"Elementary, My Dear Wilson!"
- Famous Netrunner Stacks -
#17: Poison Pill

by Jens Kreutzer
with Richard Cripe
input by Daniel Schneider and Nils Kreutzer

"Why I've stopped playing Netrunner? Well, haven't you heard? It's been solved! There's this card that lets you install an ambush node and an agenda in one fort at the same time ..."
- Unidentified shop owner in a TCG shop in Hanover, Germany, 1998(?), who hadn't heard of Proteus.

"Worthless."
- Byron "Neal" Massey on Poison Pill.

Bluffing has always been one of the fun aspects of Netrunner, and it is perhaps at its most exciting when the Runner is wondering whether that juicy card with six advancement counters on it is an agenda or an ambush node. Your basic advanceable ambush nodes are Corprunner's Shattered Remains, Experimental AI, Vacant Soulkiller and Virus Test Site, which respectively trash hardware, trash programs, do brain damage, or do Net damage. Of the four, Virus Test Site sees the most action because of its low rez cost and high damage yield, but in a normal Constructed game of Netrunner, these nodes would merely inconvenience the Runner if run early, and few Corps are willing to dedicate card slots, bits and actions for something that doesn't directly help them win. Shattered Remains, Experimental AI and Vacant Soulkiller seem to be somewhat overpriced for their effects anyway, since the Corp needs to pay both for the advancement counters and the rez cost of 2. Plus, if the Runner sees through the bluff or uses detection, all of the Corp's ambush preparations go to waste.

However, soon after Netrunner was published in 1996, players tried to think up a strategy that used ambush nodes as its centerpiece. There are actually several approaches, but all of them have this in common: An ambush node is advanced to a deadly level, and then Runners are forced to either helplessly watch the Corp win or to swallow this "poison pill", which will kill or cripple them. The term was first coined by Len Blado on the Netrunner-L.

The archetypical incarnation of the Poison Pill strategy builds up an ambush node (usually Virus Test Site) to a destructive payload and then uses Namatoki Plaza to install (and score) agendas in the selfsame subfort. These agendas can be advanced at a leisurely pace, since accessing them would also mean accessing the Test Site and thus, game over. That is the theory, anyway.

While the concept seems to be attractive (and fun) enough, there are also several problems here. First, it is true that the Runner can't get at the agendas while they are tucked away in the subfort, but HQ and R&D will be vulnerable. Second, setting up the ambush node and Namatoki takes a lot of time and bits, and until that's done, the Runner can do all sorts of mischief (trashing ambush nodes and Plazas from the central data forts being a favorite). Third, the Runner can easily mess up the Corp's calculations by drawing cards with e. g. Bodyweight Synthetic Blood (BSB) right before the run and unexpectedly surviving the encounter with the node, trashing it in the process. Fourth, and this is the decisive point, a single Runner card like Enterprise, Inc., Shields, Weefle Initiation or Skullcap (or Joan of Arc in the case of Experimental AI) can totally neutralize the threat being posed by the ambush node. The ban on Enterprise, Inc., Shields in the Revised Constructed format addresses this problem only partially.

It is because of these various problems that Poison Pill just isn't viable in the Constructed environment at the time, for which Proteus is to blame in part. The conspicuous absence of a decklist for an archetypical Poison Pill might very well mean that it never really worked at all (even in casual play) and that the strategy was only ever speculated on. Here is a deck I put together, using the basic premise:

Basic Namatoki Poison Pill

4 Fetal AI
1 AI Chief Financial Officer
2 Priority Requisition
5 Virus Test Site
7 BBS Whispering Campaign
2 Information Laundering
5 Namatoki Plaza
1 Dieter Esslin
1 Lesley Major
4 Team Restructuring
4 Quandary
2 Glacier
2 Laser Wire
1 Banpei
1 Brain Wash
3 Neural Blade
3 Bolter Cluster
2 Liche

Fetal AI, Dieter Esslin and the ice selection complement the theme of doing lethal Net damage with Virus Test Site. Unfortunately, this deck tends to lose all the time, for the reasons noted above. Richard Cripe elaborates on them:

"The first problem is creating a SDF that will kill the Runner. Now, how much Net damage does it take to do that reliably? Five? Six? Ten? The answer depends on how fast the Runner can draw cards. A determined Runner could just draw cards as his first three actions, then run and soak up the damage in order to get the agenda. So that would be 5 (starting hand) +3 (draws) +1 (to kill him) = 9 damage. But if he has one Jack'n'Joe or BSB, then it goes to ten or twelve damage. If he has multiple Jack'n'Joes or BSB, the number can be as high as 18 (5 starting +12 BSB draws +1 to kill). So you have to be ready and willing to put nine counters on a Virus Test Site. In casual play, you can probably assume that the Runner could use two Jack'n'Joes, so that is eleven damage required, or six counters to be 'safe'. You can't use Team Restructuring for this setup, since it advances the poison pill too slowly. Overall, this means spending six actions and six bits doing nothing but setup. That's at least three turns of actions doing nothing but preparation, while the Runner is doing what Runners do best: disrupting your plans and stealing agenda.

"An alternate option for this is to use Vacant Soulkiller. This way the damage is permanent, and even if they can soak the damage on that run, they will still lose at the end of the turn because of negative hand size. I can't guarantee that this is a 'better' solution, but it definitely discourages the Runner from going there unless it's the last agenda they need to win. It still suffers from Enterprise, Inc., Shields, Emergency Self-Construct, Weefle Initiation, and Skullcap. Both of the above issues can still be modified due to hand-size increasers and/or the various Shield programs etc.

"On a deeper level, there is a problem with making an SDF untouchable: It forces the Runner to run R&D or HQ. If you're spending all this time/money making an SDF invulnerable, you're likely leaving your CDFs open to attack. When this happens, you lose all the upgrades/nodes/agendas you need before you even draw them. Take the sample decklist we just looked at, for example. In that deck, 28 out of 50 cards could be stolen/trashed by the Runner. If R&D is easy to break through, the Runner will just keep running as he trashes or steals cards until he wins. Or he'll rifle through HQ, trashing all the Plazas and stealing all the agendas before they get into the protected fort. Theoretically you could score the AICFO and shuffle your hand back in until you have a 'safe' hand, but then the Runner just plunders R&D while you are wasting actions trying to protect HQ.

"The other inherent problem with this deck (besides being slow and having weakly protected CDFs) is that there is no surprise value. Typically, the Runner quickly catches on and starts preparing what he needs to counteract it. Part of that problem comes from him seeing cards in R&D/HQ and part comes from seeing a card advanced with little to no protection. Overall, the deck concept is too slow and unprotected to even be viable in casual play."

Sadly, it seems that the original Poison Pill idea needs a serious shot in the arm in order to fry some Runners. Without drifting too far away from Poison Pill into the realm of pure ambush decks, the most promising idea seems to be the inclusion of Siren. If there is a Siren in the poison pill SDF, the Runner will have to deal with it before HQ and R&D can be plundered. Obviously, herein lies a connection to the Rio/Siren strategy, but Poison Pill with Siren is still a distinct deck type, as the goal is not to create an un-runnable fort (as is the case with most Siren decks), but rather a fort with Namatoki and the poison pill that must be run before the Runner is able to go anywhere else. It just so happens that the only method of forcing the Runner to actually swallow the poison pill is Siren, so its inclusion is only logical.

Richard Cripe has created three variants of Poison Pill/Siren, which I'd like to present here:

Basic Siren-Namatoki Poison Pill

6 Corporate Retreat
5 Virus Test Site
8 Rockerboy Promotion
3 Siren
3 Namatoki Plaza
2 Off-site Backups
3 Quandary
2 Keeper
1 Haunting Inquisition
2 Data Wall
2 Laser Wire
2 Firewall
2 Rex
2 Banpei
2 Homewrecker

This first one is the tamest, using Rockerboy as its bit-gaining method (occasionally, Corporate Retreat might join in, but you'll do a lot of installing and rezzing). If the Siren/Namatoki/Poison Pill-SDF gets set up, there is still one problem: Even though Rockerboy does provide some bits, they might run dry if the Runner repeatedly runs another fort, forcing Siren activations, and then jacks out or has the run end. If bits run out in such a situation, Siren can't protect the CDFs or the agenda SDF anymore. The solution is to install expensive "must-break" ice as the outermost ice on the Siren fort, like Homewrecker or Haunting Inquisition. Smacking into that ice four times a turn will either hurt the Runner or be very costly, i. e. impossible to keep up for long. Off-site Backups fetch back parts of the poison pill ensemble that might have been trashed earlier. Of course, the Corp can always fall back on the classic poison pill strategy in a pinch, installing agendas next to a loaded Virus Test Site if Siren doesn't show up. This deck can be fun in a casual environment and doesn't always lose.

Siren-Namatoki Poison Pill
with Olivia/Misleading Combo

6 Main-office Relocation
5 Virus Test Site
3 Siren
3 Namatoki Plaza
2 Olivia Salazar
2 Off-site Backups
10 Misleading Access Menus
2 Keeper
1 Haunting Inquisition
2 Data Wall
2 Laser Wire
2 Firewall
2 Rex
2 Banpei
1 Homewrecker

One step up the evolutionary ladder, this variant tries to solve the problem of bit-crippled Sirens by using a proactive bit engine. Olivia Salazar can repeatedly rez (and derez) Misleading Access Menus (which needs to be the outermost ice on the Siren fort), giving the Corp bits for each run the Runner makes. The problem is that this further complicates the combo, which now consists of an advanced Virus Test Site, Namatoki Plaza, Siren, Misleading Access Menus and Olivia Salazar - good luck with setting everything up. Apart from that, this might actually work.

However, a sleeker way to go is using Tokyo-Chiba Infighting instead. It is another sure method of avoiding being drained of bits by repeated activations of Siren, and easier to set up than the Olivia/Misleading combo, but nets one bit less per iteration. I came up with the following decklist (see below), with some bit-gainer operations to help pay the installation and rez costs of the first pieces of ice, as well as advancing the ambush node. Night Shift is probably the operation of choice here rather than Accounts Receivable, because it helps speeding through the deck and assembling the combo pieces Virus Test Site, Namatoki Plaza, Siren and Tokyo-Chiba Infighting. Adjust to taste.

Siren-Namatoki Poison Pill
with Tokyo-Chiba Infighting

6 Main-office Relocation
5 Virus Test Site
3 Siren
3 Namatoki Plaza
3 Tokyo-Chiba Infighting
2 Off-site Backups
5 Accounts Receivable and/or Night Shift
2 Quandary
2 Keeper
2 Haunting Inquisition
2 Data Wall
2 Laser Wire
2 Firewall
2 Rex
2 Banpei
2 Homewrecker

The third stage suggested by Richard is only for the gutsy Corp:

Siren-Namatoki Poison Pill
with CorpNegoCenter

9 Marine Arcology
5 Virus Test Site
3 Siren
4 Corporate Negotiating Center
3 Namatoki Plaza
3 Off-site Backups
3 Quandary
2 Keeper
1 Haunting Inquisition
2 Data Wall
2 Laser Wire
2 Firewall
2 Rex
2 Banpei
2 Homewrecker

This variant works like the first, but uses Corporate Negotiating Centers as its bit-gainers. Since these are seldom trashed by Runners (they tend to be deluded into seeing them as an asset for showing them juicy agendas in HQ), they usually provide a reliable bit influx each turn, powering the Siren. An early Marine Arcology can also boost the bit pool along. This deck can hold its ground in casual and might just be viable in Constructed, too. Hint: If Homewrecker damages a Runner, go for the MRAM Chips.

Richard puts these decks into the right perspective: "In fairness, all of these still have problems against Emergency Self-Construct, Enterprise, Inc., Shields etc. But by forcing the Runner to deal with the Siren, you thereby protect the CDFs. None of the decks are terribly efficient. None will stand up to real tournament decks. But they do try to force the poison pill down the Runner's throat." It also helps if the Poison Pill Corp faces a Runner who doesn't know what's coming. This is true for any strategy, of course. Daniel Schneider also gave his ideas on Poison Pill variants, which enterprising Corp players might want to experiment with:

• Play with three Political Overthrows to make the deck more solid and to focus more on killing the Runner than on scoring agenda.

• Play with some cheap deflector ice on the central data forts. Try to use them as surprise. Note, however, that the run flow chart seems to allow the Runner to jack out before accessing the contents of a fort even if there is no ice installed on it. Maybe Jack Attack can help with that?

• Play with World Domination, Falsified Transactions Expert and Overtime Incentives to advance the poison pill node and World Domination simultaneously.

• Play with Namatoki and Chicago Branch or Remote Facility to be on the safe side. This could well mean playing it too safe, though.

• Play with additional nodes like Corprunner's Shattered Remains or Experimental AI in the Namatoki fort or with upgrades like Dieter Esslin to get rid of Emergency Self-Construct, Skullcap and similar cards before letting the Runner access Virus Test Site.

• Play with Lesley Major, or Raymond Ellison (and some useful cards).

In any case, the Poison Pill strategy is fun to play and can make for some very interesting games. I'd definitely recommend trying it out in casual games, and who knows: Maybe a variant that shines in Constructed too is possible after all? Nobody has seriously tried to find that variant since Classic came out.