This is it. The best deck I've ever made. I average a 50-60% win rate with most my non-janky stuff. This badboy is rocking 85%!

The Origins

So I've been working on a bunch of Shaper decks for a long time. At first a lot with Hayley, then transitioned to some stealth/Smoke decks. I kept trying to optimize the breaker suite while slotting in a bit of tech to help with the low pressure early game dip. Often Smoke is trying to find some way to 'burn' her stealth credit to charge up Net Mercur. So I figured, why not Study Guide? Now we've got a growing Study Guide off of Mantle+Smoke every turn unless I'm running and a Stimhack to cover the deficiency....

....and then I realized since I only was running Afterimage for stealth breaker; I might as well switch to criminal. Thus, the ultimate Erudite Criminal was born!

The real power of this deck is that it can *strongly* contest/pressure early and midgame while also building to inevitability in the late game. It ALSO can contest a variety of 'tech' situations reliably including being favorable against asset-spam.

The Method

• Early Game

  Your early game goal is to make money while keeping the Corp too busy to gain too much ground. This means Career Fair'ing Dailiy Casts/Earthrise Hotels, Firing your Sure Gambles, Install 1-2 rezeki's. Dirty Laundry'ing for cash, and bonus points if you've got Flip Switch to make it extra safe.

  Key plays you're hoping to make are Boomerang-> DoF HQ, and to raw-install Tapwrm. We do not expect the Tapwrm to stick. We want to get purged. One click to make the corp waste 3 is a VITAL tempo hit, and our deck lets us do this twice. Of course, if they let us keep the cash that still is a win-win for us.

  It doesn't hurt in this phase to install a breaker you know you'll need or to spec-order and pitch a Paperclip if that's how your hand plays out. But it's not key.

  If you were a shaper, this is where you fall behind and have to catch up later. Thanks to Leela, though It's OK if they score the first agenda. They know you're a criminal so they need to respect the Inside Job/Boomerang play on the remote. They need to Ice HQ against DoF. Better yet, they know you're Leela so they have to either pre-advance to get a spare reinstall click, or 2x Ice a bunch of stuff which takes TIME. Ironically, the same time you probably used to get your Falsified Credentials/IJ/Boomerang to make that remote less spicy.

  The Early Game ends, ideally, with the corp on zero points and you on a successful remote snipe for a 2-3 pointer. Or less favorably with them having scored and you getting some mild punish-pressure. That's fine. This is all according to plan.

• Mid Game

  Mid Game is all about the dance. Most corps in this phase WANT you to run in and get hurt. Or set up their scoring remote and start making progress.

  But you're Leela. You are inevitable. Our goal in this phase is to get all 3 breakers + console. We want our Turning Wheel down as well. Our answer to the corp in this phase is to pressure them with our hammering of HQ/R&D - not for successful expensive runs, but for free TTW-bounces that force them to install and rez more punishing ICE. If you can find the time to click up TTW 2x/turn while passively gaining 2-3, it puts an IMMENSE amount of pressure on the Corp.

  Study Guide is the real champion here. Light to install, then with one Stimhack, or 2-3 of Maui -bouncing off HQ, this will grow to a str4-5 code gate breaker for no real s of your own. DNA Tracker, Engram Flush, Fairchild 3.0, Gatekeeper. The metagame is FULL of high-str code gates that Engolo, Amina, and other popular decoders will get taxed out on. We do it for cheap...AND install for cheap up front.

• Late Game:

  In the end of a typical game, you've got 2-3 rezeki's down along with Bukhgalter, a fully charged Study Guide, and Paperclip. Let's Review:

  • Paperclip is the best Fracter
  • Study Guide is the best Decoder.
  • Bukhgalter is the best Killer

You literally have the best rig. The three strongest breakers with the strongest recurring econ engine. You use the recurring credits from Maui to run on HQ, and bounce off the HQ ice, charging TTW bigger and bigger until your opponent makes a play or you just feel like sweeping HQ for the win.

Non Glaciers

The bane of any strong / big-rig runner deck is when a corp flips the script, runs a few cheap gearcheck ICE, and then goes heavy assets. But we have answers!

For starters, look at our deck. Fully 22 cards straight up make s.

Then there's Miss Bones. If our opponent is lightly iced then that's a net 30 of value! And we are incredibly likely to see it early on, since we run it as a 3-of. You know, early: as in before the corp econ has gone out of our reach. There's also Stimhack, to give us that burst when a single server gets too out of hand.

Finally, unlike other decks, we run 3x Rezeki and the MU to keep them alongside our rig. So we've got a leg to compete on to stay in the game financially.

Think of asset spam as a 'prolonged early game' phase. Delay getting your full rig out and prolong getting your money while suppressing/slowing the corp and you're gonna win.

Closing Thoughts

The best thing I can really say about this deck is that it's FUN to play/pilot. It creates epic, intense moments and really makes you feel like a boxer in the ring. Dancing, feinting, drawing your opponent out. And always giving you the tools to actually execute on those feints.

Try it out for yourself.

All I can say is as a long time player, this is the best deck I've ever made.