The Spanish Influenza v3.3 (stable build)

A more polished version of The Spanish Influenza - adapted to modern times and modern strategies. I don't anticipate any tweaks will need to be done to this deck until the SanSan Cycle opens up.

The biggest change with this deck is the re-introduction of Crypsis. Grail ICE decks are moderately popular - and not having your full suite out early on can result in the loss of one of your most efficient breakers. Crypsis will also act in a pinch as a catch-all, and is currently the only means in this deck to get passed a remote Lotus Field (outside of trickery like Inside Job, Emergency Shutdown, etc.)

I distanced myself from Cerberus "Rex" H2 after determining that 4 uses of it was not enough. I'd need a 2nd Cerberus "Rex" H2 in this deck to be able to handle the longevity. In a deck here that is based on pounding the centrals, I figured that Passport would be able to do a more reliable job in the long run more often. It is a very efficient breaker as is - albeit with a limitation. Yog.0 is obviously the preferred Decoder, with Datasucker support.

Breach and Corroder are the Fracters in this deck. Breach is more of a backup breaker, with the exception of Blue Sun since it is incredibility efficient against Curtain Wall. It is also great against the Heimdalls, 2.0 requiring a single Datasucker counter to get a 4 break.

Mimic works great against early game sentries, and Switchblade is for once you're developed and have the support cards necessary to run it. It is possible to be running both side-by-side, but odds are you'll want that available for viruses.

Earthrise Hotel is a fantastic addition to this deck for card draw. Compared to Mr. Li it speeds up the game considerably. Compared to John Masanori... ehh.. well this deck likes to be aggressive and face-check lots of ICE. Being slowed down by unwanted tags is counter-intuitive in a speed game - especially as the release of Order and Chaos grows nearer and everybody is going to be playing Weyland, and living in a relatively Scorch heavy meta makes it so that I don't want to voluntarily take tags left right and centre.

In this build, Datasucker becomes much more important to get early on, since there are several awful pieces of ICE that the Corp has available just out of their standard range. Datasucker also supports Switchblade once you're ready to transition from Mimic to Switchblade in the event of stacking sentries.

I've cut down to a single Ghost Runner after going through most of my games not bothering to use any of the credits for actual stealth purposes. It can still come in handy in a pinch, such as if your Silencers are hiding at the back of your deck... But if your Silencers are doing that - you're probably better off just sticking to Mimic and Datasucker - just using the Silencers to support Mimic when they eventually show up.

I may decide to ditch the last Ghost Runner eventually. If I do - I'd probably just add something simple like a 3rd Sure Gamble back into the mix. Gorman Drip is an interesting suggestion as well - though I fear that adding many more viruses will encourages purges more often than I'd like them to be. (I'm super happy with 2-3 purges a game)

Playstyle: Pure HQ Aggression/Credit Denial.

Reserve Ghost Runner credits for stealth breaks. Only 4 stealth support cards for killers here - so getting up to 2 Silencers out shouldn't be expected until midgame. Try to get Datasucker out early, it can alleviate some of the pressure on Silencers by reducing sentry strengths down to zero, meaning that Switchblade can get through for only one stealth each.

Laying down Lamprey the turn after Account Siphoning your opponent to zero is a brutal way of keeping them down - odds are that they'll purge immediately. Use turn build tempo, and wait until the following one to summon your back up Lamprey via Djinn. Odds are the corp will be spending their for 3 .. ready for you to hammer them again down to zero with the evil that Lamprey has to offer.

You can hit all 3 centrals with this deck with a little help from Sneakdoor Beta. If the game is going well, you might choose to forgo playing it just to use Archives as a credit mine with Security Testing, Datasucker, Dirty Laundry and Desperado fueling 6 + 1 virus token runs. This deck lacks the means to punish RnD with great effect, aside from efficient single accesses.

Use Emergency Shutdown with great evil. Best targets would include things like Archer where they had to sac an agenda to get it out, alternates include expensive rezzes, and expensive breaks (ie. Tollbooth)