[Kate] Redefining Shaper Control Decks

Deck Archetypes
2436

El-ad is packing deus - while a shitty way to deal with swordsman, it should do to get through and land the apoc, no?

2437

Indeed, but the swordsman gear check slowed the deck down a lot - probably sub-optimal play on my part but needing to get/recur Deus X in addition to other breakers left me short on turns when I would have really liked to apocalypse.

Against post-MWL NBN it didn’t seem an issue - their ice is flimsy so swordsman isn’t a huge additional cost, but combined with beefier stuff like HB ice or stacked weyland destroyers or caprice/crisium on a central I think you want mimic to get through that swordsman multiple times.

2438

Pretty exciting to see people playing Apoc Kate. I took it to the Gamer’s Gambit Store Championship (23 players), it ended up 3-1 in Swiss, only losing to @SimonMoon who is on RP and knows me and my playstyle really well. It then went 1-1 in Elim, again losing to @SimonMoon. I’m going to try a few anti-RP ideas: replacing a Zu with a Gordian, and adding 1x Escher and 1x Film Critic.

As you pointed out, NEH (and any yellow, actually, including Sync and Haarps kill) are excellent matchups. As such, I do not think that the deck requires Clot. I actually dropped it long before the MWL, it is simply unnecessary. No current fast-advance deck can handle the Indexing recursion.

The version I took to Gamer’s Gambit had 1x Mimic, 1x DJ. The DJ was fine, but the Mimic was not needed. I replaced an Atman with that Mimic and needed a second Atman in one of my games. I’m back to 1x LF, 2x Atman, no Mimic.

I agree that one of the reasons I added Mimic is to address Swordsman. Having it trash your Str5 Atman is annoying. Personally I think that timing the Apoc turn correctly and using Sharpshooter/Deus X should be enough, but it could be a matter of playstyle.

I also testing Hunting Grounds for a few games, did not like it. Sync is not really a problem so dodging Data Raven/Turnpike/Pop-up Window is not worth it, and I felt that Hunting Grounds doesn’t have enough oomph versus Grail. YMMV.

3 Likes
2439

I played a similar to el-ad’s apocalypse Kate yesterday in a GNK.
It went 4-0 against 2RP (who all aware of apoca) 1NEH and 1ETF with 2crisium.
(including 1 loseable time win against RP, apoca failed but sniped 2nisei out of remote…I mean I have to win psi games at some point right. :confused: )
RP is tough, I’m looking forward to political operative to replace the lucky find.

Event (18)
3 Apocalypse ●​●​●​●​●​●​●​●​●​
3 Diesel
3 Dirty Laundry
3 Indexing
1 Levy AR Lab Access
1 Lucky Find ●​●​
1 Quality Time
3 Sure Gamble

Hardware (6)
2 Astrolabe
1 Bookmark
3 Clone Chip ○​○​○​

Program (14)
2 Atman
1 Cerberus “Lady” H1 ○​
1 Inti
1 Deus X
3 Hyperdriver
3 Self-modifying Code
1 Sharpshooter
2 ZU.13 Key Master

Resource (7)
3 Aesop’s Pawnshop
3 Daily Casts
1 Symmetrical Visage

During my test, my only loss on Jinteki was actually flatlined by chum+swordsman… so I tried to put in an actual killer(Mimic/Chameleon) and feel unnecessary in the games after. El-ad and I also tested hunting ground, I still think 1of could be a good tool, but it wasn’t doing much in our testing so we all took it out :frowning: .

I can’t image how to find apoca in time with only 2 in the deck though, but sometimes it sucks if i have 2-3 early and don’t want to discard any to remind my opponent. So I added bookmark in my deck to host my aesops/apoca/clonechip/extra indexing. It also opens up stimhack as an option since we won’t lose important cards to it. I’ve been liking it. But el-ad said it’s too slow =[.

8 Likes
2440

Its just such a conceptually elegant idea: Shaper’s need to spend influence to impact the corps installs, so why settle for less than the biggest board-smasher there is?

2441

I found Bookmark slow in other contexts. I never tested it in this deck. If it’s working, that’s great.

2442

I’m actually playing this list and it’s the first time i’m actually happy with a proco.dec It’s basically shaper bullshit + faust with a tons of draws and a lot of $$

FaustKate with Hyperdriver

Kate “Mac” McCaffrey: Digital Tinker (Core Set)

Event (18)

Hardware (7)

Resource (8)

Icebreaker (7)

Program (6)

9 influence spent (max 15-6☆=9)
46 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Kala Ghoda

Deck built on NetrunnerDB.

Some cards could be tuned for specific matchups, like deus X if those Janus Blue Sun or PE/IG kill become super popular, Notoriety if HB Food is still everywhere or Film Critic if there’s a lot of RP.

10 Likes
2443

I’ve been playing with the third hyperdriver over random stuff, and it’s really good. That card is nutty in here.

2444

Since yesterday, i’ve dropped the Scavenge for a singleton Notoriety, but could actually be anything else (3rd hyperdriver, Critic, Deus X …)

4 Likes
2445

Not to deviate too much, but are you trying a shell like this in professor?

Prof seems like he would do great with this build as well.Trading some econ for medium, David and whatever else you like.

Thanks for the work you guys. I am pretty excited for pro co Shaper to actually take off a bit.

2 Likes
2446

I’ve been playing professor a lot post MWL. I’ve played him more than any other shaper. If you land an early Scheherezade, he’s fantastic (I run 2 as the 1 inf). I’ll try this shell out with him though, it’s not a bad idea.

2447

Don’t call it a comeback… :wink:

3 Likes
2448

What do you usually use Artist Colony for in here? Just a tech slot for SYNC/Butcher?

2449

Also good if you score an even number of 1 pointers from most decks. 2nd Breaking news usually doesn’t do much for you. Using it on 15 minutes is super MTG.

2 Likes
2450

its also quite good vs kill decks, if you can manage to score something before they try and kill you. (you can react after 1st scorch or traffic accident to sac points and pull out plascrete)

2451

Is it just an econ card here, giving you 3 clicks for 0-1 credits, or is there some other strong use for those clicks? With no Leprechaun, do you always fire it straight after install?

2452

I fire it immediately after install 9.5 times out of 10. It’s also an econ card most of the time, but it’s good vs. RP on turns you need to clean up some sundews, good vs SYNC to go check some data raven bullshit and have clicks to remove the tag, all kinds of stuff.

1 Like
2453

Artist Colony takes a hot dump on rush. And it provides a nice way to find Clot or Plascrete against all odds.

I’ve seen it used to great success in those Aesops Hayley decks which tended to have speed problems but crazy late game.

If you are really against it there is always Film Critic. RP is fairly popular in the top tables.

1 Like
2454

:hash: Bring it back.

Piloted Apoc Kate to 2nd at a SC yesterday. It preformed extremely well, going 5-1.

Katepocolypse (2nd, Uncles Bellevue SC)

Kate “Mac” McCaffrey: Digital Tinker (Core Set)

Event (19)
3x Apocalypse (Data and Destiny) [color=undefined]••••• ••••[/color]
2x Day Job (Order and Chaos) [color=#FF4500]••[/color]
3x Diesel (Core Set)
3x Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control)
3x Indexing (Future Proof)
1x Levy AR Lab Access (Creation and Control)
1x Quality Time (Humanity’s Shadow)
3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)

Hardware (4)
2x Astrolabe (Up and Over)
2x Clone Chip (Creation and Control) [color=#32CD32]☆☆[/color]

Resource (8)
3x Aesop’s Pawnshop (Core Set)
3x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)
1x Same Old Thing (Creation and Control)
1x Utopia Shard (All That Remains) [color=#708090]•[/color]

Icebreaker (8)
1x Atman (Creation and Control)
1x Cerberus “Lady” H1 (All That Remains) [color=#32CD32]☆[/color]
1x Chameleon (The Underway)
1x Cyber-Cypher (Creation and Control)
1x Deus X (A Study in Static)
1x Inti (Creation and Control)
1x Sharpshooter (True Colors)
1x ZU.13 Key Master (What Lies Ahead)

Program (6)
3x Hyperdriver (The Underway)
3x Self-modifying Code (Creation and Control)
12 influence spent (max 15-3☆=12)
45 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Data and Destiny

Decklist published on NetrunnerDB.

Card choices explained in the writeup. This deck is still good, especially in a field with no NEH. :open_mouth:

3 Likes
2455

Got 2nd in Portland this evening with @Calimsha 's Hyperdriver Kate, card for card. Thought about switching the tech up, but left it as is. The only game I dropped was due to really, really bad play from me in the final round. Had it in the bag; gave it away hard. Such is life! Deck’s solid as shit, though.

3 Likes