Monolithic 3.0

Pinkwarrior 2342

The latist version of my Professor deck 3.0:- Added Morning Star man has this been doing some work with Next Ice been around so much and Hive's this has earned it's spot.

I really liked Public Sympathy when it turn up having 7 card hands is nice so i put another in and dropped the QT's for 2x Pro-co am unsure weather the shift has changed the workings or not as yet.


Although the deck started as a fun idea it has been very powerful in my games. The Monolith isn't always played or even required it can add a lot of a surprise element however, not just it been in the deck but putting an entire rig down in one turn to get into a remote they thought was safe can really changed a game around. Not to mention been able to ignore (most) brain damage out their and on the plus side dump a program for Clone Chip

With Freelance Coding Contract you can get a huge boost to your econ while also putting your programs where you'd like them for clone chip, But it shouldn't be relied on for the econ of the deck. The Magnum Opus is the main way to get econ and been searchable makes it a perfect fit for The Professor: Keeper of Knowledge.

Since i added it to the deck the central breaker suite works very well allowing to fill the gaps and been very cheap for early game.

14 comments
4 Jan 2015 moistloaf

Without Quality Time, how the heck do you recover from a 5-card Freelance Coding Contract? Spending an entire turn clicking for cards exacerbates this decks main weakness, which is set-up time.

4 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@moistloaf Recovering from a 5 card freelance should be easy since you should have 7 cards in hand anyway and probably a diesel before using the freelance. That said the removal of QT is a recent change and so far i've not noticed any issues with not having it. I don't find my self doing it on 5 cards all that often usually 3-4 it's not just about the money it's also getting the right programs in the right place some want to be in your heap but some want to stay in hand 2.

4 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@moistloaf All so on set up time this deck doesn't struggle setting up i can run it very aggressively with 3xSMC and about 3 of each kind of breaker it's fairly easy to get them all out whilst running usually getting the opus is the only slow thing cos i have to get it down then get my cash back clicking it.

15 Jan 2015 wily-odysseus

Why Passport? The one strength seems marginal relative to ZU.13's more efficient boosting and greater flexibility.

15 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@wdfulton The difference between 1 cred can mean the difference between an agenda and none your right that Zu.13 wud give more flexability but with Nerve Agent Medium and Sneakdoor Beta sometimes you just need a cheap breaker to pressure centrals and passport is better in that situation.

It's a point i've gone back and forth on my self alot tho recently i've seen more Enigma than Quandary and blue sun with Datapike so passport has been working out better for me and if i need to get into a remote then thats what Gordian Blade is for.

20 Jan 2015 Oathwood

What is your thought about the cerberus (dog) breakers? I really like them in professor, but would love to hear your thoughts!

20 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

I like Cerberus "Lady" H1 and Cerberus "Rex" H2 but am not a fan off the other theirs better options i feel. I am not sure about using them with this ID however at least not as your only breaker. I found when i used them as a main breaker you end up using alot of recurrence on them and the prof needs that recurrence for other more emergency use like Faerie / Deus X.

This is all not to say they won't work just not as the only way through imo, i feel they could fit in nicely as fillers like the way i use the central breakers in this deck.

20 Jan 2015 Oathwood

Exatcly the way I wanted to try this deck! Change the central breakers for the dogs. I also agree about the Cerberus "Cuj.0" H3 not being that great, so might keep Alias in :)

I've been running with x2 R&D Interface instead of medium and keyhole, just for personal taste. But maybe I should test my luck with the latter some more?

20 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@Oathwood I would recommend the later for two reasons. Firstly their programs so their searchable, Secondly they do different things so offer flexibility something the professor shines at.

20 Jan 2015 Oathwood

@Pinkwarrior Solid point! Thank you for your insight :)

20 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@Oathwood no problem am always happy to help.

20 Jan 2015 Pinkwarrior

@Oathwood Interestingly they also work rather well together 2 as you can access say 3 cards with a medium run, then use a keyhole run to trash one and shuffle the deck then go for another medium run to see 5 fresh cards. (it doesn't get pulled of often mind but it tends to be game winning when you do)

8 Apr 2015 krystman

@Pinkwarrior Experimenting with the Prof myself. Will try this, if only for the Monolith. Surprised by the lack of Mimic. Seems to be necessary these days with Architect being so big. I feel like you can exchange Alias for it.

Have you thought about criminal utility software like Crescentus or Copycat?

9 Apr 2015 Pinkwarrior

@krystman Certainly Mimic is an option but with all the central server pressure the deck has i personally prefer to have Alias over Mimic but it's not a hard swap with D4v1d and Datasucker in the deck, i choose alias as it needs nothing else to be reliable setup time is bad enough for the prof.

Crescentus is ok but i prefer to kill ICE with Parasite tho it still has its benefits over parasite i dunno if am a fan of Copycat my self but i don't think i could fit either in other than Datasucker i can't see anything i would cut for them.