So, let me give you some of the basics on whats happening in blue sun, as I see it.
Previously, Blue sun was often able to OAI a curtain wall or other, and subsequently pick it up fast enough for this to be a great source of econ.
In my opinion, however, there are now so many good answers to barriers, and the runner getting faster that this mode of economy is deprecated. Additionally, barriers are still good, but losing some of the predominance they have had heretofore.
On the corp side, I’ve been playing a lot of blue sun - let me explain the core principles.
If OAI isn’t the preferred econ - what is?
Weyland has always had one unique avenue in that its agendas afford the opportunity to generate econ. While everyone is aware of hostile, corporate works very well in blue sun. So does Priority requisiting (if you are running large ice), badpublicity, and Geothermal Fracking.
Thats a lot of bad publicity, it is. Fortunately, Weyland is super well positioned to deal with it in the inimitable person of…: Ms. Mills. Generally with a stable game state, you will want to preposition her for a rez bounce / play/rez turn - clearing 2 bp. Ellie there are also a surprising number of good locations to trash - Earthside, Aesop, PW, Gene, wylsdie, duggar, NACH, Order of sol.
She truly is a wonder woman.
Now to the meat of the deck - the shell game.
Here are your pieces to make your runner’s day miserable:
EBC: Not 1. Not 2. 3.
Snare: Asset. Remember how everyone is including legwork…
The Root.
Action Jackson. Because he is just tooo good to leave out.
Mother Goddess
Hive
Wendigo
Archer
Grim
Security Subcontract
Wormhole
Honorable mentions/Optional components
Adonis
Private Contracts.
PowerGrid Overload.
Interns
Ash
Caprice
Himi
OAI/Curtainwall
Excalibur
Checkpoint.
So, how does the shell game work.
Well you have 2 or 3 powerful defenses.
a). Mother Goddess. Most decks are not sporting AI. Femme, atman, and parasite/ds are the most common replies to MG. Still, very strong piece of ice. Your goal is to use MG liberally on centrals until you need to score…
THEN BOUNCE IT AND MOVE IT. Jintecki plays agenda mindgames. You’re going to play -where’s my ice now mind games. MG. You’ll want 1 … or 2… or three.
But a game with one note isn’t much fun… Here’s the second bit.
Sooo… you’re down to a few cards - and the runner pops a legwork smirking.
Pop your EBC - and pull your snare to hand. More on that later.
So your runner trashes it … figuring hq is safe - runs again.
Pop your jackson and your ebc… and snare him again.
So… sometime after the 2nd time… runners think they get the hang of it. And they run R & D. So thats when you pop the kitsune - point to the snare… and it starts all over again.
Nothing runners like better than being tagged against Weyland. Your choice if you want to run Scorched…
Now, EBC is magic due to the ability to tutor jackson, mills, the root, but its other ability is even more important. It lets you rez ice on your turn. Sure - its a free credit (ECON!) but its so much more than that. Sure, rezzed ice is anathema to Leela and Naisir.
But it also lets you use your 3 credits on the root - so instead of earning 1 credit - you’re earning 4 - thats a free rez of Mother goddess for example. Which you can then pick up.
Since we’re on the topic of … the root. The root gives you two more important abilities.
Rez assets. So, everyone thinks that Adonis is the bee’s knees. And it is pretty darn good. But, for a quick pick me up - free rez a private contract - which has the advantage of being pretty resistant to being trashed (whizz excepted). Three credits for a throwaway click isn’t terrible.
But with the new constellation ice - each advancement via root - lowers the rez cost of ice by 3. 3x3=9 credits a turn… I’m still playing with a variant that will let me move the tokens away, so I can bounce for full… but thats another day.
So, some brief words about our sponsors.
Hive. Early Help. Flat out awesome.
Grim. You’re bouncing bp anyway. What’s one more? Especially since you can pop a wendigo in front? Or course, the same thing works for archer.
Wendigo also doesn’t screw with MG soo much since can choose Barrier/CG.
Now, you’ve heard me talk about how I think the meta is moving away from Curtain Wall, Bastion, Wall of Static, etc. Might as well make your runner friend blow a lady token on a icewall as a curtain.
So, this deck has liberal amounts of ice walls and quandries. Now…you may think the intent is for economy. And thats a nice side beneift. But theres one more huge benefit.
Subcontract lets you kill ice (as well as bounce it) so you can set up a scoring server FAST.
So for example Agenda: MG Himi.
Runner runs inside job. You rez himi - MG is now barrier… but you bounce Himi to hand - and MG goes back to being typeless.
Same thing works if you want to OAI a card in front of MG.
Finally, Himi also allows you to pad HQ when you have need.
Finally, wormhole. Now you can put kitsune on a remote by itself. or archves - or wherever you like. Rez it with ebc/root. Now every single wormhole can inflict 3 points of dmg and a tag. Excalibur is good for the same reason. And… did I mention wendigo?
So my decks are always pretty fluid. What follows is just an example of what I’ve been talking about. Feel free to modify it as you see fit.
My current line of thought is putting 3x hostile architecture, since the common answer to quandry and icewall is: parasite. Which by the ruling means the runner takes a net dmg.
But the even better reason is because of how often the runner will not be able to trash the snare. Always lovely.
One last note. My record is nailing my opponent 6 times with one snare. Can you beat it = ).
Weyland Shell 8b
Blue Sun: Powering the Future (Up and Over)
Agenda (11)
Asset (15)
Operation (8)
Barrier (6)
Code Gate (2)
Sentry (5)
Other (2)
15 influence spent (max 15)
20 agenda points (between 20 and 21)
49 cards (min 45)
Cards up to All That Remains
Deck built on NetrunnerDB.