Sol Glacier - 1st place at Shuffle & Cut SC, La Habra CA

raphaeln 502

1st place at Shuffle & Cut store champs (La Habra, CA) on February 12th with 16 players.

Went 2-1 in swiss (ID 4th round). Wins against Andromeda and Leela . Loss against Geist.

Went 1-0 in double-elimination. Win against Geist.

This is based on @spags Sol glacier, but with Aaron everywhere I decided to drop the Keegan Lanes for 2x Navi Mumbai City Grid and 1 Sub Boost. Since all I play the entire tourney was Crims, Navi did some good work. Sub Boost didn't do anything, a fourth current (Scarcity or Service Outage, probably), Preemptive Action or even a Keegan Lane would be better. I also decided to change the Wraparounds for IP Blocks, because it's a great piece of ice and it also pairs well with the Ravens.

18 comments
13 Feb 2017 Fentonizer

Navi as Aaron Marron hate is smart!

13 Feb 2017 tvaduva

Congrats! Raphael OP.

Might have been helpful to keep some Keegans for those non-Geist Criminal match-ups if you're playing Navi anyway.

13 Feb 2017 raphaeln

Thanks, Tim! I agree, maybe the Sub Boost could have been Keegan. Other than that, slots are super tight. But would be happy to heard about suggestions!

15 Feb 2017 HollowsHeart

Could you elaborate on Sub Boost not doing anything? Did you never get a good opportunity, or was it just not as effective as it looks when used?

15 Feb 2017 raphaeln

Sure! I think in two or three games, I had it in hand for quite a while, but never had the chance to use it, either because: either I already had the Data Raven -> Data Ward server set up, or because Data Ward wasn't rezzed. Don't get me wrong, Sub Boosting a Data Ward is really great, I just think the slot could be better used with other cards.

15 Feb 2017 PlunkRock

Cool deck! I'm wondering how useful the Archived Memories is? I'm considering -1 Archived Memories -1 Sub Boost, +2 Friends in High Places, but maybe I'm missing something and overestimating how many Aaron counters there will be...

15 Feb 2017 raphaeln

Thanks! @spags told me he is currently on 2 FiHP, so that might be the right call. I like Archives Memories because it's more flexible, also allowing me to recur econ operation if I'm running low on money, or Biotic Labor if I need to close out a game. On the other hand, I didn't face any ice destruction decks, so FiHP might be more useful to recur destroyed ice more quickly and efficiently.

16 Feb 2017 Conduit23

Ever drop a Sub Boost on Macrophage? Cuz now I want to do that.

16 Feb 2017 raphaeln

@Conduit23: Oh yeah, I've done that in a casual game once. It's pretty good, especially if they are not running any viruses and can just ignore Macrophage.

18 Feb 2017 EnderA

I always feel awkward splashing Celebrity Gift for 3 influence. (I even feel awkward playing it in Jinteki, but that's another story.) Is it that much better than other options like Restructure, and are there no other good choices for the influence?

Maybe -1 Celebrity Gift, -1 Sub Boost, +1 Archived Memories, +1 Friends in High Places?

Or -1 Gift, -1 AM, +1 Biotic Labor, +1 Friends in High Places?

Or a strong current like Enhanced Login Protocol/"Clones are not People"?

Or a Caprice Nisei + Friends?

21 Feb 2017 APZachariah

Looks really good. How do you keep your cash reserves high enough for things like SanSan, Tollbooth and Data Ward?

21 Feb 2017 spags

DOTW! Cheers!

21 Feb 2017 bracketbot

Is Celebrity Gift the best use of that influence? Celeb Gift is a good card in glacier, but it seems like something you run in Jinteki because you don't have stuff like Sweeps Week and/or repeatable Targeted Marketing.

If you're concerned about running 3 Restructure, maybe add a Subliminal Messaging, which is excellent in Glacier. DNA Tracker or Fairchild 3.0 could be an excellent use of that 3 influence.

21 Feb 2017 bracketbot

Congrats on DOTW though, very cool deck.

22 Feb 2017 raphaeln

@EnderA, @bracketbot: Celebrity Gift is a great way to money up quickly when you are low in credits, which can happen sometimes with this deck that runs expensive ice and FA tools, but I agree with your assessment. Maybe @spags can talk more about it, since I got the idea from his deck. I think it's definitely something you can play around. The probably deck does need another econ card if you want to replace it though.

@APZachariah: Yeah, as many glacier decks, this plays pretty slowly, but you have TarMar to slow down the runner as well, so you have some time to build up the board and your credits. But again, the deck is pretty slow. Two games in the swiss took over 50 minutes... :P

@spags: Cheers! We did it! Thank you for the inspiration! :)

22 Feb 2017 spags

My current build actually has 2 Celeb, 2 FIHP, and zero SSCG. Deck needs money to Rez expensive ICE. I've tried 3 Restructure. I've tried Sublim. I've been playing Sol Glacier for a long time, and tried it all. Runners run a lot now, and the Rest. can pile up in the hand. Try other Econ packages, but nothing beats the bang from low Bucks in a single card like Celeb, IMHO.

22 Feb 2017 APZachariah

Maybe Bryan Stinson to get double duty from the transactions?

22 Feb 2017 raphaeln

The man has spoken! Thanks for the sharing your thoughts, @spags.

@APZachariah: I think Bryan works better on this other Sol deck with Midseasons. His condition is just hard to stick nowadays with runners so rich.