[Startup] Virus Gulasch

Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Repartition by Cost
Repartition by Strength
Derived from
[Startup] Virus S[L]oup (with full recipe)
Inspiration for
None yet
Include in your page (help)

Ätsch 104

Revised version of napalm900's excellent icebreaker-free memesperience Virus Soup. Definitely check that out if you have not b4! Problem is...soup is just water. I want some bite >:-)

To the changes:

-No Sure Gambles! This deck is poooor. Having 5 credits every other moment is a rarity. On the other hand Sure Gamble puts your money from 5+x to 9+x. You rarely need that much money at once, since you don't use Icebreakers ^^. I had this card so often in hand and could do nothing with it which makes it a somewhat dead card. I added another Fermenter instead which works way better.

-No Harmony AR Therapy. This one is a gamble. Recursion is the bread and butter of this deck and removing it for a third Boomerang seems stupid. Unfortunately Boomerang is just so strong and integral in every runner deck that a third one, especially in an Icebreaker-free deck still makes a big difference. Do this exchange at your own peril! Personally, I 'never' got to the point where the HART was needed.

-Another Paladin Poemu. It's just integral. If it's not in your starting hand you're missing out. The Poemu-Keiko engine gives you 2 creds on every install which is exactly what pretty much everything in this deck costs.

-Another Gachapon. Getting a Chisel or a Botulus when you need it is mega important.

-Verbal Plasticity instead of DreamNet. Early card draw (in a turn) is just flatout better than late card draw. With DreamNet you're still going to draw. So why not make your draws better than tying them to succesfull runs? It gets even worse when you draw two cards late due to René "Loup" Arcemont: Party Animal triggering after a run. This is actually quite useful and you might want to change a Daily Casts for another Verbal Plasticity.

And that's pretty much it. Not a lot of changes, since the original was really good to begin with. I still believe though, from experience having played both iterations, that this one tickles a little more competitiveness out of the deck. How to beat it? Just play as much of your cheap ICE as possible. The strength comes in numbers against this deck.

7 comments
7 Sep 2021 napalm900

This is brilliant! I am so happy to see the deck being played and iterated on and I am really excited to try your changes out at my local.

All these changes feel like really good improvements:

  • Sure Gambles: Soon after I posted the original deck I swapped these for Dirty Laundries for more on tempo credit
  • HART: I agree, there are few games I actually use this effectively, it's a nice to have late game but otherwise it's a dead draw most of the time
  • Paladin: great change as even a Paladin without Keiko is hugely helpful early game
  • Verbal Plasticity: That late card draw is not so great, I really like your idea of shifting that card draw to earlier in the turn giving you more options.

I have 2 more suggestions to make:

  • Add a single Buzzsaw: This has saved me so many times against Magnets. Throw it in the heap for later and when the Corp rezzes that pesky Magnet, Simulchip your Buzzsaw out for cheap and break for only 1 credit!
  • For extra shenanigans, throw in a Cordyceps: This just opens up all new plays for this deck and can be used to significantly weaken the Corps remote. The things you can do with this are crazy fun. It's a bit dicey as you would have to lose a Boomerang and a Simulchip, so probably not a good idea if you are playing anything competitively.

Have you had the chance to play this deck in person? Have you had any wild plays with it? My fav is playing a Jinteki Corp and trashing more cards then they are dealing in net damage :)

8 Sep 2021 Diogene

@Ätsch sweet deck! I will give it a spin. A while back, I did something similar but I think I like your take better, Here was my deck : netrunnerdb.com

@napalm900 great suggestion! The Buzzsaw is a genius idea and the Cordyceps would be so much fun! I will also try them.

Thanks for sharing.

8 Sep 2021 Ätsch

@napalm900 Buzzsaw is certainly a good idea, maybe even as a 41st card. Will try that! Until now i've been winging it with Boomerangs but a double magnet locks you out of any server ;( A friend of mine actually played it against me since it has been the decklist of the week and it intrigued me, since i thought at first it was some jank, but it actually works quite well :) I guess my coolest moment was trashing a Gold Farmer and a Tollbooth in a single run with a single Chisel ^^. Other than that I really like the ambush potential. Keep it low and when an agenda is placed - Install Botulus, Install Chisel, Install Boomerang, Run.

@Diogene Yo I tried so hard to get Femme Fatale to work anywhere in Startup. It kinda only works with Retrieval Run but then you also need a good target like a Bran or a Pharos. I still have a contender built for that but that needs testing :D

Thanks for your comments, appreciate it!

8 Sep 2021 napalm900

@Ätscha Gold Farmer is always a welcome sight against this deck! Týr is also a juicy target. Don't forget to use your Simulchip if the corp trashes an ice with a hosted program to bring it right back before your turn begins. Thanks again for sharing!

9 Sep 2021 Diogene

@Ätsch I tried the list. Some things I liked, some things I did not. I think you are right about Femme Fatale. Especially in Loup.

First, what I liked: the program package with Devil Charm and Boomerang. This is great!

What could be better (that I did not like so much) : Verbal Plasticity and Wildcat Strike. I propose to get rid of those to get an extra Gachapon, Keiko and Daily Casts. This would add consistency.

@napalm900 I went and changed the ID for Hoshiko Shiro: Untold Protagonist, which "allowed" me to put more cards. The consistent draw more than make up for the additionnal 5 cards. Putting Stargate really power up the deck. But Stargate does not synergize with René "Loup" Arcemont: Party Animal, so this is not something against this list, but it allow a different avenue for attacks.

Great list, very inspiring. Keep on posting.

9 Sep 2021 napalm900

@Diogene I'm going to try your idea to convert to Hoshiko, more multi access and consistency sounds delicious. Great ideas!

11 Sep 2021 Ätsch

@DiogeneHey I read your comment just now by absolute coincidence. The Devil Charm and Boomerang were sadly not my idea :P. The Verbal Plasticity really is a problem consistency wise. I kinda dislike putting another Gachapon because I'd really like to use everything in here to its fullest and not throw too much away. I'm really pondering about making this a 42 card deck with another Verbal Plasticity and a Buzzsaw. Should work even better.