Prof Reaver

Why is data deleted? Maybe they don't want it to be found. Or maybe it's just useless. The useless data is the kind you want.

—The Professor

I won a GNK, bow down. One of my decks was Prof Reaver. It went 2-2, with wins against CTM & Argus & losses against CTM & BOOM-Shutdown NEH. The CTM win was lucksack. I'll take it.

Reaver is the most powerful utility program we've seen in awhile. It's worth noting that trashing corp cards with Imp or Parasite triggers it, too. This list is a mess & The Professor is not even the right Shaper, but with a pretty minor amount of setup we can:

• pop Clone Chip for Cache on corp turn, drawing a card
• sell Cache to Aesop, drawing a card
• start your turn with 2 extra cards & 5 extra

The Cache-Aesop's economy engine is proven, it's powered Noise, Exile, & Hayley decks for a long time. The issue has largely been the hunger for cards: you need to keep drawing while you pawnshop things or you run out of steam. Reaver is a perfect solution to that issue, it turns everyone into a better Geist.

This Actual List

Anarchs have good utility programs, many of which synergize with Scavenge, which in turn triggers Reaver. ICE is rarely an issue with these answers. Managing your Clone Chips & SMCs is key. If you're not under pressure, you'll win by cracking an early SMC for Reaver & having the power to draw into whatever you need. Inti & Faerie are fine for a lot of ICE & also read "click for three credits" if your board state isn't already snowballing.

MU is a choke point. I considered Maya for a while because it could open up a card slot (filled here with Akamatsu Mem Chip). A lot of your programs sit on the board doing nothing for a few turns. Freeing space for SMC is tough. I also suck at Shaper, btw.

Diesel & Beth are just too good to not include. They smooth out issues & are great to see early. Your breakers are sick. I cut Sharpshooter for Deus X last minute because I think Deus Ex is better in the present meta (Mausolus, DNA Tracker, Fairchild, Ronin were considerations). Mimic & Atman are a bit weak, honestly, but crush particular matchups like HB. I needed Mimic to beat Argus & I never played Atman.

Where do we go from here

Someone should figure out optimal Reaver Shaper. @saetzero's Reavershop is a better starting point. Go forth & trash things.