R+ Boom Rush

Also wanted to shout out @guiot for helping me test this deck and for suggesting the 1x Magnet. I'm still not entirely convinced its the best use of that influence, but I have yet to come up with anything better.

Considering that your going for speed, I have three questions.

1. Could Azmari provide a better econ support (note that would mean dropping Funhouse)?
2. With Esâ using Begemot, are you rethinking the use of Endless EULA?
3. Why not use Backroom Machinations, since this is a tag based deck?

The list is solid. It has all the tools to make the runner confronted to tough choices. Thanks for sharing!

So as mentioned I played this to 11th place at EACC with 4 wins and 3 losses for the deck. Before the tournament I was struggling to find a corp, but I knew I wanted something with a mix of plans and @cobrabubbles shared this with me. We played a few tests and it was able to do ok against Lat sometimes and well against most other runners.

The wins were:

A fairly classic rush, I think there was a HHN that bought a turn or two to close out.

A turn 6 rush out behind a Ping and an unrezzed Funhouse that involved a double Seamless Launch to score GFI for the win.

HHN and BOOM! against an aggressive Sable.

A Drago slow roll behind Ping where I was fortunate the runner never found their Paperclip and eventually ran through Funhouse on HQ to try and trash the BOOM! from hand. This game was on stream.

All three losses were essentially the same thing: Lat had money, boat and Misdirection before I could create enough pressure.

Overall I was happy with the deck. You can usually create enough difficult forks for the runner in the early game to buy you some time to close out through a score or a kill.

Magnet was never anything other than an ETR code code (which was occasionally very good vs Lat in testing for draining boat counters before they find a breaker) so I think it's worth testing Thimblerig in that slot unless you expect to see a lot of Botulus.

Re @Diogene

1. Azmari could definitely run something like this, but I really valued being able to control my own income. Free Pings were an MVP on the day and the option to draw cards helped me close out when needed, with the added benefit of being able to deny PAD Tap when needed.

2. I've not run into it myself, but I think you have a solid enough tag/kill plan against Esâ that you don't mind not using the Endless EULAs in that matchup. 7 handsize can be a problem, but that means they only install Marrow and take no other core damage. On stream I bounced a Marrow with Self-Growth Program for that exact reason.

3. I think Backroom Machinations fits in the decks with 6 3 pointers that are doing the prison thing. If we're sticking a Drago we're more interested in landing 2 tags for the BOOM!. Also 15 Minutes is filling a similar role. I've not yet been in the situation where I need 1 more point and a tag sticks.

@FridanI'm glad the deck served well! I think all but maybe one or two of my losses in testing were as you describe: Lat that got too rich. My current JNet record with variants is 19-5. I kinda suspect this deck is ultimately tier 1.5, but it does match my desired playstyle better than anything more consistent.

@Diogene

1) I considered Azmari but I think R+ has several advantages. The first is that it lets you play Ping! as Vanilla that tags the runner, which is an incredibly important enabler of turn 2 agenda scoring (a not uncommon play pattern for this deck). The second is that drawing cards is sometimes really important. The third is that it allows you to sometimes play with Drago like the Prison variant: just double advance him, get a refund from R+, and then play Self-Growth. Finally, its income that you have far more control over and which the runner can't play around nearly as effectively.

Azmari is great, but I think this deck in particular prefers R+ for rush and combo reasons. That being said, I encourage you to try this out in Azmari! I suspect you will end up wanting to change a number of cards (Funhouse and Ping in particular).

2) I haven't played against a single Esa list since week 1 of MS. I think the matchup may be a problem in theory, but that deck is just not prevalent enough for me to make tech choices based on it. Anarch with Chisel has occasionally been a problem for me, but I'm not sure how to address that beyond the 1x Magnet.

3) As @Fridan said, Machinations is more of a finisher for the prison variant. This deck doesn't have a scoring pattern that really requires 1 pointer besides 15 Minutes. I usually score 1-2 Bellona and 2-1 Office/Headline. 15 Minutes can close out a game after you have scored 2 Bellona or 3 two pointers. Drago is there to enable a kill or to let us Self-Growth Program for tempo.

I played against this as Adam and assumed it was the prison version. I can confirm that it wins fast, I got BOOM!ed in about 5 minutes as I played recklessly trying to end the game quickly before the non-existent Market Forces appeared. Nice deck!