I find deck building a bit of a bore, but I have less interest in decks that are perfectly tweaked to win all the games ever.

So, any of you have decks that really capture a flavour or aspect of a runner or corp?

What I like best about the game is that almost any deck, any match, is essentially a story-based sequence of events. It doesn't matter whether the deck is well built and tournament caliber or not.

So, that said, there are lots of different viable archetypes to fit most any playstyle. Some corp decks are fast, some slow, some sly, some menacing. Some runner decks are sharp, some blunt, some supple, some heavy. And there's flavor at all levels.

I also love the flavor of each faction's ICE or programs. HB goes in for European mythology (Greco-Roman and Norse), Jinteki for Japanese aesthetics, NBN for humorous references to tracing and/or paying, and Weyland for vaguely sinister stuff. Criminals have 30's-40's noir icebreakers, Shapers go in for Sanskrit or American Indian mythology sometimes, and Anarchs seem to have a bit of a medieval fantasy subtheme along with their Arabian Nights stuff.

Also, as Grimwalker notes, each game does play out like a story. You don't need a thematic deck per se to make the game feel very flavorful on its own.

Also, one thing I've noticed on your comment about " decks that are perfectly tweaked to win all the games ever."

In ANR, I don't think there's any such thing. There are some strong, even dominant, archetypes, but it's still extremely sensitive to player skill. I could put together the top decks in the world and they'll still have bad matchups. I could give the top decks in the world to someone with only moderate skill and kick their teeth in using Core Set only decks.

The fact that it's a level playing field from the beginning means that it's not plagued by expensive killer decks like the CCG games are.

I think its a fair point, and I've made deck building decisions based on what cards my identity would field, over what the common wisdom suggests are the "best" option. I.E. Grimoire is explicitly Whizzard's console, Kit is seen using Omni-Drives. A:NR has fantastic flavor across most of its cards, and the emergent narratives can be very good. Consoles are the most obviously flavored to match identities. I'd still like to see NBN have some more advertisement assets, I'm not entirely sure why that mechanic is assigned to HB, although I suppose it is efficient.

I've always wondered why they made Grimoire Whizzard's rig. A part of me secretly hopes it was a mistake. It's explicitly made to work with Noise's strategy, after all, even if it is named after an archaic word for a spellbook.

Is Spinal Modem supposed to be Noise's, then? It looks like Whizzard in the picture, since he's got brown hair. Hm.

Spinal Modem clearly belongs to the Runner on the art for Cyberfeeder (whoever that is).

Eh, can't see that well, but thanks!