Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow (3rd Pl @ Wizard's)

CrimsonWraith 3643

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.

I didn't know quite what I was getting myself into when I cracked open Spaceman_Spiff's Grail/Midway deck for the first time, but I've grown rather attached to it. I feel this is now the quintessential TWIY version of the NBN Never Advance archetype. The ice is taxing, taxing, taxing. Assuming traditional best-case scenario breakers (Corroder, Mimic, Gordian Blade), a two-deep server with two Grails installed, Midway rezzed, and two Grails in hand will cost a whopping 12 credits just to break subroutines, and 16 credits to trash the Midway at the bottom.

An unsuspecting Runner face-checking ice may have his rig wiped by Lancelot (on the table or in-hand), Archer, or even face a net damage flatline via Merlins. For a Runner that has his full breaker suite, they have to decide if the card you just installed unadvanced (ideally next to Midway and behind two Grail ice) is an AstroScript Pilot Program or one of your 11 non-agendas used to bait runs and open up a scoring window for the AstroScript in your hand.

It's possible to lock the Runner entirely out with a rig wipe, and I frequently win with this deck by simply over-advancing Beale. NAPD Contract with the taxing ice provides huge scoring windows to score them out as well. Reversed Accounts can put the Runner in a lose-lose situation where you are guaranteed a scoring window - where they spend 12+ credits to get into the server and trash it, or they don't bite and run it and you advance it a few times to cause them to lose 12+ credits.

Shell Corp can be useful for Jinteki mind games... Install the Shell Corp in a naked remote, rez and use it, install a card unadvanced with it. Runners often assume this is a Snare! or some other asset placed to protect the Shell Corp. In actuality, it's an AstroScript that they left unchecked and you score on your next turn. Poor Runner play aside, Shell Corp is excellent for sitting at the bottom of a Grail/Midway server. Eventually it gets large enough to prompt the Runner to go after it (giving you a scoring window) or you just make a bunch of credits with it. It's not as good as Melange in forcing runs, but it's also not as vulnerable in R&D as Melange is.

Pop-up Window and Tollbooth are the only non-multi-sub ice in the deck, Datapike and Archer all profit from rezzed Midways alongside the Grail ice.

The deck's biggest weakness is Parasite recursion... the build I brought to a local Store Championship last week actually dropped the Eli 1.0 and third Merlin for an Architect and a Troll, because I was worried about Parasites - then I went all day without seeing a single Parasite played, go figure. I ended up going 4-1 with the deck, my only loss in the final round to an epic agenda flood that saw 8 of 10 agendas in the first 18 cards with all three Jacksons in the last 10 cards - I lost despite wiping the Runner's rig on two separate occasions.

Anyway, if you're looking for a fun NBN build that's a bit different from the norm, give it a shot, it's a blast. =)

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