Geist Gives it Two Thumbs Up

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CodeMarvelous 20021

So as a lot of you know I have been testing Geist for a while. He was in a decent place before but with the arrival of Film Critic and soon Security Chip and Technical Writer he is going to get a big power boost.

The level of synergy between Geist cards is something I have not seen before, his econ, draw and breakers all support each other in a way that can lead to great power but also great responsibility. He is an aggressive runner that can threaten anywhere as long as you don't waste your resources and focus on high impact runs.

KEY CARDS: 2x Crescentus - These are for your big problem ice, your tollbooths and curtain walls etc

3x Technical Writer - with the exception of the 3 central breakers, all of Geists programs and hardware cost 0 or 1 credit to install which makes a single technical writer either a full refund or profit. All while feeding into his ability and building pressure on the corp by threatening centrals with a huge pile of money just waiting for you.

2x Film Critic - This card helps you beat Future Perfects by ignoring the psi game and helps you steal that first astro without getting nuked by a midseason deck. One of the biggest problems I had with the MKI version of this deck was not sitting on a lot of money since the breakers dont need a lot of money, film critic lets you steal agendas using the efficient runs without being vulerable to counter attack.

2x Security Chip - Security chip lets you threaten remotes even with big ice on them by being able to potentially give all your cloud breakers +4 strength for that must run situation.

1x Drive by - an addition to deal with Batty and Caprice who are the greatest enemy to this deck.

Almost everything in this deck that isnt an event has a trash effect that feeds into Geists ability and Technical Writer gives you money for setting up. Be aggressive but judicious with your cloud breakers. it is absolutely key to maintaining your threat that you use the central breakers wherever possible.

Make sure you save legworking for the mid to late game when they fear to play agendas against your cloud rig, ensuring a stocked HQ.

Save Same Old Thing for Levy or for a silver bullet like Drive By or Inside Job. Along that same vein its best not account siphon unless you can clear tags and the corp is fairly low on cash.

  • CodeMarvelous
20 comments
12 Aug 2015 Shannon.L

I have a bit of curiosity here - why no Underworld Contacts? Geist seems tailor-made for that particular drip economy, what with all those cloud breakers.

I'm utterly intrigued by this deck, and am going to give it a shot. Thanks for posting this!

12 Aug 2015 CodeMarvelous

@Shannon.L I had Underworld Contact in the first version of the deck. As insane as this is going to sound, they are too expensive for this deck, the drip econ is nice but it doesnt really help a deck that doesnt need a lot of money.

in order to make him able to apply more pressure I had to take the UC out to focus on things that were cheap and useful immediately. Good luck with your testing! let me know how it goes

12 Aug 2015 MarbleMunkey

Thought about trying to squeeze Scheherazade into it as well?

12 Aug 2015 CodeMarvelous

@MarbleMunkey Thats a cool idea but I do not think I have the influence to spare and that makes me vulnerable to power shut down. That would be my concern

12 Aug 2015 Lttlefoot

Unregistered S&W '35 in case the corp pre rezzes to play around your drive by?

12 Aug 2015 locusshifter

I agree with Code on Geists econ. It's amazing how few credits his style of play requires. When I play with him I'm often flush with credits.

I'm glad to see someone else using Fall Guy too. I love that card in Geist.

Also, while they might pre-rez, there's no denying the threat of Drive By. If they want me to know that Caprice et al are there, let them.

12 Aug 2015 SlayerCNV

i love Gheist with Off-Campus Apartment, no chance to include a 2x of it? Is levy needed?

12 Aug 2015 Diegofsv

Thats a very good and awersome start for a very competitive Geist deck. Nice work.

12 Aug 2015 CodeMarvelous

@Lttlefoot i just have to live by the sword and hope to snipe it

@SlayerCNV I would love to have it but i just have no room like none. I am keeping levy for now during testing if i dont end up using it most games I will cut it

12 Aug 2015 Labbes

I like this list a lot. I think I'd play Dysons over Globalsec, and probably try to fit another TME in there, but that's just me being used to Kate. The lack of Drug Dealer seems weird, it seems like a shot in the arm for Geist.

12 Aug 2015 soulraiden

There isn't a good reason to not put street peddler in geist deck. (other than 3 inf XD)

12 Aug 2015 CodeMarvelous

Drug Dealer would be a neat include @Labbes Ill give it a shot as a sidebar card and see if it helps

12 Aug 2015 hi_impact

Technical Writer completely outclasses Scheherazade imo, which is crazy to say for a neutral.

12 Aug 2015 SlayerCNV

you can always use both, not here maybe, but still awesome.

13 Aug 2015 akonnick

Cool deck - best Geist list I've seen. I haven't played him yet but I'll give this a try when the new stuff arrives.

One question/thought: any thought of trading one copy of Kati for a tri maf contact? With the amount of draw, I imagine you'll see both quicker than the average deck and that could help in the mid to late game.

Also, how often do you end up installing the central only breakers? I would totally include them as well, more just curious how the deck Plays. Thanks for posting!

13 Aug 2015 moistloaf

deck looks really fun & cerebral; just might be my first spin at geist

13 Aug 2015 Vimes

Really quite interesting. D&D gives Geist a numbers boost the B&E suite does not have at the moment. I enjoy that this Criminal deck is not running out of faction breakers, since if we can make them work it really frees us up for other things. I'm currently building something very similar out of Iain, but am worried it might not work without the "Geist Effect" or ability to clone chip. Pretty essential here yeah?

13 Aug 2015 Dydra

Can't fail to notice the lack of draw in this deck. Do you plan to spend clicks for drawing, while u setup your rig? That will lower the setup efficiency by a large amount.

On a first look, Geist might look like he has a lot of draw, but then you realize that you have to be running so you utilize that draw. Yeah, throwing out a Fall Guy for 2c and a card is nice against decks that can't threaten your resources or kill. However, Crescentus , the entire cloud + Clone Chip (more often than not) require you to be on the move.

I love Geist's control playstyle, especially because you can always threaten that you can get in anywhere and the corp has to respect that. You say yourself that " He is an aggressive runner that can threaten anywhere as long as you don't waste your resources and focus on high impact runs.".

However, in order to have that threat from the early stages to the latest, you need draw with this guy. Also, face-checking without 3 or 4 breakers out, might not be the best idea exactly. Especially against Jinteki. Security Chip addresses exactly that issue, but until we playtest it in 10+ games 2-3 months from now, I'd be doubtful.

The moment you start spending 2 drawing first 3 or 4 turns you already are giving serious opportunity chance to the corp.

Earthrise Hotel and Symmetrical Visage , as well as Street Peddler are all great Geist cards.

13 Aug 2015 CodeMarvelous

@akonnick I think that could be a good exchange I would just be concerned about the midseasons match up

@Dydra I am thinking about cutting the account siphons for two earthrise hotels since its almost never a good time to siphon anymore and I don't run enough to really deny creds.

also I have Data and destiny now so I have been playtesting with the actual cards in play.

13 Aug 2015 Vimes

How about Drug Dealer? I mean I'd recommend Earthrise Hotel before it for sure, but it could be a clickless way to deal with early draws. I ran John Masanori to solve the problem myself but that entails the forced running @Dydra mentioned.

I also think about how many clicks are used to install all his breakers, so maybe Savoir-faire could pair with them?