Siphon Smoke v2.0

BobAloVskI 334

Intro

This iteration of the deck has been performing extremely well for me. Prior to this build, you could apply pressure on all servers but it would still take some time to win and gives the corp time to fulfill their plans. With this build you can usually get an early Siphon or Temujin off. Once you have done that, build up. They will then often over-commit ICE to HQ. Wait until you have access to enough stealth and real credits to make 2 runs on R&D as well as an Indexing and either Mad Dash or Freedom Through Equality (preferably both). It sounds like a lot to setup but with the small deck size and reasonably good draw power (Diesel, Net Mercur and Astrolabe) you can get this setup surprisingly quickly. The combo turn is as follows:

  1. Ensure all Jacksons have been removed from the board. I cannot stress this enough. You will have a bad day if you find a hidden Jackson. This may sometimes be your first click.
  2. Play Indexing. It is rare you will not be able to place an agenda on top of R&D. If you don't see an agenda, bad luck and try again when you have access to another Indexing.
  3. Play Freedom Through Equality if you have it.
  4. Mad Dash onto R&D for 3-4 Agenda Points.

More often then not people will not expect Siphon. Many people often leave HQ open and pay dearly for it.

Freedom Through Equality is a great card because it allows you to only steal 3 agendas for the win. When you combine it with Mad Dash, this deck very regularly wins with only needing to steal 2 agendas.


Changes To The Deck

I initially added Indexing and one Freedom Through Equality. But with Mad Dash now released, I decided to doubled down on this tactic. 2 Indexing, 2 Freedom Through Equality and 2 Mad Dash. These additions have certainly paid off.

I added Citadel Sanctuary because it synergies with Account Siphon and does well to protect you against Boom!

I also added an Atman which I rarely play. It is there to deal with the odd occasion you come across ICE that is not Barrier, Code Gate or Sentry.

The rest of the deck is unchanged. It was strong to begin with and is made better with the above support.


Cards

Economy

Account Siphon, Sure Gamble, Dirty Laundry, Temujin Contract and being on stealth is enough economy throughout the game. I've gone down to 2 Dirty Laundrys and 1 Ghost Runner. The other copies were generally not needed.

Breakers

Corroder, Refractor and Dagger are definitely the best breaker suite for Siphon Smoke. The influence is not there for Switchblade but I still prefer not to be screwed over by stacked Sentries.

Atman comes in to deal with decks that think they are safe using Mother Goddess or Excalibur.

Recursion

Levy AR Lab Access is usually only needed against Potential Unleashed or Personal Evolution. It allows you to draw more aggressively early game knowing that you have the reset if needed.

Clone Chip is good for recurring a Self-Modifying Code or if you don't have your Astrolabe online, you can ditch a Cloak and get it back later. It is also there as safety if you suspect program trashing.

Same Old Thing is a definite three-of for the deck. It gives you extra Account Siphons, Indexings and your Levy AR Lab Access if it leaves your hand. One time I even played Indexing from hand, Freedom Through Equality and Same Old Thing to recur Mad Dash for 4 Agenda Points. It is very flexible and I believe all three are needed.

Draw

Diesel, Astrolabe and Net Mercur is enough draw power. You generally only need 3-4 credits on Net Mercur. The other times, draw is usually better. You want to go through your deck pretty quickly.

Miscellaneous

Mad Dash and Freedom Through Equality I've mentioned. Combined with Indexing this is such a powerful combination of cards.

Citadel Sanctuary is in there to shake Account Siphon, Controlling The Message or other tags you may be hit with. As long as you are dealing with just a tag or two each time, it is better protection than Plascrete in my opinion. It is hard for them to double tag you on their turn, trash the Sanctuary and then play Boom! I think without Account Siphon in the deck, I would probably go with Plascrete but the synergy is too good not to play Citadel Sanctuary.

Net Mercur is vital. It is a three-of because the sooner you get this engine up, the sooner you will win the game. I have had games when all three copies were at the bottom of my deck and those games are definitely tougher. So this is a three-of. It is also the card most likely to be trashed by the corp. So it is a good idea to keep a backup in your grip just in case.

Ghost Runner acts a little bit like your fourth Net Mercur. You can usually pull off your indexing play with the three Ghost Runner stealth credits plus your ID stealth credit. It is only a one-of because once Net Mercur shows up, I very rarely need the extra stealth credits.

Self-Modifying Code is great for the early pressure. I usually just need the one, sometimes two, but having three in the deck allows you to see it early and get setup. If you can get one down and have at least 8 credits, any one-ICE'd server can usually be gotten into. Quite handy for those Siphon plays.


Game Plan

This deck likes to get off to a good start with either Siphon or Temujin (always on archives to try and spread their ICE thin). You can usually then ride that tempo to help you setup and pull off the Indexing plays you need to win.

There is no HQ multi-access. If you believe there are agendas in there then by all means go for them. But usually do not pressure HQ until you can Siphon as this can really turn the game around. Either way, getting them to over-commit ICE to HQ means there is less ICE protecting R&D which makes it easier for you to win the game the way you usually do: Indexing R&D.

The deck is still pretty good even when they know what your deck is up to. Granted they will not leave HQ open in the second game but they might over-commit to protecting it. You just need to stick to the game plan and take your opportunities as they arise.


Closing Thoughts

I think I have gotten the deck to as good as I can make it. However, I know there are better deck-builders out there so I would love to hear people's feedback as to how to make the deck even better. At the very least, I recommend playing this deck. It is a lot of fun and very competitive against most corp decks.

6 comments
11 Mar 2017 Aedrill

I just played a game with this deck and I think it's pretty cool. I'm just wondering, what if you dropped Siphons? Third Temujin and then something else - Clone Chips, maybe Sifr, there are many options. I get that it's nice to keep corp poor but with stealth rig and lots of money it's not really necessary. What do you think?

12 Mar 2017 TKO

You always need more real credits than you think. Especially using dagger, it gets really expensive to run pretty quickly.

12 Mar 2017 BobAloVskI

@Aedrill

The reason why I find Account Siphon such a good include is because it does a couple of things. It gives you an 11 swing if you shake the tags manually. But the main thing it does is disrupts the Corp's plans. Employee Strike is a great card not because it directly helps you win the game but because it messes with the Corp's plans. Account Siphon does the same thing as well as progressing your win condition. Once they get hit with an Account Siphon, it will take a bit of steam out of their sail but they will knee-jerk defend HQ. This is what you want them to do.

I have seen Ele "Smoke" Scovak: Cynosure of the Net decks work well without Account Siphon and they could very well be better than this deck. But taking the Account Siphon out of this deck makes it a completely different deck.

@TKO

Dagger does need more real credits to run but Switchblade need more stealth. Making multiple runs with Indexing when there is a Sentry on R&D can become a tough ask. Most Sentries are 5 or less strength so only 1 stealth is required per run. If you estimate each Sentry as 3 subs it is 2 stealth and 6 real credits per ICE. Obviously it will change depending on what faction and type of deck you are up against though.

12 Mar 2017 Aedrill

@TKO I completely agree, that's why I was thinking about adding an extra Temujin. This card gives you a much better financial return. I'm not saying Siphon is bad in this deck, I only played one game so far, I'm just thinking out loud.

@BobAloVskI You have a point, and I do like playing Siphon from Shaper :) I'll give it few more games.

12 Mar 2017 Manadog

Have you considered dropping the remaining clone chip to get a paperclip? I wonder what the clone chip is really gaining you in this deck without clot or parasite. It's basically another smc a lot I'd guess? If you lose a program somehow there's always levy.

13 Mar 2017 BobAloVskI

@Aedrill

I just love people's reactions when playing Account Siphon out of Shaper. They don't see it coming and then it is a long road back after that.

@Manadog

I cannot recall ever using Clone Chip to recur a program trashed by the Corp. I put it in there for that scenario. It is mainly used as another Self-modifying Code. Sometimes If I don't have the memory, I will trash/discard a Cloak and recur it with Clone Chip.

Cutting the Clone Chip for Paperclip is certainly a good option. It even frees up a deckslot. The reason I have it is the same reason I have Atman - I just hate coming up against that one deck where they trash one of your programs or put an Excalibur on R&D and it is more or less a loss from then on.

If you are a braver person than I am, I would make that change and even get rid of the Atman (I've only had to use it once) for some more econ or whatever takes your fancy. I am possibly too cautious with those two options. Especially in the case of Atman.