Neal's Last Words

by Byron "Neal" Massey

Using the First Amendment

I first began thinking about this deck when Stephane Bura posted the original idea on the Netrunner mailing list. I played an older version at a tournament in Mountain View, California nearly a year ago. It broke even, although I could have been more cautious playing against a Tag and Bag deck in the last round. Ahem.

The plan is simple: Install many Field Reporters for Ice and Data as quickly as possible. Install programs as quickly as possible. Then run. It does not set up particularly quickly against something like Corporate War/Artificial Security Directors or Psycho Tycho. The tough part is waiting until you have several Field Reporters for Ice and Data installed before running.

The rarity distribution is Rares/Uncommons/Vitals/Commons: 19/10/1/17

Here's the stack:

Programs (10) Preps (19) Resources (17) Hardware (1)

Bits (21):
12 Field Reporter for Ice and Data
8 Score!
1 misc.for.sale

The Score!s should make it possible to build up some cash. The misc.for.sale is an emergency measure. If something has gone wrong and the Corp still has plenty of rezzed ICE, sell off the Field Reporters and commence Crumbling.

Programs (10):
1 Dropp
1 Bartmoss Memorial Icebreaker
1 Joan of Arc
1 False Echo
1 Disintegrator
1 Enterprise, Inc., Shields
1 Crumble
1 Expert Schedule Analyzer
2 Afreet

False Echo is a key card. It forces the Corp to rez ICE, either during or after the run. You can always Dropp out if you get in trouble. Soon the Field Reporters start financing your Disintegrations.

Disintegrator is really fun. Make a run, force the Corp to rez a bunch of ICE, (using the False Echo if necessary) and wait for the next turn, when the Field Reporters pay off. Then run and use the Disintegrator to derezz the ICE that was rezzed last turn. It is possible to bankrupt the Corp and derezz every peice of installed ICE.

The Enterprise, Inc., Shields are an optional safety precaution. You don't have to access any cards in a fort to qualify as a "successful run", so you can still use False Echo to force the Corp to expend bits (and make bits for the Field Reporters).

Crumble and Expert Schedule Analyzer should help pressure the Corp if they are waiting for a last Systematic Layoffs or Corporate War. Hopefully the game will never get to that point.

Card Access (10):
6 Jack 'n' Joe
4 N.E.T.O.

Use the N.E.T.O to get the Field Reporters. You will have to pay a bit to get each Field Reporter, but you may be able to get 2 (or 3) in a single action, which helps with speed. After you have filtered out most of the Field Reporters, use Jack 'n' Joe to get programs.

Other (5):
2 Valu-Pak Software Bundle
3 The Personal Touch

The Personal Touch may be overkill, but it can save you a ton of money if you are breaking (before Disintegration) big ICE. The Valu-Paks should be used when your hand is full of programs, right before you begin running.

Link and Tags (2):
1 Access to Kiribati
1 Nasuko Cycle

This deck can crash against Blood Cat/Netwatch Operations Office. Try to install the Access to Kiribati as soon as possible (you can get it with N.E.T.O). The Nasuko Cycle can wait until you start running.

Trading for the Field Reporters is not as hard as it might seem. The card is not very powerful as a single copy, so most traders will throw one into a deal without much fuss. Try not to brag about how many copies you already have, it can make the price higher as you round out your dozen.

You can use proxies to try it out. If you really want to be a hard-nose, switch in a bunch of Forged Activation Orders and an MIT West Tier. Card Lords, this is your chance to shine...