Hypermodernism - GRNDL 3.0

echo/ 830

My Corp deck from Uplink 14 at Wayland's Forge in Birmingham, UK. Went 3-2 over the course of the day, winning against Chaos Theory, Gabe and Andromeda, losing to Chaos Theory and Kate.

This is mostly a standard Supermodernism style deck, aiming to score aggressively using binary ice before the runner has their rig set up and keeping the threat of scorched earth to keep them away from centrals.

The ice suite is fairly simple, a solid base of cheap binary ice keeps runners out of servers for the first few turns, and is kept relevant through the game by using Destroyer ice and Power Shutdown to remove the runner's breakers if they are not properly defended.

The economy is built entirely of operations and agendas, without any asset economy the deck can remove some of the options decks designed to combat NEH or RP may be using. Hedge fund and restructure are always excellent in an opening hand, and are normally playable throughout the game unless you are under heavy pressure. Hostile Takeover provides a way to score points while gaining credits for a turn and Geothermal Fracking counters can either be used immediately to threaten large SEA Source traces or kept in reserve for when your credit pool runs low.

Targeted Marketing is the least reliable economy card but one of the most potent. Normally the card named is either Self Modifying Code (against Shapers) or Plascrete Carapace (against everyone else or Shapers with SMC already in play). Although the choice is in the runner's hands, it is a huge benefit if they play the card, and often impossible for them to win if they do not. Care should be taken when playing this card that you don't let them quickly trash it by stealing an agenda.

The agenda suite has already been partially covered, but when talking about the rest then the importance of Fast Track in this deck must be stressed. This operation allows you to take advantage of any early scoring opportunity, easily rushing out a Project Atlas with 1 counter or Geothermal Fracking. If the runner cripples themself on an Archer you may even be able to fast track out a 5/3 before they can recover. This is also the reason for the 1/1 split on 5/3 agendas. The Cleaners allows the threat of SEA Source -> 2 Scorched Earth through one Plascrete. Hades Shard is available as a defense against Noise and other Anarch decks which may trash important cards into archives.

Fast Track also enables the most aggressive line of play I believe any corp deck has at the moment, rushing out a Posted Bounty in a secure remote server. The runner must choose between digging for Plascrete Carapace, which may not be successful, or running the remote, risking programs to Archers and Grims as they do so.

Reversed Accounts is a very recent addition to the deck and has not been tested very much, but so far seems like a solid choice. This card can create a scoring oppurtunity by draining the runner's credit pool without risking any points if they decide to run the scoring remote you put it in. Often running the accounts to trash them can be just as costly as being drained by the ability. This card also enables an old card, Power Grid Overload, that has fallen out of use. Following up a credit drain with this card can allow you to trash Plascrete Carapace or important consoles without a high up front cost.

I feel like this deck is still going strong, although I am planning on testing some Blue Sun builds to compare the different strengths and weaknesses. This deck is most vulnerable to Shaper matchups, where you are largely reliant on an early Power Shutdown to prevent SMC from sticking on the table. It is winnable, but definitely the hardest matchup this deck has. Criminals and Anarchs are much easier to lock out early, and have less recursion to fight back against Power Shutdowns or Destroyer ICE.

I'm happy to answer any questions about playing the deck or card choices in the comments, and any feedback is welcome.

1 comments
17 Nov 2014 Nick Cannon

False Lead seems good in here.