Smoke and Mirrors -- A Scovak Thread

Decklists
486

Also is clot worth the slot? Seems fast advance is out, but I really have no idea.

487

There’s a lot of FA playable plans now - Tennin, various Weyland builds out of BoN/Titan, also nearly every HB will play at least Vitruvius/Biotic and most NBN (if anyone plays them) will have a PsychoBeale as one of the way of closing the game.

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488

And Legwork beats all of them.

489

Except when it whiffs :smiley:

Clot is always an auto-include imho. Is so essential. And with 3 sac con it means it’s nearly permanent

490

Here is the Magnum Smoke list I’ve been playing around with:

Event (14)
1x "Freedom Through Equality"
3x Deuces Wild ●●●
3x Diesel
2x Indexing
2x Legwork ●●●●
3x Sure Gamble

Hardware (4)
1x Feedback Filter
3x Mirror

Resource (8)
2x Beth Kilrain-Chang
2x Ghost Runner
3x Net Mercur
1x Same Old Thing

Icebreaker (7)
1x Atman
1x Dagger
2x Paperclip ●●●●● ●
2x Refractor
1x Switchblade ●●

Program (8)
1x Cloak
1x Equivocation
3x Magnum Opus
1x Misdirection
2x Self-modifying Code

A draw engine of Diesel and Deuces Wild moves through the deck quick. Once Magnum, breakers, Net Mercur, and Mirror are up, continual draw isn’t a necessity. 2x of breakers are included for quicker setup as well as for the Skorpios and/or Batty match up. I decided to go with 1x Dagger and 1x Switchblade. Switchblade is probably better overall (especially against Komainu/Tour Guide), but the need for 2 stealth credits can be rough in the early game. Indexing and Equivocation are the R&D multi-access while 2x Legwork are the HQ multi-access. Same Old Thing can recur Indexing/Legwork in the net damage match up or in the late game. I included “Freedom Through Equality” instead of Mad Dash to double as the 7th point and the current, with slots being so tight. One current typically suffices. Since the most popular Corp current is Scarcity, this deck only has 8 resources and will only install, at most, five resources. Some games you can get by only installing one or two. I included 2x Ghost Runner since the days of running with Temujin Contract while loading up Mercur are over. Mirror as the console allows room for Magnum Opus while also replenishing a stealth credit after running on R&D. Atman, Feedback Filter, and Misdirection are tech slots versus Mother Goddess/Excalibur/Loki, net damage and HHN/tagstorm, respectively. Mopus serves as the econ engine and the tech slot against asset spam, where typical turns are Opus, Opus, trash asset, trash asset.

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491

I threw together my own take on your list, assuming the leaked ban list is real. The overarching idea is the same, with some differences. I did include Caldera, as you did later. Caldera over Feedback Filter because you don’t have to trash it to save you from that brain damage and I have an inf. I’m on Paperclip, mostly because I have the influence but I also like card slots. I’ve got Dirty Laundry in there for some more money, plus good ol’ Symmetrical Visage, a card that I forgot existed until tonight but really is just fantastic for econ in general. “Freedom Through Equality” in there as a counter-current plus for the extra point effect while using Equivocation, which is the only R&D multi-access because it’s: A) Really good multi-access B) Card slots!

Salsette Slums would be nice to have, I’ll have to keep an eye on if it’s worth going back to Dagger to slot it. I might go back to Dagger anyways, depending on how the Stealth Credit econ works out. Also, Dai V is one that I totally like, but it was a holdover from my old list where it was necessary for Tour Guide and Komainu. It might be better as an Atman with the Switchblade, but I will certainly hold on to it if I do go back to Dagger.

Edit: I forgot Potential Unleashed was a thing. Craaap. Losing a breaker off the top of R&D would be bad for business. Uh, probably need a Test Run slotted for retrieval. Not sure what to slot it over, but that’s a decent backup. Really makes me wish Sacrificial Construct said “Prevent an installed program from leaving play” :sunglasses:

Post-Banlist Smoke

Ele “Smoke” Scovak: Cynosure of the Net (Intervention)

Event (13)

Hardware (2)

Resource (13)

Icebreaker (4)

Program (8)

15 influence spent (max 15, available 0)
40 cards (min 40)
Cards up to Revised Core Set

Deck built on NetrunnerDB.

1 Like
492

I’ve come to the conclusion that Clone Chip is too important for the FA matchup, and can also help you through Obokota a bit, and also accelerates setup by recurring SMCs, and makes Tapwrm that much better vs. glacier… it’s more important than Film Critic. I’ve decided to drop the Film Critic and recursion event and go with Clone Chip as the restricted card with the leaked list.

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493

For me dropping Film Critic is very hard. While it’s true that cc helps vs Titan, I find that 3 sac cons keeps the clot lock going for enough time to enable you to steal their Atlases. I also play trope for added recursion, so after a while the corp just stops purging viruses and tries to bait me into some remote play with a facedown cvs installed in it. On the other hand, dropping Film Critic doesn’t help me at all vs NBN, all kinds of Jinteki and especially Skorpio where 3 sac cons are not enough, considering that most skorpio lists pack 3 best defense and can recur them with archive memories.

Anyway, that’s my list. All I have to say is that peace in our time and tapwrm are amazing, and so is Aumakua.

1 Caldera
3 Sure Gamble
3 Peace in Our Time
1 Aumakua
1 Refractor
3 Indexing
1 Clot
1 Dagger
1 Mad Dash
3 Net Mercur
1 Mirror
1 Beth Kilrain-Chang
2 Film Critic
1 Same Old Thing
1 Paperclip
3 Dirty Laundry
1 Equivocation
3 Self-modifying Code
3 Diesel
3 Sacrificial Construct
1 Trope
1 Tapwrm
1 Daredevil

494

<3 The list although I am a little surprised to see both Mirror and Daredevil in your list. Is this entirely because they are both matchup dependent?

495

WTF does Caldera do? Kakugo prevention? Why not just Knifed and more SOT? Has way wider applications in MUs.

I guess Knifed is 3inf vs Calsera’s 1, but… IDK. Caldera seems really bad to me. It’s so, so expensive.

496

You need a solution to Kakugo or Jinteki is an auto loss. Caldera is expensive, but also reliable if you have cash. Paying two out of smoke with net mercur isn’t that bad.

497

Caldera was the last pip of influence in that version of the deck - which now plays Feedback filter. FF or Caldera are crucial if you don’t want to lose to PU, PE or Kakugo

498

Psssst… Ankusa

499

It is certainly an option. I feel like you need Dedicated Processor really to leverage Ankusa and I am not entirely sure smoke wants that.

Ankusa helps you against Chiyashi and Seidr Adaptive Barrier. With that little touch from Dedicated Processor, its probably worth the effort, but again I am not sure Smoke is the place for it.

500

How is this deck faring with economy? Is Tapwrm + Peace + Visage enough sustained economy to keep you floating? I’m looking at your list and I just keep wondering how you don’t spend a lot of time clicking for credits, so either you run less economy cards than I personally prefer to, or I am grossly underestimating the utility of Tapwrm.

501

Well, he also has Sure Gambles, Daily Casts, and Net Mercur credits to use. The only thing he spends real credits on while running are barriers and Refractor subs, and he can use stealth credits for those occasionally as well. Really, once Smoke is set up, you require almost no real credits to function.

And yeah, Tapwrm is actually amazing economy, especially paired with Peace.

502

Tapwrm does a lot of work. It isn’t the easiest to set up, really, but once you’re up you’re on.

503

Tapwrm makes me a ton of money most games. It is really a versatile little economy card.

504

Tapwrm makes money? I thought it made the corp lose clicks

505

Peace and Tapwrm means that most games you will be filthy rich