EigenHarpoon 2.0 - 1st Euros 2019

Drago 401

The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot this as the latest version of Algebraic’s excellent line of Blue Sun decks which have been doing serious work this year. Massive credit goes to him; I mostly provided a soundboard for changes he proposed.

So on to the changes, some established, some untested...

Ice! Ice!

More Chiyashi, fewer Orion. Orion can just feel bad with so much Engolo around. Hortum was in for while but left mid-week for Mausolus. Early ETR was nice, but there was a lack of spike in the ice suite to counter turning wheel farming.

Current?

Death and Taxes out, Scarcity of Resources in.

Current or no current had been hotly debated for a while. Having been on the receiving end of Hayley/Geist shenanigans I was team Death and Taxes. The sound argument for a cheaper, more universally annoying card won out and this became mid-week change two.

Scarcity of Resources played: 0.

Mausolus rezzed: 0.

Super relevant changes; would make them again. YMMV.

On to the critical stats and noteworthy stuff!

Swiss results: 5-1

  • Loss to Apoc Val. Not a matchup I love trying to navigate so I went with trying to delay the fireworks as long as possible with Crisium Grid, Border Control and annoying ice placement. The kill was on at the end of the Apoc turn as 3 points had been picked up with 1 card left in the grip. Alas, it was not to be as the final Amped Up click found the 1 in 4 agenda in HQ. Sneaky sneaky runner...

  • Pirate Hayley. Hadn’t considered this matchup however MVP goes to SDS Drone Deployment which thankfully appeared making it very tricky for Hayley.

  • Leela. Found out later from Swiftie how teched this deck was to punish me, and most of it wasn’t needed for Blue Sun to be on the ropes. Spear Fishing cancelled my Daily Quest immediately, leaving me floundering for most of the game. With 6 credits versus 4 double Counterstrike landed handing me a win I had no business taking.

  • Smoke. Went something like this; Blue Sun turn 1, score Hostile. Smoke turn 1, 3 points off RND, 3 points from HQ. Blue Sun turn 2, play Counterstrike. Turn 2.1, both spend 5 solid minutes laughing at the silliness of it all!

Cut results: 1-0

  • Tough tough game against spy cam (ish) Hayley using Top Hat and Ankusa to great effect. Went to time and I would say I survived this round rather than won with 5 accesses whiffing in the final turn.

What else to say?

That was two of the most fun days playing Netrunner I’ve had in a long time. The games were close, opponents fantastic, community amazing and organisers tireless.

Thank you everyone for keeping this alive!

10 comments
2 Jun 2019 BlackCherries

Congrats on the win!

Could you provide some insight on the ongoing Daily Quest vs. Adonis Campaign debate, especially in Blue Sun?

2 Jun 2019 Drago

Thank you!

Interesting one.

I feel Daily Quest is a great fit for Blue Sun and was one of the cards (alongside Reduced Service) that made me come back to the ID.

Generally the builds I’ve played with seem to have moved away from slow turns. By this I mean things that have to be reset on a certain period to maintain use; Gatekeeper, Sandstone (to a degree) and for me Adonis falls into this bracket. As good as these cards are, too many of them start dictating turns if you are reliant on them in the moment.

Personally, for Adonis to go in there would have to be something really enticing for me to do with those extra influence points, and I’m not sure what that would be right now. It wouldn’t be a third Adonis I suspect.

2 Jun 2019 Algebraic

I played exactly the same deck and went 6-0 in Swiss, carrying my Paige Piper Freedom somewhat, beating 2 Vals, 2 Leela, MaxX and Eliza. Another key change was substituting Hostile Takeover for Divested Trust. We explored testing Drudge Work but just being able to remove these cards from a potential flood was enough for us. Thanks goes to Swiftie for this take on "Blue Fun".

I had a lot more success with Mausolus on the day as it's a much better ice for centrals. You can use it at a push early to protect Rashida Jaheem or Daily Quest and, at worst, you can always Blue Sun it around later.

This list tends to win more by Punitive Counterstrike than you may expect. Two kills were from discarding one or more SSL Endorsement into Archives to catch a Runner looking for Dirty Laundry or Crowdfunding money. It's also another useful tactic against though pesky Apocalypse builds.

2 Jun 2019 BlackCherries

@Drago Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Plus you don't have any agendas that can be never-advanced and confused with Adonis.

Mind giving your thoughts on Tithonium with the Building Blocks / Oversight AI support? Do you feel like you see less Clippy?

3 Jun 2019 BlackCherries

@AlgebraicI love me some Divested Trust as well but I opted to use 3 City Works Project as opposed to the SSL Endorsement. Which do you prefer?

3 Jun 2019 Swiftie

Well done on the win mate, glad Blue sun prooved that its still a good ID.

4 Jun 2019 Shishu

I never feel comfortable player Surveyor in Blue Sun since I don't want to pick it back up if I put it in a big server. How did you deal with that?

4 Jun 2019 Drago

@Shishu Unless ice poor, Surveyor is going to be on a remote and if not pushing an agenda you really want Daily Quest ticking over in the remote. I would only bounce them off a deep server if it’s enabling Punitive Counterstrike.

With the Chiyashi and Orion you often have a better bounce option.

5 Jun 2019 Algebraic

@BlackCherries Weyland has some good agenda choices but the money from SSL Endorsement is just too good in a deck built around Punitive Counterstrike. I prefer SDS Drone Deployment versus City Works Project as it offers protection in R&D and the threat of program trashing can force a runner into running before they are ready to counter Punitive Counterstrike.

9 Jul 2019 ZomB

Now that Surveyor is off the restricted list, do you make any changes?