TL;DR — Crim is indeed very good right now: they touch cards early and often, they force the corp to spread resources thin and punish them for it. This deck, though, is a green pile doing its best impression of a blue pile — by a Shaper head reluctant to change. It encourages / enables early aggression while keeping some of Shaper’s best tricks and tech. 💚

(Insert giant ONE PIECE jpeg theming sailing to ALL BLUE)

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State of Shaper

For better or worse, I am a Shaper head, and I want to ramble a bit more than usual about my thought process … to clear my head and to find something to do for 4 hour of flight time ahead

… post 25.04 + 25.08, shaper has lost:

• Doomrig, as a concept for control Shaper to build toward

• Deep Dive, as the most reliable control Shaper win-con

Unlike earlier “Shaper value ban's” (YES it's plural😭). this 25.08 “Shaper win-con ban” forced me to think about the entire Shaper color pie rather than just single cards. That reflection led to this deck, which carried me to 10th overall at ’25 AMR Cont — without dropping a game (though with plenty of nail-biters and lucky rips). 🎲

Post-25.08, I asked myself why I would still play Shaper, and the answers were deeply personal:

• I cannot give up the comfort SMC provides, which I want to selfishly rationalize as “efficient tool tutoring” rather than fear.

• I cannot give up the thrill of “skateboard tricks” (aka Shaper BS, applying pressure with hidden reach), which I want to selfishly rationalize as “information asymmetry edge” rather than vanity. 🛹

Looking around, most “control/value” Shaper decks today are:

• program-based engines with very few engine starters

• extremely tight on slots, as engine fuel pieces consume deck space to discourage / prevent earlier aggression

• vulnerable to early corp disruption that kills liquidity or steals engine pieces

But early disruption is THE corp strategy right now. Playing engine Shaper often feels like gambling on corp to draw poorly — which isn’t a winning mindset and just dampens the joy of Netrunner. 😅

Sure, when engine Shaper fires, it’s glorious. But I wanted something more flexible in the early game — not just a 40-minute draw simulator.

Enter the Transfer Ari lists and Bing’s legendary “pile Hosh” write-up, which inspired me to try to build towards …

• Disrupt centrals early and often

• Pivot to deterrence-based control instead of pure value control

• Close games by forcing corps to slow down or overextend 🔥

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Phased Play

Trying Gourmand Hosh / Transfer Ari a bit more has taught me how much it matters to show you can harass centrals. That pressure balances early corp threats and forces respect for your plan. 🎮

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Early Game – Central Harassment

Even without Sable/Hosh’s built-in harassment, Shaper can do a good impression with the right (blue) tools:

• Surprise Jailbreak on HQ when the corp thinks you’re just engine-building

• Targeted Burner to clear Oppo/Seamless before their big swing

• Dropping Cup and making HQ your personal shopping mall until they commit resources

HQ is usuallythe best harassment target — it gives info and compounds corps existing respect towards R&D and remotes at the same time.

You shouldn’t overbuild your rig yet — Pelangi + Propeller or Revolver is enough. This lean setup leaves MU for value Azimat and spare credits from Overclock, keeping corp econ and threat assets on the board in check. 🗝️

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Mid Game – Deter and Skirmish

Now it’s time to build your rig while maintaining presence. Clear Teleworks, prep to break with Unity, and most importantly, project confidence: “I can get in anywhere, anytime.”

This is the interesting period where you have to strategically balance revealing reach to slow down corp, vs. hiding reach to prepare for raids:

• Installing Simulchip for 1 credit to bait more ICE install on the remote

• Installing an innocent Stoneship when broke to look defeated, and mask your rigged up Coal burst for 8 credits next turn first click

• Installing Cataloguer post-IAA to stall corp pacing

This mix of real reach + implied reach overloads corp mental bandwidth. That’s when you strike: challenge unsafe remotes, or sweep HQ when corp gets too conservative. 🧠

But beware: this is also when your loss conditions lurk. Decide carefully whether Stoneship recharges Propeller or saves you from MR, and whether NFL is better used for credits burst or for tag defense later.

Done right, the mid game is where you most often win — burning your gas while exhausting the corp’s defenses everywhere. ⚔️

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Late Game – Recognize Your Outs

If you’re here, the corp dragged you deep. Your gas is low, ICE is stacked, and corp is hunting their last agenda.

At this point, your only proactive closer is Cataloguer. You’re aiming for a do-or-die Cataloguer turn, maybe double-charged with Stoneship or Rigging Up.

The key is reading your opponent:

• Are they drawing for a 3/2 while holding a 5/3?

• Do they already have FA tools and just need that last piece?

A surviving Pinhole makes this stage much easier, but otherwise you line up Cataloguer and trust your instincts. If nothing else, you’ve already put on a hell of a show. 🎭

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Card Choices

🖖 Aniccam — The “engine” of this non-engine Shaper. It keeps tempo while you pressure, it solves chip-damage annoyance, and it’s often correct to mulligan for unless you’re suspecting ultra rush. Pure value and pure Shaper comfort. ✨

☘️ 2x Rigging Up + 2x Coal + 1x Spec Work — My late change before the event, and it saved me. Earlier builds lacked money and crumbled. Huge thanks to The King and Trillian for pushing me toward a sturdier econ core. These bounce-back tools keep aggression viable. ❤️

🌈 1x Pelangi — Early aggression enabler, late big-ICE solution. Wyatt convinced me not to cut it, and I’m so glad. This card is Shaper at its best: clever, flexible, and sneaky. 💫

🪷 3x Overclock + 3x SMC — The GOAT combo. Just don’t overuse Simulchip for repeat SMC tutors too early; the long-term cost isn’t worth it. Shaper is about restraint too. 🧘

📒 1x Cataloguer — The only true proactive closer, doubling as a mid-game threat. Dropping it starts a countdown. In glacier games, it’s often the only way through. 🕰️

🍙 2x NFL — Tag defense and liquidity burst in one. Sometimes the tiny credit injection after Aniccam is exactly what you need to recover. Stylish and practical. 😎

🧭 3x Stoneship — The Swiss Army knife: survival, tempo, surprise credits, Cataloguer fuel. It’s cheap, versatile, and cheeky — everything I love about Shaper. 🤹

🧑‍🎨 0x Creative Commission — I just miss it. I promise this card will make Shaper feel alive and interactive. #UnbanCreativeCommission 🙏

(P.S. some what related … I’ll be anxiously waiting for Harper to post their Dewi list … the most eye catching shaper rig I’ve seen in such a long while and believed can / shall be adapted to somewhere else 🤩)

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Tournament Shoutouts

This was likely my biggest in-person event of the year — and wow, what a joy it was. ❤️

Huge thanks to the TOs, Comms, and Volunteers: the schedule was smooth, comms clear, the artist colony and trade tables delightful, and the stream production top-tier. Every detail reflected love for the game and community. 🌟

Gratitude to Izzy / Trillian for pulling me into the CoS team last minute — Friday’s experience made Saturday possible. And thanks again to Trillian for pointing me to the secret Zen garden — truly lifesaving. 🪷

Thanks to Sindarin for the foil MR alts (the art hit me in a special way I can’t stop staring at it), to Cullen for the incredible deck boxes, and to Kyle for the chip holders that upgrade every future game I’ll ever play. The craft and creativity in this community never cease to amaze me. 🖌️

Special shoutouts to -Lazy- and the Indiana meta for paper reps and cheering, to my MoM mates for feedback and practice (Cody / Wyatt / James — you just casually restored my confidence the night before I’ll never forget), and to my Torsaug family — sharing meals, banter, and laughter with you makes the travel worthwhile. 🫂

Finally, to all my opponents and friends old and new: too many hugs and names to count. This community is extraordinary. Netrunner isn’t just about cards — it’s about people. 🌍