The Power of Architect

That’s good. 4str would be busted.

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It’d be better against Mimic, but way worse against Atman.

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4str would make it significantly worse over all. It’s pairing with lotus field vs Atman is one of the best things about it.

The Criminal issues have already been noted – dealing with this with Femme in the long-run is expensive. Either it eats your 'suckers or costs 4 per run. Either way, especially in HB, it’s pulling some weight.

Against Anarchs, yes, Noise is a thing, great. Pop an Architect over Archives. Sure, they might be able to break it, but if they don’t you can pull something to safety, and if they do, well, that’s a bunch of money they just spent.

(My evaluation vs. Noise might be off since I started running Dead Coats, though. In my experience he has a pretty solid chance to eat it against that build unless he does one hell of a lot more money-making than most folks seem inclined to.)

There’s also the jankiest combo, one that I quite love, which is to say:

Architect is the best for positional Ice.

No, seriously. Chum into Architect. Inazuma into Architect. Hell, even RSVP into Architect! The easiest way of dealing with positional Ice, up to now, was to murder whatever was behind it with parasite, making it invalid. With Architect, that’s no longer an option. No one outside of Jinteki (or maaaybe HB) will be trying this, but that’s fine.

Architect is worth the influence in almost every faction. My RP deck is going to looove having it.

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I don’t think that’s the absolute jankiest combo. No combo can achieve maximum jank without Cell Portal!

No, seriously. Set up Whirlpool -> Architect -> Cell Portal with enough money that they can’t escape and then things get fun.

Architect can install Shadow(s) and/or Akitaro to let you go infinite. One Akitaro and 2 Shadows means you make $4 on each trip and pay $3 to rez the portal. Now begin to troll.

  1. Install everything from HQ and Archives. Install from the top of R&D until you can’t anymore, then use Panic Button to draw past and keep installing.

Depending on what you find:

  • Trash all their programs and give as many tags and brain damage as you want by installing Ichi into the loop.
  • Trash all their hardware with Taurus.
  • Drain all their money with Universal Connectivity Fee.
  • Drain all their clicks with Hourglass.
  • Advance all of the things with Matrix Analyzer. (Gain a lot of money mid-run with Thomas Haas as needed)
  • Use your imagination to inflict other torments on the hapless Runner.

Finally you can release them from their suffering by overwriting the Cell Portal and letting them into your damage dealer of choice.

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I mean, maximum jank could throw a chum in between the whirlpool and architect to really make things painful.

But I think the janky combo I outlined is more easily doable, though not quite as crazy as yours. Easier to set up reliably, at the very least, and with cards that aren’t normally terrible thrown in (sorry Cell Portal and Whirlpool, but it’s true).

Oooh. Good point.

Architect into hourglass

Resurrect a 3/2 agenda from archives or hq and score it next turn.

If you put a Chum in there, they will die too quickly. An evil corporation should toy with its victims.

The benefit of mine is that you can pick up some extra cards for really cheap, since it will cause your opponent to permanently ragequit Netrunner and sell his collection.

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What does Dead Coats look like these days? I was just looking at some older lists yesterday.

Its biggest benefit is that it reinvents an old Ice archetype. Sentries have always been ‘very bad stuff besides ETR happens’, but in general, that has meant ‘damage or other bad stuff for the runner’. Now we see a competitively priced sentry whose effect is bad because of the amount of help it offers the corp. It’s also wild because of the high variance of its subs, whose best-case and fun scenarios have been pointed out by now. In-game, though, the runner has to make a call if/when it’s worth breaking and the variance makes that decision much harder. So, in conclusion, glad to see sentries threaten with more than just damage.

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Architect is a good example of why having some cards designed by players can be good. Miss the flavor text, but it’s a good move, and has given us one of the most interesting cards of the cycle.

[quote=“Ajar, post:30, topic:2077, full:true”]
What does Dead Coats look like these days? I was just looking at some older lists yesterday.

[/quote]It hasn’t changed tremendously, at least not the version I’ve been playing (though I’m borrowing my roommate’s to learn it better, since he’s the expert).

Enhanced Login Protocol is a two-of, I think, and pretty absolutely brutal. He’s going to be doing one-of Architect, I think? He’s yanked the NAPD contract for Eden Fragment (Executive Retreat is a terrible choice, and mono-5/3 plus 2 Sleepers is much safer), and I believe both Hades and Utopia Fragments will be making the cut as well. I’ll see about putting together a full list for it at some point, he’s usually against that, but…

A one-of each of Lotus Field and Taurus, too. The first to hate out my Whizzard deck (grrrr) and be solid ETR, the second to kill plascretes so that Plan Punitive can function.

One other thing he does differently from a lot of people is Heimdall 1.0 instead of 2.0, but I think it’s the right move. Easier to click through, easier to dodge the brain damage, but means he spends less money there and can land the Punitives more easily. No Archers either, because of only running the two DSs.

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Im thinking that cant be trashed is a sort of double edge sword, the Corp cant trash it as well, so once its rezed, its there for good, so if they are breaking it, its going to cost you alot to keep more ice out front of it as it doesn’t end the run

Toby McGuire’s GF to the rescue!!!

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The only really cheap breakers are, what, Mimic and Atman? Nothing does it for less than two credits, most take three or four. Tax isn’t as useful somethings, sure, but it’s still nice to have.

4 credit tax for 4 rez, against non-mimic decks, is competitive with eli, caduceus, and inazuma. But it’s also a punishing face check.

We’ve seen how good it can be in NBN, but I’m thinking HBFA is the deck that architect helps the most, as they can run the full 3x without cutting any fast advance tools.

Still not as good as having astroscripts, of course. But I have a soft spot for domestic sleepers. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Likewise! And while it might not be, it helps both of HB’s main plans. Glacier gets the ability to toss Ice out in front of already full servers (or recur econ assets, or hell, recur Ice that got parasited), FA gets the last-click bonus install… lots to love if they let it fire.

Which really just means they can never allow it to fire, which means 2-4 credit tax every time. 'Cause it’s not like Pup or Komainu where sometimes you can decide to eat it, or Ichi where you can click through, or Grim where not having programs saves you.

Every time you hit Architect, you pay for it – one way or another.

When does EtF’s ability reset? I remember reading how the runner’s turn counts as the corp’s turn, so an Architect install should give a credit on trigger.

Correct, EtF triggers every turn, this includes the runners turn as well

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From my limited experience running it, it’s brutally sick in HBFA. The ability to pull back SanSan or money assets alone is tremendous.

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