Desperado Kit (Pandemonium Store Championship 2nd place)

This deck went 5-0 on the day.

Corp deck here

Tournament report here

This deck idea started when I came across this deck and had two thoughts:

• I don't like how 7/10 of the influence is being spent
• Although the deck does want more MU, I really dislike Akamatsu Mem Chip, especially outside of Kate

I went looking for stuff I might change in light of those points, and realized that Desperado solves both of them. The end result is a deck possessing both significant early game pressure and a solid long game.

A few notes:

No Corroder!?!

Yes, I love getting an early Desperado that much. Inti lets you get through cheap barriers early while the difference between Snowball and Corroder in the late game is not too significant (you might even get to live the dream and make a snowman! but probably not).

No Plascretes? No Levy AR?

Both of these cards are dead most of the time, and not essential in the situations where they're useful. I am of the opinion that Plascretes are for suckers outside of tag-me decks, but they're especially unnecessary here: you have the eco to avoid being SEA Scorched, and you can control your vulnerability to Snare / Punitive. Sometimes you will end up in a super long game where your stack starts to run out (especially with Professional Contacts) - every time this has happened to me I have been able to win anyways.

One Tinkering?

Tinkering is the one card in this deck that I think should be replaced (probably by Deus X). More generally, one thing that I didn't like about the original version of this deck was the one time nature of Scavenge and Tinkering - they'd end up sitting in my hand forever. On paper those cards make you flexible but in practice there's a huge difference between being able to continually adjust and being able to adjust once. I rarely use Scavenge to re-point Cybers and Femmes; they're better off being used to cheat out Torch/Femme with Test Run or for getting back Sharpshooter.

Are there any changes you would make?

While I don't think there are any obviously correct changes to be made (outside of the previously mentioned Deus X for Tinkering), there's definitely room for tweaking to suit your playstyle. Just keep in mind that any change you make to improve your early game will probably weaken your late game, and vice versa. Paintbrush is interesting; I'm going to try it out. If you have ideas that you think would improve the deck I would love to hear them!

Anything else?

Sure, have some random thoughts:

• Cheating out an early Torch feels so unfair
• Sharpshooter is SO GOOD; I don't think this deck would work without it. Having an SMC out lets you continue runs when you would otherwise have to jack out for fear of program-trashing ice. Clone Chip (and Scavenge) can let you ignore huge pieces of ice (e.g. Archer) that you would otherwise have to pay a ton to break with Femme
• You could probably safely cut one Kati Jones. I'm afraid to do so because there are some matchups where you really need her
• The deck's biggest weakness in general is the potential for clunky early game draws. I'm not sure if this is a fixable problem

I hope you enjoy this deck :)