2nd Place 2016 Florida Regionals Boring HB Deck

stephenball 998

I've been playing variants of this HB deck for a very long time now, and this was the version I brought to the finals of our regional. Mostly standard HB cards, with the difference of using Restructure instead of EVE/BBG. Obviously BBG with asset economy can be the most money you can get in the game, but I find that most decks now are teching to control this form of economy, whether its Whizzard, or Noise with Imp, or anyone packing Scrubber. I feel like the Restructures give me the boost that I need to start pushing the game forward as soon as possible.

This isn't a deck that is meant to sit back and build for a long time. It is meant to push the tempo and try to win moderately fast, as I find most of the popular runners now can be close to unbeatable in the late game. The faster you can get to game point, the faster you can start playing the never advance game, and that is exactly where HB wants to be.

Snatch and Grab was a last minute tech spot choice, thinking I could kill some Political Operatives with it or something. It was far and away the most useless POS in my deck, and 100% should have been a Fast Track.

I am unwilling to budge currently on 2 Archived Memories and 2 Biotic Labor. Biotic Labor has taken back over again as one of the most powerful cards, with the prevalence of Anarch, and the rise in Criminal that I think is coming.

It's not a perfect deck, but I have had a lot of success with it. There are a few changes I would make after playing in Regionals, but for the most part, I'm very happy with it.

8 comments
14 Apr 2016 seiya

Why would you play this deck if you consider it boring?

It doesn´t make sense to me

14 Apr 2016 iceqs

@seiya because it wins games I guess.

14 Apr 2016 seiya

@iceqs I´d rather have tons of fun :)

Anyway I like the deck I have normally have fun with HB, it´s much more fun than IG or NEH if you ask me, and those win games too :P

14 Apr 2016 stephenball

@seiya``@iceqs I say "boring" but I love playing HB, and really enjoy it. It was a tongue-in-cheek statement about how unexciting HB decks generally feel.

If I don't enjoy a deck, I don't play it. And I agree, it's more fun than those decks!

14 Apr 2016 rwknoll

Out of curiosity, which did more work for you on the day, Ichi 1.0 or Vikram 1.0? I currently run 1x Ichi and 3x Vikram because I think Vikram is a stellar card and has more relevance in the late game, but I think I tend to be in the minority of people who like him more than Ichi.

Also, I've seen several Foodcoats lists now running 1x Corporate Sales Team instead of NAPD Contract so they can slot 1x Crisium Grid, like you did. How did Sales Team and Crisium do for you? Would you recommend I make that switch, too?

14 Apr 2016 stephenball

@rwknoll I'm in love with Sales Team. It really helps keep your tempo going, and the money is insane. I wouldn't play without Crisium Grid right now. Like I said, Criminal is oj the rise, not to mention other Siphon/Apocalypse decks. Crisium is so good in HB, because with their recursion it can stay on the table most of the game.

I've grown a bit weary of Ichi 1.0, and will probably cut to 2. Vikram does more work, and is a more relevant piece of ICE early. Ichi 1 is a phenomenal piece of ICE, but it's tiring to see it as the first 2 pieces you draw each game.

16 Apr 2016 HexNet

In retrospect do you like the reduction in asset economy (Eve & BBG) in favour of Restructure and utility operations?

18 Apr 2016 stephenball

@HexNet I've always liked it more than the asset economy. These days Eve is usually unrezzable without BBG, as it will end up in most occasions being negative money for you. Everyone is trashing assets, so you have to defend your Eve if not rezzed with BBG, which spreads you out too much. I find it much too slow. I know people harp on the fact that it's great that the runner had to spend 5 credits to kill it, but I would rather be a poor runner than a poor corp anyday. I think either econ option is a fair choice, but I prefer the operation econ, mixed with Adonis which always end up in your good scoring server anyway. A full Eve gives you more money than Restructure, but I've always thought that you just need enough money to get things done, and I haven't been unhappy with the Restructures.