Bamboo Dome

Forfeiting surprise

Caprice Nisei studied the monitors as the breach was logged and stored. “Tell me again what you did, sysop Yun?”

Yun, a pudgy man with long black ponytail seemed intimidated by the formidable and legendary Nisei, but he spoke with excitement.

“The net architecture on Mars is malleable, Nisei-san. We were able to manipulate our core data to more efficiently deploy our countermeasures. What we lose in surprise, we gain in efficiency.”

“And so you have employed Haas-Bioroid countermeasures?”

“A number of them, Nisei-san. As efficiency goes, they are prime examples of their craft.”

“Keep me informed.”

RNG be with us

Jinteki has always had effects that take a look at their R&D. Precognition was in the core set, and we just got Heritage Committee and Psychokinesis. They’re not normally great effects—as cool as they seem to be—because they don’t actively win you the game. They usually just turn off R&D runs for one turn. Which of course means the Runner builds up resources (instead of throwing them away to our taxing ICE and House of Knives counters) or they attack another position—our remotes, our HQ, or they check Archives.

Really, Jinteki is about baiting the runner into sub-optimal plays until each play is more and more risky. At least, that’s how I like to play Jinteki.

So, Bamboo Dome is a different archetype. It reveals those three cards, lets you draw one, then puts the other two back in whatever order you want. There are many mind games here, but the randomness is definitely dangerous. Best case scenario, it hides an agenda. Worst case scenario, we encourage the runner to hit R&D.

But again, it gives away too much information.

Unless! Unless we can use another card that Jinteki has to great advantage. Mutate.

So, now we treat Bamboo Dome as just a draw mechanic. It’s like an Express Delivery without the shuffle. If we want to draw a card, we just click Bamboo instead. And eventually we’ll get the combo.

We turn a Paper Wall, a Vanilla, a Mind Game, or a Pup into something big. For two credits.

To that end, I’ve included Heimdall 2.0, Ichi 2.0, and Janus 1.0. There’s also Chiyashi and DNA Tracker to fill out the suite without spending influence.

The goal? Make it too taxing to run consistently, then score with a Caprice and a Musashi.

Hopefully it works… there’s lots of ICE in the deck, but it’s not fun if your heavy ICE bunches up in hand before you find Mutate. Then you’ve got to Jackson them back in, or—gasp—pay to rez the ICE. Ugh.

Rattan Switch Palana (Bamboo Dome)

Pālanā Foods: Sustainable Growth

 

Agenda (9)

3x Medical Breakthrough

3x Nisei MK II

3x The Future Perfect

 

Asset (5)

3x Jackson Howard  ●●●

2x Snare!

 

Upgrade (7)

3x Bamboo Dome

2x Ben Musashi

2x Caprice Nisei

 

Operation (11)

1x Cerebral Static

3x Hedge Fund

3x IPO

3x Mutate

1x Neural EMP

 

Barrier (10)

2x Chiyashi

2x Heimdall 2.0  ●●●●● ●

3x Paper Wall

3x Vanilla

 

Code Gate (4)

2x DNA Tracker

2x Mind Game

 

Sentry (3)

1x Ichi 2.0  ●●●

1x Janus 1.0  ●●●

1x Pup

 

15 influence spent (max 15, available 0)

21 agenda points (between 20 and 21)

49 cards (min 45)

Cards up to Terminal Directive

 

Deck built on https://netrunnerdb.com.

Bloom

Underrated and mothballed

“And the new ICE?” Caprice asked, boredom barely disguised in her voice.

“Performing as expected. It has accelerated our defense strategies against intrusions, and it has allowed me to make use of some older initiatives that we had retired.” Marcus replied.

These weekly security briefings were a chore. Not because Marcus found them boring, like Caprice did—he found everything to do with ICE and net defense invigorating. The briefings were trying because his superiors, such as Caprice Nisei, did not fully grasp the beautiful intricacies of his defensive measures.

“Excellent. See that the new sysops receive training with the Blooms. It has been met with some skepticism so far.”

“They will see its value.” Marcus replied.

Code this gate

Who wants a deck that uses Encrypted Protocols without being cheeky? Okay, so it’s a little cheeky.

We’re running 13 code gates here, people. And if you score both of those Portals, we’re looking at Strength six Lotus Fields! I mean, strength seven Tollbooths and strength eight DNA Trackers are cool and all, but Sifr is still around.

One of the cool things about Bloom is that on a face check (or a Batty win) it can be anywhere and still be impactful. You can drop an ETR behind Bloom or shore up a remote while the runner pokes R&D.

Of course, Inazuma is here to run people through DNA Trackers and Komainus, but we all know the problem with positional ICE—it never comes at the right damned time!

Good thing we have Bloom to move things around! Put that Bloom in front of your DNA Tracker and grab an Inazuma later. Leave your Komainu as the outermost piece of ICE until you find your Inazuma, then get Bloom to put the positional piece at the top of the tower for free!

This all assumes people let subroutines on ICE fire. Which is rarely the case.

So let’s move on to Batty. Of course he’s here. That’s how we’re going to make sure our cool ICE does stuff!

Caprice because she’s actually going to win us the game, and the agenda suite to make stealing things difficult for the runner.

The numbers are good. Let’s just hope we don’t see a Yog with Datasuckers, NRE, and Sifr.

Thank the designers for Lotus Field.

Rampant Growth Palana (Bloom)

Pālanā Foods: Sustainable Growth

 

Agenda (11)
2x Encrypted Portals
3x Fetal AI
3x NAPD Contract ★★★
3x Nisei MK II

 

Asset (5)
3x Jackson Howard ●●●
2x Snare!

 

Upgrade (5)
3x Caprice Nisei
2x Marcus Batty

 

Operation (6)
3x Celebrity Gift
3x Hedge Fund

 

Barrier (5)
2x Kakugo
3x Vanilla

 

Code Gate (13)
3x Bloom
2x DNA Tracker
2x Inazuma
3x Lotus Field
2x Tollbooth ●●●●
1x Yagura

 

Sentry (4)
2x Komainu
2x Pup

 

7 influence spent (max 15-3★=12, available 5)
20 agenda points (between 20 and 21)
49 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Station One

Deck built on https://netrunnerdb.com.

Seidr Adaptive Barrier

Break Time

Ash 2X3ZB9CY walked through the SanSan offices of Haas-Bioroid reviewing his social subroutines.

The proper response is “Yes, thank you.”

As two technicians rounded a corner ahead of Ash 2X3ZB9CY, he raised one of his hands in a friendly gesture of acknowledgement. The two technicians continued by, not glancing at Ash 2X3ZB9CY.

Was my timing incorrect? Should I have verbalized?

The proper response is “Yes, thank you.”

Turning left at the junction, Ash 2X3ZB9CY approached the communal gathering area. His sensors detected the slight rise in temperature as more bodies congregated, and he could detect trace chemicals in the air that suggested a quantity of coffee had been prepared.

Coffee gathering at 10:12 AM. Observations prove correct. Proceedings continue as expected.

The proper response is “Yes, thank you.”

Ash 2X3ZB9CY approached the central food dispensary. It was a small, round table in the center of the room. There was no staff—Android or human. It was designed as a help-yourself buffet of fresh and healthy snacks. Also, there was coffee.

The proper response is “Yes, thank you.”

Carefully, Ash 2X3ZB9CY retrieved a Haas-Bioroid logo-emblazoned ceramic cup. He placed it beneath the coffee dispenser and depressed the toggle, allowing the hot, aromatic liquid to fill the cup to 80% of its capacity.

Ash 2X3ZB9CY raised the cup to his nasal sensor array the way he had observed humans do it. He mimed a deep breath and let out a pleased sigh approximation. The smells were harsh but nuanced. Ash 2X3ZB9CY enjoyed the smell of coffee.

Footsteps sounded behind Ash 2X3ZB9CY, and Jorg Hallivan stepped up beside the bioroid. Jorg Hallivan was a repair technician. He had performed several of Ash 2X3ZB9CY’s maintenance reviews in the past few months.

“Hey buddy,” Jorg Hallivan said as he filled his own cup 97% full. “Want a little sugar in that coffee?”

This was the fourth time that this particular social interaction had happened. Always before, Ash 2X3ZB9CY had responded to Jorg Hallivan with a negative, and the social interaction had ended. This troubled Ash 2X3ZB9CY. He would like to continue this social interaction beyond one exchange.

“Yes, th—” Ash 2X3ZB9CY started to say, but Jorg had turned away from the coffee machine. He raised his hand in a friendly gesture of acknowledgement towards a group of other technicians and moved away.

Ash 2X3ZB9CY looked down at his mug of coffee, then poured it down the drain before carefully placing the cup in a receptacle.

“Yes, thank you.” Ash 2X3ZB9CY said quietly.

It was not the proper response.

Hungry for more of the same?

I was playing on Monday against my friend’s Engineering the Future, and he dropped a Seidr Adaptive Barrier on R&D. It was frustrating. It was very, very frustrating. With two pieces of ICE behind it, it was a strength five barrier.

Obviously, this is a cool, good piece of ICE.

Now, with all the amazing code gates coming to HB recently, it’s awesome that we get some good barriers to go along in the suite.

The deck is really nothing special at all. It’s your standard FoodCoats deck with Seidr and Fairchild in the mix. We’ve got Ash, we’ve got Breaker Bay, and with Rumor Mill on the list and Eli 1.0 off, we’ve got a singleton of Caprice. Let’s play some good, old-fashioned Netrunner.

AdaptiCoats (Siedr Adaptive Barrier)

Haas-Bioroid: Engineering the Future

 

Agenda (9)
3x Accelerated Beta Test
3x Global Food Initiative ●●●
3x Project Vitruvius

 

Asset (10)
3x Adonis Campaign
2x Advanced Assembly Lines
3x Eve Campaign
2x Jackson Howard ●●

 

Upgrade (5)
2x Ash 2X3ZB9CY
2x Breaker Bay Grid
1x Caprice Nisei ●●●●

 

Operation (5)
2x Biotic Labor
3x Hedge Fund

 

Barrier (6)
3x Eli 1.0
3x Seidr Adaptive Barrier

 

Code Gate (9)
2x Enigma
1x Fairchild
2x Ravana 1.0
2x Tollbooth ●●●●
2x Turing

 

Sentry (5)
2x Architect ★★
2x Ichi 1.0
1x Ichi 2.0

 

15 influence spent (max 15, available 0)
21 agenda points (between 20 and 21)
49 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Station One

Deck built on https://netrunnerdb.com.

Synth DNA Modification

Uncomfortable Alliances

Fumiko rolled up the window of her hopper and tapped her PAD to life. The NBN advertisements flickering across her screen were an annoyance, and she jabbed at the machine in distaste.

The door on the other side of the hopper opened and a thin woman stepped in, settling herself on the seat beside Fumiko, but keeping a respectful distance.

“I find this work distasteful,” said Masako.

Fumiko dropped her PAD to the seat between them and raised her eyebrows at Masako. “You have lost your taste for violence?”

“No,” the woman said simply.

“But you find the Nisei unsettling?”

Masako did not reply.

Steepling her fingers together, Fumiko permitted a small smile. “Child, you are very talented, but I will decide our course of action.”

Masako nodded.

The hopper hummed to life and moved away from the curb. Outside, a bloodied but living net criminal crawled towards the street lights.

Their Day Job is Drawing Cards

Let’s pretend that Rumor Mill isn’t a think, yes? Well, then this deck would be a beast.

Unfortunately, Rumor Mill is a thing, and so Caprice and Fumiko are a little less powerful than they could’ve been together.

Still, this is a fantastic place for Synth DNA Modification to shine. Have you seen how many AP ICE there are out there? I treated it like a shopping list. And you know what’s awesome? Replicating Perfection’s ability to make you encounter AP ICE before you can deal with the Synth DNA Modifications. Combo that with Kakugo which will land multiple net damage with Synth, or Chetana and Aiki that will land Net and Meat damage if they don’t break it. Or perhaps an Ichi 1.0 that could land Net and Brain damage?

There’s so many problems for the runner coming from so many directions in this deck. Bio-Ethics Associations have to be trashed. But to get to them, you’ll have to take a bunch of damage from ICE and Synth. Then you still have to contend with the Hostile Infrastructure.

All while we score out our agendas.

They destroyed your stuff? HB has the answer for that. Just put two of them back in play.

Every ICE in this deck is AP, so it’s extremely important to keep your Synth DNA Modifications alive. Money might be a problem, so we’re running Shock instead of Snare, but with Fetals and so much damage coming from assets and ice, I think we’ll make up the difference.

I just don’t think the runners will have enough clicks.

Fair and Ethical RP (Synth DNA Modification)
Jinteki: Replicating Perfection

 

Agenda (9)
3x Fetal AI
3x Nisei MK II
1x Philotic Entanglement
2x The Future Perfect

 

Asset (17)
3x Bio-Ethics Association
1x Fumiko Yamamori
1x Hostile Infrastructure
1x Hyoubu Research Facility
3x Jackson Howard ●●●
2x Shock!
3x Sundew
3x Synth DNA Modification

 

Upgrade (2)
2x Caprice Nisei

 

Operation (6)
3x Friends in High Places ●●●
3x Hedge Fund

 

Barrier (3)
3x Kakugo

 

Code Gate (7)
2x Aiki
1x Crick
2x DNA Tracker
1x Fairchild 3.0 ●●●
1x Yagura

 

Sentry (5)
1x Chetana
2x Ichi 1.0 ●●●●
2x Komainu

 

13 influence spent (max 15, available 2)
20 agenda points (between 20 and 21)
49 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Daedalus Complex

Deck built on https://netrunnerdb.com.