22 PLAYER INDY STORE CHAMPS 2ND PLACE MAXX DECK 02/07/15

Let's start with the inspiration for this deck, as I quibbled, mused, and pontificated long and hard in the thread--see the 'inspired by' link on the bottom left.

Kudos to SlySquid for sharing it, as it is def a solid list. I ran a pretty close version in the event, only losing two games, and conceding in the finals after 5 rounds of Swiss and cut to Top 8--I was late to a prior obligation and had to get going pronto.

My edits were as follows: -3 Joshua B., -1 Amped Up, +2 Singularity, +1 Wanton Destruction, +1 D4v1d. These edits were instrumental in overcoming a few games that were close--particularly the Singularities and D4v1d. The last semi-final game I played was probably the best game of Netrunner I have ever played--a nail biter until the very end wherein I would have lost were it not Singularity. I played against a pretty diverse array of corps, wherein I smashed all but the 2 (one being the dreaded NEH PAD match wherein I made blunder into a Pop-Up that left me a credit shy of trashing a Crisium; the other being a Blue Sun match that came down to being 1 credit away from Singularity; both losses largely impacted by Crisium Grids turning off my Wantons and Siphons. More on the deck later.

NOW, you may have noticed that the list I am posting here is different not only from SlySquid's, but also the above revisions. Why? What I am sharing here is the leaner and meaner version after playing the deck religiously for the last two weeks. The Store Champs was a big eye opener for what I deemed issues in need of addressing. I am very confident in these changes and will explain below.

1.) Why 45 cards instead of 47: I did not play a single match where I didn't click to draw, play I've Had Worse to search for an answer, or had I've Had Worse trigger on Meat/Net Damage. I get the original premise of setting the deck up to have X draws, but this never was the case. With the deck's habit of getting front-loaded draws of programs, support cards, OR econ, I was consistently in a situation where digging deeper for the missing component was a necessity.

After 25+ games with this, I feel comfortable stating that dropping the 2 additional cards to get to the core action of the deck is the right play. Further, I had a handful of games wherein I Levy'd with a few cards left, as all my action was in the heap and there was drek left to draw. Sure, the averages are impacted minutely by 2 additional cards, but the fact remains: they are impacted.

2.) Why no Amped Up or Joshua B.: You can simply read my perpetual tirade against Joshua in the original thread. Simply put, I rarely encountered this oft implied scenario wherein the corp did not have the credits to trash Josh and it be more than a minor inconvenience resulting in me getting more than 1 additional action. Whereas some see this card as tempo gained, I see it as layaway on an action you spent to put in play. It should and will be trashed 9.99/10 by a corp player whose parents are not blood-related.

I, as a corp player, have never, once, in all my time playing this game, looked at Joshua and thought "man, I'm in trouble now." The popularity of this card speaks more so to the group-think and pipedream nature of this game, where someone states ideal scenarios as fact and leaves out critical info. 3 other locals played the original deck at our league over a week ago, 2 of which also went on to play it at this event. Both of these players found Joshua to be underwhelming, took it out, and said the deck performed better for it. I agree.

My issue with Amped Up is simply, you want to have a full hand when you play it, and you have a 20% chance of losing Wanton--which is what you want more often than not (I had this happen twice during league play). Sure, you can spend these actions otherwise in a number of ways, but, with the somewhat feast or famine nature of the econ, this comes with no guarantees and begins to border on the edge of a mere consolation: "Well I wanted to Wanton for 5, but I guess I will Day Job and draw a card instead." In order to properly set up this card and hedge your bets, you need a secondary, and sometimes tertiary, plan to optimally utilize the actions. (It is also worth mentioning, my meta is all about flatlining, so I prefer to tailor my decks accordingly.)

I did not play the one copy of this card a single time in the Store Champs, nor did I want it by way of Deja Vu. Wanton for 3 cards, which is what you will accomplish on average, is a more than awesome play 99% of the time. Stim Hack is just a better card here, esp. late game, with Knights, archive runs on things like Fetal and NAPD, and for muscling through to nuke a Crisium where possible. The ambush-style design of Stim Hack will just win you games outright.

3.) Why only 1 of each cutlery: Again, my experience with these differs from the OP. Yes, I have used them, but always in a situation where I felt like, "Well, I don't have anything better to do; guess I will kill this somewhat annoying ice to justify the inclusion of these cards."

The best use I had was with a D4v1d to kill off a Curtain Wall. I also killed a Pop-up once, as the corp was credit starved and I didn't wanna give them the needed boost when Keyholing. Even then, the ice that was killed was immediately replaced.

In truth, I would gladly cut all of these entirely when something better comes along. They are not something you want in your opener 9/10, so increasing your deck size and quantity for the inclusion feels off to me. As it stands, I view the one off copies as another tool for the deck where needed. D4v1d serves a similar function, mostly there for Archers and Blue Sun shenanigans. Using an action and even a modicum of credits to break ice for this benefit on top of the cost of the event is just lackluster.

4.) Why no Box-E: I admit, I did play Box-E once in a Genomics match, as I saw Ronins when Keyholing, but filling my hand beyond the normal 5 cards never really mattered.

My thought here is that this influence can be used for Utopia Shard, which is like a third Wanton for two cards, just without the overt click loss. It sets up a Wanton for 5 cards hit, if desired, and most importantly, which is why Singularity is so clutch in this deck, it gives you yet another way to abuse Eater.

This comes down to preference, but this card, in tandem with Wanton is a nice disruption package that puts the corp on tough decisions. I prefer it over the 3rd Wanton, and think playing 3 Wanton and Utopia Shard is prob overkill.

4.) Why Armitage over Liberated Accounts: Lib Accounts being 6 credits is prohibitive, and often a huge tempo hit at certain stages in the game. As is, it plays like another Day Job with a higher barrier of entry. I would often be happy to see this in my opener, or on the back of a gratuitous Siphon loop, but, esp. in the games where my Siphons were made moot by Crisium, I would end up staring at this and wish it was any else. Clicking up to 6 often comes at the expense of aggression, which the deck wants to maintain. Armitage is just a quicker clip for a deck that wants to apply consistent pressure, even at a lower net gain from the far more expensive Lib Accounts. If you are not on top, trying to get this in play and active can take more than a turn, easily--esp. if you are tagged up.

Ever since making this change, I have been able to maintain pressure much more reasonably. And, ironically, when tagged up, I can play this as trash bait for the corp. Take 4-6 and then Keyhole is just stronger, positioning you even when entirely broke.

5.) Why a 3rd Keyhole: It's the ammo in your gun, and your clearest path to victory. You want it every game and you want it as soon as possible, so why would you not increase your odds. Also, you would rather be using Retrieval Run for Femme, not to cobble together Eater/Keyhole. You will win the majority of your games via this combo, so get up and running quicker. Sure, once you assemble the combo, this, and Eater, are dead draws, but this will rarely matter, as you should be shredding their deck like junk mail at that point. This is Netrunner; you should never have the assumption you will play every single card in your deck every game.

6.) Why Singularity: This is another Eater-abusing card that will save your skin. It is particularly awesome against Jinteki/trap shenanigans. I played Singularity almost every single game. It's just more reach for a deck that already is pedal to the floor.

That is pretty much the long and short of it. As mentioned above, I rarely encountered games where the corp just sat there cow-eyed with no credits whatsoever. We had a ton of Weyland at this event, so even aggressive Siphoning would often be a mere poke at their econ (serving more so as a boost for MaxX than a means of locking out the corp). I am sure some may think that I must be doing something wrong, but I would counter that assuming any deck can leave the corp entirely broke 100% of the time is hypothetical vacuum-logic.

This deck's greatest strength is to muscle through via Eater and hit with Siphon, Wanton, and Keyhole. The rest just facilitates this or covers edge cases. Stay the path and you should make fast confetti of the corp's plans--but beware of the dreaded Crisium Grid; I was more wrong than right: this thing can be a damn blowout.

I can't wait to see more new cards to flesh this deck out. True, the deck sort of plays itself, or, rather, it's obvious what means of attack the deck will take. Play skill and familiarity with this deck, and your opponent's, only elevate the lethality of the deck. I believe the revisions I have made to the original list reinforce these strengths, esp. in my meta of 20+ dudes. I would recommend playing both the original list from SlySquid, and this one, to see which better suits your play style.

Thanks for reading. OH, and here is the corp deck I played: http://netrunnerdb.com/en/decklist/15548/jerkteki-3-0-2nd-place-indy-22-person-store-champs-2-7-15