Crazy Murderman (3 murders & 3rd @ Copenhagen Startup CO)

DoubleK 821

This was my rush-to-kill deck at the Copenhagen Startup CO where a huge turnout of 20 players surprised us all. It was great to see a mix of new players and old returning runners enjoy a day full of good games and a fun afterparty!

This deck goes all-in on the murder plan and has a few different options for it.

1) Azef-->Neurospike (x2 if needed)

2) Orbital-->End of the Line (+Neurospike if needed)

3) MAD-->End of the Line (x2 if needed)

Game plan is to murder the runner as soon as possible, usually while they are drawing for their boat and making enough money to install it. Play like a madman, focus on rushing out the kill on a remote and don't worry about losing a few agendas on the centrals in the process. If they manage to dodge the first two kill combos, pretend that you're trying to defend and score out so you can get some of the cheap ICE rezzed, burn it all down with MAD and murder them with double End of the Line instead.

Atlas counters & Malapert help find the murder combo pieces.

Hostile Takeover + Built To Last + Malapert is good econ and helps find the murder tools.

Seamless Launch is important to pull off the murder combo quickly and can also be used to overadvance Atlas early if needed.

I'm playing 3x of each of the main murder tools to draw into them as early as possible. Exception is MAD which is one-of and naturally comes up in longer games where it's needed or can be tutored with Atlas counters or Malapert.

No Spin Doctors because I think it's an overrated card and I prefer to use 3 card slots and 3 influence to go all-in on the kill plan and reduce the number of trashables on centrals. I know it's a good card and would probably make the deck better, but I'm a stubborn murderman.

In the tournament this deck murdered Quetzal, Padma and Tao in very quick games in the first few turns. The fourth one against Loup was a real thriller that came down to one last access on the very last click to find the winning agenda, before the runner would have been murdered by double End Of The Line after ICE was MADly burned down on the previous turn for 7 tags. I don't think I've ever been so happy to lose a game after the crazy murderman was finally defeated by my opponent in an epic game for a well deserved tournament win. Congrats for the win Skurk4N :)

Massive thanks to Simon for organising a hugely successful tournament. Shoutout also to @Kagolskab for deckbuilding inspiration and playtesting. Last but definitely not least, thank you to all the new runners and old veterans who showed up during the day for a great day of Netrunning - let's keep the community alive!

Thanks for reading and Always Be Running!

8 comments
28 May 2023 Tinweazel

Well shit, looks like I have to sleeve up my Built To Last ID anyway.

Wacky question: If you're gunning for assembling a murder combo as fast as possible, and don't mind a few early steals, could you then play an exact 40 card deck with -1 Malapert, -1 Enigma, -1 Regolith, -1 Maskirovka and shave 10% off the total deck size?

28 May 2023 DoubleK

@Tinweazel That's an interesting idea. I never thought about making this a 40 card deck, but I could see that working for quicker access to the murder cards. Definitely worth a try!

Happy murdering if you sleeve it up :)

28 May 2023 Tinweazel

It's loaded into my pile of jnet decks and waiting to get tested. I tried the StartupModernism deck but honestly can't crack a 40% win rate with it.

Too many No Free Lunch and too much money on the runner side to tag people with Public Trail. Even double-public is rarely enough!

But I can see how removing a Regolith could hurt. There's not TOO much economy in this deck after all.

Definitely testing this, both with 40 and 44 cards.

28 May 2023 DoubleK

@Tinweazel I also tested Supermodernism-style version first but thought this would be more fun and unexpected.

No Free Lunch is indeed everywhere in Startup and also a problem for this deck against the Orbital murder plan. That's why going fast is really important before they find and install it. Azef-Neurospike-Neurospike plan works around that though, but doesn't like Steelskin Scarring.

Money is a bit tight like you said, but usually one Hostile or one Regolith goes a long way. Sometimes putting 2 or more ICE on the remote means the runner leaves it alone early and you don't have to spend money rezzing them.

Good luck for the testing!

28 May 2023 Oddball

Cool deck! Thanks for sharing.

Have you run into any Sabotage/Esâ Afontov: Eco-Insurrectionist lists yet? I feel like Spin Doctor may be more necessary in that matchup.

29 May 2023 DoubleK

@Oddball Thanks! Happy to hear you like it.

I didn't face any Esa decks but did murder one Anarch that was playing sabotage cards. I think the key is to go fast and kill them before they are set up. Against Anarchs I also try to commit one ICE on HQ on the first turn to stop Chastushka. Long game against sabotage is a losing game for sure with this deck.

29 May 2023 Skurk4N

Very scary deck to play against :D Thanks for the very exciting and close games! Couldent find an imp to use on those End of the Line so had to go for the Hail mary Finality

29 May 2023 DoubleK

@Skurk4N Likewise, thanks for the thrilling games! Your first Imp really threatened me and needed to be purged. That ending after MAD with 2 EotLs in hand and then you winning on the last possible access was amazing. Congrats again for the win!