Tech Talk - False Echo

***Thanks to Tech Talk consultant (and very good friend) Eldil for the inspiration for this deck. Except for the Chakana (Creation and Control) + Surge (Humanity's Shadow) part. That's just weird.***

We often sit around here at the Tech Talk ranch, eating pieces of processed pasteurized American cheesefood topped with balsamic vinegar ketchup and crumbled potato chips (we call them Instant Pizzas) and looking through our cards, searching for ways to use the ones no one loves. Sometimes we end up hitting on a single interaction that leads to the opening of the metaphorical deckbuilding floodgates. Other times, it is only through sheer, stubborn force of will (and the vigorous consumption of far too many Instant Pizzas) that we come up with a deck. This time, however, was different.

This time is was all about the fluff.

We set our sights on False Echo, cracked open a new notebook AND a fresh pack of Kraft slices, and started brainstorming. False Echo lets you punish the Corp for installing ICE she isn't ready to rez. When it goes off, she either ponies up the dough to rez it or she loses the click (and, possibly, the credits) she used to install the targeted ICE. This also has the added benefit of clogging her hand, making it harder for her to get done all the things she wants to get done without having to discard. The downside is that, unlike Emergency Shutdown (Cyber Exodus), the Corp knows you have False Echo becuase it is a Program. You need the ability to install on the fly in order to surprise the Corp with it, which means you won't be able to tutor up other important things mid-run. Quite a quandary. Many Instant Pizzas met their fates that evening, we can tell you.

So there we are, just staring at False Echo, greasy fingers drumming the table top (which really needs a cleaning, BTW), grooving on the hippie, dippy, trippy art, trying to come up with the best use of this silly 1-cost, 1MU program, when we read the flavor text for the hundredth time and it hits us like the zesty balsamic tang at the end of an Instant Pizza – Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman (Creation and Control)! This program is a digitally-transcendental trip and why not just go with the flow and build something around our favorite cyber-flower child? False Echo shows her chakras, for the love of Pete!

We washed our hands, rolled up our sleeves, put Strawberry Alarm Clock's Incense and Peppermints on repeat, and got to work. First we needed to figure out how, if at all, False Echo works with Kit's ID ability. Kit, of course, turns the first piece of ICE she encounters each turn into a Code Gate (in addition to whatever type it already is) until the end of the run. False Echo allows you to force the Corp to rez a piece of unrezzed ICE you just passed or put it back in their hand. So at the most basic level, Kit and False Echo have similarities in that they affect ICE. The problem is that Kit affects rezzed ICE while False Echo affects unrezzed ICE. If you can use one, you can't use the other. Unless...

Crescentus (A Study In Static).

Ok, so now we have a way to benefit from both abilities at the same time (so to speak) – break the subroutines on the first ICE with a Decoder because it's a Code Gate, trash Crescentus to derez it, then use False Echo to either cost the Corp more money or the tempo hit of having to reinstall it or a new piece of ICE on a later turn. So now, what kind of deck would want abilities like these in it? Well, let's stick with fluff: uninstalling ICE is similar to destroying it, so we'll go with an ICE-denial kind of strategy, making the mean old Corp stop forcing the poor little ICE to do its dirty work. Sounds all free-love and tie-dye to us.

Kit only has ten Influence to spend, so let's do that first. If ICE denial is going to be our thing, then let's look to Anarchs. Two Datasucker (Core), two Parasite (Core), and a single Djinn (Core) to tutor for them brings us to eight Influence. Add in two copies of Crescentus and we're at our limit. We will, of course, want a couple copies of False Echo. We'll pack in three copies of Clone Chip (Creation and Control) and two copies of Self-modifying Code (Creation and Control) for mid-run shenanniganery with Crescentus, False Echo, or Parasites. SMC will also let us find needed 'breakers.

Speaking of 'breakers, we'll go light with Gordian Blade (Core), Deus X (A Study In Static), and a single Crypsis (Core), which we can tutor for using SMC or Djinn. Since the idea is to get rid of ICE as fast as the Corp plays it, we're not going to sweat digging up a dedicated Decoder ASAP. We'll use Gordian over the other in-faction options because it pairs well with Tinkering (Core) on servers that have multiple ICE mid- to late-game.

And that brings us to Events. In addition to Tinkering, of which we'll take three, we'll also use two copies of Kraken (Humanity's Shadow). The card is a BEAST (literally and figuratively – just look at those tentacles!), especially when you know what you're going to access and can plan ahead. To help with that, and our threat level in general, we're going to grab three copies of The Maker's Eye (Core) and two copies of Indexing (Future Proof). Now, yes, we know that right now, it's Jackson Howard (Opening Moves)'s world and we're all just living in it, so Indexing can be screwed up pretty easily, but if you are careful with when you use it, it can still be a force to be reckoned with. You won't be usually be making multiple runs per turn in the mid- and late-game, since your ID ability only works on the first run, so you want to use Indexing to order the cards so that you can get to them in a turn or two. (Note: You may be able to clear the ICE off R&D and run it multiple times, especially in the early game and if you can, runrunrun!) We'll take one Escher (Creation and Control) for late-game jackassery and one Levy AR Lab Access (Creation and Control) to get back powerful events, recursion tricks, and our one-shot Programs if/when we need 'em. For economy, we'll take three each of Sure Gamble (Core) and Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control), which is great with a deck running Datasuckers, letting you benefit from even a run on an empty Archives (it's even better on a pre-Indexed R&D run that you know is going to nab you an Agenda while you have Kraken in hand).

With so many great Events, we'll want a couple copies of Same Old Thing (Creation and Control). That'll let us get back Tinkerings, Maker's Eyes, and Indexings as well as letting us toss Levy AR Labs Access is we draw it too early. To round out our Resources, we'll do what all the cool kids (if by cool kids, you mean everyone everywhere) are doing by taking three copies of Professional Contacts (Creation and Control).

We've already mentioned three copies of Clone Chip, but we're going to use a couple other pieces of Hardware, neither of which we're super-excited about but which feel pretty necessary: The Toolbox (Core) because we need a lot of MU and Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead) because we don't like to die in a rain of hellfire and regret.

So, when you mix all those cards together, you end up with the deck we're calling...


INFORMATION JUST WANTS TO BE FREE, MAN.
Identity: Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman (Creation and Control)

Total Cards: (45)

Event (18)
Tinkering (Core) x3
The Maker's Eye (Core) x3
Levy AR Lab Access (Creation and Control) x1
Indexing (Future Proof) x2
Escher (Creation and Control) x1
Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control) x3
Kraken (Humanity's Shadow) x2
Sure Gamble (Core) x3

Hardware (7)
The Toolbox (Core) x2
Clone Chip (Creation and Control) x3
Plascrete Carapace (What Lies Ahead) x2

Program (15)
Self-modifying Code (Creation and Control) x2
False Echo (Opening Moves) x2
Deus X (A Study In Static) x1
Datasucker (Core) x2 (2 Inf)
Djinn (Core) x1 (2 Inf)
Parasite (Core) x2 (4 Inf)
Crescentus (A Study In Static) x2 (2 Inf)
Gordian Blade (Core) x2
Crypsis (Core) x1

Resource (5)
Professional Contacts (Creation and Control) x3
Same Old Thing (Creation and Control) x2


There are a lot of little tweaks you can make right out of the gate. If you aren't confident about Indexing in your meta, swap it for R&D Interface (Future Proof) or use the two slots for other 'breakers like Cyber-Cypher (Creation and Control) or ZU.13 Key Master (What Lies Ahead). You could drop The Toolbox for Akamatsu Mem Chip (Core). Modded (Core) could be a good addition, especially if you switch to R&D Interface. Overall, the core here is False Echo, Crescentus, Djinn, Datasucker, Parasite, SMC, Clone Chip, Gordian Blade, and Tinkering (and probably Same Old Thing and Professional Contacts). Let's go out and put this baby through her paces, come back here, and share our thoughts, okay? We'll see you back here in two weeks. You bring your eyeballs, we'll bring the Instant Pizzas.