Dig, dig, dig....kill

mjortman 7

I've liked the look of Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed since it was spoiled. I actually love the idea of the Dedicated Response Team paired with it, as a lot of folks have done. It sounds like it could work really well, but that's not what I wanted to do here.

I've not done a deck yet with the Power Shutdown + Jackson Howard + Accelerated Diagnostics + Scorch combo, and thought this would be a good way to try it. The ID, plus quite a bit of ice that can cause more tags, should make it easier to do this without SEA Source (though it is there if you need it), and make it more likely that the runner just floats tags.

At the same time, I feel like you have a very real possibility for winning out with points. The ID already slows the runner down, and I think this is a reasonable agenda mix of 3-pointers and 1/2-pointers. Project Atlas is great, as we all know. Utopia Fragment makes it harder for the runner to score advanced agendas. The Cleaners obviously works great with this ID if you can score it. Granted with the ice make-up (and lack of ETR ice) that might be tough, but it's possible. If you fake an advanced Ghost Branch (either landing more tags or showing that you have advanceable traps), the runner will be less sure about running double-advanced cards.

Tons of economy and card draw. I almost thought about running this with Weyland Consortium: Building a Better World, to make even more money given all of the Transaction cards, but I think this ID really slows runners down. They will never run click 4, and rarely on click 3, especially if they are getting multi-access. So they will probably only run clicks 1 and 2, and then money-up or do other stuff. Slowing them down helps get the combos you want. Between the Green Level Clearance and Blue Level Clearance, and Jackson Howard, you should have no problem getting the combo mentioned in the second paragraph above.

Even without the combo, really only Accelerated Diagnostics is not super useful in this deck by itself. Power Shutdown can open scoring windows against a lot of decks, Jackson Howard is always useful. So having those 2 cards is not just gimmicky; they are truly useful on their own. But with so much draw power, getting one of the two Accelerated Diagnostics shouldn't be too difficult.

So there it is. The deck has the possibility of the 1-turn triple Scorch (if they float tags), SEA-Scorching them (if they don't), or scoring out (I think/hope). Taurus is there to burn up a Plascrete/IHW or two also, if necessary (everyone's running some of at least one of those cards, sometimes even both).

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this. I feel like it's a pretty flexible but powerful deck, but would love to hear from others. Thanks in advance!

3 comments
21 Feb 2015 Oisin

Good luck! I used to run this deck, but haven't gone for the full combo in a long time. One piece of advice--you might want to go -2 Blue Level Clearance for two Reclamation Order or two Archived Memories. Reclamation is great if you place against a lot of Plascrete Carapace, since you can double scorch early in the game and know you can get them back late game. It is also cool to grab three Hedge Funds late game. Archived Memories can be great too, especially if you play a lot of Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire.

21 Feb 2015 Oisin

I might also take out one Salvage for one Wormhole--that gives you more potential ways of turning on Taurus.

21 Feb 2015 mjortman

That's an interesting idea, the Wormhole for Salvage swap. I worry about too much advanceable ice, but that might be a good swap, since Salvage is also advanceable. I honestly don't love Salvage anyway, because a Yog or Parasite just wrecks it. With Wormhole I have more flexibility. I have Orion for that already, but a 2nd ice like that wouldn't hurt.

I thought about the Archived Memories or Reclamation Order, but decided against them for now. Those would be easy swaps, though, with the influence. I'd be a little worried about cutting out much more economy, especially using the advanceable ice, so I don't think I will just yet. But I'll definitely be keeping that in mind. If I find the economy is overboard, then I'll definitely consider that. I think it could be good, if you have the money to utilize it all (as Weyland usually does).