Black Adam

Card draw simulator
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jared.saltz 13

Adam's make-or-break points are obviously his Directives. So, I decided to try to embrace them through deck building. ABR makes you run (or play run events), so I've included some that are obvious includes such as Dirty Laundry. Although other cards like Code Siphon or Account Siphon or Wanton Destruction are super powerful run events that Adam would love to have, they're incredibly influence heavy in a runner that needs to import all of his programs (unlike Sunny or Apex). So, I tried to do something a little different, instead playing off of the secondary ability of ABR -- spending two clicks to break a subroutine on a piece of ice -- by including e3 Feedback Implants. E3 feels great here because it has synergy with the early pressure given by ABR to make it through multi-sub ice early, or to make Eli's or other bioroids much less painful, but it also works great with Overmind, extending the game until you can afford to bring your more efficient breakers online. I cannot emphasize enough how much fun it is to use E3 with D4v1d against Curtain Walls, Archers, and other ice that Overmind hates. I decided that Mimic's early game aggression paired with Overmind and David was better than trying to pay for something more pumpable (like Garrote ), and it opened up the influence to play Knight, a forlorn favorite of mine (which also syncs with e3!). Did I mention that this list also appreciates John Masanori?

Now that you can get in (and pay for it with Multithreader), you can try and leverage this aggro through early multi-access cards like Legwork, The Maker's Eye, and Neutralize All Threats. Scrubber turns the "downside" of NAT into an upside and helps with managing the ever-popular asset econ.

Safety First was a little harder to think about. Sure, Brain Chip will eventually help, but if our aggro-focused approach doesn't give immediate results we can be in a bit of a bind. But the upside of draw is nice, and John Masanori leverages this draw even more (when combined with the ABR's requirement) into power draw.

Kati Jones provides sustained econ if things go long (as does Multithreader), and SOT helps re-grab our favorite multi-access events. Independent Thinking gives us even more draw to find our programs, and we plan on beating them off of our free RND Interface.

So, what are our weaknesses? Well, Power Shutdown is going to be a problem, here. Really, I need to find some sort of room for recursion otherwise it's "so long and thanks for all the fish," but hopefully the Knight and trips Overmind help insulate me a bit, as does the 1 of Datasucker. I also have no defense against butchershop style NBN or Meat Damage Weyland. If this becomes a problem, I'd drop a John Masanori for a Plascrete Carapace.

Thoughts?

8 comments
11 Aug 2015 FarCryFromHuman

I agree with all your points, but want to see it play out first. I find that playing cards to counter downsides is usually not worth doing; just play more generic cards that don't have downsides. However, in Adam you don't have that choice, which makes this an interesting runner to build. I think you've hit the nail on the head with a lot of these includes.

I think you've got a couple details wrong though:

E3 feels great here because it has synergy with the early pressure given by ABR to make it through multi-sub ice early, or to make Eli's or other bioroids much less painful...

Always Be Running lets you break a single sub for . e3 Feedback Implants lets you break additional subs at 1 a pop. Eli 1.0 has 2 subroutines, both of which can be broken with , for a grand total of . You can pay e3's install cost + 1 plus ABR's ... or just . Your point is valid; it's a nice combo for bioroids with 3+ subs or any ice with 2+ subs (except Negotiator which breaks the mold, I'm sure someone will point that out). Not so great on any bioroids with 2 subs.

...and we plan on beating them off of our free RND Interface.

If you mean Neutralize All Threats, that's a free HQ Interface, not R&D Interface. Rather important difference.

11 Aug 2015 jared.saltz

`@FarCryFromHuman -- thanks! You're right about NAT, just missed that. However, I think you misunderstood my point about the Bioroids. With e3 you spend a single click to beat whatever bioroid and then you use e3 to pay 1c for each additional subroutine (meaning you can break Eli for 1 click and 1c, which is pretty decent).

But yes, I definitely look forward to trying to maximize the Directives' strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. I've tried to do what you said and only include cards that are bad to make something less bad; rather I'm attempting to take cards that are decent and making them good. We'll see how it goes!

11 Aug 2015 FarCryFromHuman

Yeah, I was so distracted by ABT + e3 beats Eli I didn't even remember e3 just beats bioroids anyway...

11 Aug 2015 Myriad

I like being able to blank Masanori if you are not confident you can complete a run. Masanori can also be used to feed an Independent Thought hit if you want to go for a big old burst.

I also like all the synergy with E3.

Finally, is E3 worth the lack of deck tutor?

I do have a piece of criticism, which is ABR's double click. In my test games, a double click to break proved to be really taxing on my tempo.

Also might consider Paricia instead of Scrubber. I know its only good against assets, but most upgrades are inexpensive and the free install cost/IT feeder ability is pretty nice.

11 Aug 2015 Zail

Certainly one of the better Adam decks I have seen so far, certainly going down the right direction in my eyes.

I think you nailed it with e3 Feedback Implants. I think that card is really essential when running with Adam: Compulsive Hacker. Not only does it go well with Always Be Running but also the type of breakers that he will want to run with. You really want breakers that are versitile and do not require big credit investments.

I will also question that between cards like Knight, Overmind, D4v1d and Always Be Running if you ever really need standard ice breakers. You have D4v1d that can deal with high strength ice like Wraparound, Curtain Wall, Susanoo-No-Mikoto, Archer and Turing. You then have Knight for mid Ice and Overmind for low strength ice. If there is ever trouble like Swordsman then you can just use Always Be Running. It may be a better idea to instead include more copies of theses cards or Clone Chip. D4v1d and Overmind both actually synergise well with Independent Thinking as they do not trash themselves when empty.

I really see Adam as wanting to have a strong focus on Resources (especiialy connections), or at the very least on cheap installable cards.

~A few "wild" ideas: Instead of using The Maker's Eye for RnD pressure, it may be an idea to use Woman in the Red Dress instead. You already have increased access to HQ and will be running each turn. You may even want to back up your HQ access with something like Utopia Shard or Imp to disrupt combo decks.

11 Aug 2015 Zail

Faust even would not be terrible with Safety First.

11 Aug 2015 jared.saltz

@Myriad Yeah, being able to blank Masanori is a fantastic perk and (much like the rest of this deck) tries to minimize the downside while maximizing the upside of such cards. In terms of using ABR's double-click to break, you're right in that this is too taxing to rely on. But it's fantastic for "oh crap" moments or early remote pressure. Also, totally worth it with e3 for things like oversighted curtain walls. Additionally, hardware tutors aren't really much of a thing right now; I don't know any decks that run them, even when they're crucial, like with Desperado. Adam's card draw should be good enough to find a copy out of the three, and the additional ones just become fodder for Independent Thinking. Lastly, what's the upside of Paricia over Scrubber? It's a bit cheaper to install, but memory can be tight early on and you just know you'll hit a San San and have to trash it because of NAT, so I chose Scrubber over Paricia.

11 Aug 2015 jared.saltz

@Zail you've hit on the dilemma of Adam, I think -- do you run a standard or non-standard rig? You're right that--ostensibly--Knight, Overmind, David, and e3 should be enough. But I feel like (unless you're Quetzel or also running Darwin) I'm always looking for a bit more for early pressure, particularly without console support through something like Deep Red or running additional MU like MemStrips to help Overmind Counters). From an even more immediate concern, these are all pretty influence intensive. so Mimic's 1 influence cost and his great coverage is nice to have. Honestly, if I were to drop some breakers for non-standard ways of getting in, I'd probably go for Parasites + datasuckers, but that's just a personal preference.

TME vs. WitRD is a cool idea, but then--as you said--you really want support cards like Utopia Shard or Imp... and there's 8 influence that I'm not sure how you're going to find.

Lastly, Faust is good. It's great early pressure. But it runs out of steam pretty quickly so I don't like it with this deck for the same reason that I'm not thrilled with all of the Apex: Invasive Predator - Faust decks--you're just too taxed for cards a lot of the time and he always lets you down right before you need him (although you're exactly right in that he goes well with good ole e3). I dunno, maybe I just don't see it. Testing will see!