Burning Bridges v1.3

paddosan 3408

Been testing Leela Patel quite extensively recently, with a mix of draft cards, and building various decks, since I'm preparing a dedicated article for the italian community (Netrunner Italia).

This deck is the latest incarnation, after trying plenty of options for resource denial.

I see Leela as a very aggressive Identity, that shines in early game. Even just getting an Agenda in the first turns, and removing some ice from HQ or R&D can be very troublesome for the Corp, and definitely helps in keeping up the pressure.

To try and get an Agenda as soon as possible you need multi-access, because sheer luck might work some times, but a Legwork can be dramatic against a Corp that has 1 or 2 Agenda in HQ from the start. Indexing is one of my favourite cards, and I use it most of the times over TME because it poses no danger against Jinteki, but the added value of seeing what they will get and place it in the preferred order helps with the general idea of slowing down the Corp while we accelerate the pace of the game.

I tried going with HQ Interface and/or R&D Interface because they work with Inside Job and don't fear Crisium Grid, but they are too expensive in early game and overall too slow for Leela.

Kraken was another card I used with some success, but it's too situational, meaning you need to have a decent target, get an Agenda before the last Click and keep 3 credits to use it. Not happening so often.

Economy wise the deck is quite light, but the Programs I chose in the end are also quite efficient and inexpensive:

  • Cerberus "Rex" H2 avoided me wasting influence for some Shaper Decoder, and works very nicely. After all not every Code Gate needs breaking and they hardly have more than 2 subroutines anyway. Plus for some you can use Clicks.
  • Corroder alternatives were either too frail or too expensive. Too use or to install.
  • Faerie can break even the best for few creds, and it doesn't even cost a dime to install. Nothing beats it, economy-wise not even the new Anarch dog.
  • Crescentus warns the Corp: do you really wanna spend a lot, knowing I will break and derez? So just install one and watch them ponder every rez.
  • Grappling Hook helps a lot against the big guys and can be useful against unusual targets as well (you don't need to break every subroutine on Inazuma anyway). So it can be used in place of a Faerie or a Cerberus' counter.

Of course there's a notable absence of permanent Icebreakers in the deck, but that's the reason behind the name Burning Bridges. There's no turning back here, either you win fast, or you'll end up struggling, because late game ain't no friend of yours.

Let's be honest here, I also wanted to create a different deck, not the usual cards you see in every Criminal. I had to go with Desperado as a console, in the end, because the others just didn't fit right. Astrolabe could have been wonderful, but there's only so many corps that go horizontal after all. And Doppelgänger or BOX-E didn't add anything significant.

No Plascrete Carapace either. Why? Because most of the Tag n Bag decks that I've seen recently go with SEA Source, so Decoy is a better option (cheaper) and helps defending Zona Sul Shipping too. This new economy card is quite good, especially with multiple copies installed.

The rest of the economy is made by Easy Mark(better than Sure Gamble here, since you don't need credits to use it), Kati Jones and Armitage Codebusting, which is the poor's Magnum Opus basically. But it's cheap to install and provides enough. I initially went with Tri-maf Contact, but when I removed the Plascrete I had to remove that too.

Last but not least, Utopia Shard which can be a very nice option for Leela. If you get some cards back to their HQ, you can use this right after and maybe discard them. Not too shabby for the last influence point available.

There's a lot more cards that might be useful for Leela, like Unregistered S&W '35 for example. If they see you could get their Caprice back to their HQ, the corp might rez it on her own... and then you would need just that Hardware to kill it.

But unfortunately deck space is what it is and it's not a good idea to go over 45 cards with no extra draw whatsoever.

9 comments
24 Oct 2014 invictus_blue

I'm definitely going to give this deck a go when she hits next month. I could see her giving Astrobiotics trouble as she constantly opens up their centrals or SanSan servers.

24 Oct 2014 paddosan

I did play against a NEH Astrobiotics and it gave me a severe beathing, to be honest, but it wasn't this version of the deck.

That version had HQ Interface instead of Legwork, though, and no Indexing.

I discarded HQ Interface because it is simply too slow compared to the Event, even if it works with Inside Job, but you hardly have enough money to play both at the same time.

Indexing was added right after the game against the Astrobiotics, because I kept hitting R&D, but accessing a single card at a time I could find nothing. Definitely better chances to find some Agenda, if I see 5 at once! And going in again to steal isn't much of a problem with the kind of ice a NEH usually has.

26 Oct 2014 paddosan

Played a game yesterday against a Replicating Perfection mono-Code Gate, which is archetype that can give this deck a hard time, considering the limited power counters of Cerberus "Rex" H2.

I did win, however, and it was a rather long game, in which I had to use Cerberus 3 times (played 2, recycled one with Clone Chip), but also used a Grappling Hook to break a mere Enigma to get access to HQ and Faerie to break Rainbow since it's also a Sentry.

It was a very interesting match, and the mono-Code Gate seems a very nice deck (not to mention quite solid, since it had Caprice Nisei and Ash 2X3ZB9CY)... so much so that I'm building my own.

It also made me realize this deck is very solid and can stand its own even in late game. The only change I might go for would be removing a Special Order for the third Grappling Hook, but I am kinda weary of Will-o'-the-Wisp, so no change for the moment.

29 Oct 2014 pants on head

What do you think about Unscheduled Maintenance? Given her ID ability to bounce unrezzed ICE, it could help extend windows of vulnerability for the corp, as they are struggling to re-ICE their servers quickly.

29 Oct 2014 paddosan

You're totally right about that @pants on head, I actually used Unscheduled Maintenance up to the previous version of this deck (1.2), but removed it in the end because I noticed that if it's not played almost immediately, it hardly has any impact on the game.

In mid or late game, the Corp has often less need for new ice and generally speaking one might get installed, but two in a turn is not so common.

So since in my experience the current did have a real effect on the game only if played in the first few turns, I ended up replacing it with something more useful (irc, more economy).

11 Nov 2014 slevin38

Is the lack of draw an issue? I was thinking she wants John Masanori, but that wouldn't go with Zona Sul Shipping

12 Nov 2014 paddosan

Due to the lack of draw I went with all the important stuff in three copies (except where influence was an issue), and with 3 Special Order I never had a problem setting up my rig at a decent pace.

It could, however, benefit from Mr. Li, to speed things up a bit.

I tried adding Express Delivery, but it wasn't a great help.

18 Nov 2014 hi_impact

Hey paddosan, I started playing this deck when I got ATR & Leela, and let me say, it is amazing. VERY good job. Indexing is a great addition vs. Maker's Eye. I overlooked Leela's ability until I played her and wow, it opens up so many plays.

The biggest thing I learned was that Corps advance + score on their last click, so I get to bounce something and have an entire turn of my run events.

18 Nov 2014 paddosan

Thanks a lot @scourged!

I had a lot of fun testing and playing this deck, and Leela is indeed a good Identity. Corps do have to pay attention with her, because scoring one agenda might actually become a big problem right after. :)