This thread is a simple and easy to use list of combos. Have a solid HB deck but don’t know how you want to win? There’s a combo for that. Struggling to find money as a Runner? Get paid right here. Influence costs are being ignored for the sake of this thread, so be sure to double-check you can afford the investment.
Combos come in all shapes and sizes, and not all decks are built equally. With this in mind, the Runner and the Corp will be looking for different types of things. Here’s a quick breakdown of the kinds of combos you can find:
Kinds of Combos!
Corp:
Damage: The most obvious and direct to deal with a hacker, is to punch them until they stay punched. These combos will let you hit them where it hurts, often enough to stop them dead.
Points: Time is money, and we’ve got Agendas to… Agend? Score those points, double-time!
Locks: If you can’t kill them, these high-tech security solutions make sure they can’t get to your most delicate servers.
Economy: Because sometimes it is quite easy being green.
Misc Combos: Everything has its place, and sometimes its place is a tray marked “Miscellaneous”.
Runner:
Multi-Access: Corporations have a lot of data. Sometimes you’ve just got to look through it all to find the bits you want.
Multi-Trash: When you don’t have time to look at every file, just set fire to the whole office.
Locks: Big businesses are big trouble. Small businesses, not so much.
Economy: Quit your Day Job. Sometimes money does come easy.
Misc Combos: A bin labeled “Stuff”.
Post your combos below, and I’ll update it to the list. If you think it’s worthwhile then you can write a short primer for a specific, possibly complex combo, or one that has a lot of options and what’s best to do when, and I’ll add a link to it next to the combo in the list.
Remember: A combo is just two or more cards working together to create something a little better than the two parts. You don’t need to add another card to pay for the combo, just get the combo down, and it’ll go into the primer.
Corp
Damage
Biotech: The Brewery + Urban Renewal -
Brain Rewiring + Show of Force Score
Brain Rewiring + Contract Killer
Zealous Judge + Mr. Stone
Hard-Hitting News + Load Testing + Load Testing + Boom!
Hard-Hitting News + Load Testing + MCA Austerity Policy + Boom!
Hard-Hitting News + False Lead + Boom!
Obokata Protocol + Punitive Counterstrike
Brainstorm + The Twins
Brainstorm + Neural EMP
Bio-Ethics Association + Hostile Infrastructure
Points
-Nothing Yet-
Locks
-Nothing Yet-
Economy
SEA Source + Closed Accounts - Instantly empty the Runner’s Credit Pool
Door to Door + Aryhbata Tech
Bryan Stinson + Reverse Accounts - An easy way to get Bryan turned on
Misc Combos
Making News + Door to Door - Make D2D into Trace 3
Runner
Multi-Access
God of War + Counter Surveillance - Get tagged to make an unstoppable Breaker and then access every card in R&D
Multi-Trash
Friday Chip + Imp - Trash one accessed card every turn for free
Eater + Apocalypse - Gain only the successful runs you need to trigger Apocalypse
Locks
-Nothing Yet-
Economy
Self-Modifying Code + Stimhack - Tutor for any Program and install it, for just 2 cards, and possibly 0 Credits
Test Run + Scavenge - Tutor for any Program and keep it for only 3 Credits and 2 Cards
Rubicon Switch + Zamba + GPI Net Tap - Gain Credits whilst messing with the Corp’s
Mars for Martians + God of War - Gain a lot of cash
Power Tap + Security Nexus + Citadel Sanctuary - Trigger Nexus, get paid by Tap. Fail the trace, take a tag, trigger Sanctuary, get paid again. The more Power Taps the better
God of War + Mars for Martians - Get tagged to make an unstoppable Breaker and a tonne of money
Misc Combos
DDOS + False Echo - [Rotated] - Put the first Ice from any server back into the Corp hand
Artist Colony + Fan Site
The Shadow Net + Fan Site
Hasty Relocation + Jinja City Grid
Multi-Threader + Study Guide - Gain a power counter every turn for free
Kabonesa Wu + Self-Modifying Code - Tutor for and keep any program
Test Run + Scavenge.
24/7 News Cycle + Philotic Entanglement/Show of Force/Meteor Mining
SEA Source + Closed Accounts
DDOS + False Echo (rotated…)
Self-Modifying Code + Stimhack
Out of the Ashes + Apocalypse
Artist Colony/The Shadow Net + Fan Site
Bio-Ethics Association + Hostile Infrastructure
I played a Puffer + Dinosaurus deck in my local Modded league for a while, because I really like how neatly the two cards fit together. The big catch is that even in Modded, Femme + Dinosaurus is almost certainly better - it’s a lot less influence, you don’t need a killer with more than four strength that often, and the bypass ability is very nice to have. The install cost is not a minor concern, but the benefits are enough to make up for it.
Helheim Servers + Brainstorm + The Twins/Neural EMP
Obviously there isn’t really a direct runner equivalent of a ‘Kill’ but some similar win in 1 turn runner combos:
Counter Surveillance + God of War + Mars for Martians + Dean Lister can reliably access 12+ cards as long as you don’t get stuffed by Crisium or CVS.
Apocalypse + 3x Encore + Equivocation. Get a bunch of extra turns and mill them out. Can also combo with: Akshara Sareen, Exploit (to derez Architect), Notoriety, Hyperdriver.
By Any Means + Deep Data Mining + Paparazzi. Mill a bunch of cards and duck the damage. Extra clicks are always welcome: Amped Up, Hyperdriver, All Nighter, Stim Dealer, etc.
IG + Bio-Etchics + Hostile Infrastructure + Breached Dome
Rubicon + Zamba + Turtle + GPI Net Tap
Maw + Opus + Frantic
Economy Combos:
Mass Commercialization + Advanced ICE (usually best in Tennin or Builder of Nations).
Product Recall + IG (or other trash cost increasing effects) + Mumbad Virtual Tour (or any other 5+ trash cost Asset or Upgrade). Can even be tutored out with Mumbad City Hall if you feel spicy.
Stinson + Reversed Accounts + Transactions
Hasty Relocation + Jinja City Grid (to put ICE from HQ on R&D to then draw + Install at a discount)
The idea with Frantic Opus is that it gets you set up quickly enough to threaten frequent Maw triggers. If everything goes according to plan, Frantic installs Opus on the cheap and also mills some heap breakers so all you have to do is take 6 every turn and run a poorly defended server.
Thanks, everyone. I’ve added a lot to the first post and redrafted it. I’ve also just added a little comment:
Remember: A combo is just two or more cards working together to create something a little better than the two parts. You don’t need to add another card to pay for the combo, just get the combo down, and it’ll go into the primer.
You don’t need to go overboard. Stuff like “Making News + Door to Door + Aryhbata Tech” is actually 2 combos working together. (MN + D2D, and then D2D + Tech)
I’m really excited by the input you’ve given though. I’ve altered the labels a little help. It’s kind of impossible to get an actual kill as the runner, unless you trash all of R&D in one go or something, so that’s been adjusted accordingly.
You make a good point about boiling down combos to their essential parts, but it can be really difficult to draw that line.
For example, the Mars for Martians + Countersurveillance wouldn’t necessarily be a combo under your definition which states that you don’t need to include cards to pay for other cards. That said, I doubt you’ll ever see Countersurveillance in a deck without M4M because it’s such a huge enabler. Regardless of the number of tags you have, M4M will cover the cost of the accesses, so all you have to worry about is the cost of the run. To me, that makes it a more significant piece of the combo than other money cards.
I think the key aspect here is that M4M and CS both reference the exact same thing. It is a very hard line to draw, and I suppose what the difference is here is that CS is incredibly expensive, and there’s a card that literally just says “Counter Surveillance is free”, as opposed to “Gain a random amount of money that’s about what you need”. (I’ll add this, by the way.)
As above with the DDM/BaM/Paparazzi combo, Marathon isn’t really a part of it, that’s just a way to use the combo effectively. Your combo is “Trash all cards you access without taking damage”. Marathon is in a way no better than just Hyperdriver in this combo.
Well, Marathon is better if there’s more than 3 remotes you can get into. Really the combo is to be able to trash all open remotes with BaM + Marathon (add meat protection if you want, or could just draw up beforehand).
By the same token, DDM isn’t really essential either. It could be TME or Turning Wheel.
