Draft Write Up Part 1: The Corp Pack 1

asroybal • May 1, 2013

Recently Sneakysly(Anthony Giovannetti) and I (Anthony Roybal) decided to do a Netrunner draft (as seen here) and record our picks and the thought process behind them. We started off with an identity draft that went like this.

Player 1 Pick 1: Haas Bioroid: Engineering the Future

Player 2 Pick 2 (Me) : Gabriel Santiago

Player 3 Pick 3 (SneakySly): Kate “Mac” McCaffrey

Player 4 Pick 4: Weyland: Because we Build it

Player 4 Pick 5: Chaos Theory

Player 3 Pick 6 (SneakySly): Jinteki: Personal Evolution

Player 2 Pick 7 (Again Me): Jinteki Replicating Perfection

Player 1 Pick 8: Whizzard

I believe that, assuming no influence restrictions, this is just about the correct draft order with a couple spots switched perhaps. We end up with Gabriel who is very strong and Jinteki: RP which is pretty middle of the pack for corps but at least has a powerful effect. Knowing that we have Jinteki RP makes me want to draft very nasty ice that the runner won’t want to run into and monetary assets during the corporation draft. Whereas drafting Gabe makes me want to focus on a resource denial runner deck. With these things in mind we start the corporation draft first.

Below is a log of how my corporate draft went. By default it will show what SneakySly thinks of the pack. To see what I ended up picking and why, click “Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis”. Enjoy, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

PACK  1 PICK 1

    • Caduceus
    • Fetal A.I
    • Freelancer
    • Snare
    • Rototurret
    • Neural Katana
    • Closed accounts
    • Priority Requisition
    • Data Mine
    • Sensei
    • Adonis Campaign
    • Nisei MK II
    • Caduceus
    • Edge of world
    • Oversight A.I.
    • Scorched Earth
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Accelerated Beta Test
    • Snowflake
    • Archer
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis I always like to pick up good agendas early in draft, so I would be eyeballing the Nisei and Accelerated Beta Test. The best ICE in the pack is clearly Katana, so that would also be a good pickup.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Neural Katana
With this pack there are a few options to consider. Archer can be backbreaking, however it is difficult to use. Accelerated beta test is obviously insane if you can get lots of ice, however in draft you generally end up with about 18 Ice.  Adonis Campaign is an insane economy asset. Rototurret and Caduceus are all around good early game ice, however, Neural Katana is exactly the kind of ice I want for this deck. With all that in mind I take Neural Katana and am quite happy with the pick.

PACK  1 PICK 2

    • Shipment from Kaguya
    • Research Station
    • Sunset
    • Pop up Window
    • Private Contracts
    • Brain Trust
    • False Leads
    • Project Vitruvius
    • Pop Up Window
    • Enigma
    • Data Mine
    • Mandatory Upgrades
    • Biotic Labor
    • Private Security Force
    • Biotic Labor
    • Janus 1.0
    • Uroboros
    • Priority Requistion
    • Pop up Window
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis As in the last pack, I like Vitruvius here a lot. It is better than braintrust since you get more out of over-advancing it. Alternatively going for the enigma or pop-up would be my secondary choices.   
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Project Vitruvius
Here we see another solid pack with quite a few options. Pop-up Windows are insane in my opinion but they are not the ice I am looking for. There are some good fast advance cards here in biotic labors as well as various agendas. At this point I think taking an agenda from this pack seems strong as 3/2 agendas are very good in draft and end up picking Vitruvius.

 

PACK  1 PICK 3

    • Tyrant
    • Precognition
    • Wall of Static
    • Bullfrog
    • Commercialization
    • Ash
    • Archived Memories
    • Breaking News
    • Cell Portal
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Shadow
    • Viktor 1.0
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Ash
    • Precognition
    • Oversight A.I
    • Amazon Industrial Zone
    • Janus 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis Breaking News is the best agenda here, and almost certainly the pickup. The best ICE is wall of static. It is very difficult to get a solid base of ICE in draft, so keeping an eye on what ICE is likely to wheel is a good idea. I would probably hope to see the Viktor or Shadow return to me.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Breaking News
This pack I am considering Wall of Static, Breaking News, Shadow and Archived Memories. Wall of Static and Shadow are excellent but not as powerful as the other cards mentioned.  Archived Memories is extremely versatile and pretty much always a good pick. However, I decide on breaking news hoping that I would see the Archer from pack 1 again during my 5th pick. Out of hand agendas are great with Archer and Tagging can be extremely powerful .

 

PACK  1 PICK 4

    • Restructured Datapool
    • Restructured Datapool
    • Draco
    • Pad Campaign
    • Chum
    • Enigma
    • Shadow
    • Biotic Labor
    • TMI
    • Chimera
    • Caduceus
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Red Herrings
    • Project Junebug
    • Power Grid Overload
    • Rototurret
    • Heimdall 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis I think that Rototurret is the best ICE to pick up here, as runners in draft will often be forced to run without adequate sentry breakers. A well timed roto can be completely backbreaking.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Enigma

In general this pack only has a few good ice left to pick, otherwise, a weak pack at this point. With that in mind I pick Enigma here because I believe it is the most consistently good ice in the pack. Hoping to get Pad Campaign or some other ice when this pack wheels.

 

PACK  1 PICK 5

    • Caduceus
    • Fetal A.I
    • Freelancer
    • Snare
    • Rototurret
    • Closed accounts
    • Priority Requisition
    • Data Mine
    • Sensei
    • Nisei MK II
    • Caduceus
    • Edge of world
    • Oversight A.I.
    • Scorched Earth
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Snowflake
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  I would pick up the Nisei here, as it really is an insanely powerful agenda. Otherwise Rototurrent would be my ICE of choice. As you can tell, I really like to focus on agendas and ICE first, and only shift out of that when there are significant enough power differences to warrant  it.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Caduceus
Aw, crap the Archer did not come back. I really didn’t think someone would take it the first time around. With what is left here I strongly consider Rototurret and Caduceus. I end up taking Caduceus because it is very cheap to rez early and doesn’t get completely shut down by ninja, however, Rototurret was probably the correct choice.

PACK  1 PICK 6

    • Shipment from Kaguya
    • Research Station
    • Sunset
    • Pop up Window
    • Private Contracts
    • False Leads
    • Enigma
    • Data Mine
    • Mandatory Upgrades
    • Biotic Labor
    • Private Security Force
    • Biotic Labor
    • Janus 1.0
    • Uroboros
    • Pop up Window
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis Pop-up or enigma are good solid ICE without much competition in this pack. Anthony is playing Replicating Perfection so I would probably give the nod to Enigma. I Anthony had been picking up 3/2 agendas (or planned on drafting them early), grabbing a biotic labor would also be a solid move.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Enigma
There are still 2 biotic Labors in this pack, unfortunately I am not trying to build a fast advance deck. I end up taking Enigma here because cheap ice are quite strong in my opinion. I would not fault people for taking Biotic Labors or Pop Up here as well.

PACK  1 PICK 7

    • Tyrant
    • Precognition
    • Wall of Static
    • Bullfrog
    • Commercialization
    • Ash
    • Archived Memories
    • Cell Portal
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Ash
    • Precognition
    • Amazon Industrial Zone
    • Janus 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis Wall of static is the last quality ICE in this pack so I would probably pick that up. Archived memories is the strongest operation in this pack, and is pretty useful in a format like draft with lots of one-ofs.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Archived Memories
I snap picked Archived Memories here. Extremely versatile and exactly the kind of operation I want in my deck. Wall of Static would have been my second choice at this point.

PACK  1 PICK 8

    • Restructured Datapool
    • Restructured Datapool
    • Draco
    • Pad Campaign
    • Biotic Labor
    • TMI
    • Chimera
    • Caduceus
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Red Herrings
    • Project Junebug
    • Power Grid Overload
    • Heimdall 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis Heimdall or Caduceus both synergize pretty well with Replicating Perfection. I think this choice is probably heavily influenced by how good his economy is looking so far.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Caduceus

In this pack I didn’t really see tons of interesting picks. I had a choice between Caduceus or Pad campaign. I ended up taking Caduceus but Pad was probably correct..

 

 

PACK  1 PICK 9

    • Fetal A.I
    • Freelancer
    • Closed accounts
    • Priority Requisition
    • Data Mine
    • Sensei
    • Caduceus
    • Edge of world
    • Oversight A.I.
    • Scorched Earth
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Snowflake
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  Caduceus is still good, otherwise taking an oversight A.I. could be pretty strong with high strength ICE if he has been picking it. However, we have’t seen any Tollbooths so far, so it probably depends on who snagged up those Janus we have been seeing.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Green Level Clearance 

At this point I realize I may have been overpicking Caduceus and decide taking a solid economy card is my best bet. So I take Green Level Clearance without too much thought.

PACK  1 PICK 10

    • Shipment from Kaguya
    • Research Station
    • Sunset
    • Pop up Window
    • Private Contracts
    • Data Mine
    • Mandatory Upgrades
    • Biotic Labor
    • Private Security Force
    • Biotic Labor
    • Uroboros
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  Pop-up Window is cheap ICE, helps with economy, and annoys the runner. That or Biotic Labor are the best picks in this pack.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Pop-up Window
Priority Requisition,  Uroboros and Pop-up Window are the only cards I consider here. I take pop-up because free ice is very powerful. Again no one is taking biotic labors, must not be enough 3/2 agendas floating around to justify the pick up early.

PACK  1 PICK 11

    • Tyrant
    • Bullfrog
    • Ash
    • Cell Portal
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Green Level Clearance
    • Ash
    • Precognition
    • Amazon Industrial Zone
    • Janus 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  If Anthony has grabbed any Oversight A.I. or plans too he should take this Janus, otherwise Green Level Clearance or Ash are the strongest cards.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Green Level Clearance 
The packs are starting to look pretty barren. I pick up Green Level Clearance because I am 100% to play it and I believe it is the most powerful card left at this point.

 

PACK  1 PICK 12

    • Restructured Datapool
    • Restructured Datapool
    • Draco
    • TMI
    • Chimera
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Project Junebug
    • Power Grid Overload
    • Heimdall 1.0
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  Taking one of the last three ICE from this pack seems best. As mentioned earlier Heimdall is actually surprisingly good with Replicating Perfection, and I would have already taken it by now.  
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Heimdall 1.0

Again I am upset by the lack of Pad in this pack, really wish I had taken it over the pick 8 Caduceus. I take Heimdall here because it has some real stopping power and is a good taxing ice on centrals with Replicating Perfection.

 

PACK  1 PICK 13

    • Freelancer
    • Closed accounts
    • Priority Requisition
    • Data Mine
    • Sensei
    • Caduceus
    • Scorched Earth
    • Snowflake
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  Caduceus has to be the choice I think, however if Anthony had been picking cards like Draco I wouldn’t hate the Scorched Earth pickup either.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Caduceus

There are really only 2 choices available for me in this pack, Caduceus or Priority Requistion. I take Caduceus because agendas are easy to pick up at any point in the draft.

 

PACK  1 PICK 14

    • Shipment from Kaguya
    • Research Station
    • Sunset
    • Data Mine
    • Mandatory Upgrades
    • Private Security Force
    • Uroboros
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis  Uroboros is not a terrible ICE by any means, and actually has some really good synergy with Replicating Perfection. I think it is the correct pick to make here.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Research Station 
Blank pack and the rules we use allow anyone to use blank 4/2 agenda proxies so Private Security Force is not that good. I decide to take research station without any real desire to play it.

PACK  1 PICK 15

    • Bullfrog
    • Cell Portal
    • Shipment from Mirromorph
    • Ash
    • Precognition
    • Amazon Industrial Zone
SneakySly Speculation and Analysis We are reaching the point where there is not too many choices to be made. I think that Precognition will probably help to deal with the large variance inherent in draft decks, I would probably grab that. It will also help to make any accelerated beta tests he finds later to be even stronger.
Display Anthony’s Pick and Analysis
    • Cell Portal

Ash or Cell Portal is the choice, I suppose you could make an argument for precognition as well I take Cell Portal because it has the card type ice.

Last Five Picks of Pack 1

These were my last five picks for pack one, as you can see the card quality gets pretty low at this point:

Pick 16: Chimera (a nice surprise)

Pick 17: Closed Accounts

Pick 18: Private Security Force

Pick 19 : Shipment from Mirrormorph

Pick 20: TMI

Overall, I am quite happy with pack 1 and I like the direction my deck is going. We have plenty of ice, although some of the ice is not excellent and we have a decent economy. Moving forward I would like to focus on picking up some good agendas.

Click here to see pack 2! 

3 Comments:

  1. Alexfrog
    May 1, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Ok, here is what I would pick, given those packs:

    1) Nisei MK II. My second choice would be Beta Test, my third would be Archer, and after that I’m torn between Adonis Campaign and Neural Katana. Clearly I’m not valuing Neural Katana as high as these guys. We’ve all only drafted a couple times, hard to tell who is correct here, or if any of us are.

    2) Project Vitruvius. My highest priority in draft is getting good agendas. 3/2s and ones with strong powers like Nisei. I figure that if I have an inferior ice or whatever thats not too terrible, its just a card, but an inferior agenda that I have trouble scoring is a problem. The Braintrust and the popup windows were tempting though, but with three popup in the pack I figure one will return.

    3) Breaking News. Its awesome.

    4) Chum. Is very efficient. And I’ve found in drafting that you end up with some bad ice, and generally some tracer ice thats questionable since you probably cant Scorch them to death or anything. But Chum in front of one of those ice is pretty great.

    5) Nisei Mk II again. But lets pretend that I took it pack 1 so it isnt there. I’d take Rototurret or Caduceus.

    6) Popup Window.

    7) Archived memories or Wall of Static. I guess Archive, since its early and I can go for combos like Scorch with it. Archiving things like Trick of Light is also amazing, or Melange/Adonis/SanSan, etc.

    8) Caduceus or Pad Campaign. Pad if I have an identity thats good with it, like Replicating Perfection. Caduceus for sure if I have NBN.

    9) Scorched Earth. Its still here late, might as well add bite to my tags. I have an Archived already, which you really want for the scorch deck. And I took breaking news earlier. I find that I tend to play a number of mid to late pick tracer ice, because thats whats left in the draft.

    10) Popup Window!

    11) Green Level. I’d take Janus if I had gotten a Beta Test or Oversight AI earlier. Might consider it anyway hoping to get more of those later.

    12) Draco if I’m NBN. Otherwise Heimdall.

    13) Caduceus, since I cant take that scorch because I actually already took it pick 9.

    14) Bleah. Uroboros if I’m Replicating Perfection. Otherwise Mandatory.

    15) Ash, or Precognition, hoping to get Beta Tests later.

  2. Alexfrog
    May 1, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Note:
    I was later wishing I had taken Beta Test over the Nisei pick 1, as I had opportunities to build a good beta test deck later with late Janus and Precog picks, Archers, etc.

    I’m now thinking I’d probably go Beta over most cards pick 1 (only favoring Astroscript, Melange, and maybe Atlas over it). Because you can spend the whole draft building around it and taking otherwise bad Januses and Precogs.

    • SneakySly
      May 1, 2013 at 11:27 am

      This is actually a really good idea I think. Turning low value picks into higher value is pretty strong.

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