An even deeper dive [Startup]

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Repartition by Cost
Repartition by Strength
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Delphinus Delphis - 5th @ Milano Startup GNK
oooooh im as scubbba diver :3
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Daine 3754

This deck went 3-0 in the latest Startup tournament here in Austin, TX. It’s been something I’ve been iterating since Parhelion was spoiled and it is consistently powerful and fun to play.

If everything falls into place you can pull off a 9-deep dig on R&D, but the real beauty of the deck is that all of the cards stack together and make each other better. Almost any pair of cards makes a useful combo from turn one.

With the exception of Matryoshka, you can mostly just play whatever the deck gives you to good effect. Between Zahya’s ID ability, Pennyshaver, Info Bounty, Cezve, Zenit Chip, and/or PAN Weave, you are usually gaining tempo and making money by making a run every turn. Use Forged Activation orders to clear ice early, prevent a painful face check, or just to generally ruin Ob’s day (Stavka + Hafrun really hurts, but if you force Ob to rez their ice outside of a run it really defangs them).

There are lots of flex spots in this deck to adjust to your personal taste. I included a Cat’s Cradle to handle Hortum, Botulus prevents the corp from taxing you out of a server completely with Archer or Pharos, the security testing is only good against asset decks, and you may prefer a different spread of the cybernetics. If you include more draw or some inside jobs you may not want the mutual favors in here at all.

Always interested in criticism or feedback if you try the deck. Sorry for the lack of gifs.

8 comments
1 Feb 2023 Oddball

@Daine Congrats on the great performance and thanks for sharing your list!

3 Feb 2023 Baa Ram Wu

Hey Hey.

You deck really caught my eye - love the idea here and I've been playing around with it as I think the concept is strong and fun.

I did have an issue with the econ in the original version though, it felt a little thin and Particularly risky if the corp ices centrals heavily

I've been playing this version: netrunnerdb.com

Wanted some non run based econ and draw so am playing Career Fairs with Liberateds & Earthrise (plus a couple of Red teams as the are Good CF targets) Had to drop the botulus and change the Finality to a Makers eye to find the influence but the extra money help deal with the stuff botulus is there for.

I dropped the Pan weave for a Docklands as it gives just as good value in Zayha.

I Tried the FAO's and desperately wanted them to be good but found them to not be useful enough to warrant the slots in my original games (I would have always preferred to have an inside job - or even a Tread Lightly) Other than that I tried to keep the core idea of the deck intact.

Thanks for posting

Baa Ram Wu

3 Feb 2023 Daine

Thanks for the comments, @Baa Ram Wu! I think your changes make sense if your meta is more glacier than mine is. If I can force the corp to stack two ice on every central I’m probably in a great shape. I normally don’t love run-based economy, but I haven’t had much trouble getting it humming with this. I am thrilled to hear that the deck still works even with a more standard economy engine.

I went back and forth on Pan vs. docklands. I actually like the self damage so I leaned towards Pan.

FAO is my meta call because Ob is all over here. That said, I think it’s extremely helpful to be able to clear ice. I can run their remote to force them to spend down and then burn their central ice when they’re too poor to rez. Obviously this card only works if you’re leaning into early aggression and keeping the corp poor. If you’re shifting to more of a mid-range flavor I think you’re right to free up these slots. Probably consider a revolver for the Stavka + Hafrun trick vs. Ob.

7 Feb 2023 Murse

This makes Crisium Grid seem great in the meta. Cool deck!

7 Feb 2023 HexNet

Love seeing more people experiment with Matryoshka!

Personally I love No Free Lunch in startup. I'm surprised by its absence given the popularity of tagging in general and specifically kill decks.

Also agree with @Baa Ram Wu on the Docklands being clutch.

While Info Bounty is a great card, 3x seems like overkill.

(If you have money problems: Red Team, Dirty Laundry, and Carpe Diem have been doing well for me.)

Grats on the win!

8 Feb 2023 Daine

@HexNet NFL started out in this deck, but I replaced them all with more consistency when I found it wasn’t really necessary in startup. Staying above 8 keeps you safe from Public Trail and checking the remote can prevent Drago into EotL.

Info Bounty isn’t just about the money, it’s about paying me to get quality and consistent accesses. Although this deck is based on making huge digs on R&D to close out, I’m regularly at 4 or 5 before firing the big dig due in large part to things like Info Bounty rewarding me for single accesses on centrals. Ymmv, but I want an Info Bounty right away. And with self damage from the cybernetics I’m not too worried to have a dead card turned into a generic hit point.

29 Jan 2024 CryOfFrustration

Wow there's a username I haven't seen in awhile! welcome back!

22 Feb 2024 arthurteiler

I've been trying this deck in Startup and so far I love it! I love Zahya and this rewards you for anything you do in central, with multi-access happening all the time. The only thing I'd add is some tag removal like No Free Lunch, because Retribution on your Matryoshka with 2-3 cards can completely ruin you.