El Mariachi Vanilla

Intro

Whizzard: Master Gamer hasn't seen much love. This amigo is my favourite runner though, hence I have been messing around with him for some time.

Since the beginning I have been exclusively playing green guys. In April or May this year I have devoted myself to Anarchs and I keep struggling since then.

Why Whizzard?

The thing I like about my amigo is the fact that actually his recurring credits to trash cards, MAKE the difference. Think of it as a corp player - the fact of paying to trash a card should be a definitive downturn for the runner, this is why you think sometimes - if he trashes it it's ok, if not its also OK, I get my creds/cards/whatevs.

Noise just needs more viruses to shine and i feel like Reina needs a deck that is built to back up her ability (like Anatomy of Anarchy deck), but it is actually true, that I have seen people playing same deck with her. Basically you could do the same with Quetzal: Free Spirit, but that is not the point.

Desperado, Security Testing

I know that is not an excuse, but I hate playing Criminals, because everyone plays Andromeda: Dispossessed Ristie. Of course, literally not everyone, but just look at the stats from Worlds, if you dont know what I mean. It's just that I don't feel rewarded for playing what is probably the best ID/archetype in the game. What is respectful to me, is playing less popular decks.

This is why I grabbed Desperado, added some theme, mixed with childhood memories and boom - El Mariachi was born.

Some of you may remember Running the Rincewindway and Magical Equivalent of Zero decks, which messed around with the same idea and template. Our decks might not differ that much, but in such deck every single card choice is damn important, again - it's not an almost-always working Andromeda.

So after 50 or so games with amigo I have decided to publish it and share with you my experiences.

Previous card choices

We all do keep asking in comments "Why not X? It costs only 2 or What are your thoughts on Y in this deck? - this is why I am going to discuss these whys beforehand.

• John Masanori - The extra draw might be tempting, but I like to check ice and bounce off, therefore it would mean an extra tag to take off (you try not getting that Security Testing trashed). The synergy with deck is mind-blowing, so this might be an addition to consider.
• Express Delivery - Deck is not tight on credits, so paying extra 2 for Quality Time is okay
• Inject why no influence free inject? I have played reduced program edition with Inject and 3 Deja Vu, but , maybe it was due to bad luck, I had terrible draws all the time - 3 Knights and Corroder in one Inject etc, and because you want to save Deja Vu for recurring Parasites or D4v1d I decided to stick to version without it. With Inject though I spent all my influence for 3rd of amigo console.

El Mariachi Vanilla

I often play also 2nd version of this deck which is:

+2 Djinn

+1 Hemorrhage

-1 Deja Vu

-1 Imp

-1 D4v1d

I really can't make up my mind whether to play first or second version, therefore I switch them depending on the meta call. Playing without Djinn feels tight on memory.

Matchups

As you can imagine this deck shines against horizontal corporations, therefore running and trashing their assets is quite valuable option for you. I really like Jinteki: Personal Evolution matchup, because despite having no net damage protection Hemorrhage wrecks them.

Luckily almost nobody in my meta plays Astrobiotics, so I do not have to deal with this bullshit, we have other NEH variations, which are also asset-based.

Recent Blue Sun release caused me to include Plascretes. D4V1D is MVP in this matchup, but I guess thats fairly obvious.

RP is a struggle for every runner.

I think that it doesnt take a rocket scientist to assume that Industrial Geonomics (upcoming Jinteki) is also going to be asset-based, so Whizzard with recurring credits to trash things and Security Testing to run is going to have upper hand.

Playing tips

Aim for Desperado/Security Testing in your opening hand. I'd not mulligan for one of these two only if I had full econ + draw hand.

I run, therefore I am. So run, and don't be afraid of getting your cheap programs trashed. You earn lots of credits and virus tokens by running, so do it.

Installing Cyberfeeder makes the difference, even only one in late game will definitely pay off.

Breaker suite is just typical Anarch one, so save Knights for Lotus Fields and run!

Future

Hoping for influence free draw options for anarchs. WIll give Earthrise Hotel a try, just to have the comfort of playing with 3rd Desperado. Shifting meta also might force including 2nd Yog or sth.

¡adiós!