Hard-Hitting Judgement (6-agenda Gagarin)

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Repartition by Cost
Repartition by Strength
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet
Include in your page (help)

trustworthym 1382

I've been playing around with variants of this deck on Jinteki for a couple of weeks and it's very strong, but I think the release of Hard-Hitting News really bumps it up a notch. If you've got a couple of Zealous Judges on the table (and the runner doesn't have any of the relatively uncommon tricks to stop them) then you can Consulting Visit for Hard-Hitting News and then rez them, guaranteeing at least two turns of a heavily-tagged runner for you to dig for your scorches or just straight up kill them.

This deck is intended to be kill-only, but you can absolutely threaten to score if you have enough money and the kill in your hand. I've actually slow-rolled a Government Takeover un-iced and scored it four or five times with this deck - once you've got a certain amount of cash, the runner just can't touch you.

All the agendas work for your gameplan whether scored or stolen. I've won several times when runners have hit archives to try to force me to pop a Jackson and accidentally hit two 3-point agendas, setting up a Punitive kill. It's a real fun push and pull and it's always been my favourite way to play Netrunner, so I'm glad it's (mostly) working again!

Snatch and Grab is usually for Film Critic, but can be used for Kati Jones and a few other more niche cards. It's a meta call which you could trade out if it's not working for you, but I still see a lot of FC around, so I'd hang on to it.

Bandwidth and Hunter are ridiculously cheap cards for you which often turn on Zealous Judge kill combos against late-turn runs. I used to run Data Raven, but I found it wasn't much worth it, since runners will play far more cautiously against your deck once they see a DR. Bandwidth, though, is incredibly expensive for them to break, and if it hits at the right time it wins you games.

Snare does damage and combos brilliantly with the judges. Also handy against medium digs, since there's not a whole lot of ice here.

The worst thing for this deck would be a wealthy anarch who manages their Imps properly, trashes all your agendas, and then waits for you to deck out. I also sometimes have trouble with wealthy criminals, although again, Hard-Hitting News helps a lot with that - only having to stick tags once and then press the advantage is very helpful. Geist is always problematic for kill decks, but we all know that.

You could go up to 54 cards, add a Hostile Takeover and some Museums, but I hate that and I don't want to, and given the recent FAQ it probably wouldn't be worth it any more.

Any questions?

(Image from Valentino Fall 16 Couture bc she looks like a cool judge who's about to sentence you to having your house burned down)

5 comments
18 Jul 2016 Eji1700

I've been playing a blue sun kill, and i'm wondering how you deal with spy cam econ decks?

I feel like you've got maybe 5-10 turns to do what you can while they play economy solitare, and then you're looking at a hellish scenario, mostly because they all run 3 sports hoppers and the moment they realize it's kill they just don't pop them. Once the engine is up and running you don't win the econ war, even with a high risk investment scored, due to the instant speed with which they can trash their field for money.

18 Jul 2016 mawa

@Eji1700 Jackson Howard is vitally important here, as in all matchups where they brought protection. Against decks where you can land the tag, Scorched Earth away their protection and then shuffle your kill pieces back in. Remember that apart from the Hoppers, Geist can usually pop only a couple cards on your turn, maximum. If you're running Hard-Hitting News, you don't even need to rely on a run. Midseason Replacements makes burning through protection easier, but the next thing becomes more problematic.

If they're keeping themselves safe by avoiding meeting your kill condition, things get trickier. Snatch and Grab is vital, dig for it as hard as possible. Voter Intimidation is another new option if you have the influence. Contract Killer and Posted Bounty work wonders here too.

But the most important part of a kill deck is the pressure. All successful kill decks use the fact that the runner needs to interact with you on one particular turn or you win the game. Butchershop put pressure on that first AstroScript Pilot Program, Punitive Counterstrike decks rush with an Install Advance Advance. This deck pressures the runner with remotes, and if they let you keep a Zealous Judge for a single turn they're in the risk of getting Scorched Earth.

With Blue Sun: Powering the Future, you can make money faster than every other faction. The challenge is securing that kill. So put the pressure on, and play like you have the kill from turn 1.

18 Jul 2016 gozik

-> I've actually slow-rolled a Government Takeover un-iced and scored it four or five times with this deck - once you've got a certain amount of cash, the runner just can't touch you.

Seems like you don't have lot of Freedom Through Equality in your meta^^

18 Jul 2016 trustworthym

@Eji1700 I reckon @RubbishyUsername lays out the fundamentals there, but yes, generally the tactic against hoppered-up Geist decks is to just keep scorching until they die. You have a lot of options for pain, and it's worth remembering that a six-point Punitive will force them to pop a hopper pre-emptively or die immediately and can potentially do 18 damage in one turn to burn through any protection. I won't lie, it's a touch matchup, but it is winnable if you're quick and harsh.

@gozik Haha, yep! I've lost to Freedrom Through Equality exactly once in 30+ games, but it is absolutely an achilles heel. There's no accounting for silver bullets really, although you do at least have Paywall to kill currents if they play it pre-emptively.

28 Jul 2016 benticurus

I've played a few games with this in the past few days, and I must confess: I've enjoyed it. As I become more and more familiar with the deck, I feel like winning comes more easily — though in a controlled and fun manner.