I’ve been experimenting with stealth post-MWL some as well, but I’ve generally found that having loads of real money/vanilla breakers has been more reliable. That said stealth Andy has always been good.
Guys, news flash. NEH doesn’t even run any sentries right now. Most just have Data Raven/Turnpike and Swordsman. You can often go the whole game never installing your killer, especially if they are going really fast.
Before you bash the match-up, actually play some games against NEH. In that match-up you have INFINITE MONEY. If they put LE/Arch on R&D you can legit just passport through one of them.
People are just generally awful as playing against NEH when they don’t have dedicated hate. But now that they don’t have NAPD contract, racing them on accesses is a totally legitimate plan.
11 Likes
This is 100% false. Many people are still running Architect, and 3 NAPD out of NEH. Plus with temple builds they’re getting out Tollbooths for cheap and can play around Siphon pretty well.
Can’t say I’ve ever played against a NBN player with Architect in the MWL era, but if I did, I would know they weren’t running any meat damage, which is a great thing to know when you’re Crim.
I just went undefeated at a SC with the above-mentioned cards and I know a lot of top-tier players who are running a list that runs Architect and NAPD.
I love that you said that because:
- It is often true, and a good reason to rush NEH ICE to force rez
- My NEH deck runs 2x Rototurret, but everyone 100% expects it. I want to trash more often.
2 Likes
This is why Anarch continues to dominate, because people get “clever” and still have cards in their deck that are horrible against parasite. If you are in a meta that has PROPERLY ADAPTED to Anarch’s tier 0 status, then Stealth Andy is a good choice. If everyone is clinging to their big barriers and random rotos for no reason, then stick with parasite and d4 until they get the message.
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Yeah, not saying it doesn’t happen, just that I haven’t seen Architect in NEH this year. My main point was that once you see Architect it’s probably safe to go tag me with Crim, unless you’ve already used your siphons and are going to need sec testing and kati for econ.
I’ve been playing Andy again (kind of a throwback Sucker Andy) recently, to take a break from my constant struggles to make Reg MaxX work again. I’ve been really enjoying it, and winning the majority of my games on Jinteki so far. I was talking with Zach Cavis about the deck, and he made a suggestion to try a card that I scoffed at at first, then tried, and have loved. Cutting 1x Faerie for a Gingerbread. In the testing I’ve done it actually has done a lot of work for me. You realize how many annoying pieces of ICE have the tracer subtype.
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Resistor, Ichi bros, Archangel, Assassin, Turnpike. Oh does the list go on!
1 Like
Very interesting however I would argue that gingerbread doesn’t actually break most tracers very efficiently.
Ichi 1.0- $5
Archangel- $5 (same as just beating the trace)
Turnpike- $4 (counting encounter)
It shines against str 5 sentries though!
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I’m pretty sure that the usefulness isn’t so much that it’s particularly efficient at breaking, but that it’s a single breaker that gives you an answer to a lot of relavent ICE that’s still reasonably efficient.
Kinda like criminal’s version of Faust. (lol)
Absolutely nothing like Criminal’s version of Faust. :’(
3 Likes
The point isnt that it can break Tracers efficiently. The point is that breaking it is still better than paying the trace and also its a better breaker in tandem with Faeries or Mongoose.
Also account for that link. Ichi 1.0 can be a 4 credit break.
But yes, if anything its Criminal Eater.
So basically you’re looking at it like a pseudo-AI that solves ice across the three main types? In that respect I think understand the value, thank you.
1 Like
I’m seeing a lot of Faust-hate-ETF run buckets of gross tracer sentries (Vikram, Assassin, Ichi). Earlier, I thought that stacked sentries weren’t going to be a big issue for Mongoose, but I’m running into its limitation more and more against ETF - whose most popular iterations are, right now, tough match-ups for a lot of criminal builds.
Gingerbread does quite well against Vikram and Assassin, and when I see stacked Ichi I’ll just click twice and pay through the trace on one. I think it would pair really well with Mongoose, because when are you going to see multiple sentries without a tracer one?
I dunno, I’ll give it a shot. I really hate giving up a Faerie though.
1 Like
2nd and 3rd place in Belgian and Greek Nationals actually. But yes, it is quite powerful.
The success of blue decks at the moment is very variable and very much dependent on circumstances. The meta at the moment does need a fair amount of speed. Even against foodcoats, you can lose if you allow the corp to get the end-game value through assets on remotes.
Blue does have quite a few tricks up the sleeve to stop all of that and no, the answer is not “always siphon”. I’ve found that, personally, what allows me to be able to go against fast and slow corp decks is a fairly good balance of both cheap and gimmicky cards in my deck. Card draw is of course key but even if you don’t have cards that allow you to draw, you should still be spending clicks for normal draw. That means that your cards would have to be useful and cheap though. In other words, minimize the amount of clicks you spend on other things.
2 Likes
4 for Assassin is pretty dope.
Uh, NEH runs Gutenberg sometimes too…But yeah, in that case you just wipe the tag and move on.
I did have an epiphany regarding Criminal though: It’s not that Desperado is the best Criminal console (which it is), it’s that all their others Suck. Like, a Lot. If you ranked all the consoles, without regard for their influence cost, Desperado is in the top 5 at the very least (I think it’s probably 2nd or 3rd. It’s a very good general console, but a couple others legitimately enable entire strategies that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Still…) but the others are in the bottom 10. Blackguard is a laughing stock, Box-E doesn’t do anything, Logos and Doppleganger might be decent but in general they’re poor, Forger at least Geist loves it…
Look at other factions. Dinosaurus, Astrolabe, and now Maya in Shaper, with Toolbox and Monolith being the clunkers. Turntable, Grimoire and even Vigil in Anarch, and only Spinal Modem being unplayed…
They don’t need to MWL Desperado; they just need to print decent Crim consoles… But enough griping.
I’ve been trying out a Leela Gang Sign HQI build and … it’s not the worst thing ever. I did check; Put Faust in the initial build, but didn’t end up using it ever, so it isn’t just a pile of Faust Food… 
I feel like it’s unfocused right now, and also weak on economy. I want to avoid situational econ like SecTest or Bank Job. (Which also rules out High-Risk) I’d been testing without Gambles, but I think I’m going to need to add them back. Feint is being used to make Crisium knock it off, and can sometimes Feint - Shutdown an annoying ICE. I’m trying out Film Critic+NACH to see if it works, even though it neuters Leela’s ability a bit.
Here’s the list, but it’s super rough:
Ganger Leela
Leela Patel: Trained Pragmatist (All That Remains)
Event (17)
3x Account Siphon (Core Set)
1x Drive By (The Underway)
2x Emergency Shutdown (Cyber Exodus)
1x Feint (Honor and Profit)
3x Hostage (Opening Moves)
3x Inside Job (Core Set)
1x Legwork (Honor and Profit)
1x Levy AR Lab Access (Creation and Control) [color=#32CD32]•••[/color]
2x Special Order (Core Set)
Hardware (6)
2x Desperado (Core Set) [color=#4169E1]☆☆[/color]
2x HQ Interface (Humanity’s Shadow)
2x Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead)
Resource (14)
1x Data Dealer (Core Set)
2x Film Critic (Old Hollywood) [color=#32CD32]••[/color]
3x Gang Sign (The Underway)
1x Kati Jones (Humanity’s Shadow)
1x Mr. Li (Future Proof)
3x New Angeles City Hall (Future Proof)
3x Same Old Thing (Creation and Control)
Icebreaker (6)
1x Corroder (Core Set) [color=#FF4500]••[/color]
3x Faerie (Future Proof)
1x Gordian Blade (Core Set) [color=#32CD32]•••[/color]
1x Mongoose (Kala Ghoda)
Program (2)
1x Medium (Core Set) [color=#FF4500]•••[/color]
1x Sneakdoor Beta (Core Set)
13 influence spent (max 15-2☆=13)
45 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Kala Ghoda
Deck built on NetrunnerDB.