Masochism Rules

Deck of the Week by Stephen Holodinsky

The sacrifices one must sometimes make for the common good, and one might add, a few thousand Eurobucks. Mascochism Rules is the definition of the 'No pain, no gain' school of running. The irony here is that you never have to run with this set-up. Despair not, this deck's modus operendi is to win by dousing the Corp in Bad Publicity and lighting the match. Woof! Dead Corp. As you are not running here, many programs are irrelevant, as evidenced by the complete abscence of them in this kit. This is more than made up for by the 23 Preps, making up more than half of your stack. Your main, and only weapon is Faked Hit. At a cost of 5 bits and 2 brain damage, you can give the Corp a Bad Publicity counter. Seven of these and that Corp's a Corvair and you're Ralph Nader. Of course, you have to be able to handle taking the 14 brain hits, so it's essential to have cards in hand. Hence the 9 Bodyweight Synthetic Bloods and the 6 Militech MRAM Chips. With all the chips on the table, you have a maximum hand size of 23, which you should take full advantage of.

Your tag-proofing consists of Nasuko Cycle and Total Genetic Retrofit. As you are not running, you can forget about Corporate nastiness such as Manhunt or Schlaghund Pointers. Your only worries here are Underworld Mole (more on resouces in a minute) and City Surveillence, and really, so equipped they are not that much of a worry. Again, the non-running aspect of Masochism Rules allows you the luxury of using Top Runners Conference as you sole bit engine. Get these down as soon as you draw them, but watch your hand size if you don't have the 'Cycle' out. Important as bits are, arguably, the most important reources in this deck are the Preying Mantis'. Once you've set yourself up with your mega-hand size and your Faked Hits, take 3 extra actions to pummel the Corps public relations. If you're lucky, you finish him in one turn. If not (i.e. he draws some Faked hits when you take brain damage for playing them), well that's when the Junkyard BBS comes into play. If a Faked Hit is not the top card, use MIT West Tier. With all the resources and hardware on the table (assuming 1 Junkyard and 1 Cycle), when you MIT you will be mixing 24 cards. 9 of those will be Faked Hits, 9 more will be Bodyweight Synthetic Blood. Take 7 actions again on the next turn and finish the dirty deed.

The key here is not to let the Corp know what you're up to until you can win in 2 turns maximum. He may score an agenda, but you will win the game. Best starting 5: Bodyweight Synthetic Blood, Militech MRAM Chip, Top Runners Conference x2, Nasuko Cycle. First action BSB, then MMC followed by both TRCs. Install the Cycle on the first action of your next turn.

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