "hosed" here is the corp.

Data Raven:

  • Corp wastes 4 rezzing it
  • You spend your credits on what you like, as usual, and then lose the rest
  • You get 4 and then can continue or bounce off it like any other runner

Again, seems...completely fine. What's the big deal here?

Security Nexus is a reasonable way to hop over big ice for anyone, so I'm totally with you there.

2 Nov 2015 shimya

Order of Sol always seemed kinda slow. Perhaps swap it for Ghosr runner? Also, new Sunny sentry breaker seems more efficient than Ninja.

2 Nov 2015 psi_lifeup

This deck seems to hunger for Modded. I also am not sure you'll ever have enough money to make Replicator worth the deck space. Also agree with @lyn that GS Shrike M2 is the ideal sentry breaker in this scenario.

2 Nov 2015 Friff14

What could you cut to get down to 45? Having too many cards makes finding Personal Workshop too hard to find. Do the Dyson Mem Chips and Scavenges do enough work to justify 3 of each? I think I'll cut out one of each of those and both of the replicators when I try this out.

2 Nov 2015 Shiiuga

@lyn I'm an old school nasir player, clinging to Order of Sol like the safety blanket it is. Shrike is a good call, though.

@psi_lifeup @Friff14 I suspect replicator doesn't make the cut, yeah. Possibly net celebrity as well. The Dysons are just squeezing globalsec and akamatsu in to one deck slot. You don't need them all I guess. Scavenges are there for lady replenishing and atman redistribution, so I think they're necessary.

I did think about Modded, but it's doing the same job as Workshop, so it didn't make the cut.

The 49 is just so it can be tested to see what can be cut.

4 Nov 2015 Shiiuga

Gave NEH a run for its money with this last night. Had a solid R&D lock for 3 turns in midgame where they didn't have enough credits to rez a second piece of ICE, or boost the trace to stop me. Netted me a cool 5 points. Unfortunately a lack of draw to find my breakers to press the advantage led to me fizzling out a bit once the money came through for the second ICE rez. Dropped Hunting Grounds and added two Drug Dealer instead to mitigate that.

5 Nov 2015 shimya

@Shiiuga What do you think about replaceing Power Tap with Compromised Employee?

6 Nov 2015 CJFM

"Nasir has always struggled with really big ICE, but now the Wotans and Curtain Walls of the world can be skipped for the price of a caramel Freddo."

This has never been true. His worst enemies are Pop-Up Window and Pup.