Good Things on Sale, Stranger; 1st place Plano TX Regionals

hi_impact 1732

This is the deck that took first place and first seed at the 62-player Madness Games and Comic store. It went completely undefeated in Swiss and bracket. I was and still am completely blown away by the sheer power of the deck. Never once in a list of Blue Sun IT Dept, HB:EtF, NEH Butcher/Fastro, and TWiY Psycho did I ever feel out of control or threatened, and that's a list of Corps whose mention gives me the scares with any other Runner.

Street Peddler and Faust thrust Noiseshop into the stratosphere of Tier 0, and that's my intention of describing in this writeup. Taking a hand with Wyldside, Aesops, or Peddler immediately puts the tempo in your hands, and it's a big deal when Daily Casts was easily the worst card in the deck. The tactical strategy of rezzing impactful ICE against Noise goes out the window with a Peddler out, and Faust further amplifies the power by providing insane use to the 7+ dead draws. Lotus Field went from MVP versus Noise to waste of 5 credits. Architects are no longer a problem and only a two-card/credit nuisance, and it's always possible to just get in if you really need to.

This allows the Noise penultimate strategy of checking remotes, plundering HQ with Imp, and playing Viruses to be literally unstoppable between Datasucker, Parasite, d4v1d, and Faust. These guidelines were followed in every game of the day and neither faction, ICE, nor kill threat stopped the machine. Only one Medium dig was performed, the remaining wins were wrestled from HQ, supposedly safe remotes, or Archives.

I can't emphasize enough how strong this deck felt and played.

Big shoutout to the Austin crew and the greater southern Netrunner meta - we will get our ANRPC soon, believe it. And Brad Venable and his lovely wife for running the smoothest tournament ever with awesome mid-round promo raffles and a savvy judge... simply amazing.

41 comments
27 Jul 2015 SSniper050

First off, Huge congrats on the win! You couldn't have said it better, Faust is such an insane draw for Noise now. Played against a Noise yesterday as Blue Sun and felt helpless, I couldn't keep him out anywhere, it really feel like Noise is coming to be a huge threat and corps will need to prepare!

27 Jul 2015 flowerscandrink

I think you are totally right about Noise. He is in a really good spot at the moment with the lack of BS glacier in the meta and the addition of Faust and Street Peddler. I was running almost an identical build at the Plano regional. I love that you are also running zero IHW. Imps are so good against butcher and with wyldside and peddler you don't need the draw. It's a pretty dead card against RP. Nobody believes me but I keep saying that this type of build does need IHW.

27 Jul 2015 flowerscandrink

Err, meant to say "does not need IHW" of course.

27 Jul 2015 Venali

This is pretty close to what I was running, though you obviously know how to pilot it better than I did (Learned a lot over the first few rounds which led me to making that top 8, thankfully).

That said, in my testing I found that Daily Casts did always seem like a chore to throw out there, I ended up splitting its slots with Kati who really did some work when I needed the money. Did you consider that direction and decide against it?

27 Jul 2015 johncraven

@hi_impact How was Immolation Script? That's the card that stands out to me in your list. Congrats on your win!

27 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@SSniper050Thanks SSniper, it is surreal.

@flowerscandrinkI was on the fence about including 1x IHW but as soon as I looked at the other operations available like Vamp, Immolation, or even Wanton, I knew the 3x Imp and 1x Clot would be just fine against Butchershop. SEA Source Weyland with an overprotected HQ is a rough matchup with this deck, and that is odd to say in 2015. Luckily SEA Source relies on Scorched Earth so it's possible to dismantle the pieces before they assemble.

@Venali Daily Casts was often used only once per game, and Kati would've kept me afloat just as well. I think its a pretty synonymous play with more flexibility. I never went that avenue of thinking and once I saw you drop it turn 1/2 I knew the money war was going to be lost for me soon. If you didn't stumble into the agenda (I was so lucky!) I was going to have to play a Haarpsichord Studios style play with two agendas out same turn and hope to force out a Breaking News somehow before I lost my kill pieces. Kati can give you potential for a lot more money, and I would turn the Immolation Script into a 1x Vamp for a big late game swing with her. Kati Jones or Daily Casts, I think three is necessary to salvage horrible starting hands, as rare as they are.

27 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@johncravenI wanted a tool to flip secure board states in the mid-late game, and though Corps were never able to stabilize enough for me to need it, I did play it 3 times in the day, hitting a Datapike (probability was high for a Curtain Wall), and two improbable whiffs against NEH, but accesses nonetheless. Faust and D4v1d guarantee it will land, so I saw no trouble playing it as one of my flex cards. Wanton Destruction, Immolation Script, Vamp, or Trope would be those cards and I can honestly say take whatever you prefer. Hitting a Curtain Wall, Eli, Tollbooth, or Ichi 1.0 (often 2x or 3x) is a late game deathblow and happened a lot in practice online.

27 Jul 2015 johncraven

@hi_impact Ah, you are playing it blind, I see. I thought it was to combo with parasite to remove two rezzed ices of the same name.

28 Jul 2015 LSK

I was thinking about putting together an IT Department deck, but knowing that this deck is going to be around worries me - is there any potential IT Department ice that's actually scary for this deck?

28 Jul 2015 Dydra

Just FYI, "Noiseshop" was originally referred to Personal Workshop Noise decks ;)

No Hades Shard though? I personally would cut an Aesop's Pawnshop to get it and maybe some other stuff... or a Clone Chip :)

29 Jul 2015 Veste

Hades Shard always feels like a crutch that this type of Noise deck doesn't need.

Congrats on the win! I was skeptical of Peddler with Pancakes but maybe I'll have to give it a whirl. Do you ever find the tempo hit econ or click wise to be an issue as you're setting up Pancakes? I was never fond of the awkward period between Wyldside and Adjusted.

29 Jul 2015 hi_impact

@Veste3 click Noise with this setup would be something like Virus, Virus, Run. Maybe even using Faust to trash other crap on said run. Peddler finds your Chronotype extremely quickly, faster than you may think because if you aren't drawing the Chronotype you are drawing more Aesops food to threaten, Peddlers to dig, or Imps/Parasites to durdle around until you get your fourth magnificent click.

30 Jul 2015 Dydra

Noise deck would always want a Hades Shard, just the pure strength it gives you to muscle out 3 Jacksons can't be compared with other cards.

30 Jul 2015 Veste

I'm just saying that the Noise deck I play, and this one seems similar, runs a lot, and thus the importance of Hades Shard dwindles. I have never needed to rely on winning from Archives, in fact I usually don't, it is just a bonus.

I don't disagree that Hades Shard is a good card, and for obvious reasons probably stronger in Noise than any other runner. I just think that while you might always WANT a Hades Shard in a Noise deck, you certainly don't always NEED a Hades Shard.

31 Jul 2015 imrahil

2 cards different from mine. May go up to 2 David. I have 46 cards no immolation and extra lamprey and medium... is their an argument for dropping the mimic? Maybe even the corroder as well with extra David? Add a third fast maybe

1 Aug 2015 robotussin

Big congrats, @hi_impact!

I agree that Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire is well situated at this time. I have been pouring most of my effort into him lately.

@imrahil I am messing around with the same changes. 2 Medium seems like too many to me. I can definitely see the argument for dropping Mimic or Corroder in lieu of a second D4v1d. Not sure how I feel about 3 Faust

1 Aug 2015 Dydra

@Veste I agree with you, just didn't seem to me as a run-first Noise deck. Otherwise I've piloted a bunch of those myself. :)

2 Aug 2015 aero

Wait! RESIDENT EVIL 4! YEESSSSSSSSSSS!

2 Aug 2015 Daigelmir

Any room for #I've Had Worse for net/brain/meat damage hate?

2 Aug 2015 grimgravyboat

Way to go @hi_impact! Glad to hear someone from Austin took it. Noise remains to be one of the strongest IDs and this deck sings, or the Corp screams, rather. Looking forward to facing it when I can haha

2 Aug 2015 Groober

@imrahil I think that HBFA will be seen a lot in the current meta, where the mimic is really good. I think 2 lamprey is fine. My current deck is VERY similar (-1 grimoire and some other change) and immo. script has been good for me.

3 Aug 2015 evilgaz

Nice list, I've been holding off Pancakes + Faust, but think I should give it a crack now. I've found I've Had Worse indispensable in Noise (to either help find the Aesops or other key piece or as defence against Merlin / PE / Butcher Shop), so I'll probably stick them in for the Immolation Script (I like the idea of the card more than how it plays) and Lamprey. Do you find yourself getting value out of Lamprey? They seems to be in a lot of builds, but I find them flaky.

Good work on your win!

3 Aug 2015 juliandark

Lately I have a feeling that if you take Pancake Faust with david and parasite recursion support, get a random Anarch ID and throw in some other random cards, you are gonna win if you get wyldside early.

3 Aug 2015 triplenine

What does a good opening hand/Street Peddler stack look like?

3 Aug 2015 hi_impact

@DaigelmirVery much so. You can easily toss in 1x I've Had Worse instead of Immolation. I won't deny its value against SEA Source decks, but typically your mills and identifying/attacking HQ for combo pieces can be done surprisingly easily.

@robotussin @grimgravyboatThanks!!

@GrooberThe greed in me wants to run only 1 Grimoire, but Street Peddler can trash it when just might need something else on it. Tell me how 1x Grimoire is working out for ya.

@evilgazNo doubt Wyldpancakes is the Faust engine in a lot of different (MaxX Quetzal Valencia) decks, but its less about Faust in Noise. Side effects of using Faust do include never taking damage from ICE again, though. Traffic Accident is designed to beat IHW; it's the last damage prevention card you want against Butchershop. Typically you've been Imping their HQ/agendas and moneying up in the process with your nearly clickless econ engine.

Lamprey is a must include imo. If you are keeping HQ down to 0-1 ICE like in most games, when the Corp goes to score an agenda in their Caprice/Ash/annoying remote on 8-10 credits, you can put them into a Lamprey lock with ease. It's even worse with Noise, because they are typically losing cards while you bring them back down to zero or they purge, only for you to Deja or Clone Chip it again. At worst, it's Aesops food and a mill. Far better than Gorman Drip v1 or something else.

3 Aug 2015 hi_impact

@triplenine Wyldside, Street Peddler, and Aesops are +2 points each. Datasucker, Imp, and Lamprey are +1 point. Everything else is worth 0 points. Keep the highest scoring hand, thats often how I do it. :D

You can't really control Street Peddler, but typically you install what you are missing but if its something uncompelling like Daily Casts, Parasite, and Lamprey you poke around for a Lamprey opening, Daily Casts if you really need the money now, or otherwise toss a Parasite on that Eli. You really have to play off the cuff with Peddler. It's clear 90% of times.

3 Aug 2015 MikeJS

Congrats on the performance. The deck looks like a beast.

What do you think the PE matchup is like, and what would your strategy be? I ask because PE has recently become flavour of the week for me and I feel like it's probably got a better shot than most against this deck.

3 Aug 2015 GentlemanGamer

How often were Corroder and Mimic dropped on the day? I'd be very tempted to get greedy and drop them both for a 3rd Faust and another utility/defensive slot. Or at the very least, 1 corroder -> 1 faust

4 Aug 2015 Nathan 0

Why not a loose Wyrm, to suprise-accelerate a late Parasite immediately after a purge?

5 Aug 2015 SoundShips

@hi_impact: Penultimate means second to last. I think you may have been a bit confused, unless there is a more ultimate tactic with Noise.

5 Aug 2015 Warpstoned

Grats on your win. I really like the list and has given it a spin.

What I don't like is the daily casts though. I flipped them out for 2 Scheherazade and an extra Lamprey. Also toying with switching out the immolation script for an extra medium, even though IS actually been quite good. Just that I really want the medium to come against Astrobiotics, which is quite popular in my meta.

Do you have any thoughts on these changes? I feel the Scher really gives more driect economy than casts and is more synergistic to sell to aesop.

5 Aug 2015 FugitiveUnknown

Tried this one out on Jinteki. Damn!

I had no idea it would be as powerful as it was. Even with a bad start, me not knowing how to play it, running into a snare first turn and a swordsman who ate my Faust, I still managed a win.

Faust is now my favorite card, I think.

6 Aug 2015 Wookiee

Very nice. I have a deck that is 90% the same - I left off the Daily Casts for either Kati or Cyberfeeder (I just love that card), and had a Nerve Agent for 1 Lamprey, so I'm glad to see that my thoughts weren't insane! I love that this type of Noise is on the rise!

10 Aug 2015 CapAp

Calling a Shop-less Noise deck "Noiseshop" is like calling a sandwich without peanut putter a "PB&J".

That's just a jelly sandwich there, hoss.

11 Aug 2015 Warpstoned

It does not have a workshop, but it does have a pawnshop. Not totally shopless :p

14 Aug 2015 crusadurus

This deck looks amazing for so many reasons, RE4 reference, faust, it appears quite powerful and aggressive, I can finally be that jerk who installs 9 caches in a game and I would finally get to use some of the alt-arts I have never ran with before!

Now for the question. My plan for running faust was less focus of programs and virsus and more on strange events. The plan was pretty much have 1 copy of lots of things like inside job, index, each cutlery run and other power play things. Play the ones that will be big and use the others as food. Deja vu can always get another inside job if the server is something like a Jannus then quandry and parasite isnt killing it. Also the variety could help slow the corp as they dont know what to expect.

It sounds like the noise trashes arent how you intend to score agendas so I might look into building it in Kim.

21 Aug 2015 Shiiuga

I've been playing a similar Noise build with the breakers modelled on this one, and the one thing I would say is that grail ICE toasts this quite nicely, particularly if it's a Merlin that gets rezzed. even if you sucker it down it's still 3 cards to get past one ice, and if they double stack you're in trouble.

Extremely niche matchup, I know, but I was effectively locked out of a central because of it, and thought it worth pointing out.

24 Aug 2015 SizemattersHS

How is Immolation Script being use, I still do not understand how the card works. Anyone care to explain?

24 Aug 2015 FugitiveUnknown

You get to blow up a rezzed ice if there's a copy of that ice in the archive. Since most people play x3 of each, its good if you play ice destruction.

25 Aug 2015 SizemattersHS

I have decided to switch the Immolation Script to a singleton Hacktivist Meeting.

30 Jan 2016 River

This is an awesome decklist! I'm trying to put together a Noise build myself, but don't have Pancakes or David so I'm always struggling when I hit a Turing. I also have to substitute Dr. Lovegood or Aesop's Pawnshop for Pancakes which isn't anywhere near as effective. Any advice for other effective counter