Brain Games

Sorry this turned into a novella.

This deck aims to chip away at hand size and clicks to really reduce what a runner can accomplish in a turn. And then maybe leverage this into a flatline.

Of course this is entirely theoretical right now but I really think that after the first turn the reduced hand size will impact the runner more than it impacts you.

• The corp is used to throwing cards away, runners generally need their pieces more than you do...especially early game
• The corp generally plays more cards in a turn so staying at 4 doesn't hurt your tempo (I purposely stay at 4 playing EtF constantly)
• Runners typically dig more; now drawing cards could result in more discards (this may or may not be a good thing, let's hope for heap oversaturation)
• Being at 'only' 4 cards could make runners paranoid and play it safe, giving you the edge early game

Your first task is to take advantage of this and play a rush early game. Rush what? Depends on your draw. Self-Destruct Chips (SDC) or economic assets are your priorities.

• I honestly think an early SDC is going to be devastating. Imagine playing with a max hand of 3 from turn 2. This should severely impact the runner's ability to find the cards they need. This is your dream.

• Standard Adonis Campaign play applies here. Protect it in your scoring remote and let it drip. Melange Mining Corp. is great burst economy and can spur your opponent into running a taxing server. GRNDL Refinery is huge potential burst and enables something more sinister...

• Project Junebug. I have not seen one Cybernetics deck include this card, but it's the only trap that can flatline a runner after only two advances with a previously scored SDC. This is your plan B.

Junebug is the dark horse of this deck and all you need to do is score an SDC to make it work. GRNDL really helps your cause if you can land one. Runners will see an advanced Junebug at game point as the winning agenda or a huge payout. Net damage works in your favor since most decks tech against meat damage and IHW won't trigger if damage is greater than hand size. I think most runners would also expect any trap to be Cerebral Overwriter which at two advances is not lethal in this situation. The key is to play it at a time the runner can't afford to leave it alone.

While this is happening you have a few more tools in your arsenal: Enhanced Login Protocol on top of a reduced hand size could seriously inhibit effective runs/turns. Ryon Knight needs to be strategically placed but I'm not totally sold on it. Ash 2X3ZB9CY does what he does and his effectiveness is compounded by ELP.

The ICE suite is a mix of early rush and big late stuff. I don't mind including Bioroids since clicking through should further slow the runner down. Wraparound, Enigma, and Eli 1.0 give you great early game ICE. Heimdall 1.0 and Tollbooth secure scoring remotes. Ichi 1.0, Viktor 2.0, and Architect are fairly taxing and need to be dealt with. I opted out of NEXT ICE to avoid Parasite abuse.

In theory you'll need to be vigilant about protecting R&D due to agenda density but your hand is also susceptible since there will be one less card. You should only need to protect two remotes max so there should be plenty of ICE.

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe this is janky as hell.