The Art of Intrusion 101: Back to School

HolyMackerel 1495

"Hello, students. I will be your Professor for this course in system operations and intrusion countermeasures.

You may have heard my teaching methods are somewhat... unorthodox. It's true. You will be studying ICE and coding, but you will also be challenged to find the faults in the constructs of your peers. By understanding the methods of hackers, from every walk of life, you will become far stronger than the run-of-Azmari sysops. You'll be faster, smarter, and achieve greater things than you ever thought possible."

I noticed a terrible tragedy on NRDB the other day: since rotation 2, not a single Professor deck has been published here on NRDB. Not one, not even for fun. This is a travesty that must at once be corrected. It's time to get back to school!

I always view The Professors ID ability to be "You get to run the best breaker suite and support programs. Now figure out what that is." Too often we wish we had influence for Imp or Clot, but we don't. Prof does. Prof ALWAYS has more influence.

This deck uses a fluid rig made up of Cyber-Cypher, Scavenge, Pelangi and friends, along more consistent breakers and efficiency.

Stargate is still the best R&D pressure. Ignore it at your peril, goes for both Corps and Runners. Slap a Cypher on R&D, match another ICE with Atman, and you'll regularly be able to get that sweet sweet R&D lock.

Econ is ReaverShop, supplemented by the usual Haley engine of ProCo and Technical Writer. Just make surgical runs, have some tricks ready, and you can probably threaten anything.

Cards to be tested for next version:

Algernon: If a run-heavier option ever becomes available.

Paricia: Good pawnshop fodder, and a lifesaver against Assets.

Kyuban and Chisel: If we lean harder on Stargate as wincon, these could be invaluable to extend the game.

Dummy Box: I've noticed a lot of Trebuchets and SDS Drones flying around, and the box may be worth it.

"But professor. ICE is the most efficient it's ever been, and entire divisions can be run by AI alone. Will there even be a place for us in the workforce by the time we graduate?"

"Complacency is the enemy of progress. You have the unique ability to evolve and create. And evolve you must, for the Anarchists and Criminals will not wait for you to catch up. Beat them, or be left behind. New technology destroys the old."

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