Post-Clot NEH

DrunkenGineer 854

As much as everyone says that Clot is the end of fast advance, I think it won't go down without a fight. Especially considering the fact that Clot has a counter already in print (Cyberdex Virus Suite), I don't think it can't be played around. This is what I expect NEH to look like in the near future.

Card Choices

Shipment from SanSan: this is the big one. NEH installs too many cards for you to pull out a Clot before the advancement token drops. With a scored Astro, you can install-SfSS-Astrotoken to score before the Clot can come out. This means that Clot can't halt the Astrotrain, it can only keep it from starting.

Cyberdex Virus Suite: Netrunner's first clickless virus purge is what you use when you can't beat the Clot, but have to bait it out instead. With Clot in play, you can install and Biotic (or install on a card that the runner knows is a SanSan City Grid), let the Clot come out, then add the remaining advancement tokens, pop the Cyberdex, and immediately score the agenda.

Interns: because Cyberdex is a relatively narrow hate card, I'm reluctant to put 2 in the deck. For now, this should be a second Cyberdex, but if your meta doesnt fall in love with Clot, this is the card it should be. You can use Interns to bring a Cyberdex back in the off-chance that you'll need it a second time (remember, Cyberdex is an upgrade, so you can guard it in R&D or HQ), or you can use it to revive a trashed Jackson or SanSan City Grid.

Ichi 1.0 and Tollbooth: a few beefier ice can't hurt, in case you need something to throw in front of a remote when the occasional Clot gets through. You can also pop Cyberdex to make the runner faceplant into one of these two if they're depending on Datasucker tokens to get through.

Everything else is bog-standard NEH. You don't want to tech so much against Clot that your game suffers against everything else.

Playstyle Changes

Bluffing: Once the runner knows you're using SfSS, they'll know that they need to pull Clot as soon as you install a card in a server that already has another card. You can take advantage of this by installing innocuous cards on SanSan City Grids to bait the Clot, let the runner think their plan has worked, and purge after watching the runner waste a click running on a pointless server. It slows you down, sure, but I never said Clot would be easy to play around.

If you're not sure whether they have Clot: With a Jackson (or other asset/upgrade) in hand, you can install an agenda, start to advance it, and if it's been Clotted, install the Jackson over the advanced card, trashing it. This works if you don't know whether the runner is playing Clot. Remember, once the first Astro gets through, Clot can't stop the second one from being scored with SfSS and a token.

Know what Clot can and cannot stop: if the runner plans on SMC'ing for Clot, it will cost them 4 credits - if they're too broke to play Clot, or have no way to get it out, you have nothing to worry about. If they Clot before they need to, you can purge or use Cyberdex. And Clot can't stop the good old never-advance bluff of installing an Astro on one turn and triple-advancing it the next.

Order of Operations: You can't just go 'Biotic-triple advance-score' any more - order of operations matters. If scoring with Biotic, you want to Biotic as late as possible. If popping Cyberdex, don't do it until you're in the timing window when you can score. If scoring with SanSan City Grid, you want to rez SSCG as late as possible (which is usually after any tokens are on the agenda). This lets you bluff Cyberdex as SSCG for another fake-out (install, advance, watch them play Clot, Biotic, advance, advance, rez and trash Cyberdex and score).

9 comments
4 Apr 2015 Letsaros

"Remember, once the first Astro gets through, Clot can't stop the second one from being scored with SfSS and a token."

If the second Astro got installed on that turn..why Clot doesn't stop it getting scored? What am i reading wrong?

4 Apr 2015 DrunkenGineer

Sorry, I meant that you can't instant-install Clot with Clone Chip or Self-Modifying Code after the agenda is advanved to stop it from being scored. Before playing SfSS, the installed agenda looks just like any other card NEH installs in a remote, so you have to guess that it's an agenda before I advance it.

If Clot is already in play, it does prevent the Astro from being fast-advanced, but it's at risk of being trashed with a purge or Cyberdex.

4 Apr 2015 Letsaros

@DrunkenGineer

Yes but you install the second Astro on first click, the Runner then gets a window to clonechip or SMC a Clot. Let's say he doesn't because it looks like a normal card and not an agenda. Then you play SfSS on second click. The Runner can then use CloneChip or SMC to bring the Clot. It's the corp's turn so you choose ofc the SfSS to play first. But isn't there a window between the SfSS and using the token from the first Astro that the CloneChip (or the SMC) gets to trigger? thus prevented the agenda from being scored on that turn?

4 Apr 2015 DrunkenGineer

@Letsaros No. Because it's your turn, you have priority for paid abilities (which the Astro token and Clone Chip both are). You can place the token and score the agenda before the runner gets the chance to act.

4 Apr 2015 saltytacopanda

How would you deal with Traffic Jam? I think that card will be more common than Clot.

5 Apr 2015 Vorpalgens

@DrunkenGineer Check carefully the timing structure... Yes the Corp will be able to Astro an Agenda sicne it's a paid ability and they go first on their turn but then the runner also have the window to do some paid abilities... so Clone chip, SMC, Clot will trigger before the scoring window...

Scoring is not a paid ability...

5 Apr 2015 ItJustGotRielle

Scoring is not a paid ability and is not confined within any sort of timing structure. During the corps turn, at any time, they can score an agenda that has met its advancement cost.

5 Apr 2015 DrunkenGineer

@saltytacopanda Traffic Jam is going to be tough, I'd have to see it in the hands of a great player before I can pass judgment. Targeted Marketing naming Clot actually dampens both, interestingly enough.

@Vorpalgens Scoring an agenda isn't a paid ability, but it's performed in the same way and in the same timing windows (before or after your mandatory draw, and after each of your click actions) when you have priority to act. The difference is you can't score an agenda after discarding down to max hand size right at the end of your turn (so @ItJustGotRielle is almost correct) or on the runner's turn.

5 Apr 2015 Vorpalgens

D'oh! :(

Correct... Then it has to be done before SFSS in between actions...