Per'fesser 1.0

4dd150n 150

After getting what I feel is a pretty is a pretty good grip on playing Anarch, I felt it was time to move on to Shaper. And for literally the third deck in a row, I thought I had a good, original idea, only to have a cursory search through the "Popular Decklists" reveal that I am not beautiful, unique snowflake. Many, many people aleady had this idea as long as a year ago. Alas.

I finally got my hands on Creation and Control and right away I was drawn to two cards: The Professor: Keeper of Knowledge and Monolith. I hadn't seen Monolith played before, so I assumed it was unpopular given its massive install cost. I thought I was on the verge of being a pioneer. Apparently people have already risen to the challenge of making it work early in the game. To them I am thankful for the Freelance Coding Contract combo. Thank you for solving the challenge I thought I was rising to. I will use the time you saved me to find a cure for polio.

Anyway, conventional wisdom around these parts suggests that Monolith works better with Chaos Theory: Wünderkind. I don't wanna play with CT. She's just a kid and I'm a grown ass man. A man who plays with toys and logs about it on the internet. I wanna be the Professor. He's got that cool TNG outfit, he went to grad school, and I like his ability. He draws from the appetizer sampler platter of life and doesn't care one whit that I'm using Femme Fatale as my main Killer. He laughs at its $9 install cost because ..well, I'm not sure why, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am bad at Netrunner. He'd probably just say I should put it on Personal Workshop like everyone else.

I really wanted to put Professional Contacts in this deck because I used it in OCTGN once and it was pretty stellar enconomy card. Plus, it has the Professor right there in the picture! It just makes sense! God, I wish that was my hand he was shaking. "You got a deal, Mr. The Professor: Keeper of Knowledge. Let's go take those sons of bitches at NBN down. We'll kick Jackson Howard in the teeth for being so ubiquitous. Just you and me, pal."

Anyway, I forgot where I was going with this. I want to start playing Shaper. Here are some cards I think would make that fun. If you think there are cards that are missing from this deck I would love to hear about it. You guys are pretty on the ball even when you're just posting the same idea over and over again without any explanation as to why. I like you. You're no Professor, but his rugged-but-learned-individualism is what makes him special, and quite frankly it's unfair to even suggest any such comparison.

6 comments
10 Nov 2014 Softman25

If you want to go mega jank:

  • Alpha and Omega - amusing when you drop them with Monolith. Cost prohibitive though, go with your own risk.
  • Magnum Opus if you think you don't have enough money. (Who am I kidding, you never have enough money - but if you think you need some right now - this guy is the guy)
  • Another Atman for even more 'No I'm coming in here' action. If you go down that road, Scavenge instead of Clone Chip. Let's you recycle Atman to switch servers - and any other program you want.
  • Um...Torch, because why not. Or Garrote. I dunno, I'm running out of ideas now.

By the way, liked and favorited just for that description. Pretty good.

10 Nov 2014 BJester

This deck screams leprechaun, also, why dyson chip over akamatsu?

10 Nov 2014 JAK

I like the Prof. But Monolith ends up not being that worthwhile. For 18 credits, you get to install three programs with up to 4 creds off each immediately.

Your deck runs two programs costing more than 3, meaning it can save you at most 11 credits, if you happen to have three programs in hand while installing. (Plus three clicks, let's be fair.) My prof deck tried monolith, but the link and recurring credits of Toolbox (at half the price!), for one less MU, without the brain damage prevention, doesn't seem worth it. (The net damage prevention doesn't save you that much.)

Does Personal Workshop work out that well here? I would've thought it's a bit slow. Love the Atman, though, I've wanted to fit one in mine for ages.

10 Nov 2014 4dd150n

@JAK I was just about to start editing Per'fesser 2.0 and Monolith is going to be the first to go. It's a neat card that I hope to build around someday, but it's too cumbersome. Right now the goal is to have fun with the professor's ability.

I think the more serious strategy will be 2 Atmans, 2 Deus X and a suite of breakers (is Femme really my best bet here you think?).

I'm mostly happy with the general program splash but I'd like to add Keyhole.

My resources/events are going to get some retooling too. Without Monolith I can ditch PW. Maybe I can put Professional Contacts back in! Yes!

10 Nov 2014 4dd150n

@Softman25 Thanks for the compliment. I thought I'd have fun with the idea that I have no idea what I'm doing.

10 Nov 2014 4dd150n

@BJester I went with Dyson because at the time I had some crazy plan to get my link up to make cards like Creeper work. Since that didn't pan out I will make the switch. Thanks for the suggestion.