Running the Rincewind Way

GreatGreedyGuts 446

“I run, therefore I am; more correctly, I run, therefore with any luck I’ll still be.” -Rincewind

The basic premise of this deck is fairly simple -- make your runs as efficient as possible while making as many as you can. If things go well, you'll be able to run every turn without trouble. If things go horribly wrong, you'll die screaming be glad you invested in a deck that's relatively able to bounce back.

When you run, you need protection. Speed alone won't take you through Ice. Mimic covers you from most destroyers even without datasucker, so it's the breaker you're most likely to see... tied, that is, with Knight, which rushes lazily onto problem Ice and crushes it -- particularly the popular Quandary. Corroder handles most things well, particularly Wraparound, so it, too, makes a good showing. Yog trails behind, serving to turn expensive servers requiring Knight into free runs, if you need. It's there for back-up more than anything else. Most important about these Icebreakers is their efficiency -- they're relatively easy to get out, in position, and use to exploit openings. They're all among the most cost-effective icebreakers, meaning that the money you make from running helps keep you going.

That's right, running makes you money now! Your book of spells has been tossed aside (let's be honest, you're not a proper Wizard anyway) in favour of a handsome rogue and a part-time job. Desperado and Security Testing let you exploit your cheap runs, build up money, and keep on running. It makes unprotected assets even more of a mistake against Whizzard than usual -- huzzah!

The economy is driven by those two splashes, but there's a lot of help for it. Armitage is great for building back up (who wouldn't want to rent a Magnum Opus for a few days at a fifth the sticker price?), Dirty Laundry turns a little more than enough to run into a serious windfall, and Sure Gamble is, as always, a great opener. Cyberfeeder makes your viruses cheaper, but also makes runs easier -- it's a great way to turn "annoyingly expensive" into "somewhat profitable".

What are you doing with all this money? Well, accessing. Everything else is built to assist that, or make your accesses more powerful. Medium and Nerve Agent punish lack of protection (and, delightfully, work very nicely in conjunction with Security Testing), Datasucker and Parasite make getting in easier (don't be ashamed to use Parasite as a makeshift datasucker if you must!), and Imp is Imp. Less good for saving you money -- but that really means that your ID ability saves you Imp tokens for the important, otherwise-untrashable things. Just because you're fleeing into danger doesn't mean you have to face your fears, after all.

Deja Vu, as always, is great for pulling back either essentials that have been lost forever, or (more often) grabbing "another" Imp and Parasite. Express Delivery delivers the card you most need -- or makes the odds of drawing it much higher by triggering a reshuffle. Sure, you sometimes see more than you can take, but it's better than spending more money to overdraw and have to discard with Quality Time.

Much like the deck's namesake, there's not a lot of memory for spells so it's important to not be too attached to anything. Medium sitting there with a few virus tokens and you without a way in anymore? Lose it for the Datasucker you need to be able to get back in, or the Parasite, or the Knight. I'd hesitate to trash Mimic, Corroder, or Yog -- certainly if you don't have another ready to go.

The worst situation to be, with this deck, is against a glacier build (particularly and assetless one) that's able to put itself together despite Imp and Parasite, without datasucker counters. It's not impossible to handle (if they've left any openings at all, which is usual) but it's something to watch for, and you should never be afraid to Imp good Ice away to prevent it.

Whizzard is a local meta choice -- I'm sure Reina could pull off something similar, but honestly I don't think it'd be as good. Whizzard's ability might not trigger as often against some decks, but more money that you're not actually spending is nice, and among local players NEH, RP, and Red Coats are all fairly prominent things to deal with right now. Even if not, hey, you're not spending real money to get rid of Caprice, Ash, or Jackson! That's always something.

Most importantly: Remember, at all times, to keep running. Don't break yourself doing it, but if you can run somewhere once or twice a turn to make a profit (and see some cards, perhaps), do it.

(There are, obviously, a few variations on the theme that you can make. The centerpiece of the deck is using Desperado and Security Testing to increase pressure across the board as a non-Noise Anarch. It'd be more than possible to drop a couple of things for Djinn again, or swap the Express Delivery for Quality Times. This is just the version that's been working best for me, so far.)

19 comments
7 Aug 2014 hi_impact

This deck is so solid that I cannot get over it. People have gotten use to so many hat trick Anarch decks, when this one template is just so scary. Multi-access, Imp disruption, Parasite destruction, Knights, Whizzard bucks, recurring credits.

The addition of Desperado gives you exactly what you need: more incentive to stack the datasuckers and give you those extra 3 dollars to hit the real server afterwards.

A fierce, highly competitive deck.

8 Aug 2014 thepaperlady

Very interesting deck! I had a similar one based on Rincewind, as well. netrunnerdb.com

9 Aug 2014 jawohl

Have you been thinking about dropping Plascretes and having 2 Masanori'es just to increase the profit from constant running and also boost the drawing engine that in this deck is just CLICK CLICK CLICK....

9 Aug 2014 Thike

The issue with Masanori is that he disincentivizes running, once you have Security Testings out. Losing those is huge, and removing tags is expensive.

10 Aug 2014 CodeMarvelous

This deck is insanely consistent. wow

10 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

Masanori is too dangerous for me to be comfortable running. Not every run is successful, for a variety of reasons, and the moment one isn't, you're out another click and two credits dealing with the tag. In Andy he works well, but Andy has a massive boost to begin with. Whizzard's advantage is that he takes less of a hit from dealing with the SanSans and Ashs and assets the corp runs, plus the particular cards he can access. But he loses access to a number of things that allow Andy to be successful -- Siphons, Shutdowns, and FOA can all help make running much safer.

I took this to a tournament recently, and definitely feel like I learned some things. Unfortunately, one of them is that this deck is better than I am as a player, I think. A number of losses where my impulsivity/forgetfulness led to me snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Even then, I managed to recover well enough that I feel it speaks well of the deck.

The other lesson is that Big Ice or Glacier decks are more of a problem than I'd initially thought. I've got a pair of solutions I'm currently working out, though Scrubbed and D4V1D might also provide some relief.

The first is replacing one Datasucker with a single Ice Carver. No self-tagging makes it a safer play, and it boosts the power of the remaining Datasuckers massively (as a 5 STR Ice on a central is a sustainable Datasucker run with Ice Carver out). It also works generally well with Mimic/Yog(/Knight?) and Parasite, and it frees up another MU. It might be replaced by Scrubbed, or D4V1D (which it nombos with a bit), or it might be a worthwhile inclusion all the same.

The other thought is, if econ isn't a massive issue, replacing one of the Dirty Laundries with a Djinn. Helps with some of the memory issues, and a virus tutor could make a lot of things better. I don't want to cut econ, but DL requires to most and gives the least if things are going poorly, and feels like the easiest thing to lose -- though the boost to runs when the deck is working well might prove to be too big a loss. Cyberfeeder and Imp are just too useful. I know many people don't like Djinn as a tutor, but getting a series of (with Cyberfeeders, free to install) Parasites to take down an Archer/Heimdall/other problematic Ice is too tempting. Might not be worth it, in the end, but I cut them when cutting other things and want to see if it's still a nuisance draw or if I end up liking having them sometimes.

Cutting Plascrete for me is suicide. I'm in a meta with someone running a 5/3 + Punitive recursion deck -- while I can econ my way to safety sometimes, without a Plascrete survival becomes almost impossible if he doesn't miscalculate/fail to draw what he needs. Imp helps there, but, again, recursion. I'm hopeful that the Deluxe Box will hold something that can take those spots, but for now I need them. If you're in a relatively Scorch/Punitive free meta, then cutting one or both of them for something (possibly instead of one of my above cuts) would probably be fine. Not like they're not a nuisance in games where you don't need 'em.

That all said, I'm flattered that so many people like this deck. I'm very proud of it, and seeing other folks appreciate it is great. If you're on the fence, I encourage you to use the card draw simulator to see a few openers. While duds are a thing , the number of playable starts I've had with this even out of less-than-ideal opening hands is definitely one of the strengths.

I've learned a lot playing this, and hope to grow until I'm worthy of wielding it. Running is a science, after all. Thanks again for all of your kind words.

10 Aug 2014 Thike

Been playing this with Reina, because she is my favorite and I've been messing with similar ideas myself, recently. I like the extra early pressure I can apply with her ability, especially in the early game if I'm slow to set up. Economy might be an issue against asset spam, but I've been fine so far. But in short, this style of deck takes my favorite parts of Criminal and Anarch. Run aggressively, attack all over. Solid deck.

10 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

Oooh. I'm glad to hear that it works well in Reina -- it seemed like it would, but I'm terrible at taking advantage of her ability. I think Whizzard's ability is more useful every so often, but Reina has the potential to be useful every game, which is pretty big. Hope it keeps working out for you!

11 Aug 2014 jawohl

I have also cut Plascretes in my Whizz Sec Test build - I just feel like if they want to burn me, they will find a way, so I prefer having two useful cards in all matchups. Hence i have put in two Daily Casts for now, but I have played 2-3 games with Masanori as well, cause I felt like having econ issues. I have played 7 games so far with it, adapting few changes from your deck and I have seen and used "security testing" only 2-3 games. With 2 copies and limited draw it's very hard to dig it out. Thats the pain

All in all awesome ideas, gj. I wi hopefully stay in touch with you to exchange some opinions! Rgrds

11 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

That is mighty tempting. More econ never hurts. I might give both of those a try after seeing what results I get with Djinn and Ice Carver. I'm always hesitant to change too much at once, in case I miss the actual results of each change. Masanori still seems risky, all the more so if Ice Carver works out, but I can see how it could help with the drawing all the time, too.

Look forward to hearing how it goes for you!

12 Aug 2014 jawohl

If you are spending half of your clicks for draws you cant afford having another click dependant economy card like Katie Jones, this is why I have put in Daily Casts.

There are a couple of cards that might also be useful, but you're right better thing is not to rush any major changes, and just go through ins and outs of all minor changes taking time.

Queens Gambit might be cool with Sec Testing. Thats not useful though in all matchups.

Demo Run is always good. Having 3 Imps though should be enough.

Masanori indeed does not work that well with precious assets.

Also if you squeeze in Daily Casts, you can surely for Quality Times.

And indeed, i feel like this deck like playing andromeda, almost no need to mullingan!

12 Aug 2014 jawohl

If you are spending half of your clicks for draws you cant afford having another click dependant economy card like Katie Jones, this is why I have put in Daily Casts.

There are a couple of cards that might also be useful, but you're right better thing is not to rush any major changes, and just go through ins and outs of all minor changes taking time.

Queens Gambit might be cool with Sec Testing. Thats not useful though in all matchups.

Demo Run is always good. Having 3 Imps though should be enough.

Masanori indeed does not work that well with precious assets.

Also if you squeeze in Daily Casts, you can surely for Quality Times.

And indeed, i feel like this deck like playing andromeda, almost no need to mullingan!

13 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

Did some testing tonight of the changes. Ice Carver put in some good work for me. Don't know how it'll stack up to D4V1D or Scrubbed, or if the nombo with D4V1D favours it or not, but it was very nice to have most of the time. Djinn was exceptionally useful. Tutoring for parasites to kill ice, then hosting Nerve Agent, Medium, and Imp to let me control the situation without installing over anything. Might try to go to a two-of on that.

Did very well against the field, though I can't claim that most of the opponents were particularly competitive. 5-1, all the same, even with some iffy mulligan choices on my part. Feel like I'm getting to understand the deck/running much better this last week, which is nice.

@jawohlYeah, not a big fan of Kati here. Demo Run'd be a replacement for a third Imp, and I'm not sure losing Imp (and Cyberfeeder utility) is worth the occasional Demo Run, though it's a very powerful card. Making multi-access more powerful is always desirable, I'd say.

I'm still not sure on Quality Time, but I like the filter/reshuffle and find I all to often have more cards/draw ability than cash. Queen's Gambit... just seems too risky for the payout, I'm too conservative to go for it. Similarly, I'm unsure about cutting the Plascretes -- my only loss was to Midseasons-Scorched because I went through half my deck without finding them (and still got myself to 6 points before he found the second one he needed) or the Imps to kill his Scorches. Going entirely without seems risky. Still, would've been handy in other games. For folks that don't want Plascretes, Daily Casts is a very strong option here, to be sure. I'll get around to testing it sooner or later.

19 Aug 2014 CrimsonWraith

@GreatGreedyGuts Have you gotten any practice in with D4v1d yet? What did you cut to fit it in and how are you liking it, if so?

26 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

@CrimsonWraithSorry about the delay, I haven't had the chance to get much testing in with it, no. Largely it's an uncertainty about what to cut beyond Ice Carver, which has put in a rather incredible amount of work for me in making datasuckers and parasites both more effective, especially in a Grimoire-less deck like this one. On top of that, another icebreaker (effectively) means the MU issue seems like it'll become even more pressing.

But D4V1D is really good! I want to fit it in somewhere. If I was to cut things for it, Ice Carver would go, for sure, and I might try to fit a second Djinn in. Possibly go down to 2-of on Imp and/or Cyberfeeder and/or 1-of on Medium and/or Dirty Laundry... but none of those options seems good particularly.

Haven't fit Scrubbed in, either, for what it's worth, and I might try that first because corp currents (especially ELP) are popping up a lot in my playgroup and I need a way of turning them off, even if just for a turn. Still, I really don't like that option any.

26 Aug 2014 CrimsonWraith

I've cut 1 Knight and 1 Imp to fit in 2 D4v1ds in my Spaces Between build, still not sure how much I like that move. I go most games without even using D4v1d, but it's a game saver when I do get use out of it. I still haven't thrown Scrubbed into the build, but I'm also seeing ELP everywhere in my meta and local tournaments.

27 Aug 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

That's pretty much why I want it. It'll save my life against Archer, no doubt, and having it to plow through Grim or Tollbooth would no doubt make me happy. I might keep the Imp or Knight and drop Ice Carver, since they go together so poorly.

11 Oct 2014 jawohl

Haha I have been chasin you man via Stimhack, and it seems like nrdb is back! @GreatGreedyGuts still playin this deck?

11 Nov 2014 GreatGreedyGuts

I think I replied to you there, but in case not:

Not anymore, unfortunately. It suffers a bit against glacier builds (particularly Blue Sun) and those are becoming much more popular locally. While I think that I'd like to come back to it (possibly when Edward Kim comes out, or even Valencia Estevex) right now it's just failing to get going sufficiently. Still proud of it, and do hope the chance will rise again... but if not, oh well.

Right now I'm running Noise again, and soon intend to put together Fjord's Aggressive Denial Leela Patel deck.

Someday Whizzard will run again. Just not today.