[Deck] Blue Sun Rig Destruction

Overview: Fundamentally, this deck is Uncorrodable (e.g. get rid of the runner’s fracter and include a bunch of barriers to lock them out) that doesn’t put all its hope on barriers. This deck has sentries and code gates too, all of which end the run, and all of which bait banishing the offending breaker to the bottom of the stack with Wisp. Blue Sun was chosen for its flexibility (bouncing ice to stymie knight/femme/parasite, using OAI as an econ card, plus rearranging ice to mess with Kit, Nasir, and Quetzal) and because of its reputation for flat-lines causes many runners to play conservatively or go digging for their plascretes.

Identity:  
1x Blue Sun: Powering the Future

Agenda: (12), 20 Agenda Points
1x Chronos Project  
1x Geothermal Fracking
1x Government Contracts
1x Hades Fragment
3x Hostile Takeover
2x Profiteering
3x Project Atlas

Asset: (5)
1x Aggressive Secretary ¦¦ 
3x Jackson Howard ¦ ¦ ¦ 
1x The Root

ICE: (18)
3x Archer
2x Changeling
3x Curtain Wall
3x Ice Wall
1x Lotus Field ¦ 
2x Quandary
3x Wall of Static
1x Wraparound ¦ 

Operation: (9)
3x Archived Memories ¦¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ 
3x Oversight AI
3x Power Shutdown

Upgrade: (5)
2x Corporate Troubleshooter ¦ ¦ 
3x Will-o'-the-Wisp

Agendas: The agendas provide a large chunk of the deck’s economy. There is also a lot of 1-pointers to feed to Archer. Atlases can be used for tutoring, but they’re mainly just 3/2s because 3/2s are superb. I traded one Profiteering out for one Chronos Project because scoring that agenda at the right time has the capacity to win you the game. Sure, they may have Clone Chips and Test Runs and Levys but if you just exiled their one copy of Corroder, none of that matters. Plus, the runner doesn’t know how many OTHER copies of Chronos Project you have, giving them more to worry about even if the card gets stolen. The 2x 5/3s are rarely scored except after the runner has been rendered impotent, so their abilities don’t matter much, but I decided to ditch the Priority Reqs (whose effect was never particularly needed) in favor of agendas that offered some versatility. Hades Fragment helps against milling and can, in combination with deck shuffles, bring some important stuff back to the top of R&D. Government Contracts helps you restart your economy if you are repeatedly hit by Account Siphons and Vamps; this hasn’t happened much, but it adds slightly more versatility than Priority Req did, so in it went. The sheer amount of bad publicity these agendas produce is staggering, but remember: it doesn’t matter how much mid-run money they’ve got if they can’t break your Ice Wall.
.
Ice: All the ice ends the run and requires a breaker to get through (no option of spending clicks or beating traces instead), and 2/3rds of it is inexpensive to rez (i.e. 4 or less credits). Most are barriers because Corroder is the frequently the weak link, and because that’s what most of the good, native ice available to Weyland is. There are just enough code gates to force the runner to find a solution to them, and because Kit hates it when you stick a Quandary on the outside of a server. Changeling can be advanced to gear-check fracters or killers and you’ll toggle it to whatever they’re weakest to, or whatever you want most to banish with Wisp. Archer is imposing, and might even trash some programs along the way, either by a surprise rez or in combination with Corporate Troubleshooter. That and once you’ve scored that first 1-pointer, suddenly the runner has to treat your facedown ice with a lot more caution. Curtain Wall is the only big, expensive ice, and it is mainly included to combo with OAI. However, unlike all of your other barriers, it is extremely taxing to break and will be troublesome to runners while they still have a fracter.
.
Assets: 3xHoward Jacksons because he makes everything better. Once the runner is locked out, you will really lean on him to dig for your winning agendas. Plus, he’s important for allowing you to recur your rig destruction cards MORE than the runner can recur their rig rebuilding cards. I don’t normally find The Root necessary, but it is a helpful and taxing asset that you can use to bait the runner into your remote; I seldom need it but am never sad to see it. Aggressive Secretary is another tool for de-rigging the runner. Rez and bounce an unsprung Agg Sec into your hand, then install and advance a card. Is it an agenda, or is it the same trap? Give those runners even more to worry about.
.
Operations: OAI gives you money from bouncing Curtain Walls and can open an early scoring window (Quandary over an AOI’d Archer protecting an Agenda on turn 2, for example). Power Shutdown is a major tool for destroying the runner’s rig. Blowing up Corroder or Kit’s Refracter is the dream, but I’ve screwed up runners plenty popping SMCs, Faeries, Datasuckers, Clone Chips, and sources of stealth credits (Cloak, the three flavors of 1-cost stealth hardware). Archived Memories lets you Wisp or Power Shutdown more. It also lets you grab whatever Power Shutdown milled, turning the two cards into a weird form of draw acceleration. Digging out a trashed Agg Sec restarts that mind game. Just Wisp’d the runner’s only decoder? Dig those Quandaries out of the trash and enjoy your new scoring window. Really, it’s a great card and well worth the influence cost.
.
Upgrades: Wisp is the star here. There are all sorts of things a savvy runner can do to keep Power Shutdown, Agg Sec, and Archer from trashing their precious breakers, but there’s not much that stops a Wisp from landing. When possible I put one on HQ and R&D. Corporate Troubleshooter mainly makes Archer a threat after it’s been rezzed. However, the runner won’t know if you’ve installed a Troubleshooter or a Wisp, making it harder to gauge the risk in running. And if nothing else, you can stick one or both upgrades in your remote, either to look like an agenda or to protect one.

---

Playing the Deck:
Ice up your centrals. Score a Hostile Takeover, score a Profiteering, or bounce an OAI’d Curtain Wall to get your initial nest egg of credits. Place Wisps in likely-to-be-ran servers. Once they’ve responded to your gear-checking ice, blow up and/or bury their gear. Continue to build up your ice and dismantle their rig until you have a scoring window. Score until you no longer have a scoring window. Repeat. Enjoy drinking your opponent’s rage-tears.

Remember that it doesn’t have to be their fracter that dies. If, for example, you killed their Dagger (or the stealth credits fueling it), put sentries over your important servers and score, score, score! If your opponent has managed to keep their rig functional somehow, go traditional glacier and try to bait them into overreaching by sometimes posing assets and upgrades as agendas… or just letting them steal a 1-pointer so you can score a 2- or 3-pointer. Better yet, bait them into running an advanced Aggressive Secretary.

The deck isn’t all that complicated, it just requires careful play during the early phase where your credit pool is low and your opponent’s rig is untouched. Mind games with bounced/Archived Memories’d and re-installed cards can help slow the runner down while you make your way to the mid-game. Then you can start taking a crowbar to their rig in earnest.

---

Options for Tweaking and things I’m on the fence about:
Why Lotus Field? Why Wraparound? As part of my drive for versatility, I wanted some paradigm-shifting ice. With Corroder out, a Curtain Wall is just a big Ice Wall, but if you’re using Yog then Lotus Field is most definately NOT a big Quandary. A fracter-deprived runner might still have an answer for your barriers (AI breakers, mid-run ice destruction, Paintbrush, etc.), and Wraparound makes those answers a lot less efficient. They aren’t deck-defining, but they have been situationally very useful and worth their influence cost. If I were to cut one, I might be tempted to swap in a Rototurret to act as a mini-Archer (combos off Troubleshooter, ETR sentry, plus it might waste a faerie that would later have been used on an Archer). I could also see them getting replaced with Weyland or Neutral ice pretty quick if you wanted to free up influence for other strategies.
.
Moar Cood Gaets! I really think this deck should have between 3 and 5 code gates. Unlike the barrier-purist Uncorrodable decks, I think it’s valuable to gear-check the runner for all three breaker types, ESPECIALLY when playing as Blue Sun. If a Quandary forces the runner to play a Yog, that’s great! And if that runner used a tutor to get that decoder, even better! Then I’ll bounce the Quandary back to my hand and enjoy the credit swing, possibly while whistling a merry tune. I’m on the fence about cutting one or two cheap barriers for one or two more cheap code gates; striking the right balance between win more and versatility is tough.
.
Sans SanSan? I’d love to include a SanSan or two in the deck. While this deck is very good at creating scoring windows, there is no fast advance so said windows have to be big; a clever/lucky runner might still pull off a hail mary and raid your remote. A deck with this many 3-advance agendas calls out for a SanSan. Also, traps (Agg Sec, Wisp) would make good guards for your SanSan while you wait for your agendas to show up. I could free up some influence by cutting imported ice and/or replacing some number of Archived Memories with Interns. If you were to do so, I wouldn’t blame you, but Archived Memories’ ability to recur Power Shutdown as well as induce runner doubt (“Okay, he picked up a Wisp/Agg Sec and installed SOMETHING but I have no idea what.”) makes me very hesitant to cut any. Troubleshooters could also be cut, but they allow Blue Sun to directly convert its huge pile of excess cash into scoring windows, which you really want to do.
.
To Scorch or not to Scorch? It’d be easy to cut an ice or The Root and put in one or more Scorches. A single Scorch + Archived Memories can still flatline if the runner ended their turn tagged. However, this deck lacks any means of tagging, so you’re either hoping the runner will do it for you, or you’re diverting more card slots and influence to make it happen. I think this deck is strong enough at punishing the runner via rig destruction that you don’t also need to threaten a flatline. However, you could make room for a single Sea Source by swapping an Archived Memories for an Interns or trading Lotus Field and Wraparound for a Quandary and a Bastion. Or you could replace one of your 1-pointers with a Posted Bounty. I don’t think it’s necessary, but I understand that it’s hard to say “no” to an in-faction alternate win condition.

---

Deck Weaknesses, Real and Imagined:
Lots of Barriers? Doesn’t E3 Quetzal eat you alive? Not really. Quetzal can break a Curtain Wall better than anyone and will make bouncing one that’s been OAI’d tricky. However, once you have two barriers stacked, she needs a fracter just like anyone else. And since she’s not a Shaper, getting that fracter back after it’s been Wisp’d is going to be a challenge. She’ll likely have parasites and suckers to chew up your low-end ice, but this deck has enough recursion to make up the losses, and any parasite still on ice at the start of your turn gets trashed. In closing, a little tricky but very manageable.
.
Nasir, I don’t like it: This guy’s ID isn’t inherently a problem because we’re not one of those “Curtain Wall + Hadrianns Wall + Janus” big ice Blue Sun decks. Heck, we don’t even run Tollbooth. In fact, we have enough cheap ice that we can reposition to screw with this guy that I’m sure he’ll hate us before we ever start nuking his rig. However, the typical Nasir deck comes stocked with cards to use mid-run money (most notably Personal Workshops, Clone Chips, SMC) and we’ll be giving him plenty with all of our bad publicity. Combined with the number of tutor and recursion cards Shapers have access to, this guy has the potential to quickly build and rebuild his rig throughout the game (“Click-1: I run your ice wall, spend the 4 bad pub, and bounce. Click-2: I run your ice wall…”). I’ve played and won against Nasir decks, but they are a real challenge, unlike the brittle rigs Crims and Anarchs build. If it’s a stealth deck, nuke the source of his stealth credits. If it’s big rig, make him keep fetching and paying for Morning Star/Torch/Garrote as you keep Wisping them to the bottom of his stack. And always keep bouncing and repositioning cheap ice out front of your important servers; he hates that.
.
Early Credit Denial: This deck’s econ comes from scoring agendas and bouncing OAI’d Curtain Walls, which take a little preparation to pull off. If a runner can turn-1 break into your HQ then you’re vulnerable to being repeatedly Account Siphoned. While you try to get back on your feet the runner will rummage through your hand and your R&D. An OAI’d Curtain Wall will save you, but those same runners might derez or trash the darn thing. Note to Runners: if you can, you WANT to derez or trash the darn thing because in that situation I REALLY want those 14 credits. Against Andromeda, I’d give serious consideration to double icing HQ (Quandary + Ice Wall FTW) and just accepting a turn of her running amok in R&D. Once you have a little money to begin with, you can bounce back from Siphons and Vamps pretty quickly by rezzing HQ ice, The Root, and any Wisps during the run, and then bouncing them back to hand until your credit pool has stabilized. And note that unlike other traps, a rezzed Wisp will fire even if you’re broke. Also, while it may be tempting to create a scoring server immediately, I’d recommend taking your time and icing up things up first; you’re vulnerable early on so cover that weakness.
.
Blackmail: I have yet to run into one of these decks, but you will be swimming in bad publicity so in theory a runner could only run your remote with Blackmail. This would leave your ice unrezzed and making your Wisps and Troubleshooters worthless, thus leaving your agenda undefended. This would be a headache but you can work around it. You’ve got a LOT of tiny agendas as well as a lot of stuff that can pose as agendas, so when facing Blackmail you stop going vertical and go horizontal instead. Build two or three remotes, each with a single card protected by a single ice. Then they have to play your shell game, hoping they Blackmail the correct server. Alternatively, you could OAI some ice and NOT bounce it back to your hand. Keep this up until they’ve run out of Blackmails or you’ve managed to actually rez a decent remote.

4 Likes