From:	"Abadia, Teos" <Teos.Abadia@****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Frustration Deck
Date:	Wed, 8 Jul 1998 09:47:19 -0400

> ----------
> From: Robert Thomas[SMTP:Strangefate@*****.NET]
> Here is a deck that I have previously posted, but since the group has
> been a little slow I will post it again for comments.
>
We are all a little busy. I certainly have a full-time job and two
other lists I read, plus real gaming. I get to these when I can.

> RUNNERS (22)
> Cherry Bomb x2
> Jade x2
> Kracker Jack x2
> Mugsy x2
> Reaper x2
> Red Widow x2
> Roadrash x2
> Shasta x2
> Thash x2
> Tinkerbell x2
> Wishbone x2
>
I'm not sure why you chose these runners. Jade, Cherry Bomb, Red Widow,
Mugsy, sure, they fit the theme. Why is Reaper, Tinkerbell, Wishbone,
Shasta there? I realize that you have gear for them, but I worry that
you have too many types of runners, and would be better off
concentrating on a few areas where you stop your opponents (like having
4 Jades in your deck and a bunch of stingers and gear), then having
runners that you can run with, and gear of one type for those runners. I
could be wrong. My suggestion is always that you take your deck,
shuffle it, and draw 8 cards. Put those face up on the table. Then
draw one card, put it near the first ones. Then draw another and put it
next to the last one. Now you have before you the first three rounds of
the game. If your gear and runners don't match, or you are getting too
few of one type of card and too many of another, your deck distribution
needs work. Also, use my spreadsheet (
http://www.duke.edu/~tsa1/Shadowrun/ ) to figure out the probability
that each type of card will come up.

> GEAR (18)
> Bulldog Van x2
> Defiance Shotgun x2
> Fixed-Fire Cannons x2
> Hellblast
> Hunter Drone x2
> Protective Spirit x2
> Robo-Doc x2
> Shriek 1000 x2
> Sleep
> Vindicator Minigun x2
>
A lot of varied equipment. I would expect that it will be hard for you
to get the right gear for the right runners. This is also a lot of
gear. I would remove one class of gear, like spells/spirits or drones.


> Specials/Stingers (18)
> Abducted! x2
> Deja Vu x2
> Cover Up x2
> Intimidation x2
> Luck O' The Irish x2
> Some Things Never Change x2
> The Big Break x2
> Whoops! x2
> Wild Goose Chase x2
>
18 Stingers is a whole lot, and it means you are spending a lot of money
on attacking your opponent but not on strengthening your runners. So,
you need to be careful, from a strategic point of view, because you can
end up with a hand full of stingers that are core to your strategy, and
you won't want to discard them, but you will not have other cards you
need (like challenges) and won't be able to discard to fill up your
hand.

> Challenges (10)
> Chomps 2000 Guard Dog x2
> Double Jeapoardy x2
> Hunting Gargoyle x2
> Maglocks x2
> Security Consultant x2
>
I still think these are too few. Double Jeopardy is almost useless, as
you only have 8 other challenges! In a 70 card deck, you aren't going
to have other challenges in your hand to use with Double Jeopardy. To
fit your theme, I would use more Chomps, plus add some others, like
Highway Showdown (it does so much damage that even if it doesn't stop a
run, your opponent will have to heal for a round), Yakuza Assassin, and
the other common run enders (corpselight, Widow, etc.). I talk about
your objectives below.

> Locations (1)
> Genetics Lab
>
Can be risky in a deck where your runners are expensive. If you had
more of Mugsy, you could create a Mugsy army, for whatever that's worth
(coupled with Aztechnology, that could work well for a frustration
deck).

> Contacts (1)
> Squatter
>
Great card for Genetics Lab.

> Objectives (7)
> Amazonian Hunt
> Cake Walk
> Crossfire x2
> Nosferatu Den
> Operation Cottonmouth
> Sucker Run
>
I would really increase the Sucker Runs to 4, as that will help with
your mission and having fewer challenges. Also, some of your objectives
are not well suited to your challenges. Operation Cottonmouth, for
example, only helps out with the challenges that have a threat rating,
of which you have Chomps and H. Gargoyle. So, I would remove the ones
that are strengthening challenges you don't have a lot of, since this
would just help your opponent.


I hope this helps, Rob. I think my strategy is different from yours, so
your deck's working well so far may be the best indicator. If you
change anything, please send a new copy to the list so we can see how we
can frustrate our opponents!

Teos.