Rocky Mountain CI

What's so special about this deck, you might ask?

Take another look. Notice anything missing?

That's right. No Genesis. No Spin.

Welcome to the "wonderful" world of post-rotation combo.

Your basic combo requires 3 Biotic Labor, 3 Shipment from Kaguya, 1 "Clones are not People", 1 Shipment from MirrorMorph, 1 Efficiency Committee, and 2 Accelerated Beta Test in hand, along with 20 credits.

• Clicks 1, 2, 3: Biotic Labor (6 clicks remaining)
• Click 4: Shipment from MirrorMorph on the agendas (5 clicks)
• Click 5-9: Advance Efficiency Committee four times and score it (1 click)
• Click 10-12: Empty Efficiency Committee (4 clicks)
• Click 13-15: Play three Shipments from Kaguya on the other two agendas (1 click)
• Click 16: Play "Clones are not People" and score the agendas for 5 more points.

(You can get through a single Clot if you already have either "Clones are not People" or Cyberdex Virus Suite out. Though most of the time, you're happier just hitting it with Ark Lockdown if you can - even if it costs you an agenda.)

The deck also has a variety of ways to win once you have an EC already scored (via double-Biotic). You can jump into the above setup to win via "Clones are not People," or if you have your third Biotic Labor and a Global Food Initiative, you can then go:

• Click 1: Play Biotic Labor (4 clicks remaining)
• Click 2: Play Global Food Initiative (3 clicks)
• Click 3-4: Advance GFI twice (1 click)
• Click 5-7: Empty EC (4 clicks remaining)
• Click 8: Play ABT (3 clicks remaining)
• Click 9-11: Triple Kaguya.

Because these combos are so piece-intensive, of course, you essentially have to draw your entire deck to win. That's where 3 Anonymous Tip and 3 Archived Memories (for extra Violet Level Clearances) come in. Reuse can let you turn the chaff into cash, and can even work as a proto-Jackson in combination with Preemptive Action.

Now, let's be clear: this deck is not CI7. For a start, CI7 loses a tremendous number of important tools to rotation, especially Accelerated Diagnostics. Fewer tools means less flexibility, means you often need to draw all your combo pieces to combo. And since you need every copy of most of your combo pieces, that means you'll often end up having to draw your entire deck.

But the core strategy is the same - assemble most-to-all of your deck in hand and then just win. And without Power Shutdown, some of the deck's inherent vulnerabilities, such as Hades Shard, also are ineffectual. (Though decking yourself becomes a very real possibility.)

I took an older, pre-7 point combo (but still post-rotation) build of the deck to store champs, where it went 3-1, losing only to Dyper because I didn't install eight pieces of ice on R&D and got decked. Needless to say that matchup is painful. (Sadly, I was packing Shaper and got paired against three PU decks, and got ground into putty.) What matters is the deck is very real even now, with actual CI7 and Hasty Pudding still available. And that's not counting any goodies coming out of Terminal Directive.

Some Card Selections

3 Archived Memories: The card that sets this archetype apart, besides the whole post-rotation thing. I think CI7 decks don't play enough of this card right now, but that's another conversation. The point is, having as many as 6 copies of Violet Level Clearance is overwhelmingly important. Just don't flush them all away if you suspect you may get into a current war soon.

3 Anonymous Tip: I don't like this card much. Blue Level Clearance is sorely missed. But we need card draw that's influence-cheap to fuel the deck-dig, and the chaff can be thrown to Reuse. Speaking of,

2 Reuse: Since Violet Level Clearance is money-neutral and Hedge Funds aren't usually enough, this is basically your second economic engine, once you feel comfortable enough on the ground to throw out extra pieces of ice. And don't forget that you can use Reuse + Preemptive Action as a sketchy Jackson substitute. It's possible we want 3 copies, but I have no idea how to fit the third.

1 Paywall Implementation: You need another current, and preferably one in Weyland that's free. Oh, look, there's only one option. But it does some pretty great work against Temujin Contract. The deck used to play more, but influence is a bit too tight now.

1 Ark Lockdown: Jack of all trades, master of some. Your plan A against Clot, with a side order of punishing Conspiracies and/or careless players.

1 Consulting Visit: Current and Ark Lockdown #2. Plus you can use it to find Violet Level Clearance if you're desperate to get the loop going, or "Clones are not People" if you're feeling secure and ready to score it next turn.

1 Show of Force: Because you have to play a 2-pointer that's not ABT or EC. I have won a game in the past off double Biotic SOF, though, so don't forget that's an option.

The Ice Mix: I'm very happy with this current mix. Every card plays a part, even Rototurret, which is a great "gotcha!"