DLeelaR (DLEE-lar)

“I guess DLR is still a thing, eh?” –rando JNETer

Have you been feeling down about the state that the Blue Team has been in lately? Sad that the Wireless Net Pavilion errata ruined your favourite way to ruin people's day?

Fret no longer.

I will start by crediting my inspirations. @cranked and @d1en both played Leela DLR at King of Servers, the ANRPC 128 person team tournament I ran at Worlds 2015. Their builds were probably different, but, the idea was the same. THEN, @crimsonwraith played me Round 1 at Worlds with Leela DLR. It was a sign.

I glanced at their builds, and liked what I saw, but, thought some moves could be made. Hence, this build.

Thoughts:

What to do

The deck is nice combination of pressure and veiled threats. Leela is an ability that shouldn't be taken lightly, firing for both thefts and scores. DLR increases the possibility of this occurring, making an installed card in a server quite the vulnerable target. The deck generally builds its board state, as Leela doesn't want a ton of unrezzed ICE. You can generally wait to reveal you are on DLR, setting up with non-DLR Resources first. However, due to Faust, DDoS, and Siphon, early Siphons and other aggression are welcome. However, JNET testing (I put in at least 60 games with this there; I know, JNET is not a good indicator of quality.dec) showed severe hesitation, giving plenty of setup time, esp. v. non-NEHFA. When the score is 0-0, and the Corp is under 25 cards, you feel really good about your chances.

Onto the cards.

Events

Pretty standard stuff. There was some flux here. I decided to go with 1 Special Order and 2 Faust. I rarely played Special Order, so I felt dropping to 1 was fine. It can be used to find that special breaker, if needed. Legwork was added after I tried the deck in a SC, as it needed something else v. Yellow. I got to game point v. both I lost to, but, couldn’t close (no Siphons one game; no DLR the other).

Easy Mark over Gamble is easy. Drugs frequently drive you to zero creds, and a Mark fuels your most important tools (Inside Job, DDoS, Faust, breakers).

Speaking of, Inside Job x3 is key. You don’t want a ton of ICE rezzing, and sometimes you need help getting in. IJ helps with both. I love how people never, I mean NEVER, rez v. IJ. It would help v. bounces, yet, the idea of rezzing on a 1 ICE server for no reason v. IJ is so subconsciously heretical that it never happens. I have honestly never seen anyone do it, and laugh every time. SO, IJ is also key, because it works so well with DDoS. No 2 ICE server is safe with those two tools, leading many a rush deck trying to outrun DLR’s inexorable conclusion. Gotcha, Denny.

FIS is a generally panned card, but here it shines. The Corp generally has a full hand, and problems building up in HQ. At the right time, when poor, right after a score, or both, a FIS can not only lead to Corp distress, it can fuel Faust, find Siphons, etc. Finally, it greatly reduces the clock that DLR is running on. Combined with LARLA, it can greatly accelerate the mill out. Note: FIS when they’re at 2 or less in R&D with Howard/Museum out is a nice feeling.

Hardware

Need to stop kill dex dead. ‘Nuff said.

Resources

The bread, butter, mustard, pickles, and catfish of any DLR deck lie in the resources. Sadly, compared to Anarch DLR, we don’t have some of the same lovely tools available. Josh B is so key and cool, but, his INF cost is too rich for an Indian boxer’s blood. My surrogate is Gang Sign. It’s in faction, works well with Leela, and creates even more slowdown and hiccups in the Corp’s plan. Super cheap to play, and even draws trashing hate, occasionally. It can be cut, but, I love it.

Other DLR tools are self-explanatory. I dropped to two DLR for other tools. Honestly, at times, this doesn’t feel like a DLR deck. Leela can create enough pressure other ways, like running 6+ Siphons, that the DLR becomes the digestif. Drug Dealers are the Faust fuel, the draw engine, and another way to avoid Corp turn kill. Bank Job is a cheap influx of creds. 1 Pap is in there in case you can’t land a tag on yourself.

DDoS is a pricey usage of INF, but, combined with Siphon, IJ (as noted above), and Leela, it’s a brutally good Crim tool. Did they just IAA? Drop and/or pop DDoS, Siphon, run R&D, run Archives, or run the damn remote. If you limited their rez, you should have a good shot to score/bounce that card back. Drop it early to force double/triple ICE of centrals. The beauty of this deck is that it reliably pressures all centrals, and the remotes, and bounces ICE. Hard to defend everywhere. Lastly, DDoS/Siphon early ensures they can’t dump the creds into rezzing 1 ICE on HQ.

Breakers

Straightforward. Faust is your breaker. The others take creds, and are emergency stoppers for very specific ICE: Mongoose for Swordsman/Komainu, Breach for Wraparound, and Passport for Turing. LARLA ensures that Faust can rise again in a long game.

Afterthoughts

The deck is fun, a bit different, causes Corp player stress, and straight hard wins various matchups. Major enemies are NEH, Crisium/Sealed Vault, Caprice on HQ, etc. If they stop Siphon, it’s hard, but not the end of the world. The deck has undergone numerous changes over the past two months. Here are some possible changes:

-Turntable I know @d1en was on this. It’s cool. GREAT v. FA. Could drop the LARLA for this and a 3rd DLR.

-No LARLA This does free up a fair amount of INF for things, even a 3rd DDoS. The beauty of LARLA is that if the Corp thinks they are free/clear by trashing all your shite, dropping this will drop jaws/expressions quickly.

-3rd DLR This would be nice, but, it’s not the be/end all.

-Different breakers Could run Peacock over Passport, if you really want to get into a remote, for example.

-More creds. Sometimes, money is an issue. Not sure where to shoehorn it in. Gamble is too hard to play at times. Maybe Dirty Laundry? Seems like a poor usage of a deckslot.

Enjoy! Hopefully, you too can ruin peoples’ days, even for just a little bit. HAIL LEELA!