I keep running out of points!

Yeah, JSA have many great toys and it is always hard to choose what to take.
You need to make some sacrifices.
Yoijimbo is almost auto-include in every list.
Harris of Karakuri MK12 + Yuriko Oda + Oyama/Domaru is another great thing.
I usually try to stick to one Ninja/Oniwaban/Shinobu - more units in Hidden Deployment means less orders for other troops.

In most cases I do sacrifices on DoTanko core - reduced to Harris formed with Daiyokai+Domaru+Tanko ML

For me it is a bit easier cause although I love how Shikami looks like, I have a very hard time to find a reason to have him on the field, so in most cases, he stays in a bag :(

I got something like this (not everything but as much as possible):
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I don't take it as a limitation, but as a chance to try different themed lists: Cyberpunk gang with several Aragoto and Ryuuken, Full-Samurai-HI list, several sneaky Ninja and Oniwaban...

 

If you let Karakuri go solo, you gain a lot of flexibility.
You can do something like this perhaps:


──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 10 3
SHIKAMI Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, AP + DA CC Weapon. (0 | 48)
KARAKURI Mk12, Chain Rifle, Panzerfaust, Flash Pulse / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 45)
NINJA (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow ( ) / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 29)
TANKŌ Flammenspeer, Contender / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 17)
TANKŌ Flammenspeer, Contender / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 17)
TANKŌ Missile Launcher / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 27)
YURIKO ODA FTO Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust, D-Charges, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 23)
DOMARU (Lieutenant) Chain Rifle, E/M Grenades / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 21)
CHAĪYÌ Yaókòng Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
RYŪKEN (Surprise Attack [-3], Camouflage [1 Use]) Heavy Rocket Launcher, Shock Mines / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 25)

GROUP 2 2 2 1
YOJIMBO Contender(+1B), Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades, Crazykoala / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
KEISOTSU (Paramedic) Combi Rifle ( | MediKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 11)
KEISOTSU Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 9)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse ( ) / Stun Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)

3 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

It has Karakuri, Ninja, Samurai, Yojimbo and Shikami.

In the end it's just that JSA has a lot of very fun toys, but you can't play with all of them at once. Or can you?

 

@Kiyomasa

I seem to differ from most people when I think about JSA.

Ninja while more on the meager side of JSA CC specialists, are still hitting like a brick to most units in the game. The two profiles I list the most and often at the same time are the regular Hacker and the FO. These two working in tandem with a Suppressing Ryuken or a linked ARO give JSA the ARO punch they need. It's the fact that they can stop a unit in its tracks with a single wip roll. Isolate, immobilize and flashpulse are really good and because the ninja are in Hidden deployment, you can wait for the timing to be right before you declare them to ARO (be patient like a jorogumo) let the enemy shoot at the Ryuken or the fireteam as bait. Then strike. Now their top tier gunner has multiple AROs and in the case of hacking and shooting, the enemy will be in a spider's pincers.

This pincer technique can be applied by the ryuken's mine and shooting all on it's own, this works with koalas as well. The enemy in koala and hacking range or LoF means your enemy is stuck.

Some people dont like bringing multiple shinobi because it possibly limits your orders but you dont have to deploys in hidden deployment for the active turn and for the reactive turn you can deploy the hidden ninja hacker along the most likely routes and if the target isnt hackable, you can still spotlight them so the enemy is easier to shoot at. And you can pretty much leave the hidden FO ninja out in the open with LoF to as many approach vectors as possible, (dont be visible to the enemy DZ though). Ninja fight this way in ARO best, overlapping, and revealing in the reactive so you can get their orders in the active.

The point is overlapping AROs is how JSA fights best in the reactive turn. Some people null deploy and offer zero targets but then that allows the enemy to best position themselves and take objectives. Positioning is a resource in infinity the same as orders and JSA is a faction that relies on positioning so dont be afraid to trade lives for positioning. Actually, that's another thing about JSA, learning when, where and how to trade lives. The Karakuri, Oyoroi and the Daiyokai will help you in missions where you need to last to the end of turn 3 and not go into retreat but for JSA you can win by putting the enemy into retreat or going into retreat yourself in turn 2.

Lastly, one day the Oniwaban will be worth its points in the reactive turn, right now setting up that DTW for an ARO against the enemy in their last order or two is a coin toss and whether or not you're certain that an extra layer to your AROs will kill the enemy or stop them from being able to attack or not. As for Shikami, they are incredibly mission specific at the moment for their cost. Theres lots of threads about them, theyll have their day.

Aight man, gambate!!

 

If you have train or TTS or just some small boxes at home, do at home deployment scenarios with your list or at least the ARO pieces of your list and figure out the mental perception necessary to layer your AROs effectively to Midfield corners. Sometimes even perfectly aligning a LoF ARO even if you have to write that is your intention when hidden deploying.