Irish Sageopus v1.1

This deck has really been mostly an exercise in trying to create a strong deck using Sage. In the process I've grown to love CT. It's sitting at 42 cards right now. Still looking to make those 2 final cuts. Any critiques are welcome.

I think that Chaos Theory: Wünderkind stands out as a good ID for Sage because of the natural +1 MU she gets. The deck has been through many variations, most of them involving a "Sageosaurus". They were also economically risky builds because trashing resources is a thing. The slowness and riskiness of the econ made me really want Magnum Opus instead of the Pro Con / Kati resource based economy.

So this is the post O&C variation...

Straight away there are some standard Shaper things going on. Personal Workshop paired with Stimhack, Test Run and Clone Chip for tutoring and recursion respectively, Magnum Opus economy.

The deck starts to take on its own identity with the breaker/program suite. Leprechaun, Personal Workshop, and Magnum Opus are what you want to see as early as possible. If necessary, use Test Run to dig out Magnum Opus and get it installed early, then when you draw into Leprechaun use Scavenge to move Magnum Opus onto it. Sage also needs to be hosted to reach its maximum potential. Meanwhile, dig hard with Diesel and Quality Time throwing pieces on the Personal Workshop as you go. Just be careful not to make it too rich a target or it WILL get trashed with all your stuff on it. To prevent that, install another workshop when you see it.

The MemStrips are ESSENTIAL and they're actually the silent core of the deck. CTs natural available MU is 5. With Leprechaun and Ninja on the board that drops to 3 MU. When both MemStrips installed, that bumps up to 9 available MU! Add in the Akamatsu Mem Chips and the rig tops out at 11 available MU at full capacity. That MU translates directly into breaking strength for Sage. In a lot of cases it won't be necessary to get the strength that high at all.

Data Folding is amazing in this deck. Get all three installed as soon as possible and those 3 credits at the beginning of every turn become a major advantage.

Weaknesses:

1. Cards like Corporate Troubleshooter and Weyland's advanceable ICE make Sage sad. They allow the Corp to get their ICE strength above Sage's hard cap. In which case they've spent a lot of money and/or clicks and you just run somewhere else. Another built in counter for that is the one off Femme Fatale. After they spend the time/money to keep you out, drop a Femme and go wherever. Test Run it out cheap and Scavenge it in play permanently.

2. This rig requires almost ALL the pieces. So it hates Net Damage decks. Levy AR Lab Access is there to get precious MU out of the heap, with its recycling effect being a bonus. Same Old Thing is there to recover from losing Levy AR Lab Access to damage.

To compensate for the deck's shortcomings, use a tempered approach to pressuring a damage heavy Corp like Jinteki or Weyland. Focus on building in the early game and apply mild pressure where weak points are spotted. Run too much and you're sure to lose key pieces of your Rig. If you don't run enough you'll let the Corp get rich right in front of you. Ignore R&D in the early game. Instead, hit HQ and check facedown remotes (moderately) while building the Rig.