Table of Contents / Cover Page / Feedback / Staff Bios / Back Issues / Resource Compendium / Warehouse [Deckbuilding] * 9 x Loan from "The Short Stack" Chiba by Byron Massey * 10 x Bodyweight The elegant and well-balanced game mechanics of Wizards Synthetic Blood of the Coast's Netrunner CCG have set a new standard in * 6 x Militech game design for the genre. Although the Proteus MRAM Chip expansion upset that balance to some degree, the game remains valid with no banned or restricted list, as * 4 x Access well as being playable right out of a single starter through Alpha box. * 3 x Nasuko Cycle In the never-ending quest to break Netrunner, the most commonly abused Runner cards are Scaldan and Viral * 1 x Pipeline. The Short Stack, however, relies on an Bodyweight Data uncommon virus from Proteus: Highlighter. Creche * 1 x WuTech There are four rare cards in The Short Stack (named for Mem Chip its ability to keep games eight turns or less in length): Bodyweight Data Creche, False Echo, Access * 1 x Valu-Pak Through Alpha, and Microtech AI Interface. Getting ten Software Bundle copies of Loan from Chiba or Bodyweight Synthetic Blood * 1 x Remote is problematic but not impossible. With Netrunner Detonator inventory being sold off at bargain rates, almost any * 1 x Rush Hour deck can be assembled with only a small investment of * 1 x Private trading time and/or money. LDL Access * 2 x FLIPPING THE PANCAKES All-Nighter * 1 x False The first strategy is to use Bodyweight Synthetic Blood Echo to draw through the entire stack as quickly as possible. I don't discard anything except excess * 1 x Bodyweight Synthetic Blood, Access through Alpha, Enterprise, Militech MRAM, and Nasuko Cycles. Occasionally I Inc. Shields discard a Loan or two if my hand is too crowded. The * 1 x Krash Access through Alpha should be installed with the first * 1 x Microtech Loan from Chiba, if possible, but sometimes I have to AI Interface risk it. The Nasuko Cycle can be left out unless the * 2 x Corp is playing an R&D that forces me to run before Highlighter turn 8 (sometimes turn 7). It has to be installed before any early run, since a tag during the Corp's 46 cards turn is instant death with an installed the Loan from MU Chiba. used/available: 6/6 It seems to take four Militech MRAM to get past the Bits hump, which usually comes around turn three or four. spent/available: Sometimes I only need three Militech MRAM. I try to 51/108 hold the Loans back as long as possible to avoid paying the Chiba goons until absolutely necessary, and all those extra Loans require MRAM to keep my head from exploding. Somewhere along the way I install the Bodyweight Data Creche, WuTech Mem Chip, and Enterprise, Inc., Shields. This has to be done before the big run, but none of these cards give away the strategy, so there is no special timing needed to put them in play. SETTING THE TABLE At this point, about six turns should have gone by. I have been furiously racing through my stack, installing Loans and MRAM and collecting cards. The installed cards should be: some Loan from Chiba and Militech MRAM Access through Alpha Bodyweight Data Creche WuTech Mem Chip Enterprise, Inc., Shields and possibly a Nasuko Cycle Hopefully I am holding all eleven of the cards in the "kit". I try to follow this sequence in the last two turns of the game (hopefully no later than turn seven). Turn seven: Loan from Chiba Loan from Chiba Loan from Chiba Valu-Pak Software Bundle, installing: Krash False Echo Microtech AI Interface Highliter Highliter GOING BACK FOR A SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH HELPING Turn eight: First action. If HQ has a lot less ice installed than R&D, I play Private LDL Access, otherwise, Rush Hour. Private LDL Access is especially nice if the Corp ices R&D heavily after seeing the programs on turn six. If I use Rush Hour, I access four cards, if not, just one. Either way, I give the Corp two Highliter counters. Immediately after this run, I use the False Echo program to force the Corp to rez all the ice on R&D that they can afford. This sets up action two. Second action. If I will not have enough cash to keep Krashing the R&D ice for five more runs, I play the Remote Detonator. Otherwise, I just run R&D. I almost always have to play the Remote Detonator, and I will use that assumption for the rest of my description. I ignore the tags from the Remote Detonator since this will be the last turn of the game. The Corp will not get a chance to send the Chiba goons after me (famous last words, but it usually works). Third action. I play All-Nighter and make two runs on R&D. I access two cards on the first run and four on the second, cutting off the ones I have already seen with the Microtech AI Interface before accessing. At the end of the action, I have seen ten cards (counting the Rush Hour from the first action) in R&D and the Corp has six Highlighter counters. Fourth Action. I play another All-Nighter. At the end of this action, I have seen 24 cards in R&D and the Corp has ten Highliter counters. Bodyweight Data Creche. I run R&D again with the Creche. After this run, I have seen 34 cards from R&D. Since this is turn eight and the Corp has to draw at least one card each turn, I've seen every card in R&D. DOING THE DISHES A quick-setup Siren can really be a bummer. Hopefully the Nasuko Cycle provides enough protection to run on the Siren as soon as it is rezzed. The same is true of City Surveillance. Super-Speed Tycho can sometimes out-race me to victory. I have experimented with Precision Bribery, but it seems that most CEOs these days put ice on a subsidiary data fort before I can even grease the frying pan. There isn't much strategy or suspense when I play this stack, and it is currently retired. It does provide a sort of benchmark for speed Corp CEOs. I imagine there are stacks with Taxman, Viral Pipeline, or Scaldan that can win faster, but this stack is very predictable. If I can make it to turn eight, I nearly always win. I hope this stack gives you the same success I have enjoyed. [Image]