I think there’s something to be said for a Cuj.0 if you can make use of the dead card it leaves behind. Perhaps when Salvager is out, or in some strange Aesops Noise build with the Anarch breakers that runs a lot. But the install cost is the same as Mimic, and it’s still a punch to the credit pool when you need to survive a sentry - which Faerie avoids. And it costs a lot to run through small sentries (especially Architect) - which Mimic avoids.
It seems it’s the worst part of Mimic (the install cost) and the worst part of Faerie (the transience) combined with additional cost to boost its strength.
In my experience, being able to play 3 Masanori somewhat makes up for the worse-than-mimic thing against NEH. Basically, I don’t think it’s THAT much worse. I still would only play stealth Andy if RP were popular at this point though.
I use Mimic x 1 + Sharpshooter x 1 + Deus Ex x 1 + Atman x 3 (out of Kate, on a 5 memory max rig, without any datasucker support) are my solutions to various sentries. Even without Datasucker support, you would be hard pressed to find sentries that really give this suite an issue.
The most problematic things for this are:
Flare - I dont want to Atman 6 vs NBN. The Deus is usually a dead card vs NBN though, so do it.
Archer - I will Atman 6 this, but thats hefty. Sharpshooter is meant to be a bail out card, not the usual solution.
Janus - Deus, because Atman 8 is super specific and I don’t want to unless I ABSOLUTELY have to.
Gemini - Atman 5 is a pain, but tends to be a good card vs Jinteki anyway with Thorns and Inazuma around.
Susanoo - Man, Single ice Atman Targets is a nightmare. I hate doing it.
Corporate Troubleshooter as a Card - I need Deus or Sharpshooter, since Atman before Troubleshooter is asking for trouble.
Will o the Wisp as a card - High value Atmans into a Will o Wisp really sucks. I had this happen 1 time… but it was on a Atman 6 thru an Archer. Made me frown.
If you wanna try this suite, and you don’t like the issues above, a 1 off Knight is a GREAT solution to these problems, besides the Janus and CT. I really enjoyed the Knight in the deck, but currently am not running it. Though I might go back to it… I have 2 influence I could make happen without issue, just need to make a card slot happen too… which is harder.
My most recent tournament win was with an Andy-stealth rig deck. 50% of the field was rocking RP, which was probably the key to my success. However, I still think it’s good enough to consider.
The rig still had data suckers, which means reducing Komainu and Tsurugi to “0” strength and really maximizing my stealth credits. I am running 3x Silencer and 2x Ghost runner and only 1 time (against a Foundry player who had 5-6 Sentry ICE on R&D) felt like I needed more stealth credits. The Datasuckers fill in the need because the majority of mainstream sentry ICE are low enough strength to throw DS counters at.
My default anarch breaker suite was toungue-in-cheek, I use more than parasite recursion to get past ice. I do find that anarch suites are less optimal and translatable however. Here’s an example of an actual anarch default suite:
neat that Switchblade gets you thru pup and roto for 1 stealth credit, if nothing else better is around at the time. Silencer pays for itself the first time!
I wonder if jamming a Mimic in there too isn’t right. Maybe you’re diluting what you do too much. But mimic to get you running early doors then an upgrade to switchblade if/when needed that you draw with Johnny M seems like it could be a pretty good idea. You can still use your Silencer creds with Mimic.
In my experience, the problem with the stealth rig in Andy is not the Switchblade but the Silencers.
The Switchlade often takes the place of the spare killer (femme, alias, mimic depending on your preferred choice) and since you already got faeries you often don’t need to search for it quickly if at all.
On the other hand Silencers comes at the cost of other economy or cutting key utility cards, and can often be a dead or almost dead card since there isn’t that many sentries that sees play currently. Either you have a good read on your meta and can cut other silver bullets like Feedback Filter or Plascretes, or you have to cut cards like Daily Casts.
What I consider to be a really good thing with the Switchblade rig is that it helps getting leverage out of Datasuckers in match-ups like RP that depend on subroutines and not strength to create tax.
The RP-heavy meta is what led to the decision, but I didn’t find it hard or detrimental to have slots for silencer. Whatever econ you cut can be justified in that you no longer need to “pay” for breaking sentry ICE. I’m running yog.0 which means the only thing that is costing me real money to use is Corroder. If things get hairy, yog presents the biggest problem so I have a backup passport which is where costs start going way up. I’ll link in the deck so you can just see what I’m doing.
I most recently cut the parasite for a modded. Not sure what my thought process was (it was a sleepy change, but I had already determined a single parasite wasn’t required), but that modded allowed for quickly getting into position with R&D interface.
I like the deck, I’ve tried something similar but was also running a 1-of Refractor instead of the 1 QT + Yog. It’s as good as Passport to start and only needs Stealth to pump, plus works just fine with Datasuckers. Obvious add is a 3rd Ghost Runner. Rex as a backup over Passport.
I also use a 2nd Corroder over the Parasite, and and was contemplating a 1-of Cloak over the 3rd RDI, but not sure if it really matters.
I’m playing @mediohxcore’s list straight up for testing purposes. It’s pretty fun and I like the breaker suite a lot. I’ll be curious to see if I miss Datasucker with more plays, but it’s pretty nice to be able to SecTest NEH remotes without feeling that touch of sadness about not getting a Datasucker counter.
No, his stealth Andy list. I can’t get the Meteor search to work (server problems?), but the suite is 2x Switchblade, 1x Refractor, 1x Corroder, 2x Faerie. Stealth support is 3x Switchblade, 2x Ghost Runner, 3x Cloak. No Datasuckers.
Here’s the version I’ve been running. The difference is -1 SOT, -1 laundry, -1 masanori, -1 IJ, -1 QT; +1 kati, +2 express delivery, +1 emergency shutdown, +1 feedback filter. The feedback filter is MVP in the league meta.
The FF is worth it. I also made that change. The biggest issues are Blue Sun and slow setup time. Considering the 2nd Plascrete and 1 Express Delivery. Could go to 1 Inside Job 2 Masanori. Could also add shutdown or the one Kati Jones. Here’s what I consider the core:
No backup to Corroder? Not a huge concern with good play, but I figured 1 Cloak for a 2nd Corroder could be decent in this world of Grail ICE suites. Having a Killer out isn’t guaranteed safety from Program Trash anymore. Or a Breach as a backup?