Holy Grail, Taxman!

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Holy Grail, Taxman!
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anathomical 23

This is my current pass at a punishingly taxing NEH deck. A couple of key thoughts:

1) Grail ice is incredibly punishing and taxing for very small investments Even at the top end you're paying 6 credits for a strength 4, 3 subroutine code gate, and most of the time you're rezzing Galahad or Lancelot instead, which is even cheaper for similar levels of tax. (Basically, Grail ice tax on the strength of their subroutine count, and there aren't very many efficient ways to make "more efficient" runs against multiple subroutines.)

2) This deck, obviously, plays wide. You're going to be installing one or two new servers a turn on most turns, and most of them are going to be unprotected. Normally this opens you up to having to come up with solutions to run-efficiency boosters like Desperado, Security Testing, and John Massanori, or it leaves you vulnerable to the occasional Whizzard match-up. Which brings us to...

3) Manhunt is something of an all-star in the deck. Yes, it's quite an expensive current to be playing, but it adds a real tax to each run the runner makes. If they're playing Gabe with a Security Testing and Desperado, you get to tax that first run by 2 credits, negating the Security Testing. Turning that off is amazing. Similarly, Whizzard pays the equivalent of 2 additional credits to trash things, almost blanking his ability. This gets worse for the runner once you get one of the Primary Transmission Dishes rezzed, you can pretty much guarantee that the runner will have to take a tag any turn they run, which they'll have to then spend a click and 2 credits getting rid of. Eventually, even the most efficient runner stops trying to deal with your constant server spam, and you can probably sneak out an agenda, or just sit back and rake in the drip economy.

4) In the unlikely event that the runner goes tag-me (in all my testing I've never seen it happen), Information Overload is there to maximize punishment. It's possible that playing two of the things is over-kill, and that one should be a Closed Accounts or a Universal Connectivity Fee, just to vary things up. So if you're looking for some minor places to experiment, that's where I'd start.

7 comments
16 Dec 2014 quiciuq

a) TBH, Grail ICE is not taxing enough to be really effective on it's own. Try adding Midway Station Grid if you really try do push the Runner's limits; b) Aside from Information Overload, you don't capitalize on tags. Psychographics, Closed Accounts or even Market Research would be helpful.

16 Dec 2014 anathomical

Thanks for the feedback. However, I've found two things in my testing (played 20 or so games so far with variants of the deck), and I've found two things:

1) People don't want to pay 6 credits to run any server on a regular basis (say Lancelot and Galahad on a server while the runner has Mimic and Corroder installed), so the Grail ice is plenty taxing all by itself. Especially if you've also got Manhunt, adding another couple of credits to the cost of a run. Maybe the people I've been testing against just haven't adjusted yet, but I'm finding Grail to be taxing enough on its own.

2) I have literally NEVER had someone float a Manhunt tag. They've always had Personal Workshop or Kati Jones or some other key resource on the table. Basically, resources have turned out to be enough tag punishment all by themselves, and I've never needed anything else. Most games I don't even rez the Information Overload

(An earlier version of the deck played Midway Station Grid, but I pretty much never rezzed it because people were so rarely running my servers.)

16 Dec 2014 sruman

Given the taxing nature of the deck and your comments above about not using Midway because of so few runs. Then is Galahad worth it? It doesn't pull in the other grails for extra subs and if the runner only makes 1 run a turn ... what's the point really? 2 pop-ups would seem better (and aren't they mandated by law in every NBN deck?)

16 Dec 2014 anathomical

I presume you mean Excalibur rather than Galahad, and that's actually a really good question. I've only recently started with Excalibur in the deck (actually, I had Pop-up Window in that slot before), and I'm not convinced I like it. The biggest up-side it has is that it makes it more likely that you'll have 2 Grail ice in HQ sooner, making your rezzed Grail ice maximally taxing, but other than that I agree it's somewhat lack-luster. I might go back to the Pop-up Windows in that slot, or maybe experiment with some other options. I'd definitely welcome other suggestions on that front. I've been considering trying out Universal Connectivity Fee in the deck as it taxes like Pop-up Window, is immune to Yog.0, and makes taking tags from Manhunt worse, but some other things to try in that slot could be fun, too.

16 Dec 2014 sruman

Sorry, yes, Excalibur, Galahad is key in all my Grail experiments (mostly in Foundry, but your deck is innovative). UCF probably doesn't beat Pop-up Window in pure consistent benefit but that doesn't mean it's not appealing.

If an over-confident runner drops the yog then you drop the Merlin and just smile evilly :) Then pout when datasuckers go down ...

17 Dec 2014 quiciuq

@anathomical: My point is that you need to seriously stack Grails to keep the Runner out - if (as you mentioned) Runner is unwilling to pay 6 creds per, I guess it means you keep two Grails in hand, which leaves 7 to lay down, at most three pairs. So you are unable to protect all your servers this way and therefore the Runner can spend that money elsewhere - for example to trash your econ assets. With the rise of NEH, Imp became nearly mandatory in my meta. Also, Hive, Ashigaru and most importantly NEXT Silver reminded everyone of the existence of the Morning Star (yeah, Anarch Red is the new black...) As for the Manhunt, heavy usage of Enhanced Login Protocol in the Most Overused No-Brainer ID Prize runner-up, the RP, led to splashing Net Celebrity every here and there. It's a convenient and useful card on it's own and pretty much the silver bullet against every Corp current. And if the Runner focuses on your centrals (the most obvious strategy against NEH), one run per turn makes the Manhunt no more than a nuisance. Same point for the Excalibur;

With that said, I think my POV is meta-biased, so don't take it too seriously. Your list looks solid and consistent, though as for the taxation deck I think it's not demanding enough. BTW, try to consider splashing Pups instead of Excaliburs. I know influnece is tight, but the little barker it's more of a menace (and taxation) and - as the story goes - it's already printed ;)

17 Dec 2014 anathomical

@quiciuq: I think you make some good points, and part of it probably is meta based. So far in the games I've played with it I have found that EITHER Manhunt serves to soft-counter Imp OR my opponent is running a current. I don't think I've played against someone with both.

That said, I'm considering trying to play a single Midway Station Grid to see how that feels. I was running three in an earlier iteration of the deck, but never wanted to rez them, but I could see a single one to drop onto R&D in the end-game might well be worth doing.