Biotic Biotech

phette23 2279

A mid-range Jinteki deck that mixes shell game and fast advance play styles. I made it just to tinker with the ID but it's actually fared well. Not as good as Jinteki: Replicating Perfection or Jinteki: Personal Evolution but decent and very fun to play.

Card Choice

Three Biotic Labor because I really wanted to see them and didn't have good ideas for spending the rest of the influence. I tried only two briefly, replacing one with an Archived Memories and upgrading an Enigma to Tollbooth, but didn't like the results. I want a high probability of holding two so I can do silly things with the ID, like score The Future Perfect out of hand.

Solid Jinteki ICE suite. Jinteki has a lot of ICE vulnerable to Parasite, but Himitsu-Bako and Lotus Field aren't so they're necessary. I might go up to two Swordsman if there's a lot of Eater-Keyhole in your meta, since it's your best defense against a matchup that just destroys trap-based decks. I debated Wall of Static and Bastion, going with fewer sentries, but ultimately didn't include either.

There isn't enough economy. Even with fairly cheap ICE, traps cost money to use and I click for credits way too often with this deck. Oh well.

ID Choice

I choose The Greenhouse every time. It's the best, whether you plan on winning by agenda points or a flatline. Runners will play around The Brewery until you flip anyways, which is an indirect benefit of the ID.

The Brewery does too little; 2 net damage will kill only the most foolish runners. In other Jinteki flatline decks, your hand and whether it contains Neural EMPs is unknown, so runners might risk ending their turn with only one card, but The Brewery is a known option so they'll never do so. Even with an extra click from Biotic Labor, you'd need a fully-advanced Ronin to do significant damage. The only opening hand where I might choose The Brewery would be: an ICE, Hedge Fund, Mushin No Shin, Biotic Labor, Ronin. You could Hedge Fund, install ICE (probably over HQ to prevent an early Siphon), take a first turn, then Mushin-advance the Ronin second turn, setting yourself up for a potential turn three five net damage kill if the runner ignores the Ronin and has four cards in hand. Way too much needs to go right for this to be viable.

The Greenhouse can still flatline runners with two cards in hand using Biotic-Ronin. Yes, it's a combo, but any kill with The Brewery would be, too. What's more, the Greenhouse provides options for scoring agendas. You can never advance out the first Medical Breakthrough, or never advance score a Braintrust with a counter. Braintrust counters are actually great sources of econ and a Mushin No Shin bluff is another way to get them. But the deck is truly designed around the double Biotic to score The Future Perfect from hand, which is my favorite move. A great way to go from four points to sudden victory, the game plan in a nutshell.

The Tank could be a good matchup-dependent choice against Eater-Keyhole or Noise decks. It only makes a large impact in longer games, however, and this deck doesn't have a good long game. The ICE is too weak and there are no defensive upgrades like Caprice Nisei or Crisium Grid.

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