I’m still very new to netrunner (about 5 weeks since I picked up the game I think) and have signed up to play in my first tournament in a couple of weeks. I know I’m coming last but I would like to put up at least a little challenge and was hoping I could get some feedback on my Wayland deck I’m planning on taking.
15 influence spent (maximum 15)
22 agenda points (between 22 and 23)
54 cards (min 45)
Cards up to The Underway
The data packs I’ve got to choose from are…
Core x 2, Creation and Control, Honor and Profit, Order and Chaos
What Lies Ahead
Trace Amount
Cyber Exodus
A Study in Static
Humanity’s Shadow
Future Proof
Second Thoughts
Mala Tempora
True Colors
Upstalk
The Spaces Between
Up and Over
The Valley
The Underway
I’d especially like feedback on the Ice as I’m really not sure about what I should be looking to take
On first glance it looks like you don’t have quite enough econ and you ICE in general is expensive. Definitely cut Orion and Woodcutter, they are a waste of money for sure.
TBH, I suggest looking up a winning decklist on netrunnderdb.com and modifying it for what cards you do not have. Most Weyland decks are using mostly old cards anyways so it shouldn’t bee too hard.
The other issue is your deck size. The normal CCG wisdom is that a smaller deck is more efficient, so in most games you tend to play as close to the minimum allowed unless there’s a good reason not to. In Netrunner that good reason is that you can minimise the agenda density by playing a larger deck, which reduces the chance of the runner hitting agendas with random accesses from R&D or HQ. As such most corps tend to play at 49 cards, which is the upper limit for the smallest deck size range.
I can’t really advise on ICE as I’m not totally sure what packs each ICE comes in. Definitely lose Woodcutter though. It looks really attractive on paper, but the reality is that the advancement mechanic is slow an inefficient and Woodcutter’s strength is too low so it dies to insta-Parasite.
Apologies I missed the ID from the list, I’m using Blue Sun for the deck.
I’ve been trying to stay away from just pulling a deck from the net, instead I’d rather learn why certain choices should be included / not included. I played a couple of games with this deck last night and ended up buried in money one game and starving for credits another. Thanks for the tips on Orion and Woodcutter
Even if you want to build your own version at the end of it, I’d strongly advise looking at some successful Weyland scorch decks online to get some ideas. There are a lot of decks with good write-ups and explanations for the card choices on netrunnerdb which would probably help a lot.
A few things that particularly stand out to me and that haven’t already been covered:
Housekeeping is pretty bad, and doesn’t really fit with the deck. There aren’t really any runner currents that will bother you, so you don’t need one of your own. Ditch 'em to help get down to 49 cards.
As with most Blue Sun decks, you have Oversight AI to allow you to rez big ice and return it to hand for huge profits - but your only decent target is Orion, which is the easiest giant ice for the runner to break and deny you your OAI money. These should probably be swapped for Curtain Walls (just checked, it’s in True Colors so you should have it )
Chimera is really only suitable for a rush deck - as soon as the runner has 3 breakers out it is utterly useless. Given that most of your economy is asset or OAI based, which takes time to pay off or needs a combo to fire, you’re unlikely to be in a financial position to be trying to score agendas in the period of the game when Chimera is useful, and it’s absolutely horrid on a central server as the runner can keep hitting it and forcing you to pay every turn. These should definitely go too. Given that you have absolutely no Code Gates right now I’d drop a couple of Datapikes in their spots so you can force the CG breaker at a relatively low cost.
Have you considered Government Takeover? It pairs very well with Punitive Counterstrike and would give you another slot back to help get down to 49.
It’s kind of ironic that you don’t want to pull a deck from online. You’re going to a forum where the people advising you are likely to be the ones winning with those decks you don’t want to copy!
Also, it’s spelled Weyland.
Snark aside, you’re likely to be poor in this deck, when you need to be rich for scorch or punitive. Why only two hedge funds? A lot of your ice is geared for rushing, like chimera, but that doesn’t really fit with the agenda suite in my opinion. You’re likely to go broke defending a remote to score. Chimera is also a nonbo with blue sun, and is terrible against faust too, which is all the rage.
First off, I (along with others, clearly) would really, really encourage you to check out established decks, at least to get some ideas. It is “way” faster to learn why card choices are good by playing them that by trying to needlessly re-create all the trial and error that hundreds of players have already gone through to refine deck archetypes. The instinct that it’s “cheating” to netdeck is a pervasive one, but ultimately a wrong one. Almost all competitive decks are community collaborations in one way or another; no one is tallying your Originality Points, especially not if “originality” means “sub-par.”
If you’re determined, though, a few easy fixes in bullet point format:
drop down to 49 cards, period. some cards will always be better than others for a certain deck; bigger deck sizes almost always simply mean your deck is stuffed with “runner-up cards.”
when you do, make sure to change your agenda composition. The cleaners seems strong but is actually usually quite terrible; it only actually helps if it reduced the number of times you need to deal damage to flatline; almost all the time it does not do this (to mention the fact that scoring a 5/3 before you kill them is a tall order). Atlas on the other hand is one of the best agendas in the game- almost every faction would run 3 copies if they could!
seems asset heavy to me. have you looked at executive boot camp? it allows you to find copies of econ cards reliably (in addition to comboing well with blue sun for ice-repositioning), which in turn allows you to run fewer assets. I’d drop the melange and pads in favor of going up to 3 hedge funds and 3 retructures (from second thoughts, great for blue sun as you can bounce ICE to get back up to 10 credits). with EBC you could also consider going to one copy of adonis to save influence for tollbooths or ash.
drop housekeeping (it’s taking up space for more useful cards)
drop bastion (your other barriers do this job better)
drop woodcutter (terrible, terrible card)
drop guard (very weak card for the rez cost, just about every breaker out there beats it for 1 credit.
drop orion in favor of 3 curtain walls. you want a crazy big ICE (for oversight AI) that’s a b***ch to break, curtain wall is your buddy. plus orion’s advance-to-rez ability is dead weight in a blue sun deck.
other ICE to consider: code gates. where are your code gates? at least throw in some enigmas. tollbooth is great if you can find the influence. Wormhole is great if you need a big in-faction code gate. For sentries, I suppose Nebula is playable (you don’t have grim and no influence left for the likes of Ichi) to force the runner to find a solution for a tough sentry. Also take a look at changeling to help you “gear check” for sentries.
I’ve listened and looked at a few Blue Sun decks online and almost all of them tally with the advice given here. I’ve scrapped this deck and will start again following 1 of the better netdecks I’ve come across with a couple of subs.
You were right Voltorocks in that it felt a little like cheating but I can see the wisdom in it.
I agree with everything said here, except I think Orion is awesome in blue sun because it’s something the runner has to deal with, and is generally worth 8 credits with corroder or whatever, if you can find a cheap ice to go on top of it, it’s a great oai target along side curtain wall. I of course, haven’t won any tournaments, but that’s a personal choice, and one I will soon be shedding. Just you wait world. That being said, if you need a good code gate gear check, wendigo is great for this purpose.
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