Argus Martial Law

I would love if someone with better deck-buildling knowledge would come along and give this a good once over "here's some improvements" tips. I've tried this and also had some serious difficulty with tagging the runner. The only thing I can think of swapping out would be the 2 Data Ravens for 1 Midseason Replacements, but then you've just swapped two potential taggers for a 1 off "guarantee."

I love the angry flavor of this deck and want it to work so badly.

I think you might be underutilizing the identity by running only six agendas. I've played against some tough Argus decks with several 1-point agendas that do good things for the corp (or bad things to the runner) when scored and are taxing for the runner when you keep hitting them. One-pointers are archer food, and you could use posted bounty to tag the runner if you run one or two of those. False lead can be a devastating way to set up the kill in a deck like this.

I totally understand the instinct to minimize agendas and use more cards that do cool things. The lack of space in decks after your agendas, economy cards, Jacksons and ice really bothered me when I started out (which wasn't that long ago). Simpler is usually better.

If you're truly in love with the low agenda density, I'd look at a different identity where you could get more bang for the buck personally.

Couple other quick observations: If you're trying to win with scorched earth, use three. Every corp deck should probably have three Jacksons. If you take my advice on agendas, punitive probably has to go. I'd use private contracts over investors - with only 16 ice, you'll have a hard time protecting investors, but 5 to trash is built-in protection to a degree.

A for creativity, but space camp and valley grid are probably the first cards I'd sacrifice. Sea source may be a better use of influence.

Your ice is pretty barrier heavy.

Good luck!

Also, as a matter of principle - by the same line @kwind took - if you're going to try win with DRT - get 3.

2 DRTs by default is 4 damage. With Data Raven...that's not a kill. Three DRTs is. Now sure, you're not always going to get 3, or even 2 - but it's still giving you a chance at least.

@kwind I know a high agenda density allows the Argus identity to trigger more often, but I don't agree that Argus needs/should be played that way. Ive never seen a runner staight up flatline due to the Argus id, more often than not it forces the runner to back down and deal with the tags or damge, that's what I'm looking for here. I know that's not the most common opinion, but its what I'm doing here.

The heavy reliance on barriers isn't something I normally run, it's a byproduct of the grid. The ability only procs when the runner breaks ALL the subroutines on ice, which means removing anything the runner could soak 1-2 subs from. Not a lot of selection for ice like that, even enigma has a sub the runner can take in a pinch. If the grids don't work out, more traditional ice will be put back in.

@Softman25 I only have 2 because in most games rezing 1 is norm, 2 happens but is rare, 3 hasn't happened when I have 3 in my deck. By dropping 1 and picking up a couple boot camps I expect it'll be easier to get DRTS out when I need them. The tutoring may be a waste, but I'm willing to give them a try and see how things go.

I admit this is far from a traditional Argus deck. It doesn't provide the same pressure as most, but it'll provide enough that most runners can't make more than one successful run a turn. With high cost agendas punitive is extremely punishing, and the runner is almost as likely to hit an ambush as an agenda.

I'm looking for 1-2 extremely punishing runs, not a bunch of little victories. Deck is far from perfect, but I'm willing to experiment with a few things to see what works.