Clonetrolling the Movement - Undefeated, 1st place - Ropecon

Clonetrolling the Movement

This deck went undefeated in the second finnish regionals at Ropecon on 30th of July (23 players). Swiss was Bye-Sweep-Sweep-ID-ID, though I played vs the 5th round opponent for funsies anyways. So six games in total with the deck. This was before the MWL update. My runner deck was a Valencia derived from Beyoken's second place SSCI deck. You can see my version here:

Vamp Valencia

During the day I faced mostly anarchs (Val, Maxx, Ed) but also Spycam Hayley. I think all games were won by tagging the runner and then using Psychographics -> Beale/GFI or EoI(s) some 1-pointer(s) for GFI(s). One game might've ended with the runner accessing a QPM while tagged.

Playstyle

Early game see if the runner is willing to trash your stuff. If they are, put them down one or two at a time and keep replacements in HQ. The most effective way to combat CtM tax is to trash everything in one turn and to counter that, keep putting out threats slowly. If they don't trash stuff, you can thrown down some assets and upgrades, but there's usually no need to rez everything, so you can usually hide some agenda (BN/GFI/15 mins) on a remote too. Sensies get you the cards to get you into the next stage of the game.

In Midgame you really REALLY want them to steal a GFI, so don't be afraid to IAA one if you have way more credits + Midseasons available. The way to get the economic advantage is to stick a Suffrage and keep playing Sweeps/Hedge every turn. If you have two, all the better. I could quite easily out-money all the opponents, whether they trashed my stuff or not. If they have Film Critic, you need to have way more money, but at least there's a solution in the form of BN and/or SEA Source. If the runner also has a New Angeles City Hall and some money, you're probably teched out of the game unless they make a big mistake.

Lategame you should have the runner tagged. After this it's about scoring 7 points, either by swapping 1-pointers to the runner or Psychoing out a big agenda or two. The problem can be that the runner can now trash all the assets without problems, but most of the time you should have what you need already and if not, keep drawing. The agendas suite will keep the runner from winning easily as you assemble your victory.

About specific cards

Agendas are the key to this deck. The GFIs, QPMs and 15 mins keep the runner from winning too easily. BN score on a Sansan into EoI -> GFI is such a back-breaking play that it's hard to recover from, usually leaving you free to score another agenda on the Sansan. Beale seems like a better agenda than Astro here, because being able to score more than 3 points with a single Psycho is very nice. It's probably one of the best ways to convert a money advantage into a win.

Oh, keep the QPMs in the same server, behind at least a single Data Raven. After hitting Midseasons it doesn't matter anymore, but installing them on a remote usually gets the kitties to you for cheap.

Operations:

During testing I found that since the Sensies and Suffrages get loads of cards into HQ, it's sometimes difficult to play everything you want to. This is why I included a SfSS, so I can play something during the turns I score an agenda. I'm not at all convinved this is a good include, it's a pretty low impact operation.

Archived Memories is good if Suffrages get trashed, but otherwise it seems obsolete. Sponsors get the Suffrages back, so I could see AM getting the hatchet if you wanted to play this deck post MWL update.

The All-Seeing I was awesome. Many times. Closed accounts could also work, maybe packing both is better. Another thing I'd like to try is 2x Targeted Marketing. Being able to recur it with Suffrages seems very potent. Hard-hitting news is something many people seem to be playing with CtM and it's definitely pretty good. I could definitely see slotting some, but I'm not sure what you'd cut to make room.

The Ice suite is pretty standard, there's not too much, but Sensies find them pretty fast and since you should win fast after Midseasons, it doesn't matter that much that most of them are pretty bad after the runner goes tag-me. I had Information Overload in eariler drafts of the deck, but it is expensive and it's better to just win with Psycho if you have that much money when the runner is tagged.

MWL update

This deck will lose 3 inf from the Breaking News. I think that agenda is so imperative to the deck's function that it's best to drop something else. I'd start with the Archived Memories and maybe a Sansan City Grid. I think an Interns could work in place of the Archived Memories, though replacing the Sponsors with that and keeping the Sansan could also work. I wouldn't take away a GFI or any of the Suffrages. You could also potentially slot the single Astro in, since it wouldn't cost influence anymore.

Counterplay

I haven't lost with the deck much, so I wouldn't know how to beat it consistently, but I don't think any current runner archetype stands much chance without packing at least some hate. Be it Clot/Film Critic/New Angeles City Hall/Employee Strike/Whizzard or Slums. Even slotting some of these cards it's not easy to win. I think the economy and recursion is the one to attack, so keep the Suffrages and Sponsors down. After that you "just" need to have more money than the runner and trash the Sansans or otherwise prevent FA. It's possible to drag the game out this way, but there might be a better way to fight it. Please share your thoughts in the comments if you have any ideas. :)