Everyday I'm Shufflin'

Kenzurith 67

A standard toolbox-style Professor deck (as standard as Professor goes) with all the best programs the game has to offer.

Diesel, Scavenge, Test Run, Clone Chip, and Self-Modifying Code are standard fare for Shapers, the tutor effects extra good with the amount of programs to choose from.

Lady, Faerie, Mimic, and Yog.0 take care of low-strength ice cheaply. Morning Star is a permanent solution for barriers in the mid to late game, with Femme Fatale, D4v1d, and Crescentus to deal with large ice. Femme Fatale also avoids the on-encounter effects of ice since the active player gets to choose the order in which simultaneous occur, which helps immensely against the popular Tollbooth and Data Raven. Atman patches up the hole that is 4-strength ice that Mimic, Yog.0, and D4v1d can't reach. The classic Parasite + Datasucker combo is a permanent solution for most ice as well.

Magnum Opus is the permanent economy solution and three copies ensures the highest chance of finding it in any game. This deck opts not to include Sure Gamble because the opportunity cost of playing it is higher, since you spend a click to play it over a Magnum Opus activation. Modded is a much stronger choice because it doesn't have this weakness and this deck has a huge number of targets for it. Being able to install Magnum Opus for just 2 credits also avoids the tempo hit that Professional Contacts brings, and Leprechaun takes care of the MU cost.

You always want to find Leprechaun to host the 2-MU programs on before your MU fills up, hence the three copies. Hosting two 2-MU programs on Leprechaun effectively makes it +3 MU for just 2, which is insane value, although a 2-MU and 1-MU program still makes it two Akamatsu Mem Chips on one card. Djinn and Astrolabe also provide cheap sources of MU, with Astrolabe taking advantage of the one console slot. Take care not to lose multiple programs to program-trashing effects; Self-Modifying Code helps you out here.

Two copies of Plascrete Carapace provide ample protection against meat damage kill decks. Net Shield is great against small instances of net damage from things like Personal Evolution and House of Knives, while still providing some protection against large instances of net damage. Deus X is better at protecting against large instances of net damage, but has a less persistent effect and Faerie fills half of its role anyway so I declined to include it. Imp protects you by trashing threatening cards like Scorched Earth and disrupts the corp in general by being able to trash anything. Keyhole avoids nasty traps in R&D, most notably Snare!, but you can still get hit by trap assets or cards in HQ so it still pays to play safe.

Keyhole is also the multiaccess solution for R&D, with Nerve Agent being the same for HQ. Sneakdoor Beta is slightly less good with Keyhole on the table since the corp is more incentivized to ice up Archives beforehand, but they could do it for any number of other reasons as well so it's not a huge deal. It's probably still easier to get into HQ through Archives, and forcing the corp to spread their ice thin is always good.

Stimhack is about as much impact as a single influence non-program will buy, so why not? A single Personal Workshop fills up the deck. It has some occasional synergy with Stimhack and lets you dump programs from your grip without using up MU, but I don't know what I'd cut to fit more. Hyperdriver is also a potential include for economy with Magnum Opus or a big turn of runs.

3 comments
26 Aug 2015 Lemonbrick

As a long time professor player, I give this version a big thumbs up. I would only say in the current set up I found Djinn to slow, and I like to include clot, you already have the tutoring for it. Film critic is worthy of consideration (great for stealing NAPD and future perfect) and protection vs mid seasons.

26 Aug 2015 Kenzurith

I had clot in an earlier version and somewhere along the way I dropped it without even realizing. Definitely would still have it in there had I remembered.

26 Aug 2015 Kenzurith

Film Critic was something that I put in and took out several times. Some of its uses overlap with Keyhole, Net Shield, and Plascrete Carapace; you could easily make an argument either way depending on where you're focused. Why did you find Djinn too slow? I basically just use it as a fourth Leprechaun with an added bonus, although maybe that's overkill. You'd have all your basic memory filled by Daemon's, haha.