From davidliu@VIOLET.BERKELEY.EDU Tue Jun 17 00:25:51 1997 Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 09:36:24 -0700 From: "David R. Liu" Reply-To: Netrunner Discussion List To: Multiple recipients of list NETRUNNER-L Subject: My Annotated HYHADIARS Deck After receiving several requests for the composition and strategy behind my HYHAD deck, I've decided to post my original, never before distributed article describing the deck. I hope you enjoy it and find it interesting. I haven't been able to keep up with the latest NR deck technology, so it may not be that powerful before, but it is worth mentioning that Jim McCoy used this deck at EuCon and it was undefeated. I have never lost with this deck outside of my own (2-person) testing circle. If you like this, I have a corp deck custom designed to beat it which I also wrote up and will post shortly... ====================== Hope You Have a Disinfectant In a Roving Sub (Runner deck) David R. Liu October, 1996 11 x Loan From Chiba 7 x BodyWeight Synthetic Blood 4 x Millitech MRAM Chip 1 x Bartmoss Memorial Icebreaker 1 x Joan of Arc 1 x Viral Pipeline 4 x Code Viral Cache 2 x Pirate Broadcast 2 x Inside Job 2 x Junkyard BBS 3 x Time to Collect 3 x Airport Locker 2 x The Deck 2 x Fall Guy -------------------------------- total = 45 GOAL This deck can win in three ways: 1) The primary condition for winning is giving the corp three Pipe counters while having two Code Viral Cache's installed. The three pipe counters reduce the number of actions of the corp down to an autodraw and ZERO actions, and the CVC's prevent the corp from removing the Pipe counters. The corp cannot trash a CVC by taking an action and paying 5, since the corp does not have any actions left to do this. Mathematically, the runner can pick his or her nose for the rest of the game, and the corp will lose by drawing cards until it runs out of cards, losing the game. 2) The secondary goal is to win by liberating 7 points of agenda, which often happens (by chance) before the primary condition is met. 3) The tertiary goal is to win by scoring a 7th agenda point via a successful Pirate Broadcast. Since a successful PB gives the runner one agenda point, if you already have 5 or 6 you can calculate the number of bits you need to win. STRATEGY In order to move as efficiently as possible towards the primary goal, the runner accomplishes the following sub-goals, in order: A1) Make one successful run on HQ and install one or two CVC's A2) Install one or more Time to Collects (TTC) A3) Install Viral Pipeline and Bartmoss (and Joan if needed) B1) Make one Pirate Broadcast run, or B2) Make three successful runs: one on HQ, one on RnD, and one on Archives C1) Make a second Pirate Broadcast run, or C2) Make three successful runs: one on HQ, one on RnD, and one on Archives D1) Make a third Pirate Broadcast run, or D2) Make three successful runs: one on HQ, one on RnD, and one on Archives Usually I accomplish the sub-goals in the order listed, but it is only essential that the A goals be accomplished before the B/C goals; i.e., if you install Viral Pipeline first you have the advantage of giving early Socket counters to the corp but at the expense of revealing your main strategy early. Installing TTC first is also fine. This flexibility in what you need to accomplish during the critical opening phase of the game is what makes this deck relatively insensitive to "good opening draws". The deck is extremely well-powered with 11 Loan From Chibas (LFC) and the optimal balance of rapid-drawing and hand size-increasing cards. Using this powerful card and bit engine, accomplishing these goals usually takes fewer than 9 turns. Once you have done the above, the game is over. IMPLEMENTATION The combination of your opening draw and the corp's opening moves determine which of the A goals you work on first. We will analyze the possibilities as follows: On the corp's opening turn, 1) The corp protects HQ and has a credible number of bits to rez HQ ice. 2) The corp does not ice HQ. 3) The corp installs ice and an agenda/node in a subsidiary data fort, and begins advancing the agenda/node, presumably for an early score or ambush. Case 1: If the runner does not draw an Inside Job, the runner should ignore the corp for a turn and move to the rapid accomplishment of the A goals. If the runner does draw an Inside Job on the opening draw, then goto case 2. Case 2: If the runner draws one or more CVC's, the runner should make a successful run on HQ with Inside Job and then install as many CVC's as possible (see the section below on Tag and Bag decks). Once your CVC's are installed, install one or more TTC's as soon as possible, accomplishing A1 and A2. Case 3: Super speed advancement strategies can be thwarted if you draw any of the following cards: - Bartmoss + LFC - Inside Job - Airport Locker + LFC - Bodyweight Synthetic Blood (BSB), followed by any of the above three possibilities. If you feel the corp is going for the early speed score, take the agenda. the agenda points probably won't be significant since you don't need them to win, but robbing the corp of important functionality IS important. Once you have done what you can according to case 1, 2, or 3, then move towards the accomplishment of the remaining A goals: If you draw a BSB, play it for your first action of a turn. If you draw a MRAM chip in your first 9 cards (likely), then install that as well. Otherwise, install or play three cards, and discard one. Obviously discard a Junkyard BBS or Deck if you are holding two copies, otherwise use your discretion. If you cannot install three cards, as a last resort install a Loan From Chiba at the end of your turn. This will cost you a bit at the start of your next turn, but early on this is not a problem. Your aim is to rapidly draw enough LFC's and Bartmoss (or Inside Job) and CVC's to get the first one or two CVC's installed. Once you have done the above, install Viral Pipeline (and Bartmoss) if you haven't already. BSB will often get your them, but equally often you should install an Airport Locker for each program you need, then LFC and install the programs at a cost of 5 extra bits without taking an action, saving you several actions. Example: Suppose I have installed CVC and I would like to install Viral Pipeline and Bartmoss as soon as possible. I draw and install two Airport Lockers. Then I play two LFC's and make a run on HQ. With the 24 bits I spend 10 + 5 + 3 = 18 bits to install VP and Bartmoss DURING the run. This leaves me 6 bits (enough to break about 6 rez-cost worth of ice) to make my HQ run, plus any bits I had at the start of the turn. If I am successful, I give the corp a Socket counter on HQ. If I have a Pirate Broadcast, I play three LFC, install Bartmoss and VP, leaving me with 18 bits to make successful runs on Archives, HQ, and RnD. Always choose the order of your Pirate Broadcast runs so as the maximize the number of different Socket counters you give the corp. After you have Bartmoss and Viral Pipeline installed, accomplish goal B, listed above. Make multiple runs or use Pirate Broadcast until you have one Socket counter on HQ, RnD, and Archives. *IMMEDIATELY* convert these three Socket counters into one Pipe counter. As long as you convert the Sockets to Pipes as SOON as you give the corp the third action, you can safely give the corp ONE Pipe counter with only ONE CVC installed. Here's the reasoning: The rulebook specifically states that when the corp and the runner can both perform a function at the same time, that the runner always get priority to do so first. Suppose you have only ONE CVC installed, and a Socket counter on Archives and RnD. Just before you make your successful HQ run, the corp cannnot forgo actions to lose the two Socket counters, since the two Socket counters are protected by the CVC. As you give the corp your third Socket counter, you immediately convert the three Sockets into one Pipe counter, and if the corp tries to forgo actions you can restate the rulebook to justify your ability to convert the counters BEFORE the corp can forgo actions. To be honest, even if you let the corp forgo three actions, on your next turn simply do it again, and again, and again... You will give the corp counters faster that it can forgo actions, and you will end up with a string of many, many actions if the corp vehemently does not let you convert three Socket counters with one CVC out. With two or more CVC's out, you are in good shape. Once goal B is achieved, the game is more or less over. The corp has lost an action permanently, and this means that almost all speed decks I have seen are destroyed, and most other decks are severely crippled. Of course, we really want to teach the corp a lesson, so open the viral pipelines again and finish the corp off. To accomplish goals C and D, draw or Junkyard a Pirate Broadcast, play one or two (or three) LFC, and Pirate away. Remember to hit the forts in the proper order so as to maximize Socket counter delivery. Alternatively, you could make separate runs on forts, but it is much more action and bit efficient to use Pirate Broadcast. EFFICIENT USE OF THE ENGINE Success with the HYHAD deck requires an efficient use of the LFC/BSB/MRAM engine. This engine, as mentioned above, not only is the best way to get bits to power runs, but is also the best (and only) way to acquire ALL the useful functionality in the deck. Bodyweights provide you with 5 new cards for two bits and one action; Millitech MRAM Chips expand your hand size by three cards for an action and two bits as well. Usually I install one MRAM Chip as soon as possible (preferably by turn one or two), and install a second shortly after; this gives you a hand size of 11. If it is convenient, installing a third MRAM Chip provides you with a hand size large enough to hold (probably) all the cards you need to win the game, and a huge safety net against brain damage. Some important strategic guidelines for using the LFC/BSB/MRAM engine: 1) Unless the corp's opening move and your opening draw fall into case 1, 2, or 3 described above, your first action (unless the corp installs a node that could be City Surveillance, see below) should be to play BSB if you have it, or to draw one card if you do not. 2) Before the end of your first turn, it is very usefulto install one Millitech MRAM Chip if possible. 3) Once you have Junkyard BBS installed, it may be tempting to use Junkyard to retrieve other cards from your trash. Often (not always), this is a BAD idea. For example, suppose BSB is on the top of your trash, and that you would like to Bodyweight because you need a Loan or Bartmoss or Code Viral Cache. You have one bit after paying Chiba at the start of the turn. You *could* gain a bit, gain a bit, Junkyard the BSB, then play the BSB for your fourth action. This is terribly inefficent; you are much better off drawing single cards until you get the card you need, or until you draw a BSB (this is why there are seven BSB's in the deck). USE JUNKYARD to retrieve the following cards: Bartmoss if you ever lose it, Pirate Broadcast if you need one quickly, Inside Job if you need it quickly, Joan of Arc if you couldn't pay 1 bit to return it to your hand (always do this!), LFC if you are forced to discard one and feel you need the money, and Time to Collect if the corp makes the mistake of trying to trash your Code Viral Caches; simply Junkyard the TTC and reinstall it for free. 4) If you need money-- even just two bits-- it is usually better to play LFC rather than to draw bits singly. Speed is of the essence here. Obviously, you don't want to waste LFC bits by losing huge numbers of bits at the start of each turn so do not waste the LFC's, but definitely do not skimp on the money. The difference between the HYHAD deck and other decks is that the HYHAD deck lets YOU decide what to play since you will almost always have enough money to pay for it, whereas most other decks force you to play only the option that you can afford to play. Unless you know you only need a bit for the rest of the turn, play that Loan. 5) Very often (maybe 50% of my turns), my first two actions are LFC and BSB. This two action combo nets you 10 bits and five additional cards. The last two actions can be spent installing programs or resources, or making two runs, or making one run on HQ and installing CVC, or playing another LFC and making a HUGE run (Pirate Broadcast or with Airport Lockers). AGAINST SPECIFIC CORP STRATEGIES 1. Against the Speed Deck: The speed deck is arguably the most common form of corp deck around, and for good reason. This deck was largely designed to defeat speed decks, however, and against them the HYHAD deck really shines. Be carefully not to get so obsessed with Socket counter delivery that you forget about an advancing agenda. In the extreme case, if you repeatedly pull speed cards from HQ (e.g. ACME S&L, Project Consultants, etc.) you may want to make extra runs on HQ just to keep the corp agenda-poor. If the corp ever installs and advances an agenda in a ice'd SDF, simply put your plans aside for one turn, play LFC, and steal the agenda. Once you accomplish goal B and deliver that first Pipe counter, however, you are in excellent shape, and Pirate Broadcast ensures that speed advancement nodes and upgrades will be regularly cleared off the board. As an aside, I have designed ONE speed deck which can beat this deck more than 50% of the time, but I have yet to see anything like it played, discussed, or even mentioned and thus I think it is unlikely that you will encounter a similar deck. The deck is somewhat specialized and therefore (hopefully) similar ones won't emerge anytime soon. 2. Against the Tag and Bag Deck: You may notice that I haven't mentioned the use of four of the cards in the HYHAD deck. Two copies of Fall Guy and two copies of The Deck are obviously tailored to provide defense against Tag and Bag decks, a matter of critical importance with a LFC-powered deck. Their installation is optional, but if you catch wind of an impending tag, it would be prudent to install these cards as soon as possible. In the even that you feel a tag is coming on the corp's next turn, do the following or verify that you have done the following in order of priority: A) If you installed a LFC this turn and the corp has four or more bits, or if you have run this turn and the corp has three or more bits, or if you have run twice this turn and the corp has one or more bits, then install The Deck. Most likely, this will mean installing a LFC followed by the Deck. As usual, running early in your turn helps save actions for this sort of defense later on, but the best defense is simply to install The Deck early in a game against an unknown deck. B) If you trashed a node this turn and the corp has five or more bits, or if you have liberated an agenda this turn and the corp has three or more bits, or if you get tagged on your last action, or if any of the conditions in A are satisfied but you cannot install The Deck, install a Fall Guy. C) If conditions in A or B are met but you cannot install The Deck or Fall Guy and do not already have these cards installed, install TTC. D) If you cannot install a TTC, the next best thing to do (surprisingly) is to install a fresh LFC. If the corp tags you (one action + bits) and trashes your LFC (one action and two bits), you will be able to pay the 10 bit cost and trash your LFC, and the corp will need to use its last action and pay another two bits to trash another LFC. If the corp has a Corporate Detective Agency this will likely fail, but if you come to a situation where you have not and cannot install The Deck, Fall Guy, TTC, or LFC then you are either very unlucky or playing too recklessly. If you lose a Fall Guy, remember to Junkyard it and reinstall it, unless the corp is going to lose on your next turn. As with the speed deck, the tag deck is in serious trouble once you accomplish goal B. With one less action, it becomes difficult to both tag and bag the runner in one turn; once you reach goal C you are more or less safe from tag and bag strategies. Also note that Pirate Broadcasting is lethal to all tag nodes, including Shlaghund, City Surveillance, etc, and as in the case against speed decks the optimal strategy would include preventing and nodes/upgrades from remaining installed for any significant period of time. One note about City Surveillance: if you are about to play BSB and there is an unrezzed node installed that could be City Surveillance, be sure to either run the node first (with two bits to trash it), or make sure you have 7 bits before playing BSB to avoid the tags. 3. Against the Ambush/Damage Deck: You will notice a distinct lack of brain and net damage protection in the HYHAD deck on the surface. In reality, the combination of BSB and Millitech MRAM chips provides excellent damage "buffering" albeit not damage prevention. As you might expect, Junkyarding any cards you lose as a result of damage that are essential to your goal achievement is important. Typically I have a hand size of at least 11 by the mid-game, and therefore I am unlikely to be flatlined by damage other than the Schlaghund or I Got a Rock meat damage that results from multiple tags (see above). Against a deck filled with TRAP! and SETUP!, the HYHAD deck does well since you typically only accessing fewer than 12 different cards during the entire game, and even if 1/2 are ambushes you should have enough cards to avoid getting flatlined. As always, Junkyard back what you cannot afford to lose. Against Virus Test Site decks in which the VTS is advanced to ridiculous degress, you should never let the VTS remain unmolested for long enough to acquire more than two advancement counters. In addition, most VTS / Namatoki Plaza decks I have seen or designed are far too slow to resist the overwhelming onslaught of Pipe counters delivered by the HYHAD deck. Also, keep in mind that the runner may jack out before the corp rezzes a node or upgrade, even if this means that your Pirate Broadcast is unsuccessful. The action you lose as a result is often not a significant penalty. 4. Against Disinfectant, Inc.: Disinfectant is not an effective defense against the HYHAD deck, despite its name (just a little deceptive humor here). The HYHAD player simply runs and destroys all Disinfectants as he/she would with any naked node or agenda. The only case in which Disinfectant is an issue is if the corp successfully installs the Disinfectant in a Roving Sub. But again, this is not a problem: - If the corp can do this on turn one, the corp's deck is likely to be composed of roughly 7 or more Roving Subs and 7 or more Disinfectants. Not only is this highly unlikely (especially since I have only once seen a Disinfectant in play ever), but if the corp has devoted one-third of its deck to these two cards, you can safely assume that the deck will move about as fast as a crippled Yugo on Crisco. - Even if the corp gets a Disinfectant locked away in a Roving Sub, the Disinfectant can only be used once per turn. This simply means you will need to spend an extra action and bits delivering the Socket counter which the corp avoided earlier. Usually this is not a problem. 5. Against Subsidary Data Fort Decks: Decks that rely on many SDF's (such as Newsgroup Taunting, Poison Pill, etc.) are prone to fall from Pirate Broadcasting with many bits. If you see rezzed Newsgroup Tauntings, run them before delivering the Socket counters to reduce costs. If you feel that the corp has many naked face down ambush nodes, simply jack out before accessing them and end your Pirate Broadcast. NOTE added in proof: my reasoning regarding the runner's socket/pipe counter installment was verified as correct in a later email by Glenn Elliot of WotC. Enjoy, David