Punk's Not Dead (Reg MaxX)

Reg MaxX was my favorite deck archetype since I started to play it, and I have played it a LOT. Then the horror of the Most Wanted List descended upon the deck, making it exceptionally difficult to continue to play. Most Reg builds lost about 8 influence between Clone Chips, Parasite, and Yog. Keeping all of these, plus your Levy that you generally need, ended up being a tough thing to pull off, often having to forfeit your Legwork or your Net Ready Eyes or your Atman (depending on the build).

I played Reg MaxX at the Florida regional, placing second on the day, in a build fairly different than this one. After more testing, I have found this to be more competitive. That deck replaced the Legwork and one Parasite with an Atman that was either the savoir in some games, or just never installed in many.

Major discovery #1: NEVER cut the Legwork. Post MWL the archetype is less consistent, so big plays for points throughout the game are key. I honestly think that Legwork is one of the best cards in Netrunner, and it wins games. You have the speed to find it, and the recursion to play it.

Major discovery #2: Retrieval Run is a very good card. My previous builds never had a copy, instead relying on the three Clone Chips (which I of course wish I could have). Consistency has greatly improved since I began including it. It's generally not even a bad Same Old Thing target, the math always works out better than playing Deja Vu for a breaker, and frees up Clone Chips and Deja Vu's to get Parasites. If I could make room for a second I would, but I won't go above 45 cards.

Major discovery #3: I was having MU worries before the regional, wary of the lesser MU of Turntable as opposed to Grimoire. Cutting the Atman led to more free MU, and Turntable has swung so many games into my favor I can hardly believe it. Especially these days, where every deck has Food, and we're seeing an increased amount of Exchange of Information decks built around a balance of small and large agendas. I wouldn't consider playing any other console in Anarch currently.

Reg MaxX was always a pretty tough deck to play, and now it's even harder. You can't allow yourself to get into a hole, and you need to intimately know your deck, and hey, you have to occasionally get a little lucky. It's not the strongest deck in the world, but it's a lot of fun to play. MaxX's ability is some of the highest straight up power that has been released in the game, an unprecedented access to cards. Once you've played her for a while and switch to someone else, it just feels so... slow.

Some Card Choices:

Faust: I put one copy of Faust in, but it's basically "break in case of emergency" in this deck. It's your only answer to Lotus Field, and sometimes you just haven't found the right breaker to get that agenda yet. It's not a card I want to lean on, and probably wouldn't even want to use it to break a Lotus Field if I wasn't Spooning it. You don't have a ton of redundant cards in the deck, especially with MaxX already discarding extra copies of things.

Cutlery: I've long had the one copy of both Knifed and Spooned. Knifed is mainly for Eli (remember when the MWL first came out and we mistakenly thought Eli wasn't going to be around as much?), but can also serve a purpose against taxing barriers like Hive and Spiderweb, especially if you find yourself playing against Blue Sun and you haven't gotten your Datasuckers going. Spooned is basically here as a companion to D4v1d, killing Tollbooth, Archangel, and Turing. I will not cut either of these cards. Forked is a fair include, but generally finds itself in the 48-51 card range before being cut. Enough annoying sentries are low enough strength that Parasite can clear them out.

Kati Jones: Three Kati Jones, really just to make sure you find one, hopefully fast. Eventually you run out of cards, and she's econ that will stick around for you, although you have to beware of tags. The relative slowness of Kati is made up for by the speed of MaxX, and she is a key piece of the deck. Plus I have three really pretty alt art Kati's and have to show them off.

There are some changes that can be made. I have tested with Imps, and with Hacktivist Meetings to fend off asset spam decks, which can be a problem. They're both very reasonable. If I were to go back to these the cuts would probably be the third Deja Vu and..... I really don't know what else. Possibly the Queen's Gambit, although the decks you'd be putting Imp in to fight off are also the decks where Gambit shines the most.

Long story short, this is the deck. It's a good deck, but one that has to be played right. I love MaxX, there's no other runner I enjoy nearly as much, and I have an emotional connection with this deck type. If you'll allow me to get a bit sappy for a moment wipes tear from eye, I feel like I wouldn't be the player I am today without playing so much Reg MaxX. It taught me the lessons I learned about adaptability, economic choices, and exploiting weaknesses. So this deck type will always have a place in my heart, and if you see me at a tournament, don't be shocked to see me pull out an orange sleeved deck, setting it on top of my Day Job playmat.