The Philosoraptor

This is the first of many attempts and edits to what I hope to be a somewhat viable Sage deck. It was hard to pick an identity that could make the most use out of Sage, since the card itself doesn't have an identity focus to it. I ultimately went with Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: Digital Tinker for two reasons: The money I'd save while setting up, and the fact that you start with 1 link. The deck can be somewhat credit-intensive at times, and anything to alleviate that problem was welcoming. The 1 link gives the Dyson Mem Chip + Underworld Contact combo a much easier time to set up, and can give your economy a much needed boost. You could definitely make a strong argument for Chaos Theory: Wünderkind, as the lower deck size helps you find what you need, and her identity has synergy with Sage, but I found myself struggling for credits as I was getting set up. You could make an argument for Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman as well, since Sage has potential with her also, but you start missing those extra 5 influence when you're deck-building with her. Also, I feel like she has a much better home in Stealth right now (Refractor is very powerful in that deck). It should also be noted that both of the above identities have 0 Link, making the intended economy rather difficult to pull off.

I’ll try to go in detail with the card choices, although some should be fairly obvious:

Events:

Diesel – I feel like I don’t need to explain this one. If there are any Magic: the Gathering players that have ever played Ancestral Recall before, and understand incredible value that card gives you, than this card should make complete sense.

Modded – This goes well with Kate, since the important parts of my rig has a cost range of 3-5. It makes R&D Interface and Sage free, and Dinosaurus cost 1. It also lets you overdraw a bit more, since you play 2 cards for 1 click.

Quality Time – QT ended up being the 45th card in the deck, and has served quite well as a sort of panic button. If you somehow still can’t find what you need, or just need cards against Jinteki fast, QT serves its purpose well. I haven’t been disappointed with it so far.

Sure Gamble – Never cut this card. Seriously.

Hardware:

Clone Chip – It enables Parasite and D4v1d recursion if you really need it. Worst case it becomes a Self-modifying Code.

Dinosaurus – Probably the most important card in the deck. You can play Sage beforehand if you really need to get into servers, but Dinosaurus makes Sage at worst strength 2. Unfortunately, the deck currently does not have any way to search for it, although you could give me an argument for Trade-In.

Dyson Mem Chip – This enables the admittedly jank-feeling economy of Underworld Contact, while boosting Sage strength. It’s dual-purpose is the only reason I’m not playing free Akamatsu Mem Chip.

e3 Feedback Implants – This is one of the cards that I’m actually still skeptical on. Its role makes sense; it makes Sage slightly cheaper to operate (as long as there’s more than 1 subroutine on the ICE anyway), and gives you a little bit of a warm and fuzzy feeling if you happen to sit across the table from HB (Suck it, Eli!), but I’m not sure how useful it will end up being.

Plascrete Carapace – Weyland is showing up more, and this deck can’t afford an economy war most of the time. 2 feel pretty mandatory at this point.

R&D Interface – Multi-card access wins games and this is in faction. I might end up adding a third one and cutting the Quality Time, but for now two seems like the right number.

Programs:

This is probably where most of the debate will lie, and it’s the most contested area for me as well. There are many viable options one can use as a Killer to compliment Sage, and I feel like it ultimately comes down to playstyle and preference. That’s the beauty of this game, really; the game can be really flexible when it comes down to card decisions.

Sage – The reason this deck exists in the first place. Having two breakers in one seems like incredible value, and its drawbacks make the card very fair by itself. 2 MU makes it unwieldy to most rigs, and lowers its strength at the same time. 2 credits per subroutine make it inefficient in the long run. Fixed strength means you need to be careful what you install, and when. However, I feel like the right card combinations can make up for Sage’s weaknesses.

Mimic – What I ultimately ended up using as my Killer, and I feel like it was the correct choice. It’s early-game friendly, enabling you to face-check most ICE with relative safety, and works well with Datasucker and Parasite. I had juggled the position between this and Femme Fatale, but 9 credits is a hell of a downside for a drip economy, and there’s no way to replay it once Blue Sun bounces the ICE you tried to bypass.

Datasucker – If I’m playing Mimic, I need a Datasucker or two to support it. People play sentries above 3 strength, and I need the tokens for a variety of reasons. You could make the argument that it doesn’t belong in Sage; I could make the argument that one Datasucker token makes up for the loss in strength.

Parasite – Sometimes ICE just needs to go. Datasucker and Parasite have been played since the game came out, and there’s a reason why other factions play it. Long live that little green bug.

Deus X – Jinteki took the top two spots in Worlds this year. The identity has been getting more popular; even PE is seeing more play now. Having an in faction safety net is never a bad thing; it’s the same argument you make for playing Plascrete Carapace in Weyland. It’s dead if you don’t need it, but it saves your life when you do.

D4v1d – Or as I’d like to call it: Our only hope against Blue Sun. In a realistic scenario (All 3 Dyson Mem Chip out, 2 Datasucker, Mimic, Dino-Sage active) Sage is strength 6. That isn’t enough to deal with Hadrian’s Wall. Or Curtain Wall. Or Ice Wall advanced 6 times (I’ve seen it!). The card gets us out of jams and can make Blue Sun a winnable matchup. There are many, many arguments you could make against this card, and I don’t think I could come up with enough rebuttals. Its 4 influence is unwieldy. There isn’t a reliable way to recur it. But at the moment, I can’t think of any other card except maybe Overmind as an alternative to D4v1d, and Overmind on a Curtain Wall is incredibly painful.

Self-modifying Code – I actually don’t like this card at times. It doesn’t like Sage, as it’s also an MU glutton. I only run 2 breakers, and have no real need to actively search them most of the time. The only reasons they’re in there right now is to tutor for Parasite, Deus X and D4v1dif it’s really necessary.

Resources:

Kati Jones – This has been the go-to choice for any sort of long-term economy plan. As this deck is built for the long-term as well (It’s Shaper, most of their decks are), Kati is definitely a welcome addition. Don’t be afraid to take 6 credits off of her if it means installing vital pieces.

Professional Contacts – This is probably the second most debated card I have, next to the program suite. There have been games where I haven’t found this card and lost. There have been games where I’ve had this card turn 1 and lost (Mostly NBN decks, because they do that), there have been games where I’ve had this card turn 1 and never found the right sequence of cards. However, given all of its drawbacks and lack of speed, I’d still prefer this card over Magnum Opus for one reason: Magnum Opus doesn’t draw you cards. Everything’s at a discount since you’re Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: Digital Tinker anyway; you don’t need a lot of credits until you start running. However, you definitely need cards as you’re setting up. If I ended up switching to Magnum Opus, that would mean 2 less strength for Sage, as well as a lack of synergy with Kati Jones (I don’t like her with Magnum Opus, since she never becomes as efficient)

Underworld Contact – See my above description regarding Dyson Mem Chip. Clickless drip economy is very powerful, and while I could probably get away with playing Daily Casts, that eventually goes away. Underworld Contact is with you until the bitter end (or at least I want it to be, I can never find Dyson Mem Chip fast enough!)

By all means, feel free to yell at me if you believe there are any changes to the deck that could be made for the better. I’m open to ideas (Constructively, of course. Please don’t be an ass, it never helps anyone) that could make this deck either more efficient, or more consistent.

TL;DR – This is an experimental Sage deck with some probably unconventional card choices. Play at your own risk.

Also, have to give credit to ExplodyCat for the name. It beats anything else I could have come up with.