Part Two of a feature looking at some of the ace new Netrunner cards just released in the Order and Chaos big box. Find out which of the new Weyland cards caught my eye and witness the creation of what could eventually become a below-average deck with a bit of work.
Right, let’s cut to the chase – amid all the new tools and whizzes which Weyland gets in Order & Chaos, there’s one card which is unlike anything in the game. A card which many players did not believe could be real when it was spoiled last year. A card which can almost win you the game – or lose you it – in a single play. That card is, of course:
It’s amazing! Or terrible! I genuinely can’t decide, so what better card to start building my new deck around. You can only include one of course, but that’s definitely for the best as there’s no way I want the runner picking these out of R&D willy nilly. The first thing Government Takeover does is chew up a whole ton of agenda space, which opens up the possibility of playing 5/3s and keeping agenda density to a bare minimum. I’m going to go the other way though and make up the points with as many one-pointers as I can, because my ID is going to be this little beauty:
Argus got a pretty lukewarm reception from the Terminal7 podcast guys in their Weyland Order & Chaos overview, but I’m sold on the idea of trying to make stealing an agenda a bloody pain for the runner whichever choice they make. Filling up on one-pointers means dishing out plenty of meat damage from stealing agendas alone if the runner wants to win. I don’t want them inching their way to victory though, which is where the latest ‘executive’ asset comes in.
Getting one of these out means any of those one-pointers are worthless, although keeping it well defended will be essential even with its massive trash cost. Maybe there’s some kind of mega new ‘end the run’ card in the set?
Holy crap! I love this – the monster cost pacified by the advancement ability, and the option of shoving and extra ‘end the run’ on there if I have an Ice Wall out sounds pretty good to me. I suspect this will team well with Archer too, as I can choose another program destruction subroutine or grab a bit of cash depending on the situation. New cards Builder and Satellite Grid can both help fill this up with tokens to keep it cheap, but I worry that including too much advanceable ice-related business won’t leave me enough room for my main strategy – murder. I’ve only got one core set so am limited to two Scorched Earths, but I’ll be bolstering those with:
A lovely card – free to play for two meat damage, but the wrinkle is obviously getting those two tags on in the first place. Might be that the odd runner decides to float them, but I can’t rely on getting there without a little help. I’ve decided that’s going to come from:
It’s a bucketload of influence cost, but I’m hoping a couple of these will allow me to sit tight and collect Scorches and Traffic Accidents, stick a crap agenda out for the runner to pinch, and then fire this off and see what happens.
May I present to you Tag and Bag Takeover v1.0:
I’ve plumped for Posted Bounties as they have the potential to shove a surprise tag on a runner, which I can turn into three with Big Brother. Closed Accounts stops them clearing tags one I’ve piled them on, while False Lead can cut the runner’s turn short if they pick up a tag running through ICE like Shadow or the lovely new Searchlight. New ICE Checkpoint adds some more meat damage and could force the runner to take a tag if it protects an agenda.
Archers, Ice Walls and Orions will work on keeping the runner out of R&D and away from Government Takeover and The Board. I’ve rounded out the agenda suite with the easy-to-score Hostile Takeover for cash, Private Security Force for more meat damage and a single NAPD because it’s already such a pain to steal. I’ve thrown some PAD Campaigns in for cash, but I worry making money is an area of the deck which is currently way too light.
On to playtesting! In Part Three I’ll reveal how the first few games went with both decks and what changes I’ve made in their wake.
Click here to head back and bean up on my Anarch deck from Part One.