Research Professor

This is a surprisingly effective Professor deck. But, there are some pretty big weaknesses, and the play style is quite unusual.

The linchpin is the Research Lab. It gives you a very strong repeatable search tool. Since there are 34 programs in the list it's essentially a click to draw every time except that you get to see 4 cards and choose which one you want and then put the rest back in your stack.

The assembled rig will end up being a Maven with practically one million strength (actually more like 10-15) and one or more of several customizable program packages. The Professor lets you choose from a wealth of powerful programs. Unfortunately you only get one of most of them, but there are some good combinations available.

*Some assembly of hardware and resources required.

• Anti-Fast Advance:
  • Clot
  • Self-modifying Code
  • Clone Chip
  • Sacrificial Construct
  • Sacrificial Construct
• Search Engine:
  • Equivocation
  • Medium
  • Hyperdriver
  • Hyperdriver
  • Hyperdriver
• Spam Filter:
  • Paricia
  • Paricia
  • Reaver
  • Gravedigger
• Emergency Ice Destruction:
  • Datasucker
  • Parasite
  • Self-modifying Code
  • Clone Chip
• Network Damage Protection:
  • Net Shield
  • Feedback Filter
• Loss and Liability Protection:
  • Misdirection
  • Citadel Sanctuary
  • Sacrificial Construct
  • Sacrificial Construct

CAUTION: Don't try to build the giant rig. Pick a package or two and focus so that you can get running!

The priority is always to install the Research Lab ASAP and then start searching for the daemons (Dhegdheer, and Leprechaun) because they are the foundational pieces of the program towers you want to build for Maven. Magnum Opus is very important to get early as well since that is essentially the only economy. Then just assemble whichever package is appropriate to counter your opponent.

Hyperdriver can be used as a temp boost to get your rig up to speed or your credit pool reinforced. Think ahead, though. You might want to save one or two for a big turn.

For non-program cards things get a little tricky. If you aren't lucky enough to land the non-program tools in your hands before you install the Research Lab, you can use some patience and card counting to get to them. Let's say you use the Research Lab and you see a Clone Chip which you then put back on the bottom of your stack. At that moment, you take note of the number of cards in your stack and then count down for your next draws (at 4 cards per click, you can get back to it pretty quickly). Once you cycle back around, i.e. you draw all the cards above Clone Chip, you can simply click to draw rather than use the Research Lab and voila.

Diesel lets you get to the Research Lab faster.

Levy AR Lab Access lets you recover from the early draw rush you might have to do to get to the Research Lab. Since practically all of your cards will stay in your stack or else in your rig after that, one is enough.

Sahasrara is another card that is good to get early, but it's not a card to prioritize, in my opinion.

Sneakdoor Beta is a great card to force the corp to spread out ice. Since you will be revealing your stack with the Research Lab, it's generally not a surprise when plop this down. It's still impactful, though.

Multithreader is great for use with icebreakers, but also good with Self-modifying Code, Net Shield, and Misdirection as well.

No current for three reasons. First, there aren't any great currents that fit well in a jack-of-all-trades deck like this. Second, it's harder to draw into a current since it's not a program. And third, there just aren't that many problematic currents that will hurt this build (Housekeeping, Door To Door, Enhanced Login Protocol maybe).

No console. I tried a few, but none felt necessary so I opted to go without.

Economy. The biggest weakness of this deck is the dependence on Magnum Opus. There is really no other economy in the deck so you are trading time for money; all the time.

Setup speed. It feels kind of slow when you can see so many cards every turn but only draw a few.