Stealth Andy: 1st place Sydney City Store Champs

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Chicken Slayer 462

This is the first time I wrote one of these seriously so bare (bear?) with me. I had a corp NEH fairly standard (tbh, kinda meh) deck but I got dragged through to a winner's podium with this Stealth deck. It's probably a familiar looking version of a somewhat common deck, this version cuts out a couple of the one off trick cards like Inside Job and the like to fit in 2 HQ interfaces. Otherwise: pretty similar to other builds.

There's not much in terms of crazy groundbreaking card combos here: earn money by exploiting weak servers with Security Testing and/or Masanori and build huge amounts of pressure by just running all over their shit. Common plan is to build up as quickly as possible and then commence operation Smash Everything. Earn money by performing security tests on Corporate Daily Business Shows and their iPhone Campaigns, then smash them into the dirt with you hax money. In an ideal game you should have no more than 15 credits at any one time (except after some chain Siphoning or something) due to installing either breakers/interfaces or smashing assets/San-San's but have solid board control and easy avenues to make money every turn.

Probably the most important thing to figure out is how much of the stealth suite to build and what to prioritise. Depending on faction it is often unnecessary to install some or even most of the stealth suite: NEH is a particular offender because most of their ice tends to be garbage. You can get away with running refractors with no stealth credits, corroders, even just a Fairy if your opponent thinks (or knows, since there's a silencer/ghost runner on the table) you're running the stealth suite: nothing feels worse than rezing ice that does nothing to the runner. So keep up the aggression even if your breakers aren't actually installed or even in your hand. This is especially important against fast decks: Just because you're running stealth, doesn't me you should stop being a criminal.

Since the deck's economy is entirely run based, learning to abuse Sec Test is vital to making the deck work well. Normally sec test loses efficiency when servers get ice'd, but the effects of a stealth breaker suite effectively serve to peel back the layers of ice protecting servers by giving you fake money with which to break in. Even if a server is protected by one or even 2 pieces of ice, it might as well be an open highway for Andy and her Security Testing, so abuse this to your heart's content.

I won't go into matchups that much: I found this worked solid'y well against NEH due to the amount of HQ dig, has an amazing RP matchup and decently elsewhere, but I couldn't give you the specifics because all I found today was a steady stream of NEH decks :P

The idea behind the 2 HQ + 2 Legwork is that you have access to SOMETHING when you need it throughout the game, even if you've only draw a third of your deck. It makes HQ runs more juicy and since HQ runs can give you money if your stealth money is good then you can keep pounding it until the Agendas come out. As for Legwork, well, it's Legwork. A nice way to land a particularly devestating Legwork is to focus attention elsewhere (R&D usually, but also their remotes) then nail them when you think they've let some agendas build up. It should be noted that Legwork + HQ interface stack of course.

The weaknesses to remember are when you guess WRONG about ice (especially with stuff like surprise Grail ice or out-of-faction nasty ice like Komainu in, say, Blue Sun) and big barriers in general. I made a bit of a meta call to include more HQ dig and less, say, Emergency Shutdowns, so dealing with a Curtain Wall is a pain. However you can probably figure out a way. And if not, hit somewhere else. Make them regret the fact that they only have 3 Curtain Walls in their deck :D Or something.

Either way, Barriers. Problem. Excalibur/Traps. Problem. Code Gates? Ezy! Sentries? Don't even worry about it.

Of course, the funny thing is the amount of setup is inversely proportional to how efficient the breakers are. All you need for barriers is Corroder (backup is Breach) but be prepared to cut corners when dealing with Code Gates (Refractor breaks most of them pretty well and Refractor + Ghost Runner gets you through any just fine) and especially sentries when you're in a hurry. Cards like Fairy and Ghost Runner will carry you through the early game, especially if your opponent is being a smart arse and trying to score behind like a Guard or something before your get 2 Stealth dollars to activate the Switchblade.

Anyway, fun deck. Gives a bit of different take on how to run criminal but nothing too different. Be prepared to chop and change according to local meta or personal preference: whilst I love the play style, I can easily see changes coming down the pipe, especially with the San San cycle fast approaching.

8 comments
8 Mar 2015 gumed85

Hi! How important you think Account Siphon was? Do you think you would rather have Inside Job to jump on remotes? Do you think that switching 1 Security Testing for 1 Same Old Thing could add more versatility? How do you feel about Bank Job? Thanks in advance!

8 Mar 2015 sruman

I'm curious about your RP comment as I've had trouble with Stealth Andy and RP. Obviously switchblade is awesome against Komainu and Tusurgi (althoguh stacking sentries can be a problem until mid-to-late game) but I found that they'll ice up archives as a matter of course and the sec-testing + masanori engine sputters out fairly early unless it's a free-to-run code-gate or sentry ice on archives ( but that usually hampers other runs relying on stealth credits ). Then when the ELP comes out things slow down further (although 3 credits + a card for 2 clicks isn't that much to complain about). Just wondering what I've been missing when playing that match-up.

9 Mar 2015 Chicken Slayer

@gumed85 Account Siphon was pretty important. It gives you a massive tempo swing that you can use to get the last pieces of the Stealth suite down, money to trash assets or some extra interfaces. Basically, like old school Criminal pre Same Old Thing. Use it when you get it, otherwise keep running the shop with Security Testing.

The thing to keep in mind is that the stealth suite can be so efficient that you can get free-cheap runs on HQ, so the even without recursion the amount of money you'll earn makes up for it.

I would not in a million years cut Security Testing. I would cut something else, but not the Sec-Test. It's too important to have 3 in your deck so you have a good chance of seeing at least one. If you get multiples you can install 2 of them and get 2 Sec-Tests per turn for 6 credits and potentially a card against decks running multiple remotes.

Inside Job I took out: wasn't getting much out of it tbh, but I could see myself cutting HQ interface to put it back in if the meta shifts. Not many people were running Glacier decks and the few I met I've done pretty ok in.

@sruman Basically, RP at its core is a Tax deck that cannot tax you effectively if you're getting free runs somewhere and making money off of that one mandatory run on the Centrals. It's also hard for them to protect their everywhere because you as Stealth Andy can run anywhere and make money off of the holes in their defence (I've done Sec-Test runs on R&D or even HQ in the past for money, but keep in mind you can also just face plant into an Eli or something without teeth and jack out to go Sec Test their remotes).

Basically you've got to play the pressure game and keep beating them down so they can't build crazy amounts of money with Sundew. Yes, you will lose if the RP Fun Train gets rolling, so run early and run often. Suffer not the Sundew or Daily Business show to live :P

There's also the fact that RP runs a higher than average amount of Sentries and Code Gates, which this deck preys on. Feel free to to exploit design holes in their ice: if they stack sentries and you think they're not running net damage of sorts then run through those Komainu's, toss your hand away and break everything else.

If RP is a problem though and you want to shore it up, you can cut a HQ Interface and a John Masanori for Kati Jones and Hostage. That way you're effectively running 2 copies of both Kait & John: Hostage fetching you the most relevant for the matchup.

9 Mar 2015 johncraven

2 sec testing + 1 bank job should be ok instead of 3 secs

what do you think of earthrise hotel? is it better than masanori?

also not convinced about HQI, has it really made an impact?

thanks for the list

9 Mar 2015 sruman

In my stealth Andy testing the same questions have come up, especially masanori vs. EH. He's fantastic against PE and NEH as getting 3 credits and a card is about as amazing click as you can have. However, against Blue Sun or other iced-up server setup ( including a wall on archives or until can find breakers + stealth) , he can be a liability since face-checking can be costly. For now, I've personally gone with him over EH but it's close.
Also, for what's worth I've settled on the 2 sec. test + 1 Bank Job for the burst potential if you really need the money to trash the san-san or something. 9 credits (with desp.) for a click is also something that's hard to pass up even if situation. Plus it makes NEH players question their deck choice (briefly) so that can't be bad.

10 Mar 2015 DarlingSensei

I've been running stealth Andy for a while and very much struggling against NEH. The hostage, Kati, and Masanori package has worked well for me in most match ups but NEH is a problem. Have you found HQ interface to be the difference? How else have you tilted the deck to improve that match up?

10 Mar 2015 johncraven

@sruman I think the 2-1 ratio could apply to Masanori + EH. Same idea as 2 Sec.test + 1 Bank job. 3 sec test causes too much dead draw, while a bank job early tides you over until you find a sec test, and is still useful later on. 3 masanori is too much dead dream, but 2 with 1 EH is good early game and still useful later on.

10 Mar 2015 Chicken Slayer

@johncraven I still like having 3 Sec Tests just so you're more likely to get one in your opening hand, plus depending upon board state you can usually play the a 2nd one for more gold farming (as long as you target different servers: useful against RP because you can bounce off Archives and into their remotes and gain Sec Test money both times before doing a real run to kill like a Sundew or a DBS).

Won't lie though, I completely forgot about Bank Job being a card :P Might have potential, give it a shot and see. Tbh I kind of prefer having 3 Sec Test and 1 Bank Job or 2/2, just for consistency.

As for Earthrise Hotel I find it too slow against NEH. I'd consider it more if Blue Sun became more popular but tbh it doesn't seem to have, at least locally.

@DarlingSensei HQi helped. It meant that in any given game I always had at least one way to punish HQ by about the midway mark. Also meant that even if I wiffed a Legwork and got nothing I still had the on table threat of multi-access. Timing when to drop it is tough: you can't let up the aggression against NEH else their Daily Business Show start showing up and this Astro thingy starts leaving the station and it becomes all bad. Best time to drop it I found was after a Siphon or when there's a couple of turns breathing room to run Sec Tests on stuff.

I think the thing we settled on locally (a bunch of us play Stealth Andy) was that you need more than 2 cards that pressure HQ. Utopia Shard is another good suggestion: you can drop the Feedback Filter for it if you want to go a bit yolo on the PE matchup but it gives you the potential to screw over an Astro-Biotic mid turn and, of course, a 5 Card access Legwork which can just break the back of some players. I went for HQi because I was noticing I was getting a surprising amount of repeat access on HQ against NEH since their ice is often so porous. Might not be the right call.

Still, out of 8 rounds I plowed through 5 NEH players so something was working, but honestly my NEH games were super tight. At least 2 of them won with a turn to go.