Damon's Last Ride

presheaf 621

mTtIhG6.jpg

Disclaimer: I don't think this deck is that good, but it can do some cool stuff and feels pretty fun. Your game plan is jamming agendas to get to game point, then close out the game with a neat gimmick of Mason Bellamy, Border Control and/or Ikawah Project, all three of which pressure the Runner's clicks and allow you to set up some nasty puzzles with a bit of work, occasyionally accomplishing the rare feat of actually scoring against a Runner with breakers and money in 2019.

An example is a 3-iced server with Mason Bellamy and Border Control, meaning that a normal Runner is going to run click 1, lose a click on each ice, and then be Border Controlled out. Oops. Or maybe there's no Border Control, but the agenda you're scoring is Ikawah and therefore unstealable if Mason's around. Or maybe you have Heinlein Grid + Mason Bellamy, effectively forcing the Runner to run last click. But if so, Border Control just shuts you out.

Obviously, most Runners have tricks of their own, with Apocalypse, Hippo, Beth and Surfer all potentially messing with your plan. I think you have some game all of them, largely on the back of Border Control being such a potent effect, but I haven't really tested enough to say (why risk losing a 90% WIN RATE?!). So far, most of my games have been against people who seemed to be caught unaware by the gimmick, which obviously makes things easier. I suspect that if the Runner knows what's up and is proactive about clearing out your remote, things get significantly harder.

Beyond that, there's not much to say, except that I've been a lot happier about Asa than I thought. This deck started out as a Sportsmetal deck, then became a Seidr deck when I thought Mason would let me recur Border Controls, then became Asa for want of a better option when I ended up only ever triggering my ID on Ikawah steals. This let me go to 3x Blue Level Clearance, as BLC (and Rashida) forces you into mildly awkward turns if you don't want to discard cards, but Asa often fixes that. It also lets you IAA Ikawah while throwing in a Mason or Border Control, which is niche but pretty strong.

7 comments
1 Sep 2019 dnddmdb

I lost to this deck on jinteki.net and I approve! Any particular reason for spending the influence on Celebrity Gift? Just want as much econ as possible?

1 Sep 2019 presheaf

Yeah, I just really like money. :) I wouldn't be surprised if there was a smarter choice. Batty or Attitude Adjustment are the first two cards I'd want to try, but you can have a lot of fun with 6 inf.

3 Sep 2019 GcFlash

My two cents... Currently the deck doesn't seem to need the Asa Group: Security Through Vigilance ability. So I would go with Daily Quest over Celebrity Gift. I'd also be really keen to go for Red Herrings to lean into the Heinlein Grid... but I love jank .

3 Sep 2019 presheaf

Daily Quest is an interesting idea, but I'd point out that the deck does use Asa quite a lot. IAA Ikawah + install Mason is very important vs. a Runner who has money enough to run the remote repeatedly and trash the Masons, as other HB ID's would need to first protect the remote for a turn so they can't trash Mason, then for another turn so you can IAA Ikawah, and I think that's totally impossible against any serious Runner these days. Rashida and Blue Level Clearance also both become significantly less awkward when you can install 2 cards for 1 click. Red Herrings does sound like too janky. :) If they trigger Heinlein Grid they typically won't get in anyway, and if they don't, paying 5 more creds will be managable.

4 Sep 2019 GcFlash

I completely understand. I was more meaning that you will only trigger the ability a limited number of times... especially if you're short of credits. Having a few more assets/upgrades always feels better in Asa Group: Security Through Vigilance.

11 Sep 2019 5N00P1

I liked the idea, but ported it back to a Jinja Sportsmetal deck. Yes Jinja is kind of a nonbo but usually I only try to score the last Agenda with the combo. Damon Abuse went 4 - 0 in our Regional, just my runner sucked.

19 Sep 2019 presheaf

Grats!