I am not claiming any innovation in this deck build, but it has been refined over multiple playtests. The primary design of the build was to leverage Prepaid VoicePAD for the economy rather than Magnum Opus or other. It draws through very fast like all good Chaos decks do, and it has a wide array of tools to deal with most deck types.
Why Prepaid?:
Magnum Opus has a 5 click return on investment (ROI). The primary strength is that you can very quickly invest those 5 clicks to achieve the break even point and start actually making money. Professional Contacts also has a 5 click ROI, but it has terrible synergy with both Diesel and Quality Time, not to mention it removes the tag-me option from the build. Prepaid VoicePAD on the other hand only has a 2 click ROI with the primary downside of needing to wait for appropriate events before you can see the return. This is why it works so well with Chaos Theory. Its MUCH quicker to the table and typically there is at least one recycle of all the events to pay it off even more. Once you have 2 Prepaid VoicePAD on the table Sure Gamble and Dirty Laundry are beast cards. Test Run & Scavenge a Femme out for 1 single credit!
The Toolbelt:
She is not Kate, but she still carries tools.
- Sharpshooter is of course for Archer
- Deus X for all these Jinteki builds nowadays.
- R&D Interface and Indexing to put a bit of pressure on R&D and used against FA.
- I am almost ashamed to say it, but the recurring Account Siphon is still the powerhouse. It makes me sick that that card is so good, but lets face it, just about every runner deck is better with it. Especially Chaos Theory and the potential to Test Run Account Siphon on turn 1.
- Dinosaurus is almost never played on the first cycle through the deck, and will host Femme Fatale the 2nd time through if need be. This provides a very good sentry breaker if you need it. In practice, I typically never do.
- Planned Assault has only been included in recent OCTGN testing. My physical build doesn't have the H&P stuff yet, and I'm not sure its even needed. It removes sheer number or siphons for consistency, and it also give a small extra chance of getting Indexing early when needed. With Vamp this was much better, without it I think you could easily remove these 2 and add the 3rd Account Siphon and another Indexing
- Same Old Thing - Do not just use it for siphons. Particularly on the first run through the deck is very useful for helping to pair multiple shots of Test Run / Scavenge to get out your big breakers. Also used to replay Scavenge and move Femme Fatale around. Useful also for extra Test Run to get the Parasite out a couple times.
- Finally, my latest add, Parasite. This used to be a Vamp and I really, really liked the Vamp, but I needed something to deal with those high sub-count ICE that plague me. I'm looking at you Tsurugi, Hive, and Komainu. As a bonus, it kills some of the pesky ICE as well.
Play Tips:
Draw through your deck the first time as fast as you can and try and get out the Prepaid VoicePAD. Even if you have to ditch breakers, just get setup and get a breaker out when needed for early pressure. Siphon when available, but if not, then gear up for the 2nd pass.
This works quite well as a tag-me deck. It tends to keep the corp out of dangerous Psycographics range, and the Plascrete Carapace comes out fast to deal with SE. Closed Accounts is the best hurt, but its not hard to manage your cash and not pile it up.
Absolutely, at all cost, mulligan for the Prepaid VoicePAD. All your econ runs through that, and its critical to get out early. The rest of it you will draw to soon enough. Each game I do NOT get this in opening hand is inevitably a slower game. The only exception to this is probably NBN FA. Sometimes one just needs to skip the investment and go at this ASAP.
Do not waste money on Dinosaurus until its needed. Its better to use those credits to make runs. It is only in here as a safety valve for some of the longer big HB games.
Matchups:
- Big HB - is used to shutting down runners, but this deck does quite well against it. A slower build actually helps us out because we can setup more and funnel more through Prepaid VoicePAD. Almost certainly safe to play tag-me, just keep some money around to run any remote you need, then pressure whatever central is easiest.
- HB Fast Advance - Not seen as much it seems, but I have played a couple games against it. The good thing about HB FA is that they need the cash to fuel the Biotics. Its fairly easy to hammer them with Siphon to keep them poor. Against either HB deck is your best chance of seeing a rage-quit.
- HB CI - I play a Cerebral deck myself for fun, and it can be quite effective. However, no CI deck can stand up to this many siphons.
- Jinteki - Hard to archetype these now, and they are all the rage. My local group is full of Jinteki love even before H&P. Now with H&P out I see it on OCTGN all over the place. Consequently, I have had the most testing against it. I hate Tsurugi. Seeing this card too much made me put in Parasite. Jinteki is full of tricks, so Test Run out that Deus X or even Scavenge it out if need be, before any critical run. Keep at least 2 Levy options available. Femme Fatale is the first thing you should get out as she will save you from most of the nasty surprises. Assume Punitive Counterstrike and get out a Plascrete Carapace, or hold back and generate the money.
- Weyland - Either blitz or scorch, you probably do not know, so use standard tactics. Siphon usually will keep your credit pool above theirs and Plascrete Carapace is there just for these guys. Either version of their deck is vulnerable to siphon, and they know it, so they will protect it at the expense of R&D. For some reason, I have not seen hardly any Weyland, so only have a couple games of playtest against them that I ended up winning.
- NBN Fast - Seems to be the hard counter to this deck. I tried to make it about as fast as you can make a shaper deck, yet the NBN FA beats me just about every time. I am still too slow. This is one matchup where you may consider against the Prepaid VoicePAD and just try and get setup as quick as possible for the R&D lock. Maybe a better pilot can run this better than I can, but this matchup spells doom for me.