I’ve been toying with this general idea for awhile, and would love some feedback. I’m still solidly average at this game, but I’ve had a little bit of success with this, and would like some advice and how to make it better.
I’d like to swap out the Zona Suls for Data Folding when it’s available, which might work better with Box-E. I’d also swap out Decoy for Plascrete at that point, which I think is better.
The Resourceful Criminal
Andromeda: Dispossessed Ristie (Humanity’s Shadow)
Event (16)
3x Forged Activation Orders (Core Set)
2x Hostage (Opening Moves)
3x Inside Job (Core Set)
2x Quest Completed (Fear and Loathing) ••••
3x Special Order (Core Set)
3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)
Hardware (6)
2x Doppelgänger (A Study in Static)
2x HQ Interface (Humanity’s Shadow)
2x R&D Interface (Future Proof) ••••
Resource (16)
3x Bank Job (Core Set)
3x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)
1x Decoy (Core Set)
1x Kati Jones (Humanity’s Shadow)
1x Professional Contacts (Creation and Control) ••
2x Security Testing (Honor and Profit)
2x The Supplier (First Contact)
3x Zona Sul Shipping (All That Remains)
Icebreaker (7)
1x Corroder (Core Set) ••
1x Crypsis (Core Set)
3x Faerie (Future Proof)
1x Garrote (True Colors)
1x Gordian Blade (Core Set) •••
15 influence spent (max 15)
45 cards (min 45)
Cards up to All That Remains
Deck built on http://netrunnerdb.com.
Why are you completing quests rather than just running servers? I don’t see the value I’m afraid. (I know there’s synergy with Security Testing &c but I don’t think it’s impactful enough.
Dirty Laundry is really good economy.
@mediohxcore has convinced me that Hostage for econ isn’t worth it. (play econ instead of Hostage, if you have to pay an extra click and credit, you’d be better off playing worse econ cards).
Even if you’re running ‘proper’ pumpable breakers datasucker is really good in combination with all your run tech.
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I see some scattered ideas here. Quest Complete is an interesting card in criminal, since you have the central only breakers. Without those cards in the deck, it would seem like an unnecessary dip in influence.
Doppleganger is a fantastic playmaker, I stand by that. It’s impossible to judge its efficacy for you, because its really about how well you play with it. That being said, I don’t see what its doing at the deck construction level, even if you are playing quest complete, how often are you using QC twice? Personally, if you can’t get the deck size low enough to accommodate plascrete, Box-E+decoy I have found to be totally solid. Conversely, it’s really quite hard to argue with the brutal efficiency of Desperado.
You may find HQ interface too cumbersome to play much of the time. Expensive enough you don’t want to play it before you have to, at which point, 1 additional access might not really cut it. You will find most people who aren’t making HQ runs every single turn (like Gabe), or who don’t need to maximize influence over cost effectiveness (like Kit) tend to opt for legworks.
This deck seems like it would benefit from at least 1 Aesop’s Pawnshop.
One corroder is ballsy. Similarly, I might swap Gordian for a Yog and a Cerberus_Rex, that would be for the influence though, gordian blade is a fantastic card but bare in mind you’re weak to program trash right now, so it might be better to have a couple eggs in different baskets.
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Why is Hostage such a bad idea? I’ve seen this discussed before and I really want to understand it. When I use I know my first one goes to Kati Jones and the second one goes to Mr. Li. so I’m not hostaging for one particular card. Is it still a bad idea?
It’s not terrible, but if you think the econ cards are fairly costed then paying 1c, 1 click more is a pretty bad deal. Would you play Kati if she cost 4-5 creds? Probably, but she’d be a lot less popular. That’s the effect of playing Hostage instead of another Kati.
Resources are all pretty much efficiency tools, so it doesn’t really matter what order they come up in. If you’re playing Li, running multiples of uniques is fine.
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Hostage is better if you’re playing toolboxy resources like WitRD, The Source, Donut, Theophilius(??) which do something other than give you efficient clicks. They just typically aren’t played much.
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I appreciate the feedback @MasterAir @false_idol
One thing I wanted to mention is why I went for Quest Completed. I was having a lot of problems with RP, Caprice Nisei, Ash, and things of that nature, and was trying to find a way to get into those Psi servers and/or the huge super servers that Blue Sun and HB build. Basically I got tired of paying 10 credits to bust into a server and get stopped because I bid 1 credit and he bid 2 credits. I played around with Unregistered S&W a bit, with limited success, but Quest Completed seemed to work well in that space, so I ended up using it as my “late game” access card. It also has a huge surprise factor, which is fun. I don’t know if it’s really worth keeping with.
I’m wondering if I switched up the breaker suite to:
1x Alias
2x Cerberus "Rex"
2x Corroder
3x Faerie
1x Passport
If that would be enough. Or maybe just give up on Quest Completed and go back to normal breakers?
Your reasoning for QC is actually pretty astute, but my hesitation is that, especially as andromeda, its incredibly likely you will be camped on one or both of them literally all game. At that point, I would simply rather see a couple parasites or datasuckers.
What I like to do is go way overboard with boilerplate economy cards at first, like Armitage Codebusting, PPVP, easy marks, etc. Because then it becomes very easy to qualify the value of other cards you’re thinking about including. If your deck runs better with easy marks than QC, that helps you pinpoint what your deck was actually struggling with. Conversely, if the deck can’t bruteforce its way into servers with 30 credits and a crypsis, you know you need to add better utility/efficient breakers, etc.
The trouble with Quest Completed is twofold - (1) if your opponent somehow sees it coming, Caprice on a central shuts it off just as hard. (2) If you can run 3 centrals for cheap enough, you should probably be able to win from random accesses.
I really like @false_idol’s suggestion. Loads of money and efficient breakers is a good point to build from. I think your Gordian, Garrotte, Corroder suite is a very good starting point.
If QC is working for you, then go with it! Your reasoning is sound, it’s just never worked for me.
Have you tried Stimhack in its place?
Especially if you wind up playing Box-E, stimhack becomes a very safe card against a lot of decks.
The original doppleganger deck that was good was done in silhouette. That said, I think you can make profitable use of doppleganger in leela as well.
The issue with all run based economy is what happens when you (eventually) are locked out. Desperado helps extend that early period by giving you 1 cr per successful run. Doppleganger goes the other way by requiring you to pay for an additional run. This is compounded in this instance by you are leveraging runs with QC.
Katie is essentially your only answer to glacier…
So, let me suggest differently.
To take advantage of doppleganger, you really need to exploit that very narrow early window.
Your plan should be something like - run hq, doppleganger to archives, Inside job R & D: then notoriety.
I would look at:
- Sneakdoor
- Notoriety
- Feint
- Lamprey
- Account Siphon
Consider adding Joshua / Data leak especially if you play with leela.
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