After I wrote the deck-building guidelines, I sat down to build a deck and write down my thought processes while doing so. This sample deck is the result. I'll be keeping track of how it does in actual play, and adding notes to this page as time goes on.
I started out wanting to build an Architect deck. I'd been having trouble making pure Architects work for me, so I wanted to mix in another faction as well; I have a Monarch/Architect deck and an Ascended/Architect deck, and the only other faction I play is Dragons, so it came down to an Architect/Dragon deck.
But what can the Dragons do to help the Architects? There's the Vivisector/Golden Comeback combination, but I didn't feel like being that clever. I didn't want to rely heavily on a combination, just something simple and nasty. And then I remembered the Gadgeteers, which are two cost two Fighting Dragons who provide Tech sources, and my course was clear.
I started with five Friends of the Dragon; cheap foundation characters. I then added four Gadgeteers, and after some thought, four Chinese Doctors and four Kii-YAAH!s. That left three slots open for other Dragon cards. I put in two Wind On The Mountains, to keep Lotus decks in their place.
Looking at this, I was a bit worried about having enough Dragon resources for the Kii-YAAH!s, so I added four Houses on the Hill, since they also have a special power. Since they don't require resources, they don't overload my Friends of the Dragon, and they'll help Architect characters as well.
Moving on to Architects, I added five Test Subjects and three Undercover Agents. By now it's obvious that I tend towards the cheaper foundation characters. I want to be able to get them out as quickly as possible in mixed faction decks; ideally I'll be able to get out both a Test Subject and a Friends of the Dragon first turn. More expensive foundation characters would make life too hard. The Undercover Agents are expensive, but they also give me an edge against Jammer decks. (At this point I've built in threats against two other factions, both of which turn up often in my play group.)
Now, on to cheap stuff. Four Helix Chewers, four PubOrd Raids, and three Cellular Reinvigorations. This was a sudden brainstorm. First of all, I'll put in Mutoids, which are almost made for Cellular Reinvigorations. Second, Cellular Reinvigorations and Chinese Doctors would work amazingly well together. At this point, I have two useful combinations in the deck, and all the cards which make them up will be perfectly useful on their own. I'm doing very well.
Hm. Continuing through my cheap stuff pile, I come across Imprisons, and after some more thought I put them in instead of the PubOrd Raids. I haven't been playing with Imprisons lately and I want to surprise people. They'll annoy people with State-heavy decks, and I can use them on my own characters as well if a situation comes up where someone I really like is about to die.
OK; time for Architect characters. I'm a little nervous at this point because I've got more cheap stuff than I should, and I do need to put a lot of Tech States in for the Gadgeteers, but I can work that out later. This is simple: two Monster Hunters (to deal with the Lotus more), two Brain Suckers (which are good midrange thugs, provide Tech, and have a special ability), two Mutoids (for the Cellular Reinvigorations), one Homo Omega (who is terrifying and provides three Tech resources), and one CHAR (who is a thug, has special immunities, and provides Tech). That's not bad, perhaps a little light on big characters, but I plan to put in States to make up for this.
Which I choose now. Two Seeds of the New Flesh, to keep the Guiding Hand in its place. I drop out two Helix Chewers and an Imprisoned, because I'm clearly not going to have enough room for all the Tech States I want. I add two Combat Aircars, two Disintegrator Rays, two Robot Arms, two Grenade Launchers, immediately berate myself for adding non-Tech States, remove the Grenade Launchers, and put in two Fusion Rifles. I'm currently about three cards over and I don't have enough Tech States for comfort.
I drop my two remaining Helix Chewers, which will be sorely missed, and add two HAVOC Suits. Now I don't have enough Tech resources to make them useful. I drop two Houses on the Hill and add two Secret Laboratories. I'm still three cards over:
Five Dragon foundation characters, and fourteen miscellaneous Dragon cards, counting the Houses on the Hill. Eight Architect foundation characters, eight Architect non-foundation characters, six cheap Architect Events and two Fusion Rifles, and another twelve Tech and Architect cards. I'm at sixty-eight cards.
At this point, somewhat embarassed, I realize that I've been building to sixty-five cards all along, not sixty. Which doesn't violate my principles, but it proves that I can't count. All right; I can go to seventy cards and it will resolve my problems. I need to add another foundation character and another Feng Shui site. I add a DNA Mage for the Tech resource.
A quick check of resources and cards shows that I should have enough resources to power everything in my deck. I have enough non-Feng Shui sites. I may not have enough cheap stuff, but Chinese Doctors almost count as cheap stuff, since they only cost one Power and they have an Event-like effect; besides, I have the Kii-YAAH!s to give me more Power.
Feng Shui sites are easy. I shuffle through what I have, and add, in order: two Gardens of Bronze, four Inner Sanctums, four Jagged Cliffs, and pause. Those Perpetual Motion Machines are quite interesting. I add three Proving Grounds, to get those expensive Architects out cheaper, and a Red Lantern Tavern, because it's reasonably strong and it has a nice special ability -- I intend to use it mostly to give my weak foundation characters Assassinate to kill off annoying opposing characters with special abilities. I then drop the Gardens of Bronze, because not that many people burn for Power in my play circle right now, and add in the two Perpetual Motion Machines I'd been eyeing, and my deck is done.
And because it appears to me that this deck is about some poor innocent Dragons seduced by the lure of technology, I entitle it Videodrome.
I've played two games and won one; the deck held it's own both times. The winning game was won mostly through biding my time and grabbing a quick site after someone else had made a bid; however, I don't think I won it because of someone else's mistakes. So far I'm pleased.
I may tune out the Kii-YAAH!s, because they're expensive in terms of resources, and substitute in Final Brawls and (maybe) Now You Made Us Mads. I'd like to have the extra killing power of the Final Brawls, and the Now You've Made Us Mads, while as pricy as the Kii-YAAH!s in resource terms, will provide the same power-generating effect without depending on other players keeping power around, plus they mesh well with Final Brawls and Chinese Doctors.
Last modified: June 18, 1997.
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