Raccoon Tech (1st Place Calgary Regionals)

Sokka 4616

Name inspired by the amazing and iconic stickers that were awarded out during the tournament depicting the raccoon on Kabonesa’s shirt.

This deck went 5-0 at Calgary Regionals beating Mirrormorph, Titan, IG, IG (same IG), and Titan (also same Titan). My Titan deck went 3-1 and can be found here.

This deck is easily the most flexible deck I have ever seen or played. There are no bad matchups with it as you are very well teched for every one and it’s just a matter of knowing what to do and not do. When Downfall came out the first thing that came to mind was Stimhacking out Rezekis turn 1 with Wu. With Stimhack or Peace in Our Time you can consistently set up 2 or 3 credits of drip (2 or 3 depending on the matchup) on the first turn of every game. This also sets up Khusyuk very nicely for later in the game.

Because this is one of those shaper decks that is mostly comprised of tech cards, this deck requires knowledge on what it is you need for each matchup. If you’re against a glacier type of Corp (such as Blue Sun, Palana, Azmari, and any Jinja decks) you’re looking to set up all 3 Rezeki turn 1, get some MU down, and play the remote game with Laamb + Surfer. If they try to tax your Laamb ability with Border Control you might have to install both Laamb, or use Rejig to refresh Laamb’s ability. Sometimes the Corp will slow down a lot to beef up their remote and you can punish them with Legwork and close the game with Khusyuks. If you’re against a rush/FA type of deck or any deck that uses very few ICE, you can Wu out Chameleon after facechecking the remote to contest early agendas. In these matchups I like to use Engolo as my main breaker and then look to Rebirth into Kit.

Akamatsu Mem Chip is better than Cyberdelia for this deck because the latter costs too much to install early and you don’t make that many runs with this deck. NetChip was also tested but finding the first copy of it when you want to install an SMC, Engolo, or Laamb when you already have 3 MU used up on Rezekis makes things very awkward.

Rebirth is probably my favourite card in the deck due to the flexibility that it offers. Rebirthing into Kit is useful as mentioned earlier, Lat is great if you feel you’re behind on tempo or if you’re against a Punitive deck (works well with Chameleon even if you have a brain damage), Chaos Theory is a 0 cost Akamatsu and can be chosen if extra MU is needed, and Jesminder should be the first Rebirth target you consider because in the games where she’s relevant it is often game-winning (any deck with Data Ravens, IP Blocks, and RIP Argus).

Note that you usually don’t want to see SMC in your opening hand because installing them from your grip is strictly worse than using Wu to install them from your Stack unless you want an early Clot threat in which case you want to find an SMC before you Wu-SMC 2 Rezekis.

Thank you to everyone who continues to play this beautiful game and especially to @zerothmaxima for running a great tournament!

16 comments
19 Jun 2019 Zerothmaxima

en.m.wikipedia.org

Just saying.

Totes jamming this on jnet for the next couple weeks! Was testing out a couple Wu builds and nothing seemed to click.

19 Jun 2019 Steamwood

I haven't used much Wu, how do you use Stimhack to get out the Rezekis in one turn? Don't you need to use her ability for one click, then use Rejig or Scavenge?

19 Jun 2019 Sokka

@Steamwood Use Wu for SMC and then use SMC to install whatever you want. This gets around Wu’s remove from game clause as long as you use the SMC before the end of the turn. If you mulligan for a Stimhack in opening hand, the first turn of most games goes click 1: Wu SMC, click 2: Wu SMC, click 3: Stimhack anywhere and spend 8 of those credits to trigger both SMC to install 2 Rezeki, and then click 4: Wu SMC and spend 4 more credits to install the last Rezeki before the turn ends.

19 Jun 2019 Sokka

@Zerothmaxima WHAT!? It’s not a raccoon!? I’ve been lied to.......

19 Jun 2019 Steamwood

@Sokka Thanks! One brain damage is definitely worth that setup. Nice deck and congrats on the win!

26 Jun 2019 grombatmole

How do you typically use flame out? I used it + gamble to get 2 rezeki out turn 1 and used it again later for misdirection, but I was hurting for clone chips when the second HHN landed

26 Jun 2019 Sokka

@gadwag yeah the 3rd Clone Chip was a very hard card to cut. It’s needed for Clot, Misdirect, and for SMC if you use all 3 of those on turn 1. Flame-out’s usefulness is primarily for the early game backup of not finding a Stimhack. It allows a turn 1 of Click for credit (or Gamble), Install Flame-out, Wu out SMC-Rezeki twice with the Flame-out credits. And then you can use the remaining credits for the third SMC. Regardless of if you use it for that purpose or if you find a Stimhack and draw it afterwards, it’s obviously a perfect card to host Chameleon. It gets you out of tight situations such as needing money for Misdirect, or when you’re low on money and need to get into a remote where you can Wu Engolo or Laamb onto the Flame-out, make that run and break 1-2 ICE for free, and then let the program trash due to Flame-out instead of letting Wu RFG it, or even better, Rejig the program off. With Rejig it’s a free first use which is nice. Always use Flame-out for SMC when you can as well (if you ever Clone Chip one back). Those are the (I’ll admit fairly limited) ways to use Flame-out after the first turn aside from it of course being a 2-cost card to power your Khusyuks. It was definitely between Flame-out and Clone Chip that was the toughest call and I also considered Symmetrical Visage too but the economic boost of Flame-out in your opening hand when you don’t find a Stimhack cannot be understated. Hope that helps!

27 Jun 2019 grombatmole

@Sokka thanks! I've played flame out a few times and already discovered some of those uses - early SMC and chameleon are very handy. Chameleon with lat in particular is very flexible.

Missing the third CC still hurts, but that is mostly because it takes a while to find it, and rebirth to lat helps with that.

It's not an easy deck but it sure is fun! Thanks for sharing

27 Jun 2019 Sokka

@gadwag yeah it’s easily one of or the most complicated deck I’ve put together or played. Lots going on with many different pieces serving different functions. I’d be very interested to know if you test with the 3rd CC back in the deck and what card you decide to cut for it.

9 Jul 2019 Teemo

Loving this deck so far. The flexibility really suits my temperament ^^

One question though, would you sack a Rizeki early, to make room for a Lamb, if you can't find MU's?

Been running into a lot of Hortums, where the chameleon doesn't do anything, and find waiting for MU is a tempo killer.

That said, I'm probably playing it a bit aggro. I did consider Au Revoir (prior to them going restricted, guess that temptation is taken care of now) but I like how Rizeki allows you to allow down if needed, over having to aggro the corp.

Also, how do you deal with Titan? Don't quite feel I can keep up with them if they get lucky with ice in the first 2 rounds.

10 Jul 2019 Sokka

@Teemo I’m glad you’re enjoying the deck! I would definitely try to draw for MU instead of sacking Rezeki but if there’s an agenda on the board then you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hortum is indeed very awkward with this icebreaker suite. If I see an early Hortum on a remote that I want to break I’ll likely use Engolo for it. It sounds like you’re playing a bit too aggro if you’re running into this problem tho. I’ll usually let the Corp score the first agenda (I’ll poke the server for fun to keep them on their toes) as I draw and set up the late-game remote lock of Laamb Surfer. If I’m expecting a very fast game (especially against Titan as you mentioned) where the Corp isn’t stacking too many ICE and jamming agendas that I can’t just let them score (Atlas) then I’ll only install 2 Rezekis turn 1. This does 2 things. 1, it keeps 2 free MU for a breaker (preferably Engolo and then look to Rebirth into Kit). And 2, it keeps an SMC for me to tutor said breaker and it also gives easier access to the Clot if needed.

In general I would suggest not making too many early runs because the late-game is truly where this deck shines. Especially if you’re against something like a Jinja Border Control deck you wouldn’t want to poke early and allow the Corp to rez the Border Control that is usually put in the innermost position (because if you don’t give them the opportunity to rez it early then you can just surf past it in the late-game)

11 Jul 2019 Teemo

Good points on the surfing. I'm just having to shake my MaxX and Crim' ways of going Aggro. I tried a version of this with Au Revoir as well, and while the running feeds my inner "punch it in the face again" desire, it is vulnerable to shutdown.

That's what I liked about your take on the deck. It allows me to set up around the Corp, instead of being super dependant on their play.

Thanks for the clarifications man, really appreciate it!

14 Jul 2019 nychuus

Thank you for this list. I used it in a recent GNK. I added a 3rd Clone Chip as the 46th card because I am a heathen.

I find that it needs a good even-handed and headed approach to everything with this deck (except when you draw no Khusyuks because they're stuck on the bottom 25% of your deck, then you can salt and rage.)

14 Jul 2019 Sokka

@nychuus My most comfortable place to be was back in the time piloting PrePaid Kate and this list is as close as I’ve come to that. It does require a fairly passive classic-shaper play-style where you spend turns drawing a setting up and only running when you need to. Of course unless you’re against a Titan or some other rush deck, in which case you run around crazy with your Chameleon, Engolo, and Stimhacks! :D

Glad you gave the deck a go and hope you enjoy it!

23 Jul 2019 apo

Heya. Why Rejig over Scavenge?

25 Jul 2019 Sokka

@apo Both cards serve the purpose of permanently installing something with Wu or refreshing Laamb/Engolo’s once per turn ability. I think it’s easier to use Rejig when you’re looking to transition from early-game pressure with Engolo and swapping it for the late-game Laamb, however with Scavenge it just means the swap happens with the Heap instead of the Grip which is fine. The main benefit of Rejig is that it can reload Flame-out in the edge cases where that’s relevant. I’ve never done it but in theory you can Rejig the Flame-out and then Wu a breaker onto it and suddenly you’re running 3rd click with a slightly worse Stimhack (and you can also play an actual Stimhack on top of that). Rejig and Scavenge both have their uses but with only 1 slot for it out of Wu, 95% of the time it won’t matter which one it is. I have actually seen people rez a Blacklist to block Scavenge after a Wu ability and that’s another point for Rejig too.

Hope that helps!