Andy-Contact

After some testing, I decided to publish this deck because it was proving fairly effective against Blue Son and RP.

Coming out of Worlds, I was definitely starting to feel tired of NEH. With so many NEHFA decks floating around, you don't have many options in Runner-deckbuilding. You can't build something that takes a few turns to set up, or something that has strong late-game, because Astro-Biotic is often a turn 2 or 3 play (1st turn Sweeps Week enables it). Since I almost-exclusively play Andromeda, the current meta has forced me to play a certain style of Andy that I don't really want to be playing anymore (Andysucker). Security Testing, Desperado, and Datasucker are pretty much auto-includes. And if you are going go as far as play those pieces, you might as well go all in (John Mas., Mimic, Yog, etc). When Clot was spoiled, I looked at it as an opportunity to make decks that look more fun and creative. All of a sudden, I imagined the viability of other econ. engines. I used to love playing Underworld Contacts, for example. I also knew there were several cards that I was itching to test out in Criminal builds, like Box-E and Cyber-Cypher.

Anyway, let's talk about this deck. I've been playing it recently, and it seems pretty solid. It, obviously, completely folds against NBN Fast Advance (for many reasons), but this is designed to be played in a meta with a little less yellow. Against NBN, it has a slow econ engine, no multi-access, it feeds Sweeps Weeks, and it is playing a LOT to bring out the Architect-breaker. For these reasons, I have not even bothered testing against NEH Fast Advance. I completely suspect it to fall apart in that match-up. I do think that it would do great against N.E.A.R.P.A.D or other tag-storm decks, though.

Against more taxing builds, I find that it can keep up. Underworld Contacts is fantastic, and Andy can get it out early enough to make serious bank off of it. However, I found that it wasn't fast enough in the early-to-mid game to afford semi-constant pressure. Once the deck reaches the late game, that engine is all you need, but I wanted to combine it with something else to give it just a little boost. I threw in a Professional Contacts thinking that it might help with this in addition to giving me a decent draw engine (something I find myself skimping on fairly often). What I found was my new favourite econ. engine in the game! Its slow and clunky, but in the right setting (against taxing decks), it is really hard to play against. When I play regularly against NBN, I find that I don't really have time to draw, meaning John Mas. would be doing all the work (once a turn). In other match-ups, It feels wrong to be clicking to draw (taking basic actions is for poor people!), and john mas. is less convenient when you can't afford to take a tag or run every turn. My hand is often dipping below three cards. However, playing this deck, I always have a full hand of tricks at the ready, thanks to ProCo. Since this deck is less aggressive, I wasn't going to slot in Desperado. After testing with Forger, I decided that some extra mem would be required if I want a reliable breaker suite. Box-E seemed like the perfect answer. It synergizes fantastically with ProCo!

I am of the belief that every deck should have an Atman. If you are facing RP or PE, you know to set it at 3 (Excalibur + Netrunner). If you are facing HB, Strength 4 is classic (Ichi 1.0, Eli 1.0, Sagittarius, Viper). It is such a flexible card that, at worst, is one of the best Eli-breakers. So, including an Atman (even without datasuckers), was a priority. For sentries, I couldn't ditch Faerie (that card is just bonkers) and Femme. However, I wanted a good way around Grim and that new Strength 5 destroyer coming out in O&C. Garrote seemed to fit in a deck that has a lot of money and doesn't have to spend influence on it. After testing it out, I honestly think it is the perfect sentry breaker to accompany Faeries. It is very easy to prolong its instal until its needed. Bonus: Its 2mem means very little when you run Box-E! Cyber-Cypher is my Decoder, and it may seem like an odd choice looking at this list. Once O&C comes out, I am taking out the Rexs and putting in two uninstalls. With the ability to move them around, Cyber-Cypher is just the best decoder. Lotus field costs a whopping 1 credit to break! Of course, Yog is amazing as well, but this deck needs an answer for O&C's 7-strength Code Gates. Until the big box is out, I put in some Rexs as some additional insurance. I have only tested the O&C version, running two uninstalls, and I can confirm that it works as advertised. I love that card, and on a particularly wealthy pocket, I might even bounce a Femme!

There's not much else to say about the deck. No plascretes, because Crash Space in a very rich 7-card handsize deck does the same thing. Plascrete does fit nicely with Uninstall though, so its just preference, really. Feel free to swap the two. Crash Space has the additional function of allowing me to laugh at Argus Security ("Why, Yes, I'll take that tag"). Infiltrations are necessary to me, because I would absolutely potato against PE otherwise. Sneakdoor Beta is always worth the slots if you aren't running desperado+datasucker.

If you have any questions or, more importantly, advice/suggestions, please comment. This is the style of deck I want to start playing, so any feedback is appreciated. Keep in mind I don't plan on doing much with this until O&C/SanSan cycle.