Legality (show more) |
---|
Standard Ban List 23.09 (latest) |
Standard Ban List 23.08 (active) |
Rotation |
---|
Pre-rotation decklist |
Recently, someone in my local meta was running a SYNC deck, a variation on "You can't score seven points". After losing a game where I lost despite accessing 10 points' worth of agendas, I decided enough was enough and built this to punish him for his hubris.
Film Critic is the heart and soul of this deck. In addition to the normal benefits (stealing The Future Perfects, avoiding Midseason Replacements, etc.) it has two very important functions.
First, it lets you have New Angeles City Hall up and running permanently. Being able to run through Data Raven and Gutenberg, virtual immunity to The All-Seeing I and Scorched Earth, and being able to Account Siphon multiple times in a turn are just a sampling of the benefits of this card.
Second, Film Critic makes Iain much more dangerous. Hosted agenda aren't techincally scored, meaning that you can be winning, but behind on points, earning your 2 credits a turn while threatening a win. Remember, Film Critic isn't unique: you can have three up at once, easily holding 5 or 6 points of agendas.
But you do still have to let the corp score at least once to activate your ID. That's where Gang Sign+HQ Interface comes in. If the corp has 2 agendas in hand (quite likely if you've flooded them with Fisk Investment Seminar), it becomes very difficult for the corp to score cleanly. Combine that with Logos, your ID ability, and Fan Sites, and you will feel pretty okay letting the corp score a small agenda.
Speaking of Fan Site--Data Dealer is good, guys. Being able to sell News Teams, Shi.Kyūs, 15 Minutes, or any spare 1-pointer gives you a massive economic advantage. Even if you only sell one Fan Site, you've still spent two cards and three clicks (install DD, install FS, sell FS) to gain 9. Pretty good for a worst-case scenario.
But you won't ever be flat broke with this deck. In addition your ID credits, the six Account Siphons in the deck (if we count SOT), Sure Gambles, and Data Dealer shenanigans, you also have Kati Jones and Bank Jobs. We're talking Scrooge McDuck here.
As such, the breaker suite is designed to capitalize on having ludicrous amounts of money. With a full rig and a full wallet, all servers are open to you. Trash every campaign (PADs, Sex bots, candy bars) on sight to cripple their long-term economy, and while you're at it kill Jackson Howard so they don't have a release valve for when you Fisk Investment Seminar them.
I'm happy to say that this deck soundly thrashed my buddy's SYNC build. It doesn't fare quite as well against Snare!s and Marcus Battys, though, given Criminal's complete lack of recursion.
Still, this is one of the best control builds I've ever played, and it acts as a pretty hard counter to a number of popular decks in the post-D&D meta.
15 comments |
---|
16 Nov 2015
FarCryFromHuman
|
16 Nov 2015
tiedyedvortex
Possibly. I wasn't really considering spoiled cards for this build. If I were, then you can bet I'd be running this as Andromeda/Iain with Rebirth, using the extra influence to squeeze in a couple Scrubber to punish asset builds and make the Rally less reliant on Data Dealer. |
16 Nov 2015
tiedyedvortex
Possibly. I wasn't really considering spoiled cards for this build. If I were, then you can bet I'd be running this as Andromeda/Iain with Rebirth, using the extra influence to squeeze in a couple Scrubber to punish asset builds and make the Rally less reliant on Data Dealer. |
16 Nov 2015
FarCryFromHuman
|
17 Nov 2015
CodeMarvelous
|
18 Nov 2015
AsteriskCGY
I've been meaning to stick in data dealer in all my decks because of that News Team |
19 Nov 2015
tzeentchling
I feel like you could lose at least one Data Dealer for a Hostage. Gives you flexibility and can grab DD, Kati, or Film Critic if needed. |
19 Nov 2015
tiedyedvortex
|
19 Nov 2015
tzeentchling
You might also consider swapping the Passport and Zu for a Peacock. Sounds strange, I know, but Iain will have the economy for it, and it does work against larger code gates. Can use Shrike instead of Garrotte then, which I think is a better breaker. |
19 Nov 2015
tiedyedvortex
Oh man, Peacock? I hadn't even considered that one, what a blast from the past. Peacock is slightly less efficient than ZU.13 Key Master, and Shrike is slightly less efficient than Garrote. So the change basically offsets itself, except that it also saves you an MU. With the extra MU from Logos, that would give you two spare MU, and one extra card slot from dropping Passport. The thing is that I have no idea what to put in that spot, since we're out of influence. Sneakdoor Beta? Femme Fatale? Pheromones? Criminal just doesn't have many good utility programs in-faction. |
19 Nov 2015
tiedyedvortex
Made a mistake. Zu is better than Peacock, and Garrote is better than Shrike, so switching from Garrote/Zu to Peacock/Shrike hurts you on both counts, nothing gets "offset". So unless there's something very useful to put in that extra MU slot, I think I'll stick with what I have. |
19 Nov 2015
wily-odysseus
I played this a bit the other night and really enjoyed it! I found that the Bank Jobs were dead draws every time I hit a glacier, though, which was a lot that evening. Thoughts on alternative economy that's less dependent on the corp? |
5 Feb 2016
PureFlight
OH MY GOD FILM CRITIC IS NOT UNIQUE Not being facetious; I seriously thought it was. FC is awesome in Iain! :-) |
5 Feb 2016
astrodog
I run a deck almost identical and I loved the idea of having 2 mongooses to counter their problem (old spy with two pets, so nice :p) also mongoose is super cool. i added 2 sneakdoor just to be sure i can access hands in case the corp is ready to score the last points and gang sign is not worth anymore. i opted for peacock too. not any major problems, except when i run into news hound, news hound and archer. two mongooses out is good if u don't use sneakdoor but 3 is impossible. but this is not rational : i just like the idea of these lovely creatures running around :) still efficient 80% of the time or so ! |
Populist Rally will be fun with this I think.