Turtle Van Adam - 5-0 @ SC

Thike 1203

Aumakua should really be 4x per deck.

This is the Adam list I've been working on for the past while, finally taking it to a local Store Championship, where it did excellently. Went undefeated, actually. Title is in reference to the fact that it loves it some turtle power, and uses Sports Hopper as its only source of non-Directive draw.

The rig is pretty simple. Mostly you're running Aumakua, backed up by Datasuckers to make them threatening faster, and using Femme on obnoxious ice. Black Orchestra and Paperclip are backups to ensure you don't get locked out. I wavered on the third Femme vs a second Stimhack, but I think I made the right choice. As much as I love Stimhack, it's very obnoxious to draw all your Femmes and not have a target to Emergent Creativity out for cheap.

Econ is pretty standard, with RNG Key and Multithreader being the Adam additions. Multithreader ends up being Emergent Creativity fodder as often as it is installed, but it can do a lot of work if you're running a bunch. Sports Hopper might look like the most unusual card, but it does a lot of work. At worst it's draw when you need it. Often it's great tech. Draw above you handsize on corp's turn to survive damage, draw up to grab an Obokata. The link is occasionally useful, too. I'm really happy with the card.

Changes I'd make? Probably nothing, at this point. I've spent the past week or so refining this list, and I'm really happy with it. I'll probably look to other Adam archetypes rather than try to find tiny adjustments in this one.

Game 1: vs Punitive Palana

You'd think this would be a risky match-up, with Safety First reducing my handsize, but between Sports Hopper and Brain Cage you can survive the early game. Late game you have 8 cards in hand and laugh at their game plan.

Game 2: vs Controlling the Message

Not too much to say here that isn't just general advice against CtM. Neutralize all Threat is a pain, so be a little more conservative when checking centrals. Monied up, stayed on top of their money assets, and then hit HQ for scores and Find the Truth triggers.

Game 3: vs Urban Renewal Cybernetics Division

Started without Safety First to make it a little harder on them. Sports Hopper again great preventative tech.

Game 4: ID

Game 5: vs Punitive Palana

Same as above, except this time a key play was using Employee Strike to deny them credits.

Game 6: vs Skorpios

Game against the eventual winner, Joel. I'd normal start Always be Running against Skorpios, but I knew that Joel had teched against that with Battlements and a ton of obnoxious ice. Instead I just installed multiple Turtles and used Employee Strike to keep my Anarch breakers around as long as possible.

9 comments
18 Feb 2018 esutter479

It took me about 3 seconds to see that this deck is awesome! :) Congrats on your great result, Thike!

19 Feb 2018 Thike

After some thought and distance from the event, some changes I'd consider:

-Stimhack, +Hunting Grounds

-Multithreader, +RNG Key

19 Feb 2018 Thike

After some distance from the event, changes I'm considering:

-1 Stimhack, +1 Hunting Grounds

-1 Multithreader, +1 RNG Key

19 Feb 2018 Ra1dy

Eh which directives did u take?

20 Feb 2018 Thike

I usually start without Always be Running. So: Find the Truth, Neutralize All Threats and Safety First. The exceptions are mentioned in the description, but I'd drop Safety First for Always Be Running against Titan or Mythic CI.

20 Feb 2018 Midseasonpsycho

Hate this deck! :)

20 Feb 2018 Thike

And I hate yours, so we're even!

24 Feb 2018 Gwarmageddon

Love this deck. Can I just check why there's 2xABR in the list? Wouldn't you just have that sat with your other directives at start of game, or is it so you can overwrite mid-game? Do you install/overwrite one-for-one with the directive from your deck or can you add one?! Presumably if you swap out ABR for one of the other directives you'd have one (dead) copy of ABR in the deck?

Sry to ask here, but FF errata are rubbish (funny that) and directives hurt my head...

25 Feb 2018 Thike

So you can choose a Directive and have up the 3 copies of it in the deck. Which Directives I start with doesn' affect my deck at all. You don't overwrite Directives when you install them, as they are resources, not programs.

As for why they're in there, it's mostly for the late game when I'm already set up. it's a great econ card, clicking through a Tollbooth or Susano-no-Mikoto instead of paying with credits saves a lot of cash. So in that sense, it's mostly an economy option. I rarely use them, and have actually started removing copies from my deck in later builds. I hope that clears things up!