[Kate] Redefining Shaper Control Decks

Yes. MCA is a Terminal and you can trash the Beth and just play your second/third one. Trading click for click, 2 credits for 4 credits is probably fine when Beth does something useful if they don’t MCA her.

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I’ve been playing a mix of 2 Peace 2 Lucky Find for the econ package, I’m liking it so far but could be convinced to go back to 3x Lucky and free up a slot for some other great tool. Also seen a few people running Deuces with the typical LF package.

Initial generic stab in the dark.

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I’m ready to be wrong, but Peace in Our Time just doesn’t feel right in PPVP. Something about it only costing 1 feels like a waste. The influence is obviously better than Lucky Find, but the draw back of no run and having to money up well in advance of attempting to run gives me pause. Like I said, ready to be wrong/convinced though. It could just be the aesthetic part of my brain liking the 3 cost of Lucky Find equaling out to the 3 pads.

edit: forgot to add: Talking on PPVP as a whole, is Skorpios going to make this archetype worse?

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RE: Skorpios, it definitely makes a recursion based deck worse, but would be more of a reason to play multiple events in the same turn such that the corp player has more difficult decisions to make. Basically only play your biggest cards after they remove a card from the game it’s a bit of a chicken game where if you play something and they remove it, then play another card to have it be safe.

RE: LF vs PIOT, I find a mix of them to be the right call, too many PIOT and you feel locked into not running and giving the corp a bit too much power. But there are quite a few turns in each game where you want to just set up and it’s a great card that enables that.

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Here is a deck that was shared with me:

Event (19)

Hardware (9)

Resource (4)

Icebreaker (8)

Program (5)

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I’m kind of surprised that a few unique lists have been posted and none of them include Deuces Wild which seems like it should be a boon to PPVP Kate. It’s not quite as bursty as Lucky Find, but it offers a ton of flexibility for just a pip.

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Why when we have this: Build Script · NetrunnerDB

Just kidding obviously.

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I was testing with it last night. The problem is that it doesn’t effectively replace lucky find (not enough Econ). So you need to play luck find (or piot if you prefer) and then find influence and slots for it.

I run three deuces and one lucky, 2 clone chip rather than three, a beth and symmetrical, two savenge, and one cerberus and one inti, an R&D interface as well and one less makers. The deck is pretty solid, I run shriker as my sentry breaker

Event (20)

Hardware (9)

Resource (5)

Icebreaker (8)

Program (3)

5 Likes

I think you implied it by your math, but to make it more clear for anyone else. You don’t even have to trash Beth (via MCA) if you have another copy, because the informant copy get trashed via the unique rule.

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Actually I wasn’t taking into account install+play cost of the new Beth.

Just pointing out that if you want to avoid being Tagged (you probably do) then you can pay a tag clear cost while they paid a bit more for it…

So I had a stupid idea… PPVP was put on MWL before Security Nexus was printed. Is there a place where you could run PPVP Nexus Kate? I’d say the biggest obstacle is that PPVP econ is in direct opposition to Mopus Econ, which is what usually fuels Nexus Kate decks.

I think you just barely have enough influence to get it…

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They actually did coexist for awhile (D&D was out at worlds 15, MWL was Jan '16.).

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So the new MWL has shaper in flux. I have no idea what the best build is–smoke with temujin? Smoke with pre-paid? The return of pre-paid kate? But I came across an interesting package for a shaper control deck. There are a lot of silver bullet connections that shaper have access to. There’s film critic against mid-season or future perfect, political operative vs. foodcoats and palana, aaron against tagging decks. There are also a number of handy connections that can play a more general role-- kati jones if the game will go long, Beth, and maybe even professional contacts.

So my thought was, maybe there’s an argument for running a package of 1-ofs alongside a single hostage to find what you need. Something like

1x hostage
1x Aaron Marron
1x pol op
1x kati jones
1x Beth Killrain-Chang
1x professional contacts
1x film critic

That runs us 5 influence, but its very flexible and shores up a lot of matchups. The hostage gives us double the chance of finding whatever connection we need for the matchup. What do people think? Worth trying out in shaper control, or better to drop hostage and just run an extra copy of the silver bullet you expect to need given the meta?

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I like the idea a lot.

You may also consider Patron in place of Pro Co if you are running Temmy in Smoke.

But yeah, I really like this package. Should add some consistency to combat Hunter-Seeker as well.

2 Likes

I had success at a GNK last summer with a hybrid PPVP + stealth Kate deck. It works well against glacier decks but can also get some good burst economy to keep you afloat versus asset spam. That was before Net Mercur and some other stealth support cards came out, so I expect that it would run even more consistently now. That’s the direction I’m thinking of experimenting with Kate.

I think PPVP Kate warrants exploring, and Smoke + Temujin and/or other run-based economy will probably be a good place to look too.

Film Critic.

So, I love Hostage. Like, a lot. But, I feel it doesn’t fit well in Shaper. Because Artist Colony+Fan Site does the same thing, for no credit/click cost (other than installing the Fan Site/Colony in the first place) and can find anything.

My Sunny deck uses a Hostage + Silver Bullet sort of package, with 3x Hostage, 1x Aaron, 1x Proco, 1x Film Critic, 1x Beth, 2x John Masanori, 2x Jak Sinclair, 1x The Supplier. Supplier, Jak, and John may not translate to Shaper that well, but the other four are fine?

Though… Proco kinda requires a deck built around it. With the new resource in TD that stacks with Symmetrical Visage, I feel that’s a better direction to go in for the future. (Unless you’re dedicated to Connections and Hostage.)

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Hah, I just saw this post after having run around with a PrePaid Nexus Kate deck all this week. I’ve got to admit, the idea wasn’t mine; it is based on a deck that Noah McKee almost brought to Worlds before all of us in the house settled in on John’s Hate Bear deck. I figured since the influence on ppvp dropped, I’d go ahead and revamp the deck and see how it runs. I’ve had an absolute kick with it so far.

PPVP Nexus

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

Event (19)

Hardware (10)

Resource (9)

Icebreaker (5)

Program (3)

15 influence spent (max 15, available 0)
46 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Blood Money

Right now I’m at a dirty 46 cards because I’m indecisive about what to cut. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Been out of the game for a while. Why Shrike over Mimic? What Killers do you need it for, and is Architect really that hit by the MWL?
Also, is their any way to get a Parasite back in this list? How do you not feel naked without it?

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Ok, so here’s something I never really got before, and I got reminded of it again when I played two games and both times, PPVP was in the bottom half of my deck…

How does this deck explain away the idea of Install Order being a huge negative? If the deck doesn’t get PPVP before its events, it feels very sluggish… Maybe not as bad as Yogosaurus getting the Yog before the Dino, but… Same idea, different levels. (This same concept is a problem with Wyldside/Chronotype, though, again, less pronounced.)

Should I dig more aggressively for PPVP? (I used two QTs after I got the first PPVP looking for the second, pitching something like 6 cards…)
Should I just play the events without PPVP out and eat the credit difference? (Did that in the first game and was poor for the rest of the game…)