Current Objective: Survive, Cascadia 2025 - #5 Placement

Hi all, a big thank you to everyone on Jnet casual who got me to where I am today and to all of the competitors of Cascadia! Looking forward to making new friends at future iterations and tournaments.

The Basics:

This card package provides a robust set of tools for breaking ICE cheaply and almost universally while retaining high survivability against damage via Loup's ID, Steelskin Scarring, and Stoneship Chart Room.

In most cases, facechecking ICE helps determine the solution you need to get past or destroy the ICE - but slapping a Botulus on an ICE before a run is a classic. I'd recommend putting Botulus on before running something you think is dangerous, but otherwise I'd recommend just face checking ICE in the early game since you want to be economical with how you use your viruses, to see if there's an opportunity to abuse a low strength ICE with Chisel.

Using Simulchip during the run to recur the right virus tool is its most effective use. I wouldn't recommend recurring Gourmand or Fermenter unless the corp is severely underdeveloped and you have icebreaker packages in hand. The deck runs recursion so you don't have to be afraid of losing programs permanently, but be aware that there is a credit and tempo loss associated with the loss of material.

Don't use Steelskin Scarrings to draw unless desperate or facing a faction that doesn't kill, like HB, or you know their decklist. Most decks are running a kill package of some sort these days, and you always want to end the turn with at least 4 cards and some Steelskins in hand / Stoneship Chart Room on the table.

Cascadia 2025 Experience:

Round 1 vs Nuvem - WIN

Ended up being a straightforward game with Twinning finding multiple agendas off of R&D. Had Steelskins in hand to survive the expected Measured Responses, but an archives check revealed that Nuvem had realized I wasn't playing them (and probably keeping them in hand) and had discarded all 3 Measured Responses in the midgame, not wanting to try and fight for the kill.

Round 4 vs Earth Station - WIN

An interesting game where the remote wasn't ICEd up well in favor of HQ. Ate the 6 credit penalty to make a run on the server and Chisel/Devil Charmed a Pharos to take 3 points off of a Basalt Spire. Eventually managed to destroy nearly every ICE on HQ to take peeks on it and R&D and eventually found the points to win. At the end of the game the corp only had an ICE on R&D and one on the remote, with just a handful of credits.

Round 6 vs Ob - Stavka/Zato Grid variant - WIN

A very close game where I got an early 3 points from an SDS off HQ, then drew poorly into viruses to install, leading to a relatively uncontested remote that had a Holoman parked on it ready to score out agendas. Ob scored a pretty quick 4 points that I couldn't contest and didn't have Hermes down to bounce for tempo. In addition, the remote had Mitra Aman installed off an Ob trigger, so I knew that any pre-installed viruses would just be discarded. On the second to last turn I was able to run on the remote and force the use of Mitra to swap a Flyswatter with Chisel to an Afshar, and was able to then Chisel the Afshar on encounter with Chisel + Cookbook + Simulchip. Ran through two Stavkas firing to hit an SDS at the end with no programs or simulchips. Corp credited up the following turn, but with only one Botulus in hand I had to use a Steelskin to draw my last Botulus click 1, install both Botulus on each Stavka clicks 2 and 3, then click 4 run the remote to take 3 points (putting me at 6) on the last turn before we ran out of the extended time.

Round 8 vs Au Co Tag/End of the Line - WIN

Finally, the matchup that the deck was meant for. Trashed a lot of assets and ate 3 Oppos (2 small, one large). Removed the tags from the first couple, but ended up keeping all 4 tags of the last big Oppo. Was hit with a Mindscaping that triggered a Steelskin, and I Stoneshipped for 2 cards immediately after (Corp couldn't afford to trash the Stoneship and play Mindscaping + End of the Line). On the following turn, made multiple runs on HQ and Archives to get 5 agenda points to close the game out.

Round 8 vs Ob big ICE - LOSS

Did not draw any ICE interaction until 25 cards down, and it was a Buzzsaw. Was looking at Treeline server begging for a Botulus that was hiding a Holoman and 3 other upgrades, but couldn't touch it at all. Made some single runs on HQ and got 2 points after finding a Buzzsaw, but without drawing Paladin Poemu or Cookbook I couldn't multiaccess or would have had to wait multiple turns for a lone Botulus to get past a Logjam. Eventually managed to draw into a Devil Charm/Simulchip to destroy the Logjam and trash the remote, but was so far down on econ and materials I couldn't do much else. Having 3 Simulchips and a single Fermenter was quite painful.

Cascadia Runner Summary:

Was hoping to run into more asset-based Corps in Cascadia, but very few of them made it into to the top cut. It performed very well at protecting against Nuvem kill, which seemed like a plurality of Corp decks there. Unfortunately the Loup build I'm running is weak to big ICE Ob, which there were 3 of in the top cut. Still had a lot of fun, and wish the best to all I played against!

Runner Choice Background Summary:

When considering Hoshiko versus Loup, the runner must consider the question of what frequency they need to interact meaningfully with cards. In today’s asset spam world, the answer can be “every turn”. Hoshiko cannot sustain this level of pressure today – draining credits every turn against mass installation strategies worked in the past partly due to cards like Miss Bones or Daily Casts ‘cheating’ the Hoshiko credit drain, but those cards (and the more robust runner economy) are gone.

That being said, Hoshiko is often superior against Corps that focus on centrals, rely on untrashable operations, and can be threatened by just occasional incursion turns. Against these matchups, Loup viruses are still effective, so I would rate this deck with a disadvantage against big ICE Ob, LEO, and HB:PD, advantage against go-wide Ob, Au Co, Epiphany, Poetri, Nuvem, Zwicky, Bangun, Pravdivost, Thunderbolt, and Thule, and the rest are neutral.

Can’t I just run Hoshiko with trash tools?

There’s an argument to be made that Azimat/Fencer Fueno has a place in modern Hoshiko decks. However, if you don’t find Azimat or Fencer in the first few turns against Ob/Au Co, they provide little value, and you’re not ever going to run multiple. If you hit either with The Price or Gachapon, it’s unlikely to be chosen for installation against more urgently needed tools. Go-wide Ob and Au Co very easily accelerate out of control if their assets are not pruned immediately, and Hoshiko doesn't have the economy to wait for its trash tool tech.

What is today’s meta like for Anarchs?

In today’s kill-focused meta, there’s never been a more important time to be at 4 cards or 8 credits – and Hoshiko only gives you the card the following turn on a successful touch (not soon enough if you touch Byte!). Alternating turns between card touches lets you gain 1 card and 1 credit over 2 turns if you’re maximizing ID efficiency, but you’re leaving the Corp untouched every other turn, which you often cannot afford. At this rate, you’re still only gaining one free 'economic click’ each turn. When staying in Digital mode, you’re instead exchanging resources (unless you end your turn with 0 credits, a very, very dangerous proposition).

In the 2024 pre-Elevation rotation era, credits were less valuable, simply because they went further in runs (K2CP Turbine, Cleaver, and Bankhar saved ALL the credits) AND there were more efficient ways of translating clicks to credits. Simply put, runs are more expensive now in terms of ‘economic clicks’ and actual credits are much more valuable than the previous meta. Trading a credit for a card draw isn’t as powerful as it used to be.

What’s today’s meta like for Corps?

With runners all tightening their belts, we’ve seen an explosion of Criminal runners all looking to sip from the recurring credits in Cezve. After all, now that we no longer have reduced costs, why not make use of 2-6 free credits for central server runs? This has also had the effect of rewarding the best central server runner – Sable (and Muslihat not far behind). With the free credits flowing to central server runs, as well as the Bankhar ban, some decks have been rewarded for flowing horizontally into asset spam and single ICEd remotes (Poetri, AU Co, Ob (some versions)) where Runners must pay out of pocket.

The current meta of Criminal/Cezve combinations is severely punishing on central-focused Corp IDs like Nebula, Zwicky, and Earth Station. In addition, with the use of Twinning, it’s not unusual for criminals to get 4-5 points quite early, and this has encouraged many Corp decks to run Measured Response (even out of faction). The current Criminal meta pushes down the appearance of fast-advance strategies that rely on keeping agendas in hand.

So then, why Loup?

Enter Loup. 1 credit + 1 card drawn on first trash. Potentially two economic clicks a turn. To quote J.G. Wentworth: “It’s my money and I need it now!”. It provides instant partial recovery from hitting damage ambushes like Urtica Cipher, Hostile Architecture, and Byte!, as well as providing post-trash refunds to must-trash assets. Getting back to ‘fighting fit’ to prepare against Measured Response or End of the Line is crucial in today’s matchups.

Is Loup good against Nebula, HB PD, or my dear friend Earth Station?

Nope. It’s sometimes basically a blank ID. But these corp IDs are heavily punished by the current meta, so you don’t see them as often or see them place well. Loup exists in a goldilocks zone meta where Corps must alter their game plan (or choose IDs) based on the more dominant and powerful runner strategies (Cezve/Sable) and thus leave themselves open to Loup value.

Why Loup instead of Shaper?

In faction damage support in the form of Steelskin Scarring (2 inf) and Strike Fund (1 inf). Stoneship Chart Room is only 1 influence, making it easy to splash in. If Steelskin Scarring was 1 influence, I might play Shaper instead just due to my runner playstyle preference. Throwing around Propeller/Gauss with Simulchip plays pretty similarly to moving Botuluses around, all told (with different flexibilities/strengths of each).

Also, trashing ICE with Chisel is just fun. You haven’t lived until you’ve exhausted your Devil Charms and rammed a Logjam 3 times with your face to split it open.

Card Choices:

Why are you running Keiko AND Hermes?

Hermes is the all-star, but you desperately need influence for 3 Simulchips and at least two Stoneship Chart Rooms. You could forgo the recursion package, which I may recommend for tournament play due to the time limit. Without a time limit and a game played to completion, however, you do need the recursion package. Demolisher/Carnivore are win-more cards into asset decks and aren't needed with Loup's natural ID ability. However, Keiko provides 1 more MU than Hermes and gets credits from Paladin Poemu letting you use your credit surplus to transition to icebreakers more easily when needed. You do need another console simply for MU and in case Hermes gets trashed. If the opportunity arose, I would likely replace Keiko with Hermes if I could spare the credits.

If I had to change the deck today:

-1 Echelon: (It was originally intended for Drafter/Bumi tech, but your whole rig is never out at the same time. Use only in case of emergencies)

+1 Num: (Answer for Biawak, is actually mostly cheaper at interacting with all sentries of note than Echelon in the deck + is no influence)

+1 Pinhole Threading: (Lack of pinhole is a weakness of the deck that I accepted since I didn’t have leftover influence)

-1 Raindrops Cut Stone or -1 Strike Fund: (Just to make space as the least valuable economic piece, RIP)

-1 Buzzsaw: (all the codegates you need to break are either high strength that Buzzsaw needs to be buffed at great expense or are so low strength a Chisel can take them down in a single run – Flyswatter, Descent, etc.. Most can be Botulused with no issue)

Why no…?:

Gachapon – Okay yes, you got me. I should be playing Gachapon. But I’m a baby and hate it when I have to RFG my own cards. You should probably play it. Not even a joke. Take out The Price and maybe a Gourmand.

More 'The Price' - If you're not running against kill decks, yes, definitely run more. But having it burn your Steelskins prematurely before you can nestle them against your bosom is BAD. It lets the Corp know you don't have them in hand and are vulnerable to kill damage. Using Audrey to recycle Steelskins via Buffer Drive is also valuable. There is value in the Corp thinking they can spend resources and kill you. These are resources they're not spending protecting their board.

Dr Nuka Vrolyk - Just not enough influence, otherwise I would. That's why we're running a copy of Verbal Plasticity.

Mystic Maemi – You are only running 7 events you want to consistently cast from hand – Sure Gamble, Raindrops, and The Price. Two of these are a single credit and every iteration I’ve played with this has had to trash several cards from hand due to overflow until I give up on the Mystic and sacrifice it.

Fencer Fueno – He sucks. Even against Au Co/Ob he almost never makes back the opportunity cost of playing, installing, and waiting on his credits. Having to pay credits after he tops himself off is terrible in today’s meta. You typically don't keep hands just because they have Fencer Fueno in them, so you see him later in the game.

Trickster Taka – You’re not playing your breakers regularly – they’re backups. Without them, he’s just going to overflow constantly or take up space in your hand that you need to save for Steelskins and surprise viruses.

Avgustina Ivanovskaya – You’re not getting enough sabotage for it to be worth it over the course of the game. Sabotage gains value at an exponential rate, and since Avgustina triggers just once a turn, it’s not fast enough. Many turns you need to install multiple viruses from hand or via Simulchip for a surprise server rush, and she will only trigger a single time. You should never just be playing viruses just to trigger her ability. She improves slightly with the inclusion of Gachapon.

Cacophany – Even when played with Avgustina, there’s only been 3 games out of about 200 where it made a difference. You just can’t afford to run multiple copies of Avgustina or Cacophany and you need both out to be effective + you need to be trashing or stealing things. It’s a win-more card. Instead, play cards that let you steal or trash in the first place. Plus, a completely dead card in a lot of matchups, especially if drawn late. You are never installing it off The Price unless it's the only option. It’s nice that it triggers off of ICE destruction though!

Biggest Weaknesses?

Mavirus - Not played very often except by some Ob shells. You're not relying on archives runs to charge up Leech or Aumakua so it doesn't really matter once it's in archives. Doesn't really matter a whole lot when it fires unless you need that run that turn or you were faceplanting into the aforementioned Logjam for the last Chisel counter you needed. Dangerous ICE like Biawak you should be Chisel/Devil Charming anyway (and not Botulus'ing unless desperate), and Mavirus doesn't protect them from that.

Flywatter - Chisel it once it fires. Only really an issue if you don't have a Simulchip/Chisel setup, a Botulus to put on it, or similar. It's been rare that I've run on a server that was absolutely relying on a Botulus later in the ICE lineup to break an ICE. Since many are playing 1-2 copies, don't be afraid to tap Fermenter before a run against unrezzed ICE.

Mitra Aman - the GOAT of current virus hate. Being able to trash an ICE with a pre-existing virus on it always necessitates burning at LEAST one simulchip during the run to get through. You cannot park viruses on ICE and just expect to run through if you see or suspect this card. Since you don't have a full breaker suite typically, she can mess you up hard and the Corp GAINS money, as well as swapping out a bad ICE with a good one you already trashed in Archives. A very powerful card that fortunately doesn't see a lot of play. Once seen or suspected, I've given up on running that server entirely and focusing on other centrals with Hermes/multiaccess for tempo bouncing. The best reason to put down breakers.

Kessleroid - it seems so fragile yet is so annoying for Chisel! Rising Tide is meant just for this little guy. Botulus is a bit of a waste.

Mercia Ballard - This card is so good, I'd like to include it in almost all my corp decks. When it fires, it's giving you potentially more than two economic clicks of value, recouping its cost on the first turn. I say more, since the value of free click installs (in addition to the standard 3 clicks) are rated higher than a standard economic click. Letting the Corp place ICE freely on servers that were bounced due to them scoring out an Agenda + Hermes makes Loup life difficult.