[Noise] Welcome (back) to the Church

Deck Archetypes
1

If there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on, it is that Spaces Between (specifically Cache) has pushed Noise to his strongest position since Jackson Howard was printed. Also helping in this has been the rise of Glacier decks - Noise’s ability to mill the corp means that their usual strategy of keeping the game going becomes counter-productive.

I think there are three distinct directions Noise can go in - a Keyhole build using Siphon or Parasite recursion to set up Keyhole runs on R&D and make the corp’s deck useless; the Aesops Pawnshop build that uses cheap viruses as economy and the resurrection of Personal Workshop builds which, since I wasn’t playing when they were tearing up the tournament scene, I’m going to refrain from commenting on at all.

My build below is very much the Pawnshop build. There are two big questions I would like views on.

Firstly, the breakers. As it stands, the deck doesn’t use breakers very often. Parasite is its main way of getting into servers. Hence, Darwin, Knight and D4V1D handle most things between them. This is fine against decks where you can face-check with impunity (Destroyers aren’t a problem for the deck, everything is pretty expendable), but means against Jinteki you can spend a long time setting up instant Parasites so you don’t just die to a random Neural Katana. Does it therefore need the fixed breakers, and can it afford the extra deck space this will eat up?

Secondly, consistency. The deck is utterly dependent on Pawnshop for its economy. Whilst it can hold its own in the short term without it, it will just fall over if it doesn’t see it by the mid-game. Similarly, it needs to see a parasite (one is fine) to seriously threaten the corp. I would love to include Quality Time to address both issues, but I don’t have the influence spare. Is a Pawnshop economy really the best way to go, or would I better off using something more standard?

Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire (Core Set)

Event (5)
3x Déjà Vu (Core Set) [In an ideal world I’d have SOT in to recur these and act as an Easy Mark if needed - but space is too tight]
2x Scrubbed (The Spaces Between) [Scrubbed is in the there primarily because ELP and Target Marketing naming “Parasite” are a nightmare without it]

Hardware (10)
3x Cyberfeeder (Core Set)
2x Grimoire (Core Set)
2x Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead) [I see a lot of people don’t run these in Noise. I think you need to]
3x Clone Chip (Creation and Control) ••••• •

Resource (5)
2x Wyldside (Core Set) [Pretty much the only draw I have access to without spending influence - I tend to leave it in play for five/six turns to get set up, then ditch it]
3x Aesop’s Pawnshop (Core Set) ••••• •

Icebreaker (6)
3x Darwin (Future Proof)
3x Knight (Mala Tempora)

Program (19)
3x Datasucker (Core Set)
2x Medium (Core Set) [Keyhole would fit what I am trying to do better, but it is a lot more expensive because Cyberfeeder doesn’t pay for it]
3x Parasite (Core Set)
3x Imp (What Lies Ahead)
3x Lamprey (Upstalk) [Actually quite good in this deck, but only because of Noise’s ability and Pawnshop]
2x D4v1d (The Spaces Between)
3x Cache (The Spaces Between) •••

15 influence spent (maximum 15)

5 Likes
2

I have been trying to play some Noise on the league lately. My current deck has Pawnshop as well, but there are some differences from your list.

First off, I don’t run Scrubbed or Lamprey. Currents don’'t seem to see much play, so it seems like a waste of a card as runner. I was never happy to see them when I was using them. Same goes for Lamprey, the effect just doesn’t do enough to warrant a spot in my opinion.

For breakers, I use Crypsis and Knight, without Darwin or D4v1d. On this point I’m not so sure, but the advantage of Crypsis is that you can get into any server if you have the money and clicks. D4v1d seems like a dead draw against many NBN decks, because they probably have 0-1 ice that it hits. Fixed breakers are not an option I think, it’s just too much deckspace.

3x Dirty Laundry and 2x Daily Casts fix some of the econ for me, and I don’t play Cyberfeeder. It’s definitely a hard part of building Noise to get some good econ, and if you don’t see a Pawnshop by midgame you are usually in trouble, like you said.

A big problem I have been running into with this deck is Biotic Labor FA decks. It’s hard to score enough points before they do. More than once we were both at game point, and despite all the milling and checking HQ they eventually got a Biotic + agenda to close the game. It could be that Knight+Crypsis is simply too slow. For this reason I have added 1x Nerve Agent, to try and Imp some Biotic/SanSan or other good cards out of HQ.

I’ll play more league games today, and later I’ll be streaming some (about 9 hours from this post) at Twitch

3 Likes
3

If you’re playing Aesop’s, Daily Casts becomes great. It’s also good without it. I also think Sure Gamble is a good card, and it’s a lot easier to get up to 5 credits to play it in Noise than other Anarchs (selling off a Daily Casts gets you there immediately).

1 Like
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My issue with Sure Gamble was (obviously) it’s great if you see it first turn or even second turn. But later on it makes you more dependent on Pawnshop than you are already.

And yes, to respond to the earlier post, I think FA being able to just finish the game off with a random 3/2 is a problem. Against FA I want to focus all my efforts on getting Medium out and murdering R&D. But Fast Track is a thing, so even that isn’t a reliable strategy. Nerve Agent comes in and out. My problem is that by the time it is set up it’s usually too late - NBN has an Astroscript out and is just playing off the top of R&D.

5

I appreciate what you’re saying about Sure Gamble upfront cost. But I’m not sure the way to avoid Aesop’s dependency is to cut other, really good economy cards. Maybe you’d feel like you didn’t stall without him so much if you could afford to play out the cards Wyldside draws you without him? (And I’d encourage three Wyldside - sometimes tempo means you do want to turn it off and on again, and it’s good to find it early).

I’d also like to comment on the breaker suite: the advantage of Darwin/Knight/Crypsis is that you can expensively get through a lot of ice with one card. This isn’t great for a deck that isn’t super rich (no Magnum here; you’re best ‘on demand’ economy is playing a Cache) and where pressure is sustained (pressure viruses, not multi-access events, or Siphon/Shutdown). Knight is how you land Siphon or Maker’s Eye, it’s not how you keep R&D lock with a Medium.

Knight is also easily turned off, Crypsis is click and cost intenseive, and Darwin can be purged, locking you out.

The fixed breakers (particularly Mimic) are really good at what they do. You have Parasite to get you through the ice you don’t have a matching breaker for. You do need some AI (Atman would be ideal if you can find the influence), but you can’t lean on it without a much stronger economy or a much more event driven win condition.

6

After some more games I’m really feeling the inconsistency. Don’t get a Pawnshop? Game over. No Imp to trash all the assets and SanSan? GG. Can’t find a Knight to get through Wraparounds? Well I guess you can’t run 2-3 of the centrals.

Dragar you make some good points, maybe it’s better to trade the AI for fixed breakers. But they would require more deck space, and be yet another inconsistent element (requiring a specific one instead of AI that breaks all). For now I will try 2 Corroder, 2 Mimic, 1 Darwin.

7

You could include Djinn to help with consistency. It won’t help you find most of your breakers, but it can help you find Darwin or Crypsis as well as Imp.

That being said, I definitely am a bit put off by the lack of consistency in Noise. It can be tough without a tutor for your icebreakers. Crypsis is slow and pretty tough to use in Wyldside/Pawnshop builds, while Darwin is slow and terribly inefficient when it has to break more than two subs.

8

Yes, Wraparound is awful just in general for Anarch. Knight gets you in, for a chunky initial cost and 2 credits each time, but it’s not a terrible play for the Corp to trash Wraparound for a new piece of ICE (worse: with a new Wraparound!). I’d prefer to use D4v1d if I couldn’t find Corrodor and absolutely had to get in or could pressure using Medium.

I agree you need an AI to lean on, to avoid breaker inconsistency. My preferred solution is Atman but that means no Clone Chips.

9

Corroder, my friend :). It’s even in Faction :blush:.

10

The problem is not having the right tool available in faction, or in your deck, it’s having it in your hand. If your Corrodors are both (all?) in the bottom half of your deck, you need another way of getting through - and Parasite and most AI breakers (the Anarch fall backs) fall short at Wraparound. The lack of tutoring is most keenly felt when it comes to something like Wraparound, which demands one of the 2-3 cards in your deck, and really nothing else cuts it.

2 Likes
11

If you remove one Clone Chip or Aesop’s Pawnshop, you can both include 3rd Wyldside (making up a bit for removal of whatever you removed) and change Scrubbed for Net Celebrity.

1 Like
12

Going to be streaming for a while with a Noise Pawnshop deck at Twitch

For breakers I currently have 2 Corroder, 2 Mimic, 1 Darwin. So far I have major trouble with NBN, not losing by a landslide but still almost always losing.

13

I feel like many of your problems would be solved with more econ. Some of the differences with my list:

-2 Deja Vu
-2 Scrubbed
-2 Plascrete Carapace
-1 Aesop’s Pawnshop

+3 Daily Casts
+2 Gorman Drip
+2 Dirty Laundry

Armitage Codebusting is another great option with Aesop’s. It is 13 credits for 7 clicks, that’s like playing three Sure Gambles and then clicking for a credit. However I’m sticking with Dirty Laundry for now as it fits Wyldside nicely. Once you’re rich, you can just trash assets straight up. My preferred Imp use is HQ runs that knock out operations.

3 Likes
14

I like this. I have -1 Clone Chip, for +2 Gorman. I also run 3 Casts.

Aesop’s is too important, IMHO. I feel like one needs 3 to see it ASAP.

2 Likes
15

Ye gods Noise still loves the Gorman Drip. It’s his second-favorite drip, right after the steady drip of random mills into Archives :).

1 Like
16

Sometimes, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills for thinking Gorman Drip is unplayably bad even in Noise.

This is one of those times.

2 Likes
17

I made the swap of -1 Clone Chip +2 Gorman Drip as well, I think it’s worth the influence until something better comes along. For breakers I currently have 2 Corroder 3 Knight. The Darwin was really not doing much, same for Mimic. D4v1d is too narrow in my opinion.

Even on a good draw I have trouble with any kind of fast-advance, but I think there is a lot of room to improve my play and possibly the deck. For example, I’m not sure how many cards should be milled before trying to run archives. Eventually they will get a Jackson out, but at the same time it can be an expensive run to make, especially if there is unrezzed ice.

1 Like
18

I also have not had any success with Gorman. Are people using it in conjunction with Lamprey out of Noise? What am I missing?

19

Took 2nd / 12 on the weekend in a store tournament with the below list. Gorman was so-so, once I cracked it for 6 credits and the rest of the time I just pawned it straight off. If it was in-faction I’d probably keep it, but I’m looking at other uses for that influence.

Wild Side 1.4 (45 cards)

Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire

Event (8)
1 Deja Vu
3 Dirty Laundry
1 Special Order
3 Sure Gamble

Hardware (4)
1 Clone Chip
2 Cyberfeeder
1 Grimoire

Resource (8)
2 Aesop’s Pawnshop
3 Daily Casts
3 Wyldside

Icebreaker (5)
1 Corroder
2 Knight
1 Mimic
1 Yog.0

Program (20)
3 Cache
3 Datasucker
2 Djinn
2 Gorman Drip v1
3 Imp
3 Medium
3 Parasite
1 Sahasrara

One of my losses, I knocked out a Punitive and two SEA Source with Imp and targeted mills and then he killed me with two more Punitives. I’d rather add more economy than run Plascrete to deal with it, though.

Wyldside was amazing against a Cambridge Jinteki deck.

In finals I lost to NEH Astrobiotics, but I would’ve probably lost with any deck, so there’s no real lessons there.

For changes I’m looking at switching the Gormans for either 3rd Pawnshop or 2nd Sahasrara. If I take a 2nd Sahasrara then I can cut both Cyberfeeders to make space for another Deja Vu and the 3rd Knight.

2 Likes
20

I really have been enjoying the little testing I have done with Rara Noise. It seems very good if your game plan is to play fixed breakers and knights, which can be really difficult for your opponents to deal with.

But I suppose you make a similar amount of money back over a game with Cyberfeeders as they power your icebreakers or your programs, ensuring that you will usually gain a credit back a turn.

For my money though, I really like three copies of pawnshop.