Mr Mongo - The true form of masochism

              "Power to the drugs and drugs for the people!"
                                   "Uh?"

                                   Preps

             9 Lucidrine Booster Drug
             1 The Personal Touch
             2 MIT West Tier

                                 Software

             2 Self Modifying Code
             4 Blink
             1 Enterprise, Inc., Shields

                                 Hardware

             6 Lifesaver Nanosurgeons
             4 Militech MRAM Chip
             2 The Deck
             2 Zetatech Mem Chip

                                 Resources

             4 The Shell Traders
             4 Liberated Savings Account
             2 Fall Guy
             1 Junkyard BBS

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                                 Overview

          One of the real challenges of a runner's life is to take
        a maximum of damage while letting the corps down and
        surviving the whole process. From my early matches of
        Netrunner I liked the process of taking several points of
        brain damage while ripping the corp apart. Especially in
        the beginning of their Netrunner career most runners are
        very careful and see the loss of a card and the
        simultaneous reduction of handsome as a small disaster.

         But is this really true? One single Militech MRAM Chip
        will make up for three points of handsome. With the use of
        a decent drawing engine one card cost you about 0.5
        actions and the amount of bits is in the same region.

         So when do you get brain damage? The corp has several
        methods to hurt you. They may send their goons to rough
        you up a little bit and if you have angered them they may
        even send their cyber dogs after you. But this is meat
        space. Professional runners have efficient measures to
        take care of such nuisances. Their biggest threats lie in
        the virtual worlds of cyberspace. Specialized pieces of
        software 'protect' sensitive corporate data from
        unauthorized access. Most of this so-called intrusion
        countermeasure electronics are of no harm but there are
        some of them that can really hurt you. The legal ones will
        electrocute your outer cerebral regions a little bit.
        Illegal stuff may permanently damage your brain. But
        that's the price for a glorious life.

         Life on the fast lane is furious, bright and - in most
        cases - short. To prolong this limited amount of time
        there are means to break the limits of nature and the
        tight bonds of the human mind. The bad thing is that (as a
        general law) all things have their price. Drugs, the
        longing for publicity and walking the weird ways will put
        you high if you are willing to accept their dark side...

                              General Tactics

          'Run fast, run often, take the damage and face the
        danger.' This is the motto of Mr Mongo, a stereotype of
        one of the more masochistic net jockeys. Hit the corp high
        on drugs and chill out later at the pool. With his average
        income Mr Mongo can easily afford a high level of
        lifestyle. At last that is what modern technology is for,
        isn't it? Why worry about those little grey cells slowly
        eroding under the influence of powerful amphetamines?
        Semi-conductors and neural tissues grew together over a
        decade ago. So fucking what? You have the best hardware
        out there (Pentagon isn't any longer what it was in the
        last millennium) and very skilled medical professionals
        under your contract. And those tiny things in your blood
        will take care of minor irregularities in your cortical
        activities.

                                 Some Tips

         Just for completeness, once again: Take the damage! That
        is what all the drugs are for. Make money out of them by
        Liberating Savings Accounts on the fly, during the run. If
        the ICE gets deeper you can install more of your Blinks
        and the shield. The bits you get from the Lucidrine should
        make up for enough yield for most runs. Install one of the
        Lifesavers early on and keep the others in your hand to
        soak up the brain/net damage. If you loose on of your
        MITs, play the other one rather soon or use the junkyard
        to retrieve it. Without recycling you'll be dead soon. The
        Personal Touch is in there just for completeness. If you
        face a Cinderella, use The Deck instead. If it's a Liche,
        Colonel or Toughonium things may get a little bit
        difficult but that shouldn't happen that often.

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