Engineering the Bay

Recently tied for 1st in a 20-man ANRPC tournament in Berkeley, CA! Went 3-2 on the day, beating a Gabe, Stimshop CT, and Faust Whizzard, but losing to Supplier Kate and a lucky Andromeda R&D run.

Back to basics HB deck. Install things, make money. Make it difficult for the runner to get in. Usually building a super-server with Breaker Bay Grid, Ash, Caprice, and then campaigns/agendas as needed. BBG can save you up to 9 credits just from the Ash/Caprice/Eve rezes, and more if they let you keep it. Secondary servers of Adonis/Eve with or without the Grid are certainly viable, but the Grid makes them better.

The Successful Demonstrations are there for use early game against aggressive face-checkers, and for late game following failed runs due to Caprice, thus allowing for quick bounce-back after rezzing ice on said server. Biotic Labor gives you the chance to close out a game that you might otherwise be stuck at 5 or 6 points. The Virus Suite is remarkably useful for saving ice from Parasite destruction or from deep R&D digs, and if my opponent is virus heavy I'll even burn a Vitruvius counter or Archived Memories on it.

The agenda mix is focused on 5/3s, partly because you can protect them in your super server, and partly because it frees up space for all the assets and upgrades. Also, a scored Utopia Shard is nearly game over. You could probably drop the Successful Demonstrations for a more low-point agenda mix (including say NAPDs and more ABTs), but the low density is usually in your favor when they dig through R&D. Occasionally your deck will vomit agendas and you will lose, but not everything can be a Future Perfect.

If you don't like the NEXT ice, no reason you can't switch it out. Ichi for sentries, IQ and Enigma for code gates, Wall of Static/Quicksand for barriers. NEXT ice is gear-check ice that also gets taxing as the game goes on, but is slightly more vulnerable to Parasite than the other ice listed above, and Gold is arguably over-costed, especially in this deck which is already somewhat susceptible to Atman at 4.

I think this is definitely a solid starter deck for someone getting into Netrunner, and has value even for those looking for more competitive play. I'd like to fit a single Agressive Secretary in here too, but I haven't found a good card to drop for it.