Exploring a Stalling Metagame: Nasir Meidan StimShop by El-Ad David Amir

Originally published at: Exploring a Stalling Metagame: Nasir Meidan StimShop - StimHack

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if only we could get an article of this caliber every week!

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Second this, great write up. Thanks for sharing

I like this a lot more than the Nasir builds Iā€™ve played against so far. Using Ghost Runner as bank that lasts through ice encounters rather than to fuel stealth breakers is a very nice touch.

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Iā€™ve been kicking a Nasir deck around in my head since he first came out, and I definitely agree on avoiding the stealth build in favor of the right tools at the right time.

I am a bit wary of running so many one-off programs without Test Run, but that may just be my latent Exile speaking. Regardless, it looks like a hell of a starting point for a deck.

It would be nice if there were a way to recycle the Ghost.

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Cache! I am currently working on an article about a Nasir deck that runs 3 Cache and 3 Ghost Runner.

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Iā€™ve been playing Nasir a ton since he came out. I have an Atman build that I regret not bringing to Worlds. Ghost Runner is an MVP for Psi games and that last credit to get the right program out. I need to give Lady and Cyber-Cypher a go, however. And the competition for Shaper deckslots continuesā€¦

Something Iā€™m struggling with right now is Quality Time or Earthrise. Paying that 1 more credit for a card and spreading out the draw is worth it usually, but that jump from 3-4 credits can be a lot for Nasir. Thoughts?

Cache is an interesting idea. You could tutor and Scavenge it, the downside is that the Corp could purge the virus counters, and I suspect that Cyberdex Virus Suite might become popular once O&C is out. Worth testing, maybe instead of the Crescentus in this specific build.

I tried QT in an earlier version and couldnā€™t get it to work for me. On the other hand, Earthrise Hotel is perfect - you can install it and run without having to worry about discarding cards. You could also get it early-game and start facechecking ice, waiting for the Corp to fund it.

Or if it was 2c for 5 stealth credits, or even 3c for 5 stealth credits. One for three is not that much.

The advantage ghost runner has over cache is you donā€™t need a paid ability window to get your credits. Not a huge deal, but it makes the book keeping a little less stressful.

Itā€™s a good idea. Iā€™m going to give it a go.

Iā€™m quite surprised you found room for d4v1d.

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Agreed. I thought perhaps a Nerve Agent or some similar hand pressure would be nice. Interesting deck, and could almost slot into a Professor-esque build.

I remember trolling you on a thread on NRDB and asking for some discussion around this ID. Glad it found me here XD Thanks for the post.

Agreed that he is close to, if not, the best early rig builder available. Opus is a cool solution for momentum and you list some great tricks with Workshop and Sol I hadnā€™t thought of.

After reading this I do agree that a complete suite rather than a total focus on ice destruction is a better plan, and currently, sentries are problematic. This is why I veered to the ā€˜stealthā€™ build initially, but the arguments here are convincing. Having said that Iā€™m going to skin it back up, there are some tricks here that will make it much better than I was playing it.

The time is defo right for the new and interesting rather than the tried and tested. I really hope there are some changes and mix ups in the meta cos it is feeling a little stagnant right now.

Off topic a bit, but is anyone planning on making a similar write-up for The Professor? (or if someone already has, then a link would be nice.)

P.S. I replied to this thread over at BGG.

I donā€™t have much to add on Nasir, but what a thoughtful and well-written article! Iā€™d love to see more from El-Ad.

There isnā€™t much choice. Between Tollbooth, Archer, Grim, and Blue Sun shenanigans, itā€™s almost a must-have in this deck.

Agreed that Sentries are tough. Fortunately theyā€™re tough for everyone, except maybe Stealth Andy. 3inf for Silencer is way too much in my opinion.

My pruning algorithm is still convinced that good olā€™ Prof is unplayable in any competitive setting. I would love to see someone prove me wrong with a solid build.

Longtime Nasir junkie here; Iā€™ve been testing earthrise quite a bit recently, and Iā€™ve been finding it vastly superior. Nasir has a tendancy of work-compressing himself, and spreading it out like this makes it so easy to find the clicks to use all the cards youā€™re drawing, while still drawing extremely efficiently. Strongly recommend slotting this card for any Nasir deck.

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Check out ā€œrunning in hard modeā€ post right here on stimhack (on my phone otherwise Iā€™d link), ton of great advice on running a pretty decent toolbox deck out of professor.

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I think you can make a case for Faerie + femme in place of D4V1D. Faerie is busted (especially in Shaper) and there are a number of problems that Deus x + Sharpshooter canā€™t live with.