A PE Glacier for the post-rotation meta

flagellumVagueness 66

Rotation and the MWL 2.0 are here. Magnum Opus is everywhere, and it seems like taxing the runner out long-term is hopeless, right? Wrong! Don't tax credits, tax cards! This deck is a glacier that basically makes it impossible for the runner to steal an agenda from the remote unless they have a certain number of cards in hand, and they often won't know how many until they run. For this main strategy, we have:

Data Loop. The real heavy hitter here. Not only does it tax 2 cards, it also ends the run, and is thus viable for rush strategies if you can afford the rez cost early. Pretty much only Femme Fatale and Security Nexus can avoid the card tax, and even they can't bypass TWO Data Loops.

Kakugo. Adds a 1 card tax to the remote, and makes R&D/HQ lock non-viable in the long term. Feedback Filter changes it to a credit tax, but it's still an efficient ice. Ankusa is the worst thing to see, but fortunately that one isn't too common. Honestly, if the runner pulls out an Ankusa against me, I feel like they deserve that advantage.

Hokusai Grid. It's a 1 card tax. If Feedback Filter is installed, it becomes a 5-credit swing, which is still pretty good.

Prisec. The most recent addition to this deck, and it's definitely worth it. In terms of credits, it's about as efficient as Hokusai Grid, but it has the double advantage of doing meat damage (and few runners will install meat damage protection against PE) and giving a tag, which if it sticks can let you trash an annoying resource or two. Also they stack! Don't forget that unlike Hokusai, it can't protect remotes if the runner is on game point. Always rez it just before access against Leela.

House of Knives. If you get one of these scored early, it'll add one more card to the cost of stealing the next agenda.

Ben Musashi. Immune to damage prevention, but blanked by Film Critic. Combos especially well with Data Loop if the runner is relying on Feedback Filter.

Obokata Protocol. Everyone knows this agenda is good, which is why it's on the restricted list. In fact, it's so good that if you have an absolutely secure scoring window, try to score other agendas first, and save Obokata for the riskier windows.

So, I mentioned a few hate cards in the above descriptions. What can you do about them? Well, for non-resource hate cards, you'll have to play to your outs, relying on the taxing cards that aren't affected by the hate card in question. It's a good thing there are so many options available. If the card is a resource though, we have Voter Intimidation. Top priorities are, in order, Film Critic, Caldera, followed by runner win conditions like The Turning Wheel. Once you've trashed the card in question, if you think the runner might recur it, use Ark Lockdown. Sometimes it's best to wait to draw the lockdown before trashing it, e.g. if the runner has a Trope installed. You can also use Ark Lockdown on other things, e.g. Paperclip for a surprise lockout win (5 ETR barriers).

The one thing that can really ruin your day, with pretty much no counterplay, is hand size boosts. At this point, your only out is to rush as hard as you can. As soon as the Obelus hits the table, you should be looking for ways to score your 5/3s as soon as possible, so you can FA the win with Shipment from Tennin.

Other card choices:

Shipment from Tennin. This deck has 4 agendas with 3 cost, so Shipment from Tennin comes into play in almost every game I draw it. It can help you score an early HoK to help with later scores, or a late one to finish the 3-3-1 scoring pattern. It can even get a surprise flatline with Philotic Entanglement. Revealing it with Celebrity Gift will cause the runner to run more, taxing them out so they can't steal your 5/3s from the remote. All in all a very powerful and useful card.

Snare! Originally a 3-of, but I found it clogging my hand more often than not. A nasty surprise against multi-access and the main reason you'll win every game against Gang Sign decks. Just like with Prisec, the tag is also often useful. Don't ever install it.

Miraju. An absolute lifesaver in a post-Jackson world. If the runner has (or you expect them to have) any of the following; Indexing, Find the Truth, Spy Camera, Globalsec Security Clearance, then put Miraju on R&D as soon as possible (you want it at the base of the server for maximum effect). It'll shuffle away that agenda they put on top before they get a chance to steal it. Sometimes it's best to wait to rez until they play Mad Dash, to get that extra meat damage hit. If they aren't playing these, put it on HQ, since on R&D it'll just be a way for them to get fresh accesses each run.

Whampoa Reclamation. Like any glacier, this deck can often take a while to set up the scoring remote, during which time it's easy to get flooded. Whampoa can save you in this situation and many others. Use it to clear your hand against Alice or Maw. Use it to avoid discarding after a Fisk Investment Seminar or Syn Attack. Use it to bury those The Future Perfect (which you won't be scoring anyway) so the runner can't drain your economy with repeated psi games. Against Gang Sign, throw out everything that isn't a Snare! Pitch a card you don't need for this matchup to recur one you do. It's a good card.

Flexible Slots;

There are many of them. Archived Memories comes in handy often (e.g. for playing a second Voter Intimidation after the first one fails, or for recurring your defensive upgrades), but if you can think of a better use for 2 inf you're welcome to tell me. As for the ice, Kakugo, Data Loop, and Miraju are the only really essential ones. This deck isn't interested in taxing creds, so I went for ice that had other benefits, like the surprise factor of Cortex Lock. Pop-up Window especially can be swapped out for a better use of 3 inf. If you want to reduce the number of ice altogether, that's also an option, but I found that with fewer ice, the runner was able to get a ton of early access without ceding me much tempo, and early accesses are when your Obokata are at their most vulnerable.

So far, this seems to be a very strong deck archetype. Its current record on jinteki.net is 49 wins to 12 losses, since that feature was added. Not many runners can deal with a corp that doesn't care how much money they have.

5 comments
21 Oct 2017 flagellumVagueness

Crap, how do I format

21 Oct 2017 flagellumVagueness

Will finish formatting later

21 Oct 2017 TKMaximus

I'm running something similar out of Potential Unleashed, do you think the extra 3 influence of Personal Evolution is worth the weaker ID for this kind of damage grinding archetype?

21 Oct 2017 flagellumVagueness

Actually, I find that the extra point of damage comes in handy quite often when trying to protect agendas (How many times have you had a runner access Obokata with 4 cards in hand? Happens to me a lot). The goal usually isn't to deck them, but rather to make it so the number of cards required to steal an agenda is more than they can get. Besides, PU is almost blanked by Feedback Filter, while PE is not.

22 Oct 2017 Crowe

This is a powerful archetype. Very similar to the lists we run at Huddersfield. Potential Unleashed does nothing for you - the general goal is to create a scoring server that is so taxing of cards the runner literally cannot steal anything from it, and PU does not help you do this, unless the runner runs out of cards - but the point isn't to grind them down.

I originally ran Prisec, but found it far too low impact. The deck runs fine without it. I wouldn't run anything less than 3 Data Loop since it is MVP. Miraju is a good shout, and Shipment from Tenin is interesting. I have found Philotic not doing enough for me, so I am flitting between a third Future Perfect and Nisei MKII (because having to run through Data Loop again is hilarious.

When you add Punitive Counterstrike, this deck becomes silly good. ;)