I’d have to disagree Apo. Not that I’d necessarily run this version but it’s perfectly justifiable.
R&D Interface is to help with long games in Andy, a 50% discount on the breaking required per access. One or two copies is plenty as you’ll draw it eventually.
The first copy of Mr. Li is the best copy of Mr. Li. How can one be wrong? He’s not a required card, just adds a bit of efficiency, so you don’t have to see him every game.
Three copies Desperado is not ‘strictly better’ than two. The second and third one you draw are dead draws. It is a very good card and you want to see one early. But with a 9 card hand and it being one of the few cards you’re looking for with a mulligan it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.
Justification for 2 desperados is a lack of core #3 so I don’t think about it too hard. I probably would try the third if I had it.
I think 1 Mr Li is ok too. If he doesn’t show up, no big deal. He’s probably the cut for desperado 3.
I like parasite and RDI, only have influence for 2 cards, I’ve stumped for 1 of each.
Main omission I’ve noticed since posting in Plascrete Carapace. I hate fitting in Plascrete.
-1 Shutdown, -1 Faerie, (-1 Legwork/Sneakdoor), for 2 or 3 plascrete I guess. I’m also tempted by Crash Space over plascrete, you can’t go tag me with this deck after Upstalk anyway. Program death is the end of you, so Bad Times are really bad.
Probably crazy talk, but -1 mimic, -1 datasucker, +1 ninja/femme/alias, +1 R&DI is kind of possible… Criminal killers not named Faerie are worse than mimic, aren’t they?
Personal touch would be an elegant solution, but I can’t see how I’m supposed to fit at least 4 influence in my deck. And even with 2 you might be unlucky and just not find it.
Peacock doesn’t need influence, can be tutored and helps you in case your datasucker tokens get purged.
Oh another thing:
With Encrypted Portals and Lag Time from “The Spaces Between”, Personal Touch’ed Yog won’t cut it.
Add the NEXT Bronze with a Str up to 7 and you need something other than Yog.
Personal touch is cool but you can’t tutor for it so it can be a bit tricky if you get it before you need your Yog or can’t get to it when you really need it.
I’m just throwing 1x Knight into Gabe (replacing Deja Vu) and switching Mimic to Femme. I could see even trying two Femmes in Andy. Not sure what I’ll do with the mimic inf. Stimhack? Quality Time?
If you are going to spend more than 2 influence I would just play 1x Atman. You can still tutor for it and when you set it at 4 and you efficiently deal with a lot of really tough ice.
Same influence cost and install cost as Personal Touch. Requires MU and requires a click to host but it is tutor-able and solves a whole host of other problems that Personal touch does not.
I think there are a few legit options, though the most sound seem to be either swapping yog for zu/gordian, adding a zu, and adding a knight. The knight is pretty appealing to me, but its the only one I havent tried in andy yet, only gabe, (but it worked pretty well there). Yog is just so strong in general, especially if people start playing more code gates because because yog is less omnipresent. Gordian is significantly worse.
i like sticking with Yog and pulling in an atman to solve lotus field plus other nasty 4 str problems. gordian feels too much like giving up. taxing decks are thrilled to see every code gate breaker except yog and possibly cybercypher /torch and id rather not roll over completely to the taxing decks just yet lol.
Resource (6)
2x Kati Jones
2x Same Old Thing
2x Security Testing
gave up the RDIs for a single indexing which is kind of a bummer but i feel like i need indexing with all the jinteki running around. everything else is pretty standard. i am revisiting the old school shutdown/FAO combo to get rid of huge ice and to save myself a little pain vs jinteki but if FAO isn’t your style they could be anything else. .
planned assault is a good call. you could easily drop the FAOs for 1-2 planned assaults. ive just found lately face checking ice is a tad more painful then it used to be when katana was the only thing i had to worry about
In testing for Regionals, I’ve found that Lotus Field may be overblown. I still use Yog as my primary breaker in Andy, and with Passport as a backup, I haven’t had any particular trouble in dealing with Lotus Field.
It creates a need for backup, but it’s not like any deck is liable to use more than one or two. It’s not a total shut-out, it’s just a slight difference, but folks that ran Yog without Passport or Peacock can no longer do so as securely.
I would think if you wanted to keep with the Parasite Andromeda plan (which I think is stronger than the R&D Interface version) you could take the deck that I ran in Durham (that spags posted above), with the following changes:
-2 Easy Mark
-1 Gordian Blade
-1 Stimhack
-1 Corroder
-2 R&D Interface
+2 Mr. Li
+1 Zu.13 Key Master
+2 Parasite
+2 Clone Chip
Maybe take out an Account Siphon (it seems the vast majority of the time I’m using it to force the Corp to spend money and not actually take the money!) and some of the Ninjas for Faeries or Femmes as well.
There are a few problems with this setup, namely that Zu is a lot less efficient in a potential post-Lotus Field meta that may include things like Enigma and Datapike. However, the Parasites can be used to clear these nasty Code Gates out of the way. Another doubt I might have might be MU-issues, but these are essentially the same programs MU-wise that most Criminals run nowadays, so I guess it’s not that big of a negative (if it is an issue, certainly add some Faeries).
I also like how this rig is far more resilient against rig destruction decks that use things like Power Shutdown, Grim, and Aggressive Secretary. With only one Corroder, one must not be afraid of Same Old Thing’ing a Special Order to find all of their breakers.
If I were continuing to play Andromeda, or if I am to come back to her before Worlds, I may give these changes a try. I just wasn’t confident using Parasites before Durham in order to execute something along these lines.
EDIT: Before the Durham tournament one of the guys I came up from Atlanta with was talking about how he wanted to bring at least one card of R&D pressure (he was thinking Maker’s Eye with Same Old Thing to recur it) one of our friends who moved out to California told him to “leave the teddy bear at home” (or something quite humorous along those lines!). Which I think I’ll need to start trying. R&D digging seems so great, but having watched and played against the no R&D dig Parasite decks has really changed my opinion.
I think criminals at this point should either be completely all in on siphon training the corp (little to no resources, bringing in tricks and possibly deja vu), or they should cut them. Clearing tags slows you down too much if you’re on resource econ, and siphon-less econ means you get to run a decoy and save a few deck slots on plascrete. I’ve had decent success with it as well (second at TC regional, local tournament win afterwards)
