My Spirit Animal

Alright, so after much practice, honing, and refinement, I think I've finally gotten this deck to a razor's edge. I regularly X-0 and X-1 tournaments with this deck. So, the pieces:

Automatic includes that need no discussion: Multithreader, R&D Interface, Dirty Laundry, Special Order, Sure Gamble, Armitage Codebusting, Daily Casts, and Data Folding.

EVENTS

Career Fair was added to the deck as a way of getting Data Folding and Daily Casts into play for cheaper, as with Safety First, Adam will automatically replenish the card played this way. It lets you save the credits for more important targets and allows you to cycle through your deck faster

Employee Strike is a necessary evil. Identities like Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed, Industrial Genomics: Growing Solutions, Haarpsichord Studios: Entertainment Unleashed, and Jinteki: Replicating Perfection all have abilities that you would want to be able to turn off, and even being able to deny Haas-Bioroid: Engineering the Future or Gagarin Deep Space: Expanding the Horizon their minor benefits can swing the game in your favor.

Independent Thinking remains as a one of from the earlier builds where I had been running Faust, though with the recurrence of damage and kill decks, Faust in Adam: Compulsive Hacker has become a bit of a trap. Independent Thinking still allows you to dig deep for cards you need, and you can keep most of them thanks to your Console and Resources.

HARDWARE

Brain Chip is used because of the hand size increase ability, and the fact that influence for Adam is already super tight. I run three of these and three of Public Sympathy because during a game I NEED to see at least 1 of either.

e3 Feedback Implants was almost on the list of automatic includes, but I feel like I do need to mention just how well this combos with Always Be Running, allowing you to break through ice very early for a fraction of the price.

Plascrete Carapace as a one of, because until you get your massive hand size increase online after stealing a couple of agendas, you need some way to not die to tag 'n' bag.

RESOURCES

Dr. Lovegood is a tempo card. There will be times when Always Be Running will force you to run at inopportune moments, or when Safety First's hand limit reduction will prevent you from keeping a safe number of cards in hand. Make a visit to the good doctor to temporarily disable certain cards, but be warned, keep in mind both the good and the bad when you do this.

Kati Jones is included in this deck because of her potential for giant bursts of economy, and because she costs 0 influence to add to the deck.

Public Sympathy is added to counter-act Safety First's hand reduction. Even one of these turns the debilitating -2 hand size into a free end of turn draw. Two means that you will always be drawing a card without even thinking about it.

ICEBREAKERS

Corroder for Barriers. For 2 influence, there really isn't a better option to import save MAYBE GS Sherman M3 if your local meta is full of NEXT Silver, Ashigaru, and Hive.

Gordian Blade won out over a couple of other serious contenders. ZU.13 Key Master simply takes too many credits to operate for Adam to successfully keep up with them. Study Guide takes too much time to set up and relies on you having a Multithreader before or at the same time.

GS Shrike M2 was used to tech against Tour Guide and Komainu, but it also beats out the other contenders of Garrote (because it requires 2 MU and edges out other things you need), Mongoose (because you need to run multiple copies of it for it to work well), and the ever popular Mimic (as it requires Datasucker support and your influence and MU are already at enough of a premium that the setup and the sacrifices aren't worth it.

PLAYING THE DECK

The old mantra here rings true: "Run Early. Run Often. Keep the Corp Poor." I have won so many games simply by applying enough pressure to the Corp to the point where they can't keep up. I start the game effectively with HQ Interface installed. I will find agendas in your hand with enough perseverance. Single layers of ice will not stop Adam, especially early, single subroutine ice. And if you get e3 Feedback Implants early enough, NO single piece of ice will be able to stop you.

Now for the bad news: You need to be extraordinarily careful if you suspect that the Corp can kill you. Unless you install Dr. Lovegood VERY early, you will be subjecting yourself to Neural EMP, SEA Source, and the like, as well as the bad things that can accompany those things, like Chronos Protocol: Selective Mind-mapping's ability or the ever popular Scorched Earth.

Adam is VERY fragile at the beginning of the game, but he works like a Dynamo: if you can build up an agenda or two, get your critical cards installed (Public Sympathy, Brain Chip, e3 Feedback Implants, and your Icebreakers), then Adam is supremely difficult to slow down, let alone stop.

One final note, and something that occasionally trips me up: Do not challenge face-down ice on 3rd or 4th click unless you have ALL of your breakers AND a supremely large pile of credits (10+). You NEED Always Be Running's break ability to be safe, so unless you think a run on those clicks will WIN YOU THE GAME, avoid doing it.