Andy Strikes Back 2.0

Following the Quorom release the meta is shifting and I thought I would share my latest iteration of Strike Andy. With much less CTM, powertaps and castles are no longer necessary, so in come more universally applicable cards in the form of a full set of Casts and 2 Aarons. So far I've tested 60 games with this version and its record is 47-13 (~78%) and I'm really happy with it. A video going over the deck in more detail is available on CodeMarvelous youtube channel here - https://youtu.be/VVqS0UQKdyU

This deck was created in the lead up to worlds and the strategic game plan is pretty much the same: establish money and breakers, attack each server in the following order Archives (for setup and make the corp commit resources there), HQ (for siphon/legwork), RnD (to finish with medium) whilst maintaining a remote lock and being opportunistic when you can. If you ever find yourself falling too far behind, blind siphon. If your rig gets sniped, just be stoic and carry on as you have quite a lot of redundancy (there are four quasi-decoders in this build) and they will find it hard to lock you out of all servers - I have got a ton of wins from seemingly lost positions with this deck just by not giving up and playing to your outs.

On specific card choices the entire deck is 'good stuff' with the exception of Vamedeva which, whilst expensive to install, I have been finding really quite useful. Andy is rich enough to swallow the install cost and its stats are the same as Corroder. Right now, its the only breaker you need vs CI7/IG49, both of which can be troubling matchups. Its also very helpful as either an early 'must get in right now' breaker and as a redundant/utility breaker particularly in the Batty matchups. Also the art is great as Chris Dyer will attest to if you give him even the slightest opportunity.

Regarding specific matchups, its generally regarded that Friends HB with NEXT ICE has the measure of Andy. I haven't personally experienced that with this deck going 7-1 vs HB however those matches are a slog and it may well be my efficacy with the deck thats pulling me through, and the rise of Batty is troubling. They tend to hinge on a key turning point in the game where you land a couple of siphons to get them down to zero and then keep hammering HQ/RnD to close the game out quickly. The other thing you need to exploit verses HB is their requirement to establish economy and defend centrals simultaneously which can give rise to forking situations if you assess it correctly and aware of what ice they have and what the worst that can happen to you is. In essence, its a skill testing matchup for you but you are favoured if you play it correctly.

Another matchup thats considered unfavourable for Andy is CI. Again thats not my experience I am currently 6-3 vs CI and the primary reason for slotting Vamedeva was theory crafting around this matchup. Post VLC, CI is on average scoring out in 6 turns so you dont have very long - Andy can disrupt the clock using siphon/strike by around 2 turns, so in essence you have 7 turns to win. Alongside Vamedeva you have plenty of cards to either disrupt or maximise accesses - 3 siphon, 2 strikes, 2 legwork, 1 medium. earthrise aaron and mas are excellent for maintaining the momentum. What you want to do here is run like a madman maximising acceses, forcing them to spend money on rezzes and being as disruptive as possible. The moment you sit back you probably lose unless you are already on match point. Overdraw and throw away all time consuming cards like sec testing, kati etc and pretty much always go tagme - if they want to spend money to trash your stuff thats bad for them. Its always a really fun game vs CI because the normal rules of netrunner need to be completely abandoned as you play the access lottery. I would actually advise beginners to play against CI because running, not tableau building is the heart of the game and what sets it apart from others.

The other matchup that is regarded as a little tricky is really heavy asset spam out of IG or Gagarin and to some extent PU. All are actually quite beatable especially Gagarin which is actually very straightforward as they are fighting you on money which you are best equipped for. PU you need to lean on strike/siphon and save your cards as hit points towards the end for the final medium dig - also Vamedeva breaks Data mine :P. IG is the hardest however due to the click compression. Vamedeva crushes IG49 but the 54 variant is much trickier - my experience tells me that what you need is an above average starting hand in order to compete- so mull for sec testing, desperado & mas/earthrise are particularly useful so you get some clickless draw and can build your board whilst simultaneously tearing down theirs. You really need to get that first MCH before it spirals out of control. This is one of the few matchups where JM > Aaron and personally think this is my hardest MU.

Lastly, I should mention something about CTM - its why we play Andy right? This deck is not as good vs CTM as Takeshi's Castle is. However, it doesnt need to be and when i say its worse I mean its gone from 90% to 80%. Andys weakness vs CTM was not money, trashing stuff or staying above 8 - it was doing all that whilst also finding your breakers to avoid the BN --> Closed Accounts play (often followed up by HHN the next turn) which would destroy your momentum and make it really hard to recover or lose to exchange. Aaron prevents this completely so the matchup is still very much in your favour as you have the econ to compete - just be a bit wary of midseasons as that is becoming more common now. If it all does go wrong and you end up tagged, you can still siphon spam and medium lock them.

The great thing about this build is its flexible enough to adapt - if you see more NEXT ice builds out of ETF you can just draft in a Sherman, another sucker (or sac construct) and a hopper for link for a really powerful and efficient rig. Or you can go to 2 RDi and play Tracker to counter Batty. I also think Faust Andy is an avenue worthy of exploration as that will free up influence for additional toys. The non-program cards are pretty much locked however.

Happy running.