CT Beatdown

This deck seems somewhat similar to the Stealing ain't that hard originally posted by PeekaySK. I have given it spin and it is indeed a strong deck archetype. Take a look at the discussion over on that deck for some feedback about the general archetype.

As for the specifics of this deck, I'm not a big fan of of CyberSolutions Mem Chip here. Also, influence is tight in this deck and Desperado seems like it could be replaced with The Toolbox to save yourself 3 influence and potentially squeeze in another Account Siphon.

As for breakers and programs, I think 1 copy of Opus is plenty, some games you won't need it, and the games that you do need it you can dig it up with Self Modifying. I think Cloak and Dagger a bit too slow. You would probably be better off running Femme Fatale. Also, Femme really helps to keep your runs efficient and can solve problematic ice like Tollbooth or Komainu.

In my opinion Daily Casts doesn't really belong in an aggressive runner deck. You take a tempo hit when you install it and it doesn't give you more than just clicking for a credit would give you until 3 turns later. Far too slow when you are trying to keep the corp on their heels.

I really like the 1xEscher here. Being able to rearrange corp ice is a very big deal and potentially a game winner. I will probably try and find room for it in my own version.

Keep up the iteration, and good luck with the deck!

Thanks for the comment. I'll definitely swap the Daily Casts for Dirty Laundry. I meant to do that earlier, the casts are leftover from a previous, less aggressive version.

I'm not a big fan of Femme Fatale sans Test Run or other similar shenanigans to get it out, seeing as its quite pricy. I'm debating about grabbing Mimic and hoping the Datasuckers are enough to get me through any larger sentries.

I think The Toolbox is a huge tempo hit that would take awhile to pay for itself; if I pull Desperado it would probably be to add Planned Assault so that I can grab escher/indexing/account siphon when they seem appropriate.

I find people underrate The Toolbox quite a bit. Assuming you are making 1 run per turn, it is essentially getting you a free Opus click every turn. That is huge. It is essentially a Rachel Beckman that only gives you an Opus click. Add in the fact that it provides 2 extra memory and effectively shuts off problematic taxing ice like Viper and Caduceus without needing a breaker and you end up with a surprisingly aggressive card. I find it pays for itself very quickly. Also, don't forget that you would not need to run CyberSolutions Mem Chip if you had The Toolbox. I would encourage you to give it a try and see how it works out for you.

As for Femme Fatale, I think it is absolutely necessary in a shaper deck if ONLY for Tollbooth. The fact that it can also pass a Komainu for free is just an added bonus. Perhaps in your meta corps don't run Tollbooth a lot, but where I play it is everywhere. That card completely wrecks you if you don't have Femme. It costs 7 credits each run to get past a Tollbooth using Gordian Blade, that is nearly an entire turn of clicking Opus just for a single run and a single piece of ice. Compared to Femme Fatale, it costs 10 credits to get past it the first time, then 1 credit on each run after that. It just allows you to keep the pressure up and stay aggressive instead of having to sit back and keep clicking up Opus. It is only 3 more credits the on the first run through, everything after that is just huge tempo gains. Lets not forget that you also get a relatively efficient sentry breaker out of the deal as well. When you are trying to keep the corp on their heels, you want to be as explosive and damaging as possible. Furthermore you want your cards to be multi-taskers. Very much like The Toolbox, Femme Fatale does more than one job in the deck and presents the corp with multiple simultaneous threats all while keeping your runs cheap.

Finally, I forgot to mention this in my first post. I would seriously consider including 1 or 2 Atman in the deck, ESPECIALLY since you are running 2x Datasucker. Atman at 4 solves a lot of problematic ice for this deck. Ichi 1.0, Ichi 2.0, Eli 1.0, Viktor 2.0, Inazuma, Chum, Lotus Field, Bastion are all problematic pieces of ice that are dealt with very efficiently by a single Atman at 4 strength + 1 Datasucker.

In my above comparison of Gordian Blade and Femme Fatale breaking a Tollbooth, I forgot to include the install cost of the Gordian Blade. When you factor that in, the choice becomes even more clear. 4c install + 7 break with Gordian Blade. 9c install + 1 break with Femme Fatale. I think the choice is rather clear.