That’s the dream! I’ve managed to get Caprice on HQ and OTG + Breaker Bay out of Blue Sun but never got fast track in on the combo. I think a semi-realistic defensive upgrade might look something like this:
Private Data Vault
Weyland Upgrade:
Rez: 3 Trash: 3 Inf: 3
Install only in a Remote Server.
Whenever there is a successful run on this server, you may pay up to 5 credits. As an additional cost to access a card in this server during this run, the runner must pay the same number of credits.
I’m not quite sure about the rez/trash ratio, but I think this would allow Weyland to actually leverage their cash to protect an agenda. It also protects the upgrade which is nice.
Although… I really do like patchitects in Gagarin. There’s loads of other good targets for patch (Spiderweb, Datapike, maybe Tour Guide), so I don’t feel like its a wasted slot if I don’t see my architects. I think there might be something there.
I’ve gone with Root/Expo Grid to help recoup some of the costs. I don’t run enough expensive assets besides The Root to justify it. Its pretty sick with Oaktown Renovation in order to score an agenda and also get 8 credits. Here’s the list I was playing tonight:
Interesting that you cut Atlas. I have been thinking about doing the same once the drip 4/2 neutral comes out. Also interesting to see only 2 Jackson, since he turns on Expo Grid. I guess the EBC helps
You could definitely switch the NAPDs for Atlas if you are more aggressive but having to get through an Ash trace or running twice to then pay 5 credits to steal an agenda helps on the economic front. With this in mind, I haven’t found it very hard to make heaps of cash while most runners struggle. I’m not sure what I would cut for the 3rd Jackson but I haven’t been missing him while playing. EBT is pretty much to find the the Root or Corporate Town depending on the matchup.
Patch has been a very clutch card. Patchitect is absolutely awful to deal with and a spiderpatch (need to get a better name) or datapatch also form a pretty effective tax depending on what the runner brought to the table for a decoder.
It’s interesting, but I can’t really think of a good reason not to cut Chronos and a Food and something for at least 2x Atlas and a 3rd Jackson, which will help you find the Food when you have a chance to score it.
why do people keep playing paywall implementation in gagarin? it seem counterintuitive, as u really want to ice up centrals in gagarin and u discourage run on remotes anyway due to id ability. am i missing something?
I think the idea is that you do as much as possible to get the most value out of people running your remotes as possible. However, I actually took Paywall out of my Gagarin because I found it did too much to disincentivize people from running my remotes. There’s a point in the game where I really want people checking my shit, and Paywall gives them another reason not to.
I played this last night against jinteki meta (so take that as you wish) and it felt quite solid. Don’t cut the Atlas. Weyland is all about scoring windows so if you open one, you want to Fast Track I/A that Atlas like there’s no tomorrow! BBG Root is quite nice and BBG Ash is always amazing. If I have to use it on a PAD Campain, that still saves me 2 credits. I could try out Expo Grid, but BBG Ash is far too good.
I’m really curious about these decks. Some questions (while probably mixing the two decks up, but still…)
1 ) How’s the Noise matchup? Neither have CVS, but a lot of Parasite-fodder ICE. Certainly for the deck with only two Jacksons, how do you fend off the Noise – he’s not rich but Parasite makes for easy trashing.
2 ) Val DLR type match ups? Minh MaxX, Apocalypse or anything with heavy central pressure, Account Siphon or Apocalypse. Certainly the deck with no Crisium seems weak here, but in general the ICE mix doesn’t present as strong a early challenge to successful runs as I’d maybe hope for (Wormhole requires set up, Architect can be run through if you don’t care about access but want effects, Archer needs food, Assassin can come down to traces and is expensive to rez).
3 ) Why no Meru Mati? Seems a decent barrier to swap for one of the Ice Walls at least?
Well, in my case: I first want to get a feel about which cards feel essential in the deck and which I can do without. I’ll make the relevant switches when I get more games in. You can play around Siphon without Crisium (The Root gives you a nice way to duck under), just have to be more careful about your credit totals at all times. Architect is great tech against Apocalypse. Noise matchup is baaad without CVS, I’ll definitely give you that.
As for Meru Mati: Ice Wall has the same general utility at 1 credit cheaper and Spiderweb is all-around more useful than these two. I’ve been really underwhelmed by Meru Mati everytime I put it in a deck…
I agree with this, I’ve tried to slot it lots of times but it always ends up getting cut, it’s just not good enough on HQ (the server you care about the least in the majority of games) to justify the extra cost over Ice Wall anywhere else. The difference in quality to the other factions server-specific ice is really embarrassing.
Just want to pick up on this. How so? You get to keep it, but your Root, assets and all the other stuff disappears. Doesn’t feel like much of an answer in a deck that wants to build board state?
Well, they lost all their stuff as well at that point and also quite a lot of money if you built your board right. Architect lets you recover faster than they can usually because they can’t really run it until they find another answer for it. This of course depends on where you put it down, but chances are you put an Architect on either RnD or HQ.
I really don’t know how any of these lists survive the Crim matchup either. I experimented extensively with Gagarin, and while I got it to the point of having a good Kate and a reasonable Noise matchup, Crim was a real struggle.
