| From: | "Abadia, Teos" <Teos.Abadia@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Decks that Stand up against Bug/Thugs: Human Hate Deck |
| Date: | Tue, 19 May 1998 11:35:06 -0400 |
end up being more threatening for the Nuyen than the thugs your opponent
plays. This deck is the "best" of the two, and can absolutely overwhelm
a non-thug deck. You can end up making non-thug deck players mad if you
choose to play this deck often, as it will build significant momentum,
presents no easy way to defeat it, and will eventually leave you with a
very scary-looking pool of Nuyen.
Comment on the Name:
The Human Hate Deck is so called because it deals with racism. FASA has
chosen to confront rather than avoid issues of discrimination in both
the RPG and CCG. The issues are dealt with maturely and racism is shown
as being very negative but a real part of our society. This deck is not
meant to in any way pretend that racism/xenocide is a positive element.
The runners in this deck are hateful runners; thugs and crooks, and
playing this deck is similar to playing an evil character in an RPG:
interesting to characterize in a game, but a blemish on our society in
real life.
Strategy Overview:
The strategy is to use all humans, heavy on Gangers, with cheap gear
that makes the runners beefy enough to overcome the threat rating and
armor of most challenges. No one runner will be too much more powerful
than the others, so opponent's will not accomplish much by killing one
or two of your runners. The use of Scatterbrain's Ganger HQ and Leader
of the Pack can substantially increase the deadliness of the deck for a
very low cost, but are not instrumental to a victory. Some human
non-gangers are included for skills and color, and a few Yaks are
included for Jade's ability to shut down an opponent's best runner, and
for the use of the Shuriken to take out opponents' Fame runners,
deckers, or weakened thugs. Objectives make you tougher or make the runs
easier, while being unappealing to other non-human or non-ganger decks.
Human Ganger Hate Deck (Anti-Bug/Thug version)
Size
6 Objectives plus 77 Cards. (Remove a few cards to tailor to your
opponent or play as is. Many cards are really cheap, so size is less of
an issue than in other decks)
Objectives
Turf War (X3) (Gives +1/+1 token to gangers, +0/+2 to Street
Challenges)
Humanis Policlub Rally (X2) (+2/+0 to humans, -2/+0 to non-humans)
Crime Wave (No corporate/Lone Star challenges, +1/ +A1 to ganger,
mafia, Yaks)
Runners (22)
Sancho (X4)
Stiletto (X4)
Skitz (X2)
Turbo (X2)
Thrash (X3) * I often trade one Thrash for another Skitz or Turbo.
Jade (X2)
Tenaka (X2)
Flatline
Kracker Jack
Hatchetman
12 of the 22 cards are gangers. Everyone is human. Everyone is cheap,
with hatchetman being 6 for some skills. The ganger are the momentum of
the deck, taking low cost gear and then running with the bonuses from
various other cards. The Yaks use the Shurikens and jade turns to slow
down thugs. Flatline has armor and can use 2 berettas. Kracker jack
gets a free pistol and can recon. Hatchetman can be replaced with
whatever skill-intensive runner you like. Tenaka and Thrash are meant to
turn to the Iron Lung while gangers go on runs. If Shady manager or
similar cards target you, just kill off the Thrash on a run, even as a
one-way recon. You will have plenty of cash anyway. The fame just helps
you get started.
Gear (18)
Beretta (X4)
Katana (X4)
Harley Scorpion (X2)
Dermal Plating (X2)
Streetline Special (X3)
Shuriken (X3)
18 gear seems like too much, till you realize you want it for the ganger
HQ. The streetline specials are an easy way to keep gear on gangers.
Keep in mind, Thrash and Tenaka will Iron Lung to keep the gear coming.
Berettas, Harleys, and Dermal Plating add much needed body and armor,
while adding some damage (either from the cards and/or with the
Scatterbrains). Body and armor will end up being what you need the most
at first, not attack value. Gear is cheap and can make you very
powerful (Sancho is 6/5, add Dermal and Beretta and Scatterbrains to end
up at 10/8 (A1). Throw in LoTP and watch people cringe). Katanas are
there to make Stiletto's and Skitz' melee useful. Lots of bang for the
Nuyen.
Contacts (3)
Humanis Policlub (X2)
Shady Manager
Humanis is more for flavor and for targeting Trolls and Orks. However,
I find that unless you get this early in the game, its effect is
limited. If you are going all out to decimate an opponent, another
Shady Manager and removing both Humanis may be the way to go.
Locations (4)
Iron Lung (X3)
Dante's Inferno
If you removed the third Thrash, remove the Dante's Inferno. Dante and
2 Thrash equal a ton of cash with this deck, and your pumpable
challenges will absolutely destroy big thug decks, especially after your
Shuriken have eliminated runners that can sleaze your challenges (like
Foxy, mages, or recon). Iron Lung is key, letting your Yaks and Thrash
turn to get cards so you never need to draw cards and always get Nuyen
each round.
Specials and Stingers (7)
Scatterbrains (X2)
leader of the Pack
False Mentor
Lone Star Undercover
In-Fighting
Cover Up
Scatterbrains adds +1/+0 per gear card on your gangers. With so much
gear, you will almost always meet the requirements. LotP is great if it
comes out early, and builds tremendous momentum. I almost always put it
on a Sancho with Dermal Plating. Even if the LotP runner dies though,
your deck will still be strong. False Mentor and Cover Up are for
denying the other player if she gets a fast start. Lone Star Undercover
can kill one runner outright and the threat rating combined with your
Nuyen can send a thug deck back to the drawing board. In-Fighting can
be just what you need to set the stage for a Shuriken attack.
Challenges (23)
Haloweener Hell (X4)
Lone Star Patrol (X4)
Manticore (X2)
Booby Trap
Fusion Gate
Widow's Trap (X2)
Highway Showdown (X2)
Security Consultant (X2)
Chomps-2000
Scatterbrain Raid
Nets
Maglocks (X2)
The pumpable Haloweeners and Lone Star can absolutely destroy thug
decks, particularly with the benefit to street challenges on your
objective. Note that Lone Star can not be used on Crime Wave, but you
should be okay if you keep that in mind and plan accordingly. Manticore,
Booby Trap, Fusion, Widow and Highway all wound or kill runners,
allowing you to weaken the other person's deck and make their Nuyen
become a precious commodity. Wounding is great in this deck, since the
Shuriken can do 2 AP damage. Security Consultant speeds the game up for
you, and Chomps/Nets/Scatter/Maglocks slows theirs down. You should see
your opponent be pretty pissed off by the challenges and your supply of
Nuyen. Remember to use Shurikens carefully to either kill off their
vital Fame, their Recon, the wounded huge thug, or the sleazer. If you
choose carefully, you prevent their victory. If you kill off a
non-vital runner, they could end up skating through challenges.
This deck has worked well in several tests, and can beat most decks on a
regular basis. it has trouble with bug/thug decks, but does much better
than most decks against them, and can beat bug/thug decks about 50% of
the time if you don't know the particular deck, much more often if you
do. The deck is large, but you can customize it easily. It is very
flexible and has few weaknesses.
Another cheap deck is next, and it happens to be one of the decks that
can freeze up this Human Hate Deck. Up next: The Mafia-Backed Lone Star
Deck!
(No deck is perfect, please comment on how you would make this deck
better)
