Shapers are the decoder faction (3rd at 25-person GNK)

paulyg 1318

I’m not very good at playing Shaper (I get impatient and want to run everything) but thought I should try some Hayley. However, I found that playing with Euler, Gauss, Ika, Pelangi, etc. would tax my Simulchips a lot (even worse if I was supposed to be maintaining a Clot threat) and I still wasn’t thrilled with the actual ice breaking efficiency that I was getting compared to just playing Criminal. I thought about Engolo, but playing it completely turns off one of the two viable shaper econ engines (can’t visit Aesop) and makes the other (a fascinating collection of orbs) extremely awkward on the MU now that we don’t have any friendly daemons to help out.

Alright then, I thought, what if I just shove Amina in and call it a deck? Amina + Pelangi sounded pretty good for getting through those big sentries that people love to single stack to make Na’Not’K sad and if I played three breakers that don’t need to be refreshed then I could keep all my Simulchips for Clot threat / refreshing Pelangi forever and… oh I guess we can play some Kyubans.

The basic game plan is to get plenty of money, liberally using a Hayley install for a Kyuban to make challenging an early remote easier if you need to, but eventually getting to a state where you can run R&D for money off two Kyubans, multiple accesses and a refund from Psych Mike. I don’t know if Supercorridor is really worth it, and the install is painful if you don’t get the instant refund, but the extra hand size is kind of nice when you Stimhack three times.

I took this to a 25-person GNK and it went 3-1, beating a Cayambe Earth Station, Titan and Making News before losing a close-ish game to Divert Power Spark. It’s not an incredible deck, but it’s a slightly different way to play Hayley that produces some fun moments!

2 comments
27 Apr 2020 Longi

"I get impatient and want to run everything" is exactly the core of my NR strategy :D

Congrats on original idea, I love when crim card dominates a shapers build :)

28 Apr 2020 qvm

As long as you play Pelangi I approve!