Interesting but bad Kit

Greasythumb 555

I'm publishing this list because it's interesting enough and close-to-playable enough that I thought people might want to try and take it a step further. Maybe there is insight amongst the jank. Piloting this thing is a doozy. I've been running it on jnet for a while now and I am still very, very bad at it. Thank you to every opponent who graciously let me spam /undo-click like I was installing it with Friends in High Places.

So what the hell is going on here? I think the easiest way to explain is to discuss the notable cards one by one. That will pretty much answer every question except the hardest one of all: why?

Peregrine

I'm putting this first because this is a Kit deck and so obviously the decoder is important. And the decoder here is... one of the ones criminals sometimes settle for if they can't afford the influence to import one from shaper. Obviously the idea is immediately apparent: as Kit, Peregrine can always derez the first ICE you encounter each turn. The only drawback is that it costs an absurd amount of and leaves you without a decoder installed. Sorry, that's two drawbacks. Quite bad drawbacks. And of course it costs you two influence from a 10 influence runner who's from the faction that specialises in decoders. We're not off to a good start, are we?

More positively, the fact that Peregrine sends itself back to your hand is a bug that can be turned into a feature! However you install it, whatever you do with it while it's installed, when you send it back to your hand, all is forgiven. Which brings us to...

Diana's Hunt

Some people see a card that seems bad and think 'that card seems bad'. They then go on to build decks using cards that have been proven to be good, sometimes mixing in a few unproven cards with obvious advantages. This is weakness.

True GamersTM see a card that seems bad and think 'that card seems bad. It is my moral duty to prove that it is in fact the best card in the game.' This is the sort of thinking that will allow you to play Real NetrunnerTM.

Diana's Hunt is the card that I built this deck around. I initially had three and I've dropped down to two. That's the right number. That is the right number. YOU WILL PRISE DIANA'S HUNT FROM MY COLD, DEAD GRIP!

So what does this card do for you? Most notably, it lets you install Peregrine for free multiple times during a run. This sometimes actually works. In combination with Kit, Pelangi and Simulchip you can do all sorts of wacky things. Take note that you can use Simulchip to turn your free installs into things that won't be trashed at the end of the hunt.

Compile

This card is primarily a tutor to let you reliably fetch your Peregrine from the Stack, before sending it back into your Grip, which is a much better place for it than back onto the bottom of the Stack. The fact that you're running this also means you don't have to worry too much about Diana's Hunt or destroyers dumping Peregrine into your Heap. It's also a Pelangi or emergency non-Peregrine icebreaker in a pinch.

Prepaid VoicePAD

I chose a prepaid economy because this deck needs big bursts of money, and also because prepaids are a boon when your plan to get breakers out is run-and-install events.

Because I Can

This is a surprisingly useful card that I recommend you try (it's great against million-upgrade servers, Hostile Infrastructure, Mushin No Shin and Dedication Ceremony/City Works Project combos) but it's definitely a flex slot. If you are trying to make this deck good and you want to cut something, this is an option.

Flame-out

A fat stack of credits with a drawback I can avoid using Peregrine's bounce? Sign me up. A third one of these might be worth it.

Lucky Find

Obviously a big deal in a prepaid deck, but two influence is a lot. It might be worth cutting one for the third Deuces Wild and a Peace in Our Time, or maybe a couple of Turning Wheel's

Technical Writer

I love seeing cards late-game that would have been great early but are now all but worthless. That's why I endorse technical writer. More seriously, this is good but seriously swingy economy that will fire everytime you do silly install and derez shenanigans. When the corp is playing a slow, grindy game these guys will help you stick it out. Or they would if they weren't all floating around in the bottom 15 cards of your deck. I'm not bitter.

Ice Analyzer

These are some genuinely OK econ in this deck. Seriously adequate. A barnstorming 7½ out of 10.

Cybertrooper Talut

Extremely important, it turns out. Having to pump Peregrine by 3 to break Aiki is embarrassing. Before this is running you'll find yourself using Pelangi to turn Code Gates into Barriers. As Kit.

Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman

So is Kit even the right ID for this jank? Maybe not. Port it out to say, Lat: Ethical Freelancer, and you can run similar shenanigans with Golden while enjoying five extra influence, a and the opportunity to recognise in retrospect that doing things slightly differently would have netted you a bonus draw. Worth trying.

That said, Kit lets you fire your Compile tutor combo for Peregrine against any ice without having to get Pelangi into the mix, and that's a pretty big deal.

Pelangi

Why only one? I had more, but I wasn't using them that much. When this deck is functioning, which is definitely a thing that it does sometimes, you don't need it too often because the corp isn't keeping a ton of ice rezzed and you've got back-up breakers in any case. In other versions of this idea Pelangi might be more important, so definitely a question worth revisiting.

Cyberdelia

This is a relic of a time when this deck was running Rezeki, which I cut because this deck doesn't need more things to set up for the long game. I'm probably gonna cut it in the next iteration of this.

Aniccam

Given that you're running a Prepaid economy and crying out for draw, this is a no-brainer for this deck's console, which is why I'm giving serious consideration to swapping it out for Dinosaurus.

THE FUTURE (or how I learned to stop faffing about and put more econ in my deck)

Aesop's Pawnshop

This deck is never going to have a fully-fledged Aesops economy, but it has enough targets lying around - empty Flame-outs and Ice Analyzers, late game Technical Writers, dead Pelangis and Ladies - that I'm definitely including at least one in my next iteration of this.

Professional Contacts

is a good card. Or maybe Symmetrical Visage, which is a pet card I like a bit too much.

The Turning Wheel

Is a card I've already mentioned and I'm returning to because this deck could definitely use some more multi-access and HQ pressure. On that subject...

...Khusyuk

might be better than The Maker's Eye. I didn't really consider it before, but it could be worth tweaking things around to ensure a reliable target.

Daily Casts

is another good econ card that I probably should be playing.

Hernando Cortez

only costs one influence. I'm sure I can get him in here somehow.

Rubicon Switch

Now I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. You're already derezzing a bunch of ice with Peregrine, see, so it only makes sense to⁠— wait, where are you going? Come back! I'M NOT FINISHED! NO ONE UNDERSTANDS MY GENIUS!!!

8 comments
24 Jan 2021 Diogene

That is the type of jank I love! Very good writeup.

Some thoughts :

  1. Would DJ Fenris, with Los: Data Hijacker on it be good. It would give you a sweet 2 creds each time you pull off the main jank.

  2. Considering you need to save credits however possible, Takobi could bring you a nice dividend here.

  3. Pushing the jankyness further : you could start with Hayley Kaplan: Universal Scholar or Lat: Ethical Freelancerand Rebirth into Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman. This would let you have more influence and setup or draw faster.

  4. Harmony AR Therapy and Flame-out give you more benefits, you could swap Dirty Laundry for more of those.

I wonder if this kind of idea could be used with Ankusa? This is giving me new I insights.

Thank you for sharing this brilliant jank. Keep on posting.

24 Jan 2021 Greasythumb

@Diogene DJ Fenris would be fun and Takobi is an excellent call. I think with 21 events this deck isn't a good as good fit for Hayley, but as I mention above I think it's worth a try in Lat. In that version of the deck Rebirth would probably be a good card, but I'd want to build a strategy that didn't rely on it, probably with Golden and an extra Pelangi. I find 2x Harmony AR Therapy is enough. I initially had 3 and they were clogging my early draws. That said I had a game when Personal Evolution managed to ping both early and it made me very sad. The third Flame-out would be great, but Dirty Laundry is fast, reliable, efficient economy that combos with Prepaid VoicePAD and Aniccam. I might cut one once slots start getting super tight, but it's definitely not first on the chopping block. Flame-out won't help you trash Jeeves Model Bioroids.

I think run-install jank with Ankusa would look pretty different. Maybe you could do something with Brahman and Oracle May?

Thanks for the thumbs up.

24 Jan 2021 Greasythumb

Other cards that should probably be on the list to consider: Engolo, London Library

25 Jan 2021 Raiddinn

@GreasythumbI really like the write up on this. Very entertaining. Also, this kind of jank warms my heart. Props on making a deck for which Dinosaurus is in contention for the console slot. I like how you found a use for Flame Out too.

25 Jan 2021 Raiddinn

Having never played this deck, I would perhaps suggest +1 Ice Analyzer and -1 Technical Writer since they do basically the same thing but Ice Analyzer never stops being in play.

Also perhaps consider a way to get one or two Multithreaders in play, seems like they would be crazy good here.

A Flashbang as the killer would be hugely in-theme here also. It is just sad how underpowered that card is, though. Maybe you can use that as your next "Prove this is the best card in the game" card.

25 Jan 2021 triorph

I don't think pelangi + diana's hunt works, unless i misunderstand what you're saying with that.

25 Jan 2021 Raiddinn

The way I read that, OP meant "If Kit already has X, Y, and Z, then adding Diana's Hunt lets you do some really ridiculous stuff".

26 Jan 2021 Greasythumb

I was saying that there's a variety of situational combos. Pelangi absolutely does work as you would want it to with Diana's Hunt though. Hunt trigger is "Whenever you encounter a piece of ice". Pelangi affects "The ice you are encountering"