Runner decks for the risk adverse

So I came to the realization that after playing Netrunner for two years. I know nothing about playing the runner.

I’ve been playing a Andy Parasite deck, but I’m beginning to see that ID isn’t really working for me.

Mostly, because my opening turn is spending more time on playing cards from my opening hand to prevent dumping cards in the heap. More often than not, I’ll put down breakers I don’t need (and end up never really using) and I’ll be very cautious with my runs on successive turns to avoid taking damage or losing resources. On top of that I’m terrible with the money I do have, so I’ll constantly make runs and not have enough to trash anything or the 4 extra bits for NAPD contract. Run based economies don’t seem to work too well for me.

I’ve tried other decks that were mostly gimmicks which either were too slow (Blackguard-based decks) or too ineffective (Renia/Rook/Xanadu) I’ve had some ideas on a smear deck, where the runner is giving corps bad pub, to short circuit NAPD contracts.

I want to like this game, I sort of have a handle of what I like playing on the corprate side. (Mostly variations on Weyland Supermodernism, but I may give Jinkteki or Glacier decks a try, I’m not a fan or Fast Advance)

I’m not looking for a deck that “Wins all of the time”, I’m just looking for something I can feel comfortable using, that at least challenges the corp player in some way.

I had similar issues with Andy. I switched to Kate and have been much more comfortable. Check out the Shaper Control Decks thread. :slight_smile:

If you are risk averse, play Shaper (SMC, Deus X, Sharpshooter, and Clone Chip) or Criminal with three Faerie. The thread that Ajar mentioned is definitely a good place to start.

Some of the kate pre-paid voice pad decks can also be a bit inconsistent though- draw the voice pads or the econ too late in the game and it can be very frustrating. Chaos theory with magnum opus is a fairly stable economy, with good consistency because of the smaller deck size, and access to tutors, sharpshooter, and so on. Worth a try, I would think, and rewards a slightly more patient play style.

It’s only pushing 500 posts. :laughing:

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its my favorite thread, hands down

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I am also quite risk adverse as a runner and I play anarchs… it is difficult finding a deck I am comfortable with to say the least… and I play netrunner since nearly the beginning, too, and feel the same way, I have a good grip on playing corp… but runner eludes me.

In case people were curious this is what I ended up putting together:

Chaos Practice (40 cards)

Chaos Theory: Wunderkind

Event (16)
2 Demolition Run •••• 1 Indexing 1 Levy AR Lab Access 3 Quality Time 3 Scavenge 3 Sure Gamble 3 Test Run
Hardware (7)
3 Clone Chip 2 CyberSolutions Mem Chip 2 R&D Interface
Resource (2)
2 Kati Jones
Icebreaker (6)
1 Atman 1 Corroder •• 1 Deus X 1 Femme Fatale 1 Sharpshooter 1 Torch
Program (9)
1 Imp ••• 3 Magnum Opus 1 Nerve Agent •• 3 Self-modifying Code 1 Sneakdoor Beta •••

Built with http://netrunner.meteor.com/

The overall; idea is be able to pressue the centrals especially HQ with multiaccess card destruction. Shaper runners tend to be R&D focused, aside from the ones that spalsh account siphon. I use Nerve agent to pressure HQ playing destruction run or imp to trash.

When upstalk comes out I’ll swap the memory chips for Leprechaun. Although in practice I tend to scavenge out the programs I need. Being able to scavenge Torch for a Femme really throws the corp for a loop when they think they have a scoring window.

I know it has no plascrete, but I didn’t have a lot of room in the deck.

I’m sort of eager for suggestions. Something to keep the corp poor would probably help, but Siphon would be a tough fit in this deck.

So I saw this online on twitter. A 25-0 deck in the FFG’s internal competition. We all know now FFG is a great corp with a lot of bad publicity :smiley: , so a Iain blackmail deck is fitting.

ID: Iain Stirling
Programs:
2 Passport
2 Alias
1 Breech
1 Corroder
1 Sneakdoor Beta
Hardware:
2 Logos
3 HQ Interface
Resources:
2 Kati Jones
2 Mr. Li
2 Public Sympathy
3 Same Old Thing
2 Source
Events:
3 Forged Activation Order
3 Account Syphon
3 Blackmail
2 Frame Job
3 Sure Gamble
3 Infiltration
3 Inside Job
2 Emergency Shutdown

What do you guys think of this deck?

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I find kit to be an interesting idea for the risk adverse as you can rely on your decoder to do most of the heavy lifting (until you get your sentry breaker) alongside the general shaper benefits for that playstyle.

Agree with what’s been said re: Shaper, lots of tools for dealing with the various forms of damage; Plascrete covers Meat ofc but Shapers also get Feedback Filter for Net/Brain, alongside Deus X stopping all sorts of AP ice and Net Damage. But I would also add that I’ve found the best card for the risk averse is Indexing, so I would definitely consider running as many of those as possible (my “Shaper-lite” package is 2x Indexing and 1x R&D Interface).