Dinomite v3 (1st, Auckland Regionals)

Fjord 1798

This is an updated version of my Chronos Protocol winning decklist Dinomite. For a more detailed analysis of the deck check the original list. Here I’ll just cover the changes to the deck since Dinomite v2 and how they performed on the day.

  • -1 Inside Job
  • +1 Legwork
  • +1 Stimhack

Some slight changes to influence. Legwork was my target for Planned Assault and Same Old Thing so often that I added a second copy. Vamp would be another good choice. Stimhack adds a bit of speed and I'm happy to have it back.

  • -2 Plascrete Carapace
  • -1 Deus X
  • -1 Levy AR Lab Access
  • +1 Feedback Filter

I've been comfortable overpowering Weyland economy with Magnum Opus so the Plascretes came out. Levy AR Lab Access simply wasn't needed as the deck doesn't need to draw for economy unlike PPvP Kate. I hadn't found myself using Deus X, it caused occasional MU problems and I wasn't getting as much use out of it without Clone Chips. In their place is the strongest Jinteki defence out there, Feedback Filter. With credits on hand you are almost impossible to flatline or deck. During the tournament I installed Feedback Filter when my opponent's RP showed some teeth. It let me avoid some work compression to continue my run and steal a Fetal AI that would have otherwise killed me.

  • +1 Cyber-Cyber
  • +1 Quality Time

With the free slots I sped the deck up adding a cheap codegate SMC option with Cyber-Cypher which also works well with Scavenge. It rescued my Magnum Opus from the heap early one game and in another, after they trashed their remote codegate I scavenged it to R&D to land Indexing.

The deck performed reasonably in a meta of NBN and RP going 1-1 against both archetypes which was luckily enough with my superbye and strong corp performance. The game I lost to RP had an amazing start, landing Account Siphon trashing several economy assets and scoring a quick 4 points with a commanding credit lead. Then, Sundew behind a Quandary. I'd already popped SMC and Testrun for my initial assault grabbing Femme and Corroder. That Sundew must have brought in 20+ credits and he was able to slowly claw his way back into the game. I scored another NAPD to reach 6 points but lost a couple Psi games and he closed it out. In my bottom 5 cards were Test Run, Test Run, Torch, Cyber-Cypher. I think it was a mistake not to run a third SMC in the deck.

The Spaces Between Update

I'm currently testing what I call Dinomite Hi-Lo where I've diversified breakers grabbing both ends of the spectrum; Torch/Cyber-Cypher and Morning Star/Inti. This allows quick cheap SMC answers and Test Run or lategame big rig. Morning Star and Inti are well positioned for a barrier meta of Eli 1.0, Wraparound and NEXT Silver.

  • +1 Self-modifying Code
  • +1 Morning Star
  • +1 Inti
  • -1 Corroder
  • -1 Legwork

Inspired by a CT deck that handed my NBN its' only loss I'm also considering a swap to Personal Workshop. The 'take 8 credits' turn become 9 with a Personal Workshop ticking, particularly helpful keeping up with RP and NEH assets. With breakers loaded on Personal Workshop you can also force the corp to rez ice before you have to pay for them.

  • +2 Personal Workshop
  • -2 Modded
  • -1 Sure Gamble

The change would not be without its' drawbacks. I actually had workshop in my earliest build but my opponents would force through SEA Source or Breaking News just to trash it so I learned to love going tag-me with multiple siphons. The deck also becomes a bit less explosive, telegraphing your moves to the corp. In the end I suspect that going through the NEH testing grinder will fully commit me to Personal Workshop, switching the run events for more R&D/HQ Interfaces.

If you've got any questions, ideas or lessons from testing against NEH I'd love it hear it. :)

10 comments
26 Aug 2014 Ringworm

I've been messing around with my own modification of your Dinomite v1 at league last week, went 3-0 til i ran into a Jinteki deck that snared/double scorched on turn 4. My fault for running on click 4, i was just getting too confident!

Anyway, I've been contemplating what to do about the jinteki-heavy meta we have, and was going to add in a feedback filter. I thought I'd keep the deus since i could always test-run for it if i was worried. You mention that feedback filter saved you and you were still able to steal a fetal AI- 8 credits right there. About how many credits do you look to sit on with this deck? I usually only have about 6-8 before I run, maybe I'm being too aggressive?

26 Aug 2014 Fjord

Ouch, you must have had a Plascrete out too, so it wasn't even that crazy a move!

The nice thing about Feedback Filter is you can precisely target flatline damage. When I was stealing that Fetal AI I trashed the last card in my grip and then prevented 1 damage. If you really need to protect a card in hand or are worried about decksize you can prevent more but generally it's cheaper just to draw back up. If you watch a master PE player like Chris Hinkes take on Kate, he can make them go through three or four Deus X uses and still flatline them. League nights (and OCTGN) certainly can be hotbeds of net and brain damage so you might even want to include two Feedback Filters.

It's hard to put a number on how many credits to sit on, 10+ puts you out of range of several threats. I think a key concept is that credits are the first line of defence against work compression, scoring windows and several corp strategies. Say it's turn 5, the score is 2-2 and you're at 7 credits. The game is going to go for a while longer and you're going to need to spend at least another 20 credits. If it's a bit of a lull, rather than spend 3 credits to poke at R&D I'll force myself to grab 8 credits because I'll need them eventually. Being rich is a really powerful tactic and Closed Accounts is almost the only thing that punishes it. That said, you still have to pressure the corp. Oh, Femme is a great sentry breaker but a big sentry might catch you if you don't have a nice cushion of credits, Archer@12, Ichi 1.0@6.

27 Aug 2014 Ringworm

Thanks! I had pulled -1 Quality Time -1 Deus X and added +2 Feedback filter. The thing that doesn't sit well with me is having the 2 feedback filters and 2 plascretes. Perhaps ditch one of each and add 2 public sympathy just for that cushion? Or just stop worrying about theorycrafting and playtest it first to see what i really need? :)

27 Aug 2014 Fjord

It sounds like you are facing Cerebral Casts, 3 Scorched Jinteki? Feedback filter would help absorb brain damage but you could also try fitting in Imp to knock combo pieces out of HQ. I would probably still skip plascrete, just stay ahead in credits, at 4+ cards and don't run last click.

27 Aug 2014 Fjord

It sounds like you are facing Cerebral Casts, 3 Scorched Jinteki? Feedback filter would help absorb brain damage but you could also try fitting in Imp to knock combo pieces out of HQ. I would probably still skip plascrete, just stay ahead in credits, at 4+ cards and don't run last click.

27 Aug 2014 masunrays

My question is, with The Spaces Between changes you're looking at, obviously Morningstar is taking the spot on Dino so you can get it to 7 strength and burst through Hadrians/Heimdalls, but what about if someone advances Hadrian's or has a Curtain on the outside? Is that going to be a sole purpose for fem or is there any tricks I'm not seeing here about how the Morningstar can get through something at 8+ strength?

28 Aug 2014 Fjord

Femme is the usual answer to anything tricky and still the most common Dino rider. My Chronos Protocol list had 2 copies of The Personal Touch which can work like an Inside Job on Hadrian's since the corp will only advance the strength just out of range. They're also great in a heavy HB meta if you want to try them out. I did change to Corroder for a couple tournaments when I saw some players in my meta experimenting with bigger Weyland ice but those decks never showed up. I don't know if there was a single copy of Hadrians or Curtain Wall in a corp deck at Regionals. This week I had a Morning Star hosted on Personal Workshop so the corp built up an 8 strength ice wall to score. A quick Femme Scavenge and that became a bunch of wasted turns for the Corp. But you're right it's a potential problem, when Blue Sun hits the scene in two datapacks that's probably the end of Morning Star.

3 Sep 2014 Zepaw

Thanks for the info! Just starting out with NetRunner and realized I'm awful at deck building. Gonna use this as my starter shaper and work from there. :)

9 Sep 2014 StitchInTime

@Fjord, I've been following this deck since v1, but honestly, I've always wondered what the 2nd copy of Femme is doing in there. Could you take a minute perhaps and talk a bit about this choice?

10 Sep 2014 Fjord

Good question @StitchInTime there are a few reasons.

Even once you have a Femme out, another Femme still might be your best Test Run option when it's very important to get past some unrezzed ice. This is probably the role I miss most when going to a single Femme. You could almost think of the second Femme as a different card, it's not a sentry breaker it's an Inside Job/Parasite.

It's important to get a Femme out early, usually right after Magnum Opus, to land your first run event and provide protection against destroyers like Rototurret. It's actually not such a big deal to just Modded her out or pay the full cost, this saves Test Run for your other breakers. Having a second copy increases the chance of having one in hand early.

The second copy also makes Dinosaurus less awkward. If you've got an early Femme with an important bypass, instead of needing Scavenge to mount the Dinosaurus you can just play a second Femme onto it and have two good bypasses.

They're also a great universal answer against anything random. Sometimes you have to bypass multiple monster ice like Hadrian's Wall, Wotan, Susano. Most commonly I'm sure glad for that extra bypass when I Indexing past a Tollbooth.