N - Parasite/Refractor

Very similar to my non-Refractor parasite recursion deck. I'm testing out Refractor here instead of ZU to hopefully save cred on Enigma and deal with Inazuma (which is the only real code gate the ZU version feared).

The combination of 2x Lockpick, 3x Ghost Runner is enough, and you generally don't want to use Ghost Runner for Refractor, if you can help it.

The upsides to this version (Losing Zu and gaining Refractor) are saving cash in the long run while still playing the strongest breaker suite (I'm convinced, for Nasir - Mimic, Femme Fatale, Inti, Atman). Having D4v1d to deal with Blue Sun and as an emergency backup when you run into weird stuff.

The downsides to this version are that by losing ZU and adding three cards that are dedicated to code gates, the deck becomes slightly more passive and needs to do more drawing. I also lost my 1-off Quality Time for space reasons and 1 Kati Jones, which means that economy can be slightly more scarce.

Deck is in Testing: meaning I can't yet say whether it's better or worse than the ZU version. My initial impressions are that Refractor is generally a better breaker than ZU - especially in tournaments, where you'll likely see small code-gates and maybe a few Tollbooths, maybe a Viktor 2.0 - and that memory is not a problem. The memory combination ofr 2x The Toolbox and 1x Dyson Mem Chip has been the best with ZU, but it might be better to play 1x Akamatsu Mem Chip in this version because you're not gaining any MU off Refractor. Still, the +1 link is nothing to scoff at. Getting Toolbox + Dyson means you can beat non-reinforced Ash traces free. I've tried all sorts of combinations of Akamatsu Mem Chips and Astrolabes and even Desperados. The Toolbox is simply the best console for Nasir right now, and I'm on the Dyson bandwagon.

Playing this deck (or a variant of this deck): Remember how much Anatomy of Anarch liked to draw cards? You want to draw that much. You want to go through your deck fast and get set up fast. Unfortunately, the ideal turn 1 play of Personal Workshop into host something is not always going to happen.

In fact, there are times when you probably don't want to lead with Workshop. Sacrilege, I know. It depends on the matchup. Against Near Earth Hub, your best play is probably SMC run either RND or HQ. The goal of any Nasir deck is to pressure the corp to rez ICE while setting up your rig. If they don't rez, you want to be able to punish them with R&D Interface.

The reason you want SMC before you run is because of Architect, which can ruin your day if you're not careful. SMC into run guarantees that you can grab #Mimic if it's an Architect, Inti if it's a Wraparound, or Refractor if it's Enigma. Generally, though, even if I see a Wraparound (and especially if I see an Eli, I grab Mimic anyway. This seems counterintuitive, but the issue is that Mimic is slightly more difficult to get out than the others and it also means you can run a bit more freely. Datasucker helps pressure the centrals and makes Mimic better.

Test Run is dedicated to Imp and Femme Fatale in that order of importance. Imp is the all-star of your programs. Getting an extra use out of it can mean the difference between losing and winning, especially against NEH.