Decks of Thumbs

[Nelsormensch]

At mentioned on episode 12, a reader suggested a deck list discussion thread could be good, so this is it!

 

Figure I can lead off. The corporate deck is what I took to the last tournament up here. High-level notion is to get a ton of cash and score agendas in a Chum -> Data Mine server. If the runner steals it, next turn Punitive Counterstrike, followed up with EMPs or Archived Memories if needs be, will usually be a killshot. Or at least enough of a tempo loss to score something the turn after.

 

It fared pretty well- the biggest weakness is the PriReqs, which in this deck are effectively blank 5/3 agendas. It desperately wants to be The Future Perfect. Only times I lost were when a PriReq got nabbed from R&D before I had a Counterstrike to punish them for it.

 

Jinteki: Personal Evolution

Agenda (11)

2 Braintrust

2 Clone Retirement

2 False Lead

3 Fetal AI

2 Priority Requisition

 

Asset (9)

3 Jackson Howard ***

3 Shock!

3 Snare!

 

Operation (16)

2 Archived Memories ****

2 Beanstalk Royalties **

3 Hedge Fund

3 Neural EMP

3 Punitive Counterstrike ***** *

3 Restructure

 

Code Gate (6)

3 Chum

3 Yagura

 

Sentry (4)

2 Swordsman

2 Tsurugi

 

ICE (3)

3 Data Mine

 

I realized I deleted the decklist for the Whizzard I took to that tournament, but that's okay, because it was pretty junky anyway! Instead, here's this super weird Exile + LLDS Processor deck I messed around with a few months ago. I haven't looked at it since True Colours I think, but aside from being a bit slow, it was actually really fun! I think I'll probably be revisiting it soon.

 

Exile: Streethawk

Event (8)

1 Account Siphon ****

2 Diesel

1 Escher

1 Levy AR Lab Access

3 Scavenge

 

Hardware (14)

3 Clone Chip

3 Cyberfeeder ***

3 LLDS Processor

2 R&D Interface

3 Replicator

 

Resource (10)

3 Aesop's Pawnshop

2 Armitage Codebusting

3 Daily Casts

2 Inside Man

 

Icebreaker (8)

2 Faerie ***** *

3 Inti

1 Pipeline

2 ZU.13 Key Master

 

Program (5)

2 Scheherazade **

3 Self-modifying Code

 

The idea with this is basically to never have a program around for more than one turn. Use Replicator to get all 3 LLDS Processors super quick and install cheap Icebreakers at +3 Str when needed. Reset their strength with Scavenge. Hock them to Aesop afterward.

 

Between the +3 LLDS Str, Cyberfeeders and getting 1c from Scheherazade for every program install (or 2c when you install SMC and then turn it into another program which goes onto Scheherazade), this deck ends up running super efficiently.

 

I'd probably tweak it more by maybe trying Professional Contacts and adding another Escher. Consolidating types of ICE onto a single server makes things even more efficient.

 

It's definitely a weird deck, but quite fun to play!

[tberton]

Nice decks Nels! Couple suggestions/questions: have you thought about NAPD Contract instead of Braintrust in the Jinteki deck? Sure, it's tougher to bluff with, but I imagine it's a lot easier to hit someone with a Counterstrike when they are down 4 credits. Plus, having over half of your Agendas hurt the Runner is pretty sweet. Reclamation Order instead of Archived Memories might also be interesting.

 

In the Exile deck, how do you survive without Sacrificial Construct? I'm terrified of playing Scheherazade without it. Also, ditching the Siphon to put in a couple Hostages in order to get Inside Man and Aesops out faster might be a good idea. A maybe a Same Old Thing in case you lose or Levy to damage.

 

Here are my decks:

 

Jinteki: Replicating Perfection

Agenda (10)
1x Braintrust (What Lies Ahead)
3x Fetal AI (Trace Amount)
3x NAPD Contract (Double Time)
3x Nisei MK II (Core Set)

Asset (13)
2x Encryption Protocol (Trace Amount) ••
2x Jackson Howard (Opening Moves) ••
3x PAD Campaign (Core Set)
3x Shock! (True Colors)
3x Sundew (Mala Tempora)

Upgrade (4)
2x Caprice Nisei (Double Time)
2x Hokusai Grid (Humanity's Shadow)

Operation (5)
3x Hedge Fund (Core Set)
2x Interns (Mala Tempora)

Barrier (6)
2x Eli 1.0 (Future Proof) ••
2x Himitsu-Bako (Opening Moves)
2x Wall of Thorns (Core Set)

Code Gate (5)
1x Enigma (Core Set)
2x Tollbooth (Core Set) ••••
2x Yagura (Fear and Loathing)

Sentry (6)
2x Ichi 1.0 (Core Set) ••••
1x Shadow (Core Set) •
3x Tsurugi (True Colors)

 

Basically, the idea is to set up Sundews, PADs and Encryption Protocols to feed my economy, build an expensive server and irritate the Runner with Caprice and Hokusai. I've been tweaking this deck ever since Mala Tempora and will likely continue to do so once Honor & Profit comes out. The thing that's always tough is the Ice distribution. I can never settle on it.

 

Whizzard: Master Gamer

Event (12)
3x Diesel (Core Set) ••••• •
3x Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control)
3x Queen's Gambit (Double Time)
3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)

Hardware (5)
3x Desperado (Core Set) ••••• ••••
2x Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead)

Resource (8)
3x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)
2x John Masanori (Opening Moves)
3x Liberated Account (Trace Amount)

Icebreaker (10)
3x Corroder (Core Set)
2x Knight (Mala Tempora)
3x Mimic (Core Set)
2x Yog.0 (Core Set)

Program (10)
3x Datasucker (Core Set)
2x Hemorrhage (Fear and Loathing)
2x Medium (Core Set)
3x Parasite (Core Set)

 

The idea here is to get Desperado, Datasucker and Masanori set up, get a cheap server to hit and then run, run, run. That feeds into either HQ control with Hemmorhage, or blasting through R&D with Medium. I'm not certain how effective this deck is, but it is so much fun to play that I don't care. This deck also works with Reina, but she has a bit of dissynergy with Masanori, since he discourages her from running unrezzed ice, which weakens her ability in the early game. Plus, I see a lot of HB and NBN in Toronto, so the Whizzard credits are nice.

[Nelsormensch]

Nice decks Nels! Couple suggestions/questions: have you thought about NAPD Contract instead of Braintrust in the Jinteki deck? Sure, it's tougher to bluff with, but I imagine it's a lot easier to hit someone with a Counterstrike when they are down 4 credits.

 

Yeah, I considered it but I mostly wanted the Braintrusts for Snare!/Shock! bluffing purposes. And with the Clone Retirement, having those get snagged and then the NAPD Contract requires 6 advancements was a bit worrying in case I ever did need to score it (which despite the deck's asshole-ness, I do legit want to score agendas, because the runner is under way more pressure to hit remotes once the corp is at 4-5 agenda points).

 

Reclamation Order instead of Archived Memories might also be interesting.

 

Thought about that too, but since it's a Double, that means I couldn't use it to pull back an Operation I just played on that turn. Archived Memories is basically there for Punitive -> Archived -> Punitive, or even Neural -> Archived -> Neural if they're down to 1 card and I'm super desperate for EMPs.

 

In the Exile deck, how do you survive without Sacrificial Construct? I'm terrified of playing Scheherazade without it. Also, ditching the Siphon to put in a couple Hostages in order to get Inside Man and Aesops out faster might be a good idea. A maybe a Same Old Thing in case you lose or Levy to damage.

 

Ah, so the thing with that deck is the programs almost never stay around for longer than the turn where they get the LLDS buff. Maybe I'd keep an Inti online if the corp only has Wraparound or Ice Wall up, but beyond that, I'm hocking those programs the turn after they show up. So if Scheherazade gets sacked, eh, whatever.

 

Sac Construct would give those Faeries more life, but I generally found the tempo hit of installing the constructs not really worth it relative to other stuff I could be dropping.

 

I hadn't thought about Hostage though! The Siphon was just there since I had extra influence floating around, but yeah, Hostage is way better. Like I said, the big downside in this deck is speed, so that'll definitely help a lot.

 

inteki: Replicating Perfection

 

Basically, the idea is to set up Sundews, PADs and Encryption Protocols to feed my economy, build an expensive server and irritate the Runner with Caprice and Hokusai. I've been tweaking this deck ever since Mala Tempora and will likely continue to do so once Honor & Profit comes out. The thing that's always tough is the Ice distribution. I can never settle on it.

 

How are you finding Eli? I took him out of my RP deck since he didn't feel great as central or remote ICE. As a central, runner could bounce off (or even just click through if they wanted to make sure a Siphon or Maker's lands) and as a remote, can also just be clicked through.

 

The only Barriers I have in RP are Wall of Thorns (since it can't be bounced off of as central ICE, at least not without the runner losing two cards) and Himitsu-Bako, since you can drop it on a central early just to keep them safe and then pull it back and swap in something meaner on a central later.

 

What I love as central ICE in RP is Hourglass (expensive to break and cannot be ignored, but it's better for Archives or HQ than R&D), Grim (same as Hourglass) and Uroboros. Uroboros is definitely the weakest of the three but a 4 Str sentry with two subroutines is nothing to sneeze at. With those NAPD Contracts, Grim might be a bit dicey, but Hourglass or Uroboros could be interesting.

 

Whizzard: Master Gamer

 

The idea here is to get Desperado, Datasucker and Masanori set up, get a cheap server to hit and then run, run, run. That feeds into either HQ control with Hemmorhage, or blasting through R&D with Medium. I'm not certain how effective this deck is, but it is so much fun to play that I don't care. This deck also works with Reina, but she has a bit of dissynergy with Masanori, since he discourages her from running unrezzed ice, which weakens her ability in the early game. Plus, I see a lot of HB and NBN in Toronto, so the Whizzard credits are nice.

 

Oh man, this is way better than the Whizzard deck I had! The only question I have is MU. You only get +1 from Desperado, so with 3 breakers + 1 Datasucker + another virus, you're full. Heh, and I imagine one doesn't want to have to decide between keeping a Medium with 4 tokens on it or trashing it to install a Parasite Seems like Djinn would be a natural here, then you might be able to save some influence on Diesel with its virus tutoring. Maybe 1x Hemmorage, 1x Medium and 2x Djinn?

 

Or maybe it's totally fine! That's just the gut reaction looking at it. Seems fun and solid though, heh, and makes me way sad about the janky Whizzard I thought would work when this is obvs so much more consistent.

[tberton]

That's a good point about Reclamation Order, I hadn't thought of that.

 

Eli works alright. He's not perfect, but he is expensive to get through. My entire ice setup is going to change once Honor & Profit comes, so I'm happy sticking with this for now. Way back around the Plugged-In tour I had Hourglass in my RP deck, but it just didn't work very well. Too expensive for what it did, too easy for the Runner to ignore and too easy to get through with Yog. I found that Viktor 2.0 was a lot more effective, but I eventually switched him for Tollbooth. Urobourous is something I've always wanted to try but never have. I don't like Grim in this deck though: Bad Pub is incredibly damaging with all the runs the Runner ends up making and all the trashable cards I have. Plus, as you mentioned, BP is terrible for NAPD Contract.

 

As for the Whizzard deck, I used to have a couple Djinns in there, but I never ended up using them. I may add them back in. I don't often have a full rig installed though. It's usually a couple breakers, a sucker and either Medium or Hemmorhage. It just depends what order the cards come in.

[Natewc]

Nels, have you considered using tinkering for your exile deck? Since you want speed, I find it to be an amazing card for cracking open R&D or HQ for your escher or siphon plays respectively. I enjoyed reading the decks on this list so far and the thought processes behind them. Sadly, since I play more Runner than Corp, I only have Runner decks to share, but here are the two decks I've been having a great deal of fun with. 

 

Rielle "Kit" Peddler

 

Event (26)
1 Account Siphon ••••
3 Diesel
2 Escher
3 Indexing
2 Modded
3 Scavenge
3 Sure Gamble
3 Test Run
3 The Maker's Eye
3 Tinkering

Hardware (3)
2 Omni-Drive
1 Plascrete Carapace

Resource (3)
1 Kati Jones
2 Same Old Thing

Icebreaker (8)
1 Corroder ••
2 Cyber-Cypher
3 Femme Fatale •••
2 Gordian Blade

Program (5)
2 Magnum Opus
3 Self-modifying Code

 

 

The idea is to use the test-run scavenge combo to install something massive like a Femme or an Opus. This is to combat the usual counter to Kit which is the Ice proliferation on servers. From there you should enough econ to continually run on anything you like, allowing you to be relatively quick with Indexing and Maker's Eye, forcing Corp to Ice R&D for your random Sipphon play out of the blue.  And in the event that someone decides to power shutdown your corroder or Cyber Cypher, you have same old thing and Test-run to bring it back out. 

 

 

 

Noise Hacker Extraordinare

 

Event (17)
2 Account Siphon ••••• •••
3 Deja Vu
2 Demolition Run
2 Easy Mark ••
2 Modded ••••
1 Retrieval Run
2 Stimhack
3 Sure Gamble

Hardware (3)
3 Cyberfeeder

Resource (5)
2 Data Leak Reversal
2 Joshua B.
1 Same Old Thing

Icebreaker (7)
2 Corroder
2 Crypsis
2 Mimic
1 Yog.0

Program (13)
2 Datasucker
2 Djinn
2 Imp
2 Medium
2 Nerve Agent
3 Parasite

 

I wanted to make an Anarch Deck that was centered on pure glory runs. You have no actual answer to Punitive-Scorched, but it doesn't really matter, since the fun is just demo running with counters on medium or nerve agent. So in this case, you actually want to be tagged, so you can use Data-Leak to mill. Since you have no actual resources, you can't really be punished as heavily as you normally would. And yes, I do know that with the existence of Jackson Howard, this deck isn't really competitive, but I still found it fun to play and instilling the concept to new players that being a runner is about consistently running and that it should always be fun.   

 

 

[imp]

After a group of us all finished firmly in the middle of the pack at a recent Chronos Protocol tournament, we were each dared to make a silly deck based on a fun/uncompetitive idea or archetype. I was given the task of making Data Leak Reversal work, and this is the best I managed. It actually has a surprisingly high win ratio in my local meta, which is almost certainly not deserved.

 

Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire (Core Set)

 

Event (15)

2x Account Siphon (Core Set) ••••• •••

3x Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control)

2x Déjà Vu (Core Set)

2x Lucky Find (Double Time) ••••

2x Queen's Gambit (Double Time)

3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)

 

Hardware (5)

3x Grimoire (Core Set)

2x Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead)

 

Resource (11)

2x Data Leak Reversal (Future Proof)

3x Fall Guy (Double Time) •••

2x John Masanori (Opening Moves)

2x Joshua B. (Cyber Exodus)

3x Same Old Thing (Creation and Control)

 

Icebreaker (6)

2x Corroder (Core Set)

2x Mimic (Core Set)

2x Yog.0 (Core Set)

 

Program (8)

2x Datasucker (Core Set)

2x Imp (What Lies Ahead)

2x Medium (Core Set)

2x Parasite (Core Set)

 

15 influence spent (max 15) 

45 cards (min 45)

Cards up to Double Time

 

It's way too heavy on money, but I'm terrible at budgeting, and installing all the goddamn cards needed is a little costly for a poor old anarch.

 

The basic idea is to run aggressively with Masanori, sucker(s) and cheap breakers installed before the mid game, and then get out Joshua B and two fall guys (perhaps even a plascrete or two). Once I'm guaranteed a shot on HQ, I take the extra click from Josh B, use it to account siphon (maybe twice), install Data Leak Reversal and click it a few times to trash off the top. At this point I'm gambling on the corp not being able to scrape enough cash to get rid of both fall guys and DLR (they're certainly not going to be able to scorch me at this point), and so the plan is to keep taking the extra click (and tags), trash cards with DLR and check archives once a turn, siphoning again when necessary. 

[partialcharge]

Nels, as the Twitter-botherer who asked you to make this thread, thanks!  I'm really late to the party because life, but very happy to be here. =D

 

I'll start by sharing the deck with which I'm most proud of to date, my Jinteki RP creation: Defenestration. The goal is very simply to pry open a scoring window and chuck out an agenda. Rinse, repeat. I'll write no further here, since there's a novella on that netrunnerdb link explaining how it works.

 

On the runner side, I feel a little lost in the woods these days. I just don't even feel like I know how running is supposed to work right now, much less like I can create anything that's both effective and even mildly original. Imp, I'm really happy to see your Noise DLR deck. I took Reina DLR to a tourney a few weeks ago, and it did fairly well. Also, that Steven Wooley article made me feel really good about it. Pro-level vindication! ^___^

 

Still and all, I'm not enjoying a lot of personal success as a runner right now. Good thing I'm still having enough fun to keep chipping away at it.

 

Keep running, Thumbs!

[Fabrini]

I am glad that someone started this thread. It is fantastic to read about the decks that others are playing with and having fun with. All of these decks are downright delicious, and I think I will try some of them out myself. The thing I like the most about Terminal7 is that they bring Netrunner back to what it is all about: having fun. I think that some people in my meta lose sight of that and only have fun when they are winning. Even when they beat me though, you can bet I am having fun.

 

Okay, enough talk, here is my runner deck that I am enjoying right now:

 

Gabriel Santiago: Consummate Professional

 

Event (18)

3 Account Siphon

3 Dirty Laundry

3 Emergency Shutdown

3 Inside Job

3 Special Order

3 Sure Gamble

 

Hardware (11)

2 Akamatsu Mem Chip

3 Clone Chip

2 Desperado

1 E3 Feedback Implants

3 Plascrete Carapace

 

Resource (8)

2 Bank Job

2 John Masanori

3 Same Old Thing

1 Security Testing

 

Icebreaker (6)

1 Corroder

2 Faerie

1 Garrote

1 Gordian Blade

1 Overmind

 

Program (2)

2 Datasucker

 

This deck is meant to get into HQ, but no sneakdoor beta because I want archives free for my economy run. What is that? It is a dirty laundry run on archives with security testing, john masanori, datasuckers, and desperado out. For those of you playing at home, that is an upfront cost of 2 credits, with a end result of 8 credits, a datasucker virus token, and a card drawn. An ideal turn involves doing that at the beginning of my turn, and then use that money and token to Account Siphon, drain their money, and then run an unrezzed R&D or scoring remote. It is so delicious! One more thing about this deck, when I play it, I never remove tags. That is why I run 3 plascretes (scorched & punitive), can get money from running (closed accounts), and all of my resources cost 2 credits or less. 

 

If you have any questions about this deck, feel free to ask. In the future, when I settle on a corp deck that I really enjoy, I'll post that too.

[Nelsormensch]

These are the top 3 decks (mine, Jesse's and one more, funnily enough) from the tournament we ran on Sunday:

 

http://term7.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/terminal-city-tabletop-terminal7-tournaments/

[imp]

Here's a deck I've been tooling around with recently. Almost took it to a game night tournament over the weekend, but ended up wussing out after a horrendous losing streak on Octgn.

 

The basic idea is that you're going to hopefully land a Donut in your opening hand, install it, and then proceed to trash all your opponent's asset economy using Whizzard's recurring credits.

 

Drunken Donuts

 

Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)

 

Hardware (5)

2x Clone Chip (Creation and Control) ••••

3x Grimoire (Core Set)

 

Resource (21)

2x Aesop's Pawnshop (Core Set) ••••

3x Armitage Codebusting (Core Set)

3x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)

3x Donut Taganes (Honor and Profit) ••••• •

2x Ice Carver (Core Set)

2x Kati Jones (Humanity's Shadow)

2x Liberated Account (Trace Amount)

2x Public Sympathy (Cyber Exodus)

2x Wyldside (Core Set)

 

Icebreaker (9)

2x Corroder (Core Set)

3x Knight (Mala Tempora)

2x Mimic (Core Set)

2x Yog.0 (Core Set)

 

Program (10)

1x Crescentus (A Study in Static) •

2x Datasucker (Core Set)

2x Djinn (Core Set)

1x Medium (Core Set)

1x Nerve Agent (Cyber Exodus)

3x Parasite (Core Set)

 

Also Wyldside is in there to help with the anarch tutoring problem, and Aesop's is in there for when you get overwhelmed with cards, even though public sympathy helps with this. I love the idea that Whizzard just needs to keep dancing every night until he meets Aesop on the dancefloor, who very nicely offers to buy his VIP wristband so that Whizzard can finally have a nice sit down.

[Nelsormensch]

Nice! I've got a Noise Whizzard deck I've been mucking around with a bit.

 

FWIW, you could probably drop to 1x Aesop, 2x Donut and then turn those 4 influence into 2 Hostages instead (that's basically what I do w/ Noise). Getting Donut early and then being able to use a Hostage draw for Aesop is pretty boss, as compared to seeing 2 more Donuts while you're looking for Aesop.

[imp]

Oh that's a really good point, the deck was originally Wyldside-free and had 2 hostages, 2 donut and 1 Kati. Influence bloat is a real danger of incessant tweaking! Although the idea of playing a double event with Wyldside and Donut already on the table out pains me beyond belief! 

[Xercies]

I got a Replicating Perfection Deck which I think is quite unique.

 

Agenda(10)

 

2 The Future Perfect

2 False Lead

3 Braintrust

3 Fetal AI

 

Upgrade(5)

 

3 Ruhr Valley(9 Influence)

2 Akitaro Watanabe

 

Asset(11)

 

3 Dedicated Server

3 Mental Health Clinic

3 Sundew

2 Ronin

 

Operation(8)

 

2 Neural EMP

3 Mushin No Shin

3 Diversified Portfolio

 

Ice(15)

 

3 Eli 1.0(3 Influence)

3 Susanoo-No-Mikoto

3 Inazuma

3 Komainu

3 Pup

 

(49 Cards in Total, 12 Influence Used)

 

The strategy is basically a click domination one, where I put down Ruhr valleys on the central server to basically make it 3 clicks to actually run on a remote server, then I put taxing Ice on the centrals to really make them pay to get through it or at the early game to lose a lot of cards(Komainu is basically the key Ice really of the deck). I'm making the runner really have to make their turn count while I just make a lot of servers, gain some money and hopefully because they are losing clicks scoring Agendas. All the assets and Braintrusts(which I would try to over advance) try to get money for rezzing ICE for low amounts of money meaning I'm getting more gain for Taxing the runner. 

 

Debating whether to have Eli or Hourglass in it, Hourglass would definitly make the runner in the early game have no clicks to get onto my servers but later game will be pretty useless. Eli is taxing but if I only have a Ruhr on one server and defending an Agenda with it they can still get at the Agenda by clicking through. 

 

As for my Runner

 

All Centrals All The Time

 

Silhouette

 

Event(10)

 

3 Notoriety(3 Influence)

3 Easy Mark

2 Sure Gamble

2 Account Siphon

 

Resource(11)

 

3 Armitage Codebusting

2 Crash Space

2 Security Testing

2 Scrubber(2 Influence)

2 John Massanori

 

Hardware(11)

 

3 R&D Interface(6 Influence)

2 Desperado

3 HQ Interface

3 Akamatsu Mem Chip(3 Influence)

 

Programs(10)

 

2 Alias

2 Breach

2 Sneakdoor Beta

2 Passport

2 Overmind

 

(42 Cards Overall, 14 Influence Used)

 

As you can see the strategy for this is to just hammer on centrals whether that is HQ or R&D, and maybe sometimes get points through Notoriety(Haven't gotten Quest Complete as a card yet). Gaining lots of cash through Desperado and Security Testing, using her ability to usually expose ICE or sometimes cards in Remote Servers and if there is an Agenda in a remote using Overmind to get them. Scrubber is there just in case there is a few economy programs I see in HQ or R&D that I don't want the corp to have. Petty simple, I played this and I realised how Security Testing HQ with Desperado and using her ability and R&D Interfaces to run R&D gained me a lot of money and a lot of Agenda wins.