Moar Meat Damage! v1 (with write-up)

I've been testing this deck and am surprised how well it has been working. It is still a work in progress, but so far I think this has potential to play a lateral NEARPAD style game with the added pressure of scorched and punitive. This is not a deck for a conservative player or the weak of heart. But with only 7 agendas (potentially only 6), dangerous and taxing ice and upgrades, and a number of different ways of flatlining the runner, it is fun to play.

AGENDAS

Of course, Government Takeover is a massive risk. It can, however, produce an early game kill off of Punitive Counterstrike. Live by the 6 point agenda, die by the 6 point agenda.

I have toyed with whether the two Posted Bounty should be a single Project Atlas. The Atlas would provide a tutor, which can be really valuable in this deck. And it would open a deck slot for another piece of ice. One other thing in favor of the switch--it would bring the deck down to only 6 agendas, keeping Punitive Counterstrike online a bit longer; as it stands, if the runner steals a Bounty and any other agenda, Punitive Counterstrike becomes a useless card.

As great as these would be, installing and double advancing a Bounty behind a Data Raven or Checkpoint sets up a number of kill conditions--especially if you have a Dedicated Response Team on the board.

It is possible to score a single 5/3 early in the game, and The Cleaners makes this deck almost unbeatable.

ASSETS & UPGRADES

Melange Mining Corp. has been a hero in this deck. As a long time HB player, I have been skeptical of this card. But installing one second turn behind a Data Raven or a Checkpoint is one of my favorite plays. Produce 6-13 credits over a couple of turns and force the runner into making a run they don't want to make.

I love using Executive Boot Camp to grab the Snare!. This works especially well if you also have the Shell Corporation-install the Snare and the Shell Corp in a server to make a tempting target.

Dedicated Response Team is what makes this deck work. Period. If a runner isn't facechecking every install, they you can simply wait to get two of them in play and rez them on a single run. DRT and Checkpoint is a taxing combination. Like a NEARPAD, the runner will have to spend a lot of clicks/credits destroying your assets. That gives you time to assemble the combo and earn a credit advantage.

At this point, Crisium Grid is an auto-include. But it works especially well in this deck to protect HQ against Wanton Destruction, or R&D against #Medium runs. This deck doesn't have the ice to keep people out.

OPERATIONS

There's nothing exciting here. Were I to make a change to this deck, I would cut the Snare! for a single Archived Memories. That would allow for a few more Punitive Counterstrike kills (since, assuming you had a credit advantage, you could Punitive, Archive, Punitive). For now, I would prefer the single copy of Snare! .

If the runner sets up a Plascrete early game, then I would recommend firing off any Punitives you have whenever you can, even if it isn't a kill shot. At worst, they have to discard 3 cards.

ICE

Hive is amazing in this deck, because there's many games when you won't even try to score an agenda. So that means, against a Corroder or an Eater, you are taxing 6 credits per break. Ice Wall is cheap to rez, though I don't think I would ever advance one.

Checkpoint is unbelievable in this deck. Grade A.

I went with Caduceus over Shadow. Caduceus has a bit more resilience against Parasite, and I wanted more ice that ended the run. I can't remember the last time my old Blue Sun deck actually tagged someone off a Shadow. One of these could be a Wormhole--but I don't want to be spending too many clicks advancing ice. Generally, I want to earn credits and/or draw off of a Jackson to grab combo pieces.

Data Raven is absolutely amazing. Full stop. I am torn as to whether I should play 3 Data Ravens and one Snare!, or two of each.

The single Taurus was a better fit here when I had a single Wormhole. Especially because you could rez the Taurus off Executive Boot Camp if you needed to. Still, in cases of emergency, one can install, advance, advance a Posted Bounty with a Taurus in front of it to try and set up a kill.