Tech Talk - Merry Techmas!

Welcome back to Tech Talk! The pre-Techmas eggnog is flowin' freely and we're feelin' no pain, which is why this week we're making a deck using Frame Job (Opening Moves)! Also, we announce the Merry Techmas! contest, so you gotta check it out!

If someone hollers, "More eggnog," at a point which they certainly do not need more eggnog, her creamy delicious slur sounds a lot like, "More Frame Job (Opening Moves)!"

At least, if the person listening is also at a point where they need no more eggnog.

And that is how the Tech Talk Ranch pre-Techmas Eggnog Bender and Secret Santa Hullabaloo led directly to us trying to make Frame Job work. Well, that and the release of Mala Tempora, which happened to be the same day (and also explains the eggnog stains all over our copies of Power Shutdown (Mala Tempora)).

Frame Job is a Double Event that lets you forfeit an Agenda to give the Corp one Bad Publicity. Now don't get us wrong, one extra credit during every single run is a nice thing, but unless you paid nothing but a click to steal the Agenda AND you're pretty sure that you can steal seven points more, Frame Job seems like a pretty bad deal.

Enter Raymond Flint (Mala Tempora).

Well, stumble in, stinking of whiskey, shame, and regret, Raymond Flint (Mala Tempora). Good ol' Ray-Ray lets you access one card from HQ every time the Corp takes at least one Bad Publicity. You can also trash him to expose a card, which makes him handy even against a Jinteki deck's "HQ of Death," since the accessing effect is mandatory.

Frame Job + Raymond Flint gives you some control over when you can access HQ without a run but you still have to forfeit an Agenda. Against Weyland, Jinteki, and even NBN, you're probably going to hit some one-pointers (and HB might run False Lead (A Study In Static) or Gila Hands Arcology (Creation and Control)), but you're still at the mercy of fate as to whether: A) You steal a one-pointer to sac; and 2) HQ is worth saccing an Agenda to access. What we need now is a way to guarantee a one-pointer to toss and a way to monitor the contents of HQ.

Shaper to the rescue with Notoriety (Trace Amount) for our on-tap one-pointer and the underrated Woman in the Red Dress (Mala Tempora) for HQ snooping.

We've got some handle on accessing HQ on our own terms, so now we need to make those accesses count, which is where HQ Interface (Humanity's Shadow) and Nerve Agent (Cyber Exodus) come in. Since we don't want to have to run HQ a ton, we'll use Grimoire (Core) as our console and grab a couple copies of Surge (Humanity's Shadow). To ensure that the times we do run HQ hurt hard, we'll also pack a Demolition Run (Core) or two. In case the Corp wises up to our HQ assault plan early, we'll make sure to have a copy of Medium (Core), too, since it works well with Grimoire.

All these red cards are leading us to an Anarch ID for this wacky bad-boy. With multiple accesses of HQ, Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead) seems like a no-brainer, giving us extra trashin' power. Going Anarch also gives us free access to Imp (What Lies Ahead) as well as the Anarch 'breaker suite. We can use Deja Vu (Core) for a bit of recursion and Djinn (Core) for some turtoring. Djinn means packing Crypsis (Core) so we have a tutorable 'breaker and something to deal with anything out of the reach of the fixed-strength Mimic (Core) and/or Yog.0 (Core).

Since a Connection Resource is so key to our deck, we'll make room for Hostage (Opening Moves) to find him and New Angeles City Hall (Future Proof) to keep him protected. Woman in the Red Dress is a Connection as well, so Hostage is still useful even if we draw Raymond in our opening hand.

For economy, we'll fall back on Core-set classic Armitage Codebusting (Core) along with Liberated Account (Trace Amount), Sure Gamble (Core), and a single copy of Kati Jones (Humanity's Shadow), which Hostage can help us find, too.

We have all the cards picked out, now all that's left is to guzzle this last container of eggnog and build the actual deck, a deck we've decided to call...


I'M IN UR HQ, STEELIN UR CHANGE

Identity
Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)

Total Cards: 45

Event (15)
Deja Vu (Core) x2
Demolition Run (Core) x2
Frame Job (Opening Moves) x2
Hostage (Opening Moves) x2
Notoriety (Trace Amount) x3
Sure Gamble (Core) x2
Surge (Humanity's Shadow) x2

Hardware (4)
Grimoire (Core) x2
HQ Interface (Humanity's Shadow) x2

Program (15)
Corroder (Core) x2
Crypsis (Core) x1
Datasucker (Core) x2
Djinn (Core) x1
Imp (What Lies Ahead) x2
Medium (Core) x1
Mimic (Core) x2
Nerve Agent (Cyber Exodus) x2
Yog.0 (Core) x2

Resource (11)
Armitage Codebusting (Core) x3
Kati Jones (Humanity's Shadow) x1
Liberated Account (Trace Amount) x2
New Angeles City Hall (Future Proof) x2
Raymond Flint (Mala Tempora) x2
Woman in the Red Dress (Mala Tempora) x1


There is a lot of room for tweaking and twacking in this deck, both for effectiveness and for personal style. The key component is the Frame Job + Raymond Flint + Notoriety core (and probably Woman in the Red Dress) along with Nerve Agent and HQ Interface. The economy package can be played with, the Events swapped up, etc. Go out and give this one a try, then come back and let us know what you loved, what you hated, and, most importantly, what you'd change!

And now, it's time to unveil the MERRY TECHMAS! contest! Between now and December 23rd, post a picture of yourself with your favorite Tech Talk worthy card in the comments of this article. On Christmas Eve, we'll pick one lucky entrant to win an official Tech Talk tee-shirt! That's right, a Tech Talk tee-shirt! Now you can proudly display your love and admiration for the internet's most lovehated Android: Netrunner article series! Be the envy of all your friends! Have total strangers call you an idiot at local tournaments! Live the dream!

Unfortunately, Tech Talk isn't made of money, so the contest is limited to the US and Canada. Sorry!