Pinsel's Startup Reality+ (1st @ Berlin Starts Noch Upper)

I went undefeated with this list in field of ten at Berlin Starts Noch Upper event.

When I first considered the Startup format, I set out to build a Jinteki glacier deck with Gold Farmer, because I used to like playing Qvm's Intercontinentals winning list.

Later I saw Pinsel post this decklist and I realized it's everything I want my deck to be. I could never come up with this myself, because I refuse to acknowledge NBN glacier as an archetype. The reasons for that are not really important.

AGENDAS

Looking at the agenda suite, you'll find some of the best agendas in the game in Bellona and Cyberdex Sandbox. Tomorrow's Headline is similarly tempo positive thanks to your identity ability. Lastly, you've got a poor person's Global Food Initiative in Project Beale.

ASSETS

The asset package might be the reason this is the best deck in the format. With Daily Quest, you've got a Nico Campaign that never runs out of money. Think of it as Commercial Bankers Group that you can protect with ice! That card has won the World Championships twice, because you don't have to protect it with ice. It's good enough here as it's probably the best economy card in the Startup.

Spin Doctor brings back the time when all NBN decks had virtually extra three influence, thanks to Jackson Howard. Just like back in the day, play three in every deck and learn how to best use it.

UPGRADES

It's actually the upgrades that make this deck so strong. The combination of the two behind a few pieces of taxing ice makes for a puzzle that's hard to solve for the Runner. The best solution is, just like in real life, to stop being poor. Maybe have the wealth drip down.

OPERATIONS

You round out the economy package with three Hedge Funds and Predictive Planograms. The only surprise here is how much better Predictive Planogram is compared to Beanstalk Royalties and Anonymous Tip.

Both Sprint and Digital Rights Management give you more control over where agendas are. Psychographics let you fast advance in case runner goes tag me, however I didn't encounter this yet.

ICE

You've got Gold Farmer which is strong enough to be banned in the Standard format. This sets the tone of the whole ice suite — rezzed for cheap, broken for a heap. I believe Pinsel's list originally had an Enigma instead of Whitespace. Here, you're trading a lower cost and a marginally more punishing facecheck for the unreliability of the end the run subroutine. In hindsight, I would advise against this and go with the good old Enigma.

I recommend playing this deck. It's quite strong, with no frills, but still offers interesting decisions to make. These qualities make it a great deck for new as well as more experienced players.