Butcher Shop on a fun-killing Astrotrain, patch 2.0

Important: The deck changed a little (see "update" below to compare the changes) to include the NAPD Most Wanted restrictions in influence.

This is a fun-killing deck and it is made to show why 24/7 News Cycle is broken and un-fun and if left unchecked "Magics" our "Netrunner" (and that is not a good thing). The point of the deck is to win in any way possible of the myriads available for it, depending on the pace and mistakes of the runner.

The Butcher Shop archetype is one I played since Fantast Flight Netrunner's day 1 and it evolved a lot since then, to the point it became broken and un-fun, but nonetheless efficient archetype.

The point of the deck is to force the runner to a losing credit/time battle. Either he/she rushes to score, at which point we should prioritise to punish him/her with tags and kill him/her for not being patient enough, or he/she "chickens" out and plays the waiting game, at which point we gain credit advantage, rush the game like playing the “Astrotrain” game (rush/fast advance), or kill him/her with 24/7. For the third, all you need to do is to score a Breaking News at some point in the game and the trap is set. Now the runner has a ticking time bomb on him/her that has no way of knowing when it will go off.

Notable interactions:

Fast Advance (rush tactic): Astroscript Pilot Program + copies of itself: The first one creates a chain for the other two to be scored at the same turn each.

Astroscript Pilot Program + any 3-click Agenda: Again, it allows us to finish the chain by setting the card and scoring it at the same turn.

Weakness: Clot. We can deal with clot by purging, but we shouldn't as most of the times, if the runner is smart, he/she will Clone Chip it in the right moment, so it is better to change our tactics to enforce the kill.

Tag 'n' Bag (flat-line): Midseason Replacements + Scorched Earth/Traffic Accident: This will cripple or kill the runner, if he/she made a greedy run. Don't be afraid to use it even if it won't kill if you believe it will gain you tempo advantage, or to eat away Plascrete Carapace/I've Had Worse.

Breaking News with clicks remaining + Scorched Earth/Traffic Accident: Another way to kill/cripple.

Breaking News+24/7 News Cycle + Scorched Earth/Traffic Accident: Kill at point-blank range: Score Breaking News at some point, Play 24/7 News to land 2 tags, then kill with Scorched Earth/Traffic Accident depending on the cards in the runner's hand. This is the most profane combo in the deck, as it can be set at any time, and executed whenever, with little to no disruption on the runner's part.

Weakness: Plascrete Carapace/I've Had Worse/Paparazzi: Eat them away (destroy Paparazzi) and recover Scorched Earth/Traffic Accident with Jackson Howard for the kill. Or simply win by scoring.

Tag advantage: Tag ICE/Upgrde + Quantum Predictive Model: The card will end up in our scoring area.

Economy is very important in this game and we need precision for this tactic, as we don't care to have a lot of credits. We care to have credit DIFFERENCE with the runner. Almost every card in the deck is there to facilitate this process. We want the runner to run, only to pay more for less, lose clicks to remove tags, or stumble on Agendas that will punish him/her. 15 Minutes is pure trolling. Quantum Predictive, if we have properly set our ICE, will end up in our hands, courtesy of the runner and we really WANT them to score NAPD (Now Explode-a-Palooza) and giving us a whopping 4 (5) credit difference. Never drop below the runner's credits unless you KNOW what you are doing, because this is our biggest advantage in our arsenal. We have a lot of ways to "bust" economy back on track if needed, specifically for that reason.

We fear Account Siphon, but the runner fears it also as it tags him/her so he/she has a timing restriction on whet to play it, therefore we need to outmanoeuvre it by either convincing him/her it is the “right” thing to play, only to kill him/her afterwards, or if the runner is more experienced and knows what he/she is doing, defend against it by using proper ICE and upgrades at HQ right away from the start.

The initial tactic is to "poker" our opponent into guessing wether we are playing "Astrotrain" or "Butcher Shop". Depending on our starting hand (which we must never keep without economy cards), we either lay down our first Agenda, or a tag/economy killing upgrade. From then, we just play along the moods of the runner and troll him/her every step of the way. Keeping the proper cards in hand is the most important part of our game. Half of the time you will discard Scorched/Traffic pieces. Don't worry, you have plenty of ways to get them back if needed, and most of the time, if you made the right choice, you won't need them at all. Remember, we play "poker". We want the runner to fear us and give us time to win the traditional way, or pressure us to his/her suicide. To do that, we need to always evaluate what is more "efficient" for us each time, and we push towards that strategy.

When playing the deck, abuse your ID almost every turn, even by setting down Agendas. You need to convice the runner NOT to run by fearing, or RUN BADLY by being reckles so a certain amount of unpredictability is required, hence the risks taken.

ICE should be stacked, not spread, to ensure that at least 1 tag is almost always guaranteed to land. We want the runner to constantly pay more for less, and most ICE is in the deck for that exact strategy.

Product Placement/Bernice Mai is there to drain credits and facilitate both victory ways. You usually stack them together, or spread them between a scoring server and R&D which never should be left unprotected. If the runner is too cheap, it will cost him/her much more in the end. If the runner trashes, we gain credit advantage either way, so good for us.

NEVER evaluate each card individually in this deck; it is almost always a small cog in the machine for tempo. Since the runner will most certainly be able to get in our servers, our goal is to make that punishing and/or dangerous. We want them to run badly, nor keep them out. The deck PUNISHES runs last click. Most of the time, the runner will end up being tagged to be killed, or his/her resources being broken. Always exploit that.

On a side note, Project Beale is excellent against “turtling” as it may give us 1-2 more points if the runner is afraid to run, and if we have Midseason in our hands, it is almost always worth the risk. This will further pressure the runner to make a mistake at some point, or will singlehandedly win us the game in the end.

Overall, the deck's individual cards are not that much on their own, but are very versatile to enforce victory if ANY mistake is made by the runner so the most important part to play this deck properly is to LEARN how the runners play. You need to be "inside" the runner's head to choose wisely (and not poorly ;) ) which cards are needed when, so knowing when the runner will most likely do whatever is key to victory, as we need to push him further into making that decision, turning it from good to bad. Remember, cards don't win by themselves.

The only true "weakness" of the deck is Film Critic, but remember that it is a resource, so if you play properly, you can get rid of it, or win by scoring. Also, this is the second reason you have so many 1-point agendas in the deck, because it forces the runner to lose clicks with Film Critic, or risk not using it at all.

All in all, if you are still reading this, first of all, thank you, and second of all, give it a try. I know it is not a “tested” version of the archetype, but I believe it will surprise you with its effectiveness and is ideal for tournament play against unknown people as that way they are more prone to mistakes against a deck/opponent they cannot predict.

UPDATE: At the time of the deck's creation, NAPD Most Wanted list wasn't availabe. To comply with it, the changes are simple: -1 NAPD Contract, -1 Reclamation Order, -1 Traffic Accident, +1 Explode-A-Palooza (potato, potato. You could also include a 3rd Quantum Predictive Model and 1 TGTBT instead), +1 Jackson Howard (replace Daily Business Show, Jackson is needed due to lack of Reclamation Order. Previously we only had 2 because Daily Business was more important in this deck), +1 Pop-Up Window, +1 Product Placement (or the two 1-point agendas suggested above. Both paths are good, but you choose one or the other depending on your meta. More 1-point agendas are better against Film Critic, while the 3rd Product Placement/Explode-a-Palooza are better against money-making runners). The deck remains relatively unchanged.