Enter Subroutine - A Fortress and a Lockpick

Hello everyone, this is the third and final part of a three-part article I’ve been writing this last couple of weeks.

Here are the other two parts:
Part 1 – Corporation deck: http://www.cardgamed...ournament-r1033
Part 2 – Runner deck: http://www.cardgamed...-decoders-r1047

On today’s article, I’ll make an exposition on the strategies of the Corp deck and the Runner deck I took for a tournament.

First off is the Corporation.
I like to address that I build my own decks, granted I do include some good ideas other people have, with due credit, but in the end I run my list. It’s like having a horse, you have to treat him well, make him grow healthy and strong, understand him before you jump on him and ride him. To victory!

This is key to success, I believe. It’s better to run a list in which you may have a poor card choice, but you make it work to your advantage because you understand it, than to just pick a list you saw someone use at a tournament, a friend’s list, or whatever. The “why” behind the card making the list is very important.

I will try to share this “treating the horse” part with you. It’s the first time I do something like this so I’m both very excited and also a little reticent, afterall I want to write a pleasant read.

The Gentleman's Fortress

With this HB Engineering the Future I wanted to explore the ICE fortress archetype (granted I didn’t had all the tools to fully accomplish it), because I think it’s a very classy (and classic) approach to the game. It plays out as if you’d build your labyrinth, or puzzle and politely invite your opponent to try and overcome the obstacle you set to him. You’re not trying to pull 7 points faster than him/her robbing the Runner any chance of interaction, you’re not trying to punish him/her for playing the game he/she loves, by blasting the brains of the Runner when he/she does a good play and steals 4+ agenda points. You are, in all fairness, inviting the Runner, like a true gentleman to have an interactive game, where you laid down the puzzle and ask the Runner to try and solve it. You set a timer (your agendas) for the puzzle solving and you set the goal (also your agendas).

This archetype is very cool because it has a lot of interactivity and bluffing involved. You don’t pressure the Runner on the Jinteki kind “is this a trap or not”, but in the kind of “do I have all the tools to solve this puzzle (make the run)”. I love to try to read my opponents move. Predict their behavior and build the servers accordingly. It works wonders if you know when you can provoke a run from the Runner and take advantage of that same knowledge. This type of strategy differs from the Weyland Big ICE, and big ICE in general, as you’re not as effective as stopping the Runner with an Eli 1.0 or even Heimdall 1.0 as you are with, say, an Hadrian’s Wall. Because of the soft nature the Bioroids have to be able to be broken with clicks instead of actions I’d have to have a “tax the most out of the Runner” mentality than the regular “build an impenetrable fortress” mentality.

These are several moves I almost always pulled in my puzzle:

• Installing two ICE on a remote and then run the economy there. It’s a very effective play to have an Eli 1.0-Enigma covering an Adonis Campaign. Early game this will more often than not deter any runs. The money 1 Adonis grants you is a great step to pretty much the whole rest of the game.
• Whenever possible, before installing any trap I’d install an agenda first and try to score it. This may prompt the Runner to look closely at your play style, the way you install and advance your cards. From then on you can make your stereotype and then twist it and turn it over to throw the Runner off-guard. Also, traps work better the closer you are to match point anyway.
• The first trasher I’d see would go on top of Archives (if needed). This is a fairly predictable move, but still effective. If Archives would turn into a priority so would the ICE laid down in there.
• If I’d see GRNDL Refinery before Thomas Haas (seldom happened), I’d advance GRNDL like it was Thomas Haas, either I’d win a bunch of money or the Runner would attack the server and trash it. This would ensure me that, after, the Runner would run to Thomas Haas the same way GRNDL Refinery was ran.
• Whenever possible I’d prioritize Asset economy over Operation economy. This poses questions to the opponent and stresses the Runner into making a decision. The Runner cannot do anything to stop your Operations. Installing an Asset puts a strange body on the field, the presence of such thing is more unnerving than a card in your hand amidst the other bunch of.
• The scoring server would have Heimdall 2.0 bottom, Viktor or Ichi middle and anything on top. I’d also be sure I could immediately rez Heimdall the turn I’d install it to avoid getting sniped with a Forged Activation Order. My ICEs are pretty soft to break through, Heimdall is my closest to an unbreakable ICE. This server is one of the strongest this deck can build.
• After rezzing a Sansan City Grid and possibly scoring an agenda, in a server which was still 2 or 3 ICE deep, and I had a pretty good idea the Runner would be able to go through it, I’d install an economy asset on it. For example, there was never an occasion the Runner went for the server and ended with 8 credits to trash both Sansan and Adonis Campaign. The remaining Adonis would give me the credits needed to reinforce the server and score another agenda.
• I’d install only the necessary, thus I’d have plenty cards in my hand to be flexible and ensure a drip economy from my Identity. Still I’d try to install a card every turn. This seems contradictory, but you can balance your hand size, maneuverability and still earn the turn install credit. The trick is to give yourself a purpose to install a card. This is extremely important and extremely different than just installing a card and wait to see what the Runner does.

So, through this typical plays one could see that my mindset was to always pose a question, force the Runner to make a decision, since Netrunner is a game with hidden information, forcing a decision may sometimes be disastrous, as it might be the worst possible (all the while feeling, for the person making the decision, the correct one). Giving that feeling to a player is one of the main aims with this deck. Sansan, as you can imagine is very good for that as you accelerate the timer given to the opponent, while you keep your flow steady and strong. But you never discourage the Runner from running. On the contrary, you’ll try to always make him/her feel that he/she has another chance. Thus you begin your labyrinth, or puzzle. “Care to run again?” is the question you have to have in mind when building your servers. Your ICEs, by their nature, help you convey this feeling to the Runner. The Enigmas and Rototurrets play an off-tone beat, by not being able to be broken through clicks. They are very important to be a hard Stop sign, when things start to get out of your control. By playing in this style you’ll also enhance the lethality of the traps. If the Runner doesn’t see them too soon, you have a clear chance to input a dead-end in your puzzle, literally speaking.

With the card-by-card analysis I wrote some weeks ago, I think that about covers up all the tricks and quirks of this Corporation deck.

Always run with a lockpick

Please look at Rielle “Kit” Peddler! Isn’t she a curious little girl? So am I, except the “little girl” part.
The reasons I went with “Kit” are the following:
I love Shapers;
I dislike “Kat”, although she is a very strong ID. And everyone builds with her, so there’s that;
I took a liking for “Kit”, she intrigued me;
Code Gates;
Build something a little different;
I needed a fast Runner to balance the long Corp games.

As you’ve noticed in the Corporation segment, I like to build on a concept. The concept for this one was to destroy any feeling of safety for the Corporation. As such, “Kit” is extremely effective at doing that, by turning all ICE into Code Gate.

Let me just talk a little bit about a key component on this deck though: Cyber-Cypher.

This card alone makes “Kit” viable. (Sure, you can build her without using them, but then you’re missing on so, oh, so much! For starters Cyber-Cypher costs 2 measly credits! 2! Any economy card grants you at least that much. Its stats are the same as Torch which is 9 credits. They both get strengthen by 1 and both break subroutines by 1.

To be locked into one server saves you 7 credits. Yes, saves you, not costs you. As you’re very likely to run the central servers in the early stages of the game, to fully capitalize on the ID’s ability to lock a breaker that strong onto a central server is really not that big of cost. You can redirect him through Scavenge & Clone Chip, as you do with Femme Fatale. And frankly in the late game Gordian is better than Torch because it keeps its strength along the run. Nowadays with Paintbrush that is even more important to factor in. Lately I’ve experimented a deck which consisted in a full on assault on R&D, harboring cards like The Maker’s Eye, R&D In-your-face (Interface) and very welcomed late addition Paintbrush to fully lock the server no matter how many ICE were put to try to counter your strategy. Cyber Cypher is a monster in this kind of strategy. At only 2 credits, tutoring him by SMC is the same as paying for a Gordian Blade (!), you get a Torch-like beast (!) and are guaranteed to pass through at least 2 ICE with relative ease. Man, what a card!

This card alone prompted me to build this iteration and was a strong reason, the main reason of success for this deck.

You batter on the servers relentlessly, as any code gate (and everything is a code gate, I might add) gets eaten instantly. I’ve seen two types of counter strategies: 1) is to build a 3 ICE server. This is easily thwarted with the help of Parasite, a well-placed Femme Fatale and maybe another breaker or Omega. 2) Seeing you run Cyber-Cyphers spread the Assets in remotes, that with some well put together ICE may forbid you of intruding in the servers. If that’s the case you just go for Gordian Blade and whatever you might need. Reinstalling Cyber Cypher, through Scavenge or Clone Chip after trashing it to install something else is also a possibility to keep you on top of those servers. The strategy more commonly gone for is the first as it is safest. But then, it really isn’t. On a mediocre draw you can eat up a 3 ICE server without much effort. And since Rielle always gets in the server when she runs, a timely R&D In-your-face might be all that it takes to steal the win.

The transformative option into a classic full rig was mainly put for two obvious reasons: the card availability (I know, I know, I’ve said one too many times that these decks weren’t built with all the expansions supporting them, but it’s a fact, and the building process was affected by it), and to have more flexibility for an unknown metagame (other than expecting a lot of Weyland decks). It also serves the theme, of depriving the Corp of a safe server as you can always fetch the appropriate breaker and break through it.

Still, the mindset of this deck should be “What do you have in there?” by running anywhere possible. “I’m going to punish you for doing that”, by staying aggressive and surprising the Corp with your plays. Locking one or more servers with Cyber Cyphers.

Here are some interesting thoughts and plays:

• The key to the deck is to know, exactly in which server you shall install the Cyber Cypher. The first one for R&D is almost granted, but there may be times when that is not so obvious. Even then, the second Cyber Cypher poses an interesting question. If you just blatantly install them on the central servers the Corp can just spread the Assets/Agendas over the remotes and you won’t be able to progress.
• Use your Scavenges wisely. To swap a server with a Cyber Cypher is a pretty important play for you and for the Corp. You state your intent of attacking a, say, scoring remote by pointing the breaker at it. This is a fairly obvious statement and the Corp can easily mount a separate remote and thwart your change of direction. There’s times however where this’ll prove key to victory. Identifying this opportunities and taking advantage of them is key to success. Of course, changing direction and then running on a server where there might be an Agenda is an obvious good play. The trick here is anticipating the scoring server. If done properly you may make the Corp to waste an ICE placement. That’s huge.
• It is very advantageous to not be afraid of a nasty sentry atop a server, because it’ll be a code gate and you won’t be unprepared.
• Tinkering functions as a pseudo-Blackmail sometimes. The Corp player just won’t want to rez a piece of ICE that is going to be eaten by a 2 cred Cyber Cypher regardless.
• The ability only functions once per turn. Still, if you can pace yourself to do at least a run per turn, capitalizing on the ability, that’s pretty good. It’s enough pressure to force the Corp to take risky moves.
• The sooner you install Lockpick, the better.
• If you don’t have any brain damage already, the first Stimhack is pretty much free of drawbacks (well, it isn’t, but unless you’re playing against Jinteki damage, or HB damage, the brain damage you get from Stimhack isn’t going to be relevant).

And some general tips:

• When I look on R&D, I dedicate the same amount of time to look at any card. Be it agenda, or ICE, or asset, or anything. I usually stop, before accessing the server, think about the possibilities, look through my money and then access. If you take the same amount of time looking at a card you’ll reduce the information the Corp might get from you. Normally, from the ones I’d played against, the players will decide very quickly, but if they pause for even a brief moment, I’m able to identify the card they’re looking at right away (almost always). This prompts a preemptive decision on my part and lets me get on top of the Runner game. I, instead, take a short break to see every card. Even if you’ve already saw that ICE a billion times, take a moment to review its numbers again.
• Be half way sure of what you want to do before you even begin your turn. This is seriously important for a person that wants to stay aggressive. The lack of time you’ll offer the Corp player may play to your advantage. In my play testing, because of this I’d players rush to rez a lot of ICE, only to have their economy running short, or doing any miscalculations. Sure, sometimes this doesn’t work as well, but it doesn’t have to. As long as you’re able to set the pace the Corp player will feel inclined to follow you. Psychology!
• There’s still a lot to be said about this last two topics, but I’ll save them for a next time.

Conclusions
With all the expansions I’d do a lot of changes, but the most important thing, is that I wouldn’t let myself forget the mindset that began the deck idea, as that’s is the personality, the soul of the deck, you signature on it and its charm. Always keep your ideas very clear and focused, so that you can get to your finest deck versions even if sometimes you don’t have all the tools available.

I hope that this three articles were a good way of introducing myself, my way of writing, my thought processing, everything you can expect of me while I’m given this wonderful opportunity of writing these articles for you.

I’ll continue to explore deck list I come up with and doing thorough analysis, but sometimes I’ll deviate to some topics more abstract.

Nevertheless, next time I’m going for next. Yeah, next is NEXT… NEXT Design. I saw a lot of my friends trying to make it work, but to balance this deck type is very hard. Looking forward to share with you what I’ve come up with!

As always hit me up in the comments with any question, remarks you'd like to make.
Until next time!

Ashtaroth