Aesops Chip Hayley (Leaked MWL Compliant)

CritHitd20 6972

For the sake of transparency this is NOT the Aesops Hayley I am currently intending to take to Magnum Opus 2018, but it is very close.

Aesops Hayley is one of my favorite decks in Netrunner, and Clone Chip adds so much in the way of dimensions that it demands reexamination. At its best, Clone Chip is three more D4s, a huge boost in setup speed, a more flexible means of threatening Clot, and another synergizer with Stimhack. At its worst, it's 4-5 credits by installing a Cache. to sell to Aesop. Clone Chip also (potentially) removes the need for Sacrificial Construct, alongside the absence of Skorpios. I dont think you need Imp in this meta but it is great with Clone Chip; I could see cutting the Legwork and Femme or Clot and Harbinger depending on the meta.

Beyond that the deck employs a lot of the elements of Asger's Circus Hayley, which I believe make sense given the current meta. I'm not convinced that Femme/CyCy is better than Na'Not'K/Gordian's flexibility, but I do like what Compile offers and I want to experiment with it. I don't know how that deck got away without Stimhack but I'm not going to find out.

If you're interested in discussing elements of Worlds with me, please feel free to contact me on Slack. I'm actually having a lot of trouble finding a corp that I like and would enjoy getting to discuss the consequences of the upcoming MWL. Tournaments are most fun when everyone likes what they're playing so hopefully this list helps you at all.

11 comments
19 Aug 2018 nungunz

Would be more than happy chatting about Worlds (@nungunz on slack). I'm waffling between RegAss Anarch and Pawnshop for runner.

Corp is a bit of a mystery still as well.

20 Aug 2018 Saan

You think Aesop's builds still have what it takes without the power of Levy behind them? I mean, obviously you do, which is why you're posting here. I guess what I should instead ask is how it's been holding up without Levy, and if you find yourself missing it ever.

Also, no Artist Colony? Stimhacking out a midgame ProCo is the sweetest life you can live. With the CCs, you could almost certainly space an SMC for space.

Anyhow, enough criticism! I played the shit out of Pitchfork, the OG Aesop Hayley deck, so naturally this sends waves of nostalgia through my body. I'll be certain to try this out =)

20 Aug 2018 CritHitd20

I got 2nd at Worlds last year playing Aesops Hayley without Levy, so yes. I played Trope at that event and only used it to recur Clot, which is a problem Clone Chip solves. In general the average player has gotten a lot better at the game since the inception of Pitchfork, so games don't go long enough for Levy to be that relevant. Even against Hydra I never ran out of steam before the game ended.

Artist Colony is good and worth a slot if you can find one. I personally wanted to offer a 45 card deck but you could add it with little consequence. Shadow Net is a better use of the Fan Sites most of the time though.

Cutting SMC #3 is an interesting idea and worth experimenting, especially given the Compiles currently in the deck as tools to contest rush.

22 Aug 2018 PyWiz

Now that we have Clone Chip back, do you think Brahman is still needed for recursion of CyCy/Lady/D4/Femme? It's reasonable on its own for break costs but I feel like Atman could be reasonable as well and is less restrictive on MU. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the old Pitchfork rig with Atman @ 4, D4, and Chameleon but that doesn't sound terrible does it? (Ok maybe chameleon does but still).

22 Aug 2018 CritHitd20

The breaker suite for Aesops Hayley is very subject to the meta, so I won't claim that this iteration is correct. If you want to play Atman I think you need to make further considerations towards the other breakers, as you can't flexibly recur everything forever without Brahman. Moving towards a more traditional set of breakers, cutting Compiles, and having one more inf is certainly an option worth trying.

22 Aug 2018 Saan

I got 2nd at Worlds last year playing Aesops Hayley without Levy...

Hah, shit, I completely forgot! Yeah, that was a sick deck, and hasn't really changed that much with the MWLs. Now I'm just disappointed at the lack of Heartbeat in this list ;)

22 Aug 2018 EnderA

How does Ika work as a secondary killer?

28 Aug 2018 CritHitd20

Ika doesn't seem to do much here. Brahman breaks anything at 3-4 decently, Femme handles 2 and under, and D4 does 5+. Compile and Stimhack make it impossible to rush out behind anything as well. If you expect a ton of 3s and 4s for sentries to the point that relying on Brahman concerns you, consider Na'Not'K/Datasucker over Femme/Compile.

28 Aug 2018 BizTheDad

Having played against this deck at last year's worlds, I can tell you firsthand how stupidly strong it is.

28 Aug 2018 CritHitd20

It's gonna take something special for me to not select Aesops this year too. I have been testing several versions and this one is pretty great, so props to Asger for making it.

31 Aug 2018 mathandlove

Hi CritHitd20. I like this deck and am thinking of bringing something similiar to Worlds but have a few questions. What's your username on Slack? I couldn't find you. Thanks.