I believe the attitude to build with Kim is that he is a foil to combo decks without relying on cards to do so. So build with the understanding that you just need to be able to hit HQ in a certain number of corp draws to take that away.
Kim’s strength as a runner is not fixed. It floats according to corp trends
I think this is really insightful, and why i think hactivist meeting works very well in kim. If asset based econ becomes too costly, then switch to ops. Resctriction of corp choices is what kim offers rather than increasing the runners choices. I mean this is the subtle side of kim, the raw power side is the built in imp, but as other IDs have arguably more raw power the subleties of his ability can sometimes be overshadowed.
Still need a way to get accesses though.
And which runner doesnt? If mean you mean you need a lot more with Kim for his ability to become good then yeah, i agree with that.
The first point is true, but Kim’s impact is still quite real in non-combo matchups. Also, don’t overfocus on HQ.
And he sure as hell jumps up and down - he’s like Whizzard in that regard.
This so much. Kim’s an incidental chaos/disruption generator, not the one thing you’ve built the deck around.
Getting accesses is not hard. You need medium extremely early to force the Corp to defend it sufficiently or suffer the consequences, and keep them on the back foot. It is a high-pressure deck like Gabe, except your accesses have a higher chance for disruption vs. HQ (r&d being random, HQ being controlled and shaped by the Corp), and while Gabe must build for HQ, he has to build for R&D as well.
Scrubber, SMC, Clone Chip, Inject, money. This is all you need to hit R&D hard and fast. Be aggressive enough that scoring an agenda is going to mean a 7-card dig on R&D, your hammer will deny the Gift or Hedge Fund, Scrubber will take out the Adonis/MHC/Sundew.
Design your deck and adjust your playstyle to break ice on R&D for cheaper than the Corp can install and rez new ice there; make them purge, make them click for credits. You intercept Ash, Caprice, Jackson, and all Operations by building to focus R&D. If I’m given the chance I’ll SMC a second Medium and just go nuts.
Kim’s ability only works if you’re accessing. So build a deck that does that, lots, and fast, or you’re better off playing Shaper.
I’d happily put Ed in the same class as Gabe and Whizzard. All three of them are playable and powerful in the right matchups and with the right deck, they’re just not as solid and reliable as some of the other IDs in the same factions as them.
Fair. If you prize reliability, then yeah these guys aren’t up your alley.
I’ve actually found Kim to be surprisingly relevant in a lot of matchups where I thought it wouldn’t matter. Even RP has some ops that they’ll miss.
And, eventually, he’ll build a rig and hammer R&D for the win…
I’m extremely sorry that this was ignored. Also, Edward Kim yada yada.
FYI taking a kim build to a regional this weekend. Its pretty basic SMC + credits Ed, but ill post the list and a breakdown of how it did after the weekend.
Good luck and godspeed friend! I’m taking my build to regionals May 16 as well.
If Ed is good anywhere its probably in the UK where people are playing the Punitive Government deck, and tend to include Scorched in Blue Sun decks.
Or in the U.S. meta where they play Gift, Hedge, & Interns 
Honestly people, Plascrete is not a straight swap for Kim.
Hedge and Gift aren’t going to sit in the hand long enough for Kim to go and get them
Very true. Butcher Shop NEH keeps getting an outing as well. I cant help think that the set up times of RP and the reliance on celebrity gift, sometimes ELP, also make it a fairly strong matchup.
Also, i still pack plascrete AND ive had worse.
The idea is you hit them out of RND before they get to HQ.
Really, this thread + playtesting opened my eyes to Kim somewhat. He doesnt need massive HQ multi access, he needs RND multi and strong HQ access (sneakdoor is something i still want to try and fit in).
That helps but I see Kim’s ability as really helping you when it pressures HQ as well as RnD. This is why its more useful against Midseasons and Biotic decks. Trashing some stuff out of RnD isn’t making great use of his ability because you’re not denying the corp all that much - they’ll draw a new card instead.
Yeah exactly, central pressure on both RND and HQ otherwise its better in Noise. But if your game is at the point where the corp is poor you want to go after RND to pop the ops before they are in hand.
Just to clarify im not disagreeing with you. I think in a meta which is more op heavy Kim is going to be stronger, and part of that requires hitting HQ early. The way i think about it is MaxX’s ability can fire up to 12-13 times a game, Kate’s about 15, Noise about 12-13 again. Kim’s ability only fires for every op the corp has, and even then only the ones you access.
Something like NEH midseasons or Blue Sun scorch will be pooling its kill cards in HQ true, so to get Kim to fire you need to focus there, but its also about balance, and for something like RP glacier or vegan Blue Sun glacier, you want to punish RND to get the hedges, gifts and OAI’s out of the way before they are in HQ and out of reach.
This isn’t true. It’s not random mills. Denying operations from R&D typically means the corp is poorer.
Gift isn’t always straight forward to play for value. If Ed gets a gift it’s massive.
My experience of playing Ed is that corp players hide Midseasons Replacements in their sleeves. You’ll never access it until you’re on match point.
On the other hand if you access a non econ operation off RnD you might end up helping them draw into their econ if you trash it. I’m not saying its not useful, its just that you shouldn’t overrate how good doing that is, given that you can’t rely on that being what Ed Kim’s ability is doing for you.