Hi there. This is my first post on Stimhack so I thought I’d give a brief introduction. I’ve been playing Netrunner since the core set came out and I have a background in Magic and more recently board games. I do not play a lot in tournaments but I’ve played in a handful of GNKs and Store Championships with no notable results. I do watch a LOT of Netrunner, pretty much every video that comes out, I watch streams, I read Stimhack and the subreddit, and it’s mainly do to time constraints that I am not more active in the game. So, take my analysis with that in mind.
That said, why not notoriety? I will say that when this card came out I had an instant fondness for it. From the art depicting Smoke, to just the ability to score without sniping an agenda. Suddenly the central-only breaker suite was looking great and my pipe dreams of gaining notoriety began.
Unfortunately my Netrunner mind wasn’t as developed as it is now, and I feel I’m much more apt to analyze and use the card to better effect. Allow me to make a case for why there are many reasons that this card could be good in the current meta.
Global Food Initiative is ubiquitous now and forces the runner to score 4 agendas while the corp only has to score 3. Notoriety circumvents this new requirement by allowing you to score 3 and then make central runs to score your last point. The beauty of this strategy in the current meta is that glacier is very popular and there are many game states where you can get to 6 points but you just can’t crack that super server for the win. In addition, current glacier builds mostly dedicate resources to remotes, giving you a soft set of centrals to break through.
Until recently, I’ve regarded Notoriety as mainly a one-of for that last minute point to win the game. In a heavy-draw deck it’s pretty easy to find. Also, I never thought you would have the ability to score 3 Notorieties in a game because it was just too slow. Enter Hyperdriver. This card now unlocks the potential to score 3 Notorieties in one turn! The card now costs anywhere from 4-12 credits and reads: Spend 4 clicks for a 1 point. You may play additional copies of Notoriety spending a click and a credit." Or something more eloquent. Either way, this has potential. Scoring 3 points in a turn without having to steal an agenda is worth looking at. And it falls right in line with the “typical Shaper bullshit” that we’ve all come to know and love (or hate).
The fact that it’s one influence, and a low 1 credit is where the card really shines. How many times have you had an extra influence to spare and just shrugged and said, “I’ll throw in a Utopia Shard I guess.” And how many times have you been in a 6-5 game state with the corp sitting on a super server with an agenda in it.
Again, I’m not a “top-tier player,” mainly because I have other priorities. And I’m not knocking anyone who is. I’d love to dedicate more time to the game. I really love this game. But I felt that I would be doing the community a disservice if I didn’t at least shed some light on the potential of this card that I feel is underplayed, especially in the 1-of scenario.
Putting in this edit for reference to my second post:
“Yeah, I forgot to mention Crisium Grid in my analysis. My reasoning with this is that most decks have to play around Crisium anyway so you’re going to have to fight the same as any other deck in that regard. This also is akin to the “dies to doomblade” mentality. Crisium Grid slows down a lot of cards (Account Siphon, The Maker’s Eye), but it doesn’t mean people don’t still play those cards. The one-of scenario I think is more plausible and arguably more useful. You’re right that the 3-of scenario tends to be more build-around.”
Thanks for reading guys.