Extreme Disco for Self Defence [Undefeated at Warwick CO]

znsolomon 449

funk

Welcome one and all, to the Criminal deck I've been tinkering with for the last 6 months or so. It might look like a pile of run events and burst multiaccess, and yes that is exactly what we're trying to do here!

This is an aggro deck, pure and simple. The average Corp deck needs 17 accesses to yield 7 points, and we're going to get them as fast as we possibly can. Opening hands frequently have enough pressure to kick your tempo into overdrive, gaining you money or cards as you keep racking up the accesses. Keeping this onslaught going is Zahya's ID ability, as well as a pair of support options in Swift and Maemi.

Swift really needs its own section, because the things you can do with that card are absolutely disgusting in this shell. Doof in particular really likes the extra click to take advantage of the absence of credits. Having that 5th click in a turn lets you draw or install whilst keeping pressure up, reducing the chance the Corp gets some breathing room.

Once the dust settles from the initial carnage and enough ICE gets down that a simple boomerang can't solve, you're ideally sitting on 3ish points, with a nice pile of credits and maybe a charged big turts. From here, don't stop running, but make your multiaccess burstier so you don't break the bank on any one card. Use ol' faithful to challenge any remotes you need to, and try to strike whenever and wherever the corp looks weak.

Into the 'late' game we go, and now the tags from the Hot Pursuits can really pay off with counter surveillance often acting as an extra maker's eye/legwork in most matchups. Against R+ (the non-kill version anyway), laser pointer will get you past any starlit knights to land the high-tag run.

Tournament Report The deck went 4-0 against a tough field at Warwick, with two wins against rush PD and two wins against non-kill R+ (one on wage workers and one on void). The R+ games were lucky that I saw their influence early, as you really need to figure out if the ID is on kill before you go tag-me. PD is a pretty easy matchup honestly, as it's way too reliant on going fast and can't really handle a deck that can go even faster. My corp list (a slightly modified version of Rotom's PD list you can find here dropped two games, giving me a 2nd place finish overall.

I'd like to give a huge shout-out to all of Quear Earth Hub for helping me tune this list up. After I won only 1 game with it at Nats, I knew I had something that could be good, but harmonbee and AceEmpress in particular were hugely helpful during the testing process and walking me through my lines. But I love the whole lot of you, especially zoehope and MattOhNo for the tight games during the tournament, and of course SeaRose for winning the whole thing! It's been a truly wild 3-ish weeks of our new testing group, and I can't wait to see where we go from here.

By all means give this deck a whirl and tell me what you think. Get ready for some incredibly interactive games, high-pressure scenarios, and always make sure to check that R+ isn't on kill before you go tag-me. Happy running!

5 comments
5 Dec 2023 harmonbee

Amazing performance, and what a cool deck! I'm so glad that I was able to help turn your dreams of hyper-aggro Crim with Joy Ride into an obviously strong deck, but it's all really in your stellar piloting.

Given how big you are on Swift, would it be worth a second copy? My gut says you could remove a Legwork or Jailbreak given the sheer amount of HQ multiaccess you have, or an Inside Job given you've already got Boomerangs (or maybe go up to 41 cards??? sacrilege), but I'm very unsure.

5 Dec 2023 znsolomon

The original original version of this deck (that had 2 engolos instead of a breaker suite) did go to 41 cards. It's probably worth a try, and I was also thinking of maybe cutting shibboleth??? Is it too risky to go down to no decoder?

6 Dec 2023 harmonbee

I'm skeptical of cutting any breaker to be honest, so would start at 41 first. There may be a world where you could cut Carmen when you've got a Laser Pointer, but that's still very risky. I guess if you're only seeing low strength code gates and you're comfortable using Aumakua on those then you're good?? But I'd definitely start by experimenting at 41 before cutting breakers

8 Dec 2023 MattOhNo

Loved this, the laser pointer was inspired. Absolutely intense game, deck looked immensely fun and well deserving of the placement.

10 Dec 2023 znsolomon

Just to let y'all know, a very slightly modified version of this deck (-1 Legwork, +1 Swift) went 3-1 at the London CO this Sunday, finishing 5th overall. Wins against PD, ASA and kill R+, loss to Punitive Outfit. I'm super proud of it!