Mob Rules
by Marc Reichardt
The Criminal faction is widely perceived to be the weakest and the reports from the Gen Con Icebreaker tourney seemed to bear that out in terms of how many people played the faction and where it ended up in the final standings. However, I think that what may be the issue is that the Criminal simply requires a bit more forethought than the other two factions. Unlike Anarch, there’s no obvious path involving viruses. Unlike Shaper, there’s no obvious path involving hardware or versatile ‘breakers. What you do have is a steady cash flow and a number of back doors to Corp defenses. Veteran Netrunner players that I’ve talked say that that’s plenty to work with. It’s simply a matter of doing so at the right time and having enough OoF cards to fill the gaps where needed. Hence, the list:
Gabriel Santiago
Hardware:
2 x Desperado
2 x Lemuria Codecracker
Resources:
3 x Decoy
3 x Bank Job
3 x Crash Space
2 x Wyldside (6)
2 x Aesop’s Pawnshop (4)
Events:
3 x Inside Job
3 x Easy Mark
3 x Account Siphon
3 x Forged Activation Orders
3 x Special Order
Icebreakers:
2 x Ninja
3 x Aurora
3 x Femme Fatale
3 x Crypsis
1 x Gordian Blade (3)
Programs:
3 x Sneakdoor Beta
Total: 47 (13)
So, this is about as tightly tuned as one can get it. Criminal is based around disruption: stealing credits, forcing rezzes or bypassing ICE entirely, and keeping the Corp player desperate to protect all of his central servers, including Archives, as much as his remotes.
Gabriel Santiago
Hardware:
2 x Desperado
2 x Lemuria Codecracker
Resources:
3 x Decoy
3 x Bank Job
3 x Crash Space
2 x Wyldside (6)
2 x Aesop’s Pawnshop (4)
Events:
3 x Inside Job
3 x Easy Mark
3 x Account Siphon
3 x Forged Activation Orders
3 x Special Order
Icebreakers:
2 x Ninja
3 x Aurora
3 x Femme Fatale
3 x Crypsis
1 x Gordian Blade (3)
Programs:
3 x Sneakdoor Beta
Total: 47 (13)
So, this is about as tightly tuned as one can get it. Criminal is based around disruption: stealing credits, forcing rezzes or bypassing ICE entirely, and keeping the Corp player desperate to protect all of his central servers, including Archives, as much as his remotes.
Gabriel’s ability is probably the worst of the three Runners but continues the Criminal theme of moneymaking. If it was gain 2 credits for any successful run on HQ, it would be worthwhile. As it is, most Corp players won’t want you making regular runs against their hand and gaining 2 credits for the effort, so it’s not a complete waste.
Desperado is not a great console, but at 3 credits and lacking any other memory boosters in-faction, it’s not a bad card. Furthermore, it presents exactly what we’d like to have out of Gabriel’s ability: a payoff for any run, central server or not. The Codecracker is a highly questionable card, especially given the primacy of Clicks for the Criminal, which will often be eager to have as many actions as possible to take advantage of Events or multiple runs. However, the Codecracker works brilliantly with Bank Job and can be used to protect Gabriel from Jinteki traps which the deck otherwise has little defense against, barring Wyldside.
OTOH, Criminal is not lacking for useful resources. Decoy saves your precious ‘breakers if you ever get hit with a trace or a subroutine that you can’t break from H-B. Bank Job, as mentioned, could be a huge payoff with the defense of the Lemuria Codecracker. Why you’d ever want to leave credits on it, I’m not quite sure. Crash Space is the only defense against meat damage (and the notorious Scorched Earth) in the game and provides free credits to dump the side effect of the otherwise brilliant Account Siphon. Wyldside is a way around some net damage and an accelerant into more Events, while the Pawnshop is present largely to get rid of Wyldside; again to free up those precious actions, if needed.
Events will likely provide the heart of most Criminal decks, enabling the tricks that make the faction work. Inside Job enables packing fewer Icebreakers, as you can often ignore the first (or only) piece of ICE on a server. Easy Mark is a quick drop for cash if other methods aren’t succeeding. Account Siphon is one of the most disruptive Runner cards in the Core set, potentially pauperizing the Corp and making money for you at the same time. The drawback of 2 tags is bad but, at that point, you should have enough cash and, hopefully, have saved a couple actions to dump them, as most Corp players will not hesitate to wreck your excellent resources. Forged Activation Orders follows in the same path by potentially draining the Corp of money or enabling your multiple central server abilities. It also enables fewer ‘breakers, given the potential lack of ICE or the removal of a type that you’re unable to deal with. Special Order, OTOH, is the ultimate deck thinner in that respect, since you can always seek out the correct answer for whichever piece of ICE may already be rezzed in front of you. Tutors are almost never bad in most card games. Half the reason people should be playing Djinn in Anarch decks is its tutor ability.
One of the weaknesses of the Criminal faction, and one of the things that may have driven people away from them at the Gen Con tourney, is their Icebreakers, which are not brilliant. Ninja is a pretty subpar Killer and the only reason it’s workable for Criminals is the plentiful cash they should have at hand to give it any strength at all. The lack of versatility for that boost will likely have you gritting your teeth as you need to pay six credits to get past Archer. The counter to that to some degree is Femme Fatale, which is still horribly inefficient at boosting its low strength, but can enable another bypass of a problematic piece of ICE, saving money and perhaps cards, or enabling a run that wouldn’t otherwise happen. The big downside is the install cost but, again, Criminal’s cash flow should compensate for that. Aurora is a decent Fracter; again, not efficient, but cheap to put down and then relatively easy to boost. Crypsis and Gordian Blade (easily obtained with Special Order) are present to deal with Code Gates. Crypsis is annoying because of the extra action needed to keep it around, but it’s so versatile and efficient that it more than makes up for that in the long-term. The Blade is there as a backup for when actions are tough to come by, but could be cut in further tuning.
Sneakdoor Beta is simply a continuation of the disruption theme, forcing the Corp player to spend resources protecting Archives to keep from having his hand rifled.
Criminal, like Anarch, is best played aggressively, attacking central servers as frequently as possible to keep the credits flowing, keeping the Corp off-balance with a variety of approaches to a variety of targets, and making sure that money is available to resist Corporate attempts on the Runner’s tools.
The weakness of Haas-Bioroid (spending Clicks to beat subroutines) is somewhat less viable for Criminal, given the noted desire for as many actions as possible to enable the flow of Events which should be crowding the Criminal’s hand. However, the availability of credits should keep Gabriel able to pass those subs in the traditional fashion.
Jinteki, OTOH, provides a bit more complex issue in that Criminal has comparatively limited protection from net damage. This is where Lemuria Codecracker comes in handy to expose things like Snare and, if Jinteki becomes a real presence in the local metagame, the Easy Marks can easily be traded out for Infiltration.
The much-feared NBN deck that emphasizes tag-and-bag is much less of a concern for Criminal, given the ability to bypass things like Data Raven and what should be a ready supply of cash in order to make it unlikely that the Corp will really want to press you on a trace. OTOH, the Criminal might have trouble with the “fast advance” deck because of the need for setup time that may be a bit lengthier than Anarch or Shaper, given the relatively lesser ‘breakers that Gabriel has access to.
Weyland is an interesting situation, given that it’s essentially the mirror image of criminal: nice cash flow and powerful events. Aggressive Negotiation and Research Station also allow hand manipulation and access in similar manner to things like Special Order. However, even though Weyland ICE can be quite daunting, it can be bypassed like any other and Crash Space provides the one sure defense against Scorched Earth. I think most battles with Weyland will come down to a credit race between the two players.
As far as further tuning goes, if you find that you’re having trouble with cash flow, Sure Gamble is ideal for Criminal, as you’re more likely be around 5 credits than the other two Runners, which then becomes 9. As noted, Easy Mark can be reduced or replaced without too much concern and, if you’re willing to sacrifice the action permanently (or until the Corp tags you and gets rid of it), Aesop’s becomes less interesting to Criminal, as opposed to the other factions, at which point you could add in things like Datasucker. Again, given the cash flow, most Criminal players should be relatively unconcerned about traces, so the lack of Link isn’t really an issue. That said, if you find yourself constantly hitting NBN decks, I think Access to Globalsec makes more sense than Rabbit Hole in this deck. And, again, the Blade is there as a backup for Crypsis against Sentries if you’re running into Click constraints.
Criminal, like Anarch, is best played aggressively, attacking central servers as frequently as possible to keep the credits flowing, keeping the Corp off-balance with a variety of approaches to a variety of targets, and making sure that money is available to resist Corporate attempts on the Runner’s tools.
The weakness of Haas-Bioroid (spending Clicks to beat subroutines) is somewhat less viable for Criminal, given the noted desire for as many actions as possible to enable the flow of Events which should be crowding the Criminal’s hand. However, the availability of credits should keep Gabriel able to pass those subs in the traditional fashion.
Jinteki, OTOH, provides a bit more complex issue in that Criminal has comparatively limited protection from net damage. This is where Lemuria Codecracker comes in handy to expose things like Snare and, if Jinteki becomes a real presence in the local metagame, the Easy Marks can easily be traded out for Infiltration.
The much-feared NBN deck that emphasizes tag-and-bag is much less of a concern for Criminal, given the ability to bypass things like Data Raven and what should be a ready supply of cash in order to make it unlikely that the Corp will really want to press you on a trace. OTOH, the Criminal might have trouble with the “fast advance” deck because of the need for setup time that may be a bit lengthier than Anarch or Shaper, given the relatively lesser ‘breakers that Gabriel has access to.
Weyland is an interesting situation, given that it’s essentially the mirror image of criminal: nice cash flow and powerful events. Aggressive Negotiation and Research Station also allow hand manipulation and access in similar manner to things like Special Order. However, even though Weyland ICE can be quite daunting, it can be bypassed like any other and Crash Space provides the one sure defense against Scorched Earth. I think most battles with Weyland will come down to a credit race between the two players.
As far as further tuning goes, if you find that you’re having trouble with cash flow, Sure Gamble is ideal for Criminal, as you’re more likely be around 5 credits than the other two Runners, which then becomes 9. As noted, Easy Mark can be reduced or replaced without too much concern and, if you’re willing to sacrifice the action permanently (or until the Corp tags you and gets rid of it), Aesop’s becomes less interesting to Criminal, as opposed to the other factions, at which point you could add in things like Datasucker. Again, given the cash flow, most Criminal players should be relatively unconcerned about traces, so the lack of Link isn’t really an issue. That said, if you find yourself constantly hitting NBN decks, I think Access to Globalsec makes more sense than Rabbit Hole in this deck. And, again, the Blade is there as a backup for Crypsis against Sentries if you’re running into Click constraints.