Let's talk Whizzard

Deck Archetypes
21

I’m going to necro this thread, because I’m curious to see current whizz builds after the release of some of the better anarch revival tools we’ve seen in a while. Why are you running whizzard (strategy), how are you running whizzard (decklist), and why isn’t your deck just Noise, since he’s better(convince me otherwise!)?

I feel like the meta has never been more ready for Whizzard domination than now, we should start this conversation now for worlds!

I feel like Whizzard helps work against the click compression RP is good at creating, since you can save the clicks on econ. In NEH, you can dig deeper in R&D trashing jacksons and even SanSans while trying to keep up the R&D Lock, and obviously clearing out the malarky they install to draw. You don’t have to focus on viruses to optimize the ID, so NA, parasite and DS should be all you need, if you don’t use medium and use keyhole instead. I think this can allow you to shift your attention to spinal modem instead of grimoire, allowing you to stay aggressive longer.

I can imagine a desperado/security testing with spinal modem build being really really good right now. Criminal type run efficiency with anarch access tools seems very strong. You can have mounting pressure from mediums and nerve agents to slow down fast decks, knights to stay aggressive on 1 ice remotes, and efficient breakers to keep you on top of the corp. All of this is true of noise however, so why would we run whizzard? This is where you come in…Whizzard aficionados.

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22

Here’s the whizzard list I’ve been playing around with, sorry I don’t have hyperlinks, it was on nrdb /weep:

Déjà Vu (Core) x3
Cyberfeeder (Core) x3
Corroder (Core) x2
Datasucker (Core) x3
Medium (Core) x3
Mimic (Core) x3
Parasite (Core) x3
Yog.0 (Core) x1
Desperado (Core) x2
Armitage Codebusting (Core) x3
Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead) x1
Imp (What Lies Ahead) x3
Liberated Account (Trace Amount) x3
Quality Time (Humanity’s Shadow) x3
Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control) x3
Knight (Mala Tempora) x3
Security Testing (Honor and Profit) x1
Net Celebrity (The Spaces Between) x3

I have not had as much luck with it as I would like, so there is obviously room for improvement–but–I think he is stronger than RP and NEH than Noise is (at least, inherently), which are arguably two of the strongest corps. Noise still lags the corp is keeping him running rather than get to get his virus engine going, this is doubly true if he has to be trashing the stuff he sees, where obviously Whizzard excels.

23

Honestly, I’ve not felt slow with my noise deck, I merely need an imp and I’m good as whizzard. It actually only slows me down from trashing shit from the corps hand/R&D. Your build looks interesting, I’m curious how often you need the liberates, if you’re not vamping that is.

24

And Noise might once again just be the “best” anarch ID, since his build got a couple massive boosts in the last couple packs. Because you’re absolutely right, imp outranks Whizzard in most cases. I think Whizzard really needs an alternate attack vector (so something he can do while trashing, gain money from trashes, etc.) to come into his own space.

25

Well,
speaking of Desperado build -

Identity
Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)

Event (12)
3x Déjà Vu (Core Set)
3x Sure Gamble (Core Set)
3x Dirty Laundry (Creation and Control)
3x Express Delivery (Honor and Profit) • • • // Quality Time

Hardware (5)
3x Cyberfeeder (Core Set)
2x Desperado (Core Set) ••• ••• /// Spinal Modem

Icebreaker (8)
2x Corroder (Core Set)
2x Mimic (Core Set)
1x Yog.0 (Core Set)
3x Knight (Mala Tempora)

Program (12)
2x Datasucker (Core Set) /// +1
2x Medium (Core Set)
3x Parasite (Core Set)
3x Imp (What Lies Ahead) /// -1
1x Nerve Agent (Cyber Exodus)
1x D4v1d (The Spaces Between)

Resource (8)
1x Ice Carver (Core Set)
3x Armitage Codebusting (Core Set)
2x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)
2x Security Testing (Honor and Profit) ••• •••

You really can save influence on Desperado and get Spinal Modem - actually I think this is the most competitive thing right now you could ever get with Whizzard. Having Spinal Modem and Extra 6 influence could get you even a 3rd copy of Sec Testing and / or lots of stuff. Having a balance between datasuckers/imps/plascretes just depends on the player.

On the other hand, I have been playing for some time - Whizzard with Aesops Pawnshop and been testing less successful but simply more interesting build - light, three way pressure thingy - Whizzards ID ability -> asset econ., Donut -> operations., Xanadu >- ice rezzing.

Identity
Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)

Event (3)
1x Vamp (Trace Amount)
2x Hostage (Opening Moves) •• ••

Hardware (2)
2x Grimoire (Core Set)

Icebreaker (8)
2x Corroder (Core Set)
2x Mimic (Core Set)
1x Yog.0 (Core Set)
3x Knight (Mala Tempora)

Program (16)
3x Datasucker (Core Set)
2x Djinn (Core Set)
1x Medium (Core Set)
3x Parasite (Core Set)
2x Imp (What Lies Ahead)
1x Nerve Agent (Cyber Exodus)
3x Cache (The Spaces Between) • • •
1x D4v1d (The Spaces Between)

Resource (16)
2x Aesop’s Pawnshop (Core Set) •• ••
3x Armitage Codebusting (Core Set)
2x Liberated Account (Trace Amount)
2x Xanadu (Humanity’s Shadow)
2x Kati Jones (Humanity’s Shadow)
3x Daily Casts (Creation and Control)
2x Donut Taganes (Honor and Profit) •• ••

Hostage has 3 targets with Donut being primary - Aesop, Kate. Without Sure Gamble, Easy mark and stuff, you have to have access to burst econ, hence Cache & Aesop. It lead to putting cards, that work quite good both with Donut & Aesop - Daily Casts, Armitage, Imp, D4vid, Cache - that gives at least 12 cards that are Pawnshoppable. Standard Anarch Rig.

And yeah, as you probably were thinking - this was little bit too slow. Donut, meh. But what I have found out is very interesting - Aesop is here just as good as in Milling Noise, therefore I have came out to the conclusion, THAT cutting Donut and Liberated accounts, and replacing it with Burst Econ/Draw… makes this deck very quick and successful. Give it a try by adapting it to yrslf!

Discussing the Anarchs IDs… Well, despite playing Whizz on a daily basis, I took Noize to my Nationals :wink: Not sure If we can find right now an identity that will be as successful as Noise nowadays is.

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26

Yeah, as a big proponent of the Desperado/Security Testing Whiz build, it’s still my favourite. Since I first built it, it’s been my go-to deck. Probably not realistically as good as Noise, but it has been doing quite well for me, especially against NBN. I’ve dropped the Ice Carver for a second D4V1D there, though, because they nombo pretty hard and I’d rather have one thing relatively reliably than two silver bullets that are mutually exclusive.

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27

I’ve been maining Whizzard lately, because I always run into NEH and PPVP Kate (my previous deck of choice) struggles with it. I could probably splash Scrubber but I don’t have ASiS (or is it Trace Amounts? Too lazy to check lol)

Anyway, I haven’t been using Knight, again due to lack of required packs, but I’ve been splashing for Atman and I’ve found it works rather well. Ideal rig is fixed breakers + Atman for 4 + Datasuckers/Parasites. An Atman for zero early isn’t bad either, in a pinch. Anyway, decklist below:

Whizzard of Orz (45 cards)

Whizzard: Master Gamer

Event (12)
3 Deja Vu
2 Dirty Laundry
3 Quality Time
1 Scrubbed
3 Sure Gamble

Hardware (9)
3 Clone Chip
3 Cyberfeeder
2 Grimoire
1 Plascrete Carapace

Resource (5)
3 Armitage Codebusting
2 Kati Jones

Icebreaker (8)
2 Atman
2 Corroder
2 Mimic
2 Yog.0

Program (11)
2 Datasucker
1 Djinn
2 Imp
2 Medium
1 Nerve Agent
3 Parasite

Not sure about Kati tbh, I’ve been using Daily Cats so far because I’m afraid Kati will eat up all your clicks, but idk. Also been using Grimoire instead of Spinal Modem because I like the extra MU (space for 3 breakers + atman + djinn with stuff OR datasucker AND one parasite) and effect, but what do y’all think, Spinal Modem instead? It occurs to me that I could use Spinal Modem’s credits when paying for Atman’s when installed ability (or at least I think I can, at least if I understand the Atman + Omni-Drive ruling correctly).

28

First, I want to say that I play anarch A LOT. I play noise since core, then switched to wizzard dlr at future proof release. I never doubt that noise could be better in this deck(it was pretty much Anatomy of anarchy with crypsis and grimoire). So back to current situation:

Right now I’m running both Whizzard and Noise deck, and just dunno how to compare them. They are tottally different. Saying that noise better it’s like saying “why do you running FA etf, redcoats are better” or otherwise.

They are tottally different decks with their own approach to pressuring the corp. Whizzard have very good start with high early pressure, Noise win any late game due to its mill. Whizzard builds abuse siphons, play a lot of burst economy, trying win game as fast as he can, noise take advantage from constant draw, constant economy income, his strategy is more about not letting corp to score by trashing ices, using lamprey etc.

You can build Noise with siphons without aesop for sure, but how is it different from last half-year without presense of cashe? Why nobody plays noise that time?

It is my approach to these decks, and you can look at this differently for sure, but I just don’t understand how to compare this absolutely different decks with different strategy.

It was answer to x3h0ur

29

They have exactly the same toolset, their abilities are the only difference, I can’t see them being totally different, without dedicating a build to be different. I’d be curious to see both lists side-by-side and see the differences. I feel like the only difference is that I might run less Imps in whizzard. I am currently practicing a whizzard siphon spam build, but every time I play it, I figure I should just be noise because of all the viruses I’m installing.

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30

They play different to me.

Wizard needs to run, to hit an asset or his ability is blank slate. He therefore has to run earlier, and run economy is important.

As gozik said, Noise can afford to snipe agendas

Wizard needs to have early breakers, noise can if it chooses go a crypsis route.

31

Time to bump this thread. I have been playing a lot of Whizzard lately, to more success than probably any Runner I personally have piloted. The build is my own, though not anything terribly original. At its core is a pretty rigorous economy, and the synergy of Inject + Clone Chip.

BG Algae Whizzard

Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)

Event (12)

Hardware (7)

Resource (8)

Icebreaker (7)

Program (11)

15 influence spent (max 15)
45 cards (min 45)
Cards up to Up and Over

Deck built on NetrunnerDB.

Record available here: http://netrunnerdb.com/en/deck/view/175504

The deck’s biggest weakness is the lack of tutoring. I could drop the SecTests for 2 SMC, but it would make the PE match-up very difficult, as well as weaken the economy. It may seem like SecTest works against Whizzard, but I have not found this to be true. The Corps that run assets, need them. They will play them. You can SecTest and then run again to trash. Whizzard to me feels very well positioned in the current meta; the two biggest threats IMO (RP and NEH) both rely heavily on assets, and Whizzard’s ability allows you to not lose tempo while doing what you need to do versus these decks, RP in particular.

More testing is required to determine whether SMC is really necessary. So far, I have found this deck can recover fast and hard from a slow start, and often, even when you don’t find the breaker you need right away, other answers will reveal themselves. For example, in my most recent game versus RP, I obviously wanted a Mimic early. 2 first turn Injects failed to hit a Mimic. What I did have, was Ice Carver opening hand, which is arguably better. I was able to kill 3 Komainu’s over the course of the game, and played around the threat of Tsurugi.

Anyone else playing Whizzard right now? I am enjoying him. I always feel like the aggressor with this deck. I definitely need to test more against NEH Fastro. I can tear through their assets, but without Legwork I can’t surprise with an HQ threat. I also need to test more against RP.

32

Want an advice ? Run desperado instead of SecTest. By doing so, you’ll liberate 2 deckslots from the Spinal Modem, which can be replaced by something like a second armitage and a second Déjà Vu.

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33

Don’t listen to that shaper. Stick to our tools!

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34

Whizzard is the reason I adopted anarch as my pet faction (Zork was one of the first proper computer games i played). I love me some wizzy credits. Thanks for sharing the deck.

this is heresy i’m sure but i wonder how it would play out if you replaced the feedback filter with disrupter (for your modem) which frees up a slot for utopia shard (extra scorched protection). Alternatively you could use that extra influence to change zu13 into gordian blade, which serves the purpose of breaker 4+ strength ICE better.

at any time you could swap the Sec testing for 2 special orders, but perhaps you’ve already tried that out and prefer the money instead.

how much do you use imp? you could trade out one imp for a djinn to give yourself a psuedo-2 mediums/nerves/etc.

35

FF is my answer to PE, which is fairly popular. I think Anarchs have the worst match-up versus PE without FF. I would never run Disrupter; it is so rare a trace will go off successfully on me, and when it does, it’s only 1 brain damage. worst case scenario I lose a good card from my hand. I’m not sure I like Gordian; it’s more of a hit to play, and it’s not much more efficient for most Code Gates. it only saves you 1 on Lotus Field. the best reason to play Gordian IMO is NEXT, but I don’t think that’s enough reason here.

I have not yet tried Special Order, but that’s in the pipe along with SMC. both add consistency to the deck, which is always strong.

I don’t often use Imp, but I don’t think I want less than 2. The ability to pound HQ and trash operations is an important optioin to have in the meta. he also helps to dig deeper in RND when it counts.

36

This reminds me a lot of the Quetzal deck I was running for a while prior to the last data pack; it was similarly aggressive, and played with the Inject + Clone Chip thing as well (although since I put some influence into a couple copies of E3, I also packed a retrieval run or two. It’s a really fun play style, and I imagine Whizzard is fairly well-positioned in the current meta, especially with yet another must-trash asset in IT Department.

I don’t have any specific suggestions but I think Steelskin will help quite a bit in the PE matchup. I’m not a huge fan of Knight anymore, given that against Blue Sun it is essentially a very click-intensive one-shot and RP has so many multi-sub ice, and a majority of my local meta is one of those two (I may be one of the only people still playing NEH, and I’m a latecomer to the card). But if it’s working for you, it’s working for you… Looks like a fun deck. Maybe I’ll sleeve it up and give it a go.

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37

It can be tough to go against PE with a typical anarch deck. My best success has been to just ignore their game altogether, pound RnD as hard as possible, and just deal with the inevitable snares.

38

Everyone is saying that knight becomes a one shot against blue sun… and … its not.

So while I agree that it is somewhat weaker, that doesn’t mean at all that it cannot be a valuable add to a deck. Consider. You pop a knight on ice. You run. The corp doesn’t rez, and on his turn he discards the ice.
All things considered, not a horrible result.

I think the key to using knights against blue sun is to have at least one click after the run. Move the knight to unrezzed ice.

If he picks up the rezzed ice - and trashed the knight ice - he’s going to blow two clicks just to ice up again. You can certainly build a deck around that with unscheduled maintenance.

39

Dude, and you can always run Pawn.

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40

You know these two sentences contradict each other, right? You had one use out of the Knight and then it’s dead.

Knight is not the amazing panacea it used to be. I’m not saying it’s a total piece of garbage you should windmill slam into your binders with extreme prejudice, but it’s not as good as it used to be, and not just because of Blue Sun - multi-sub ice are also more prominent than they used to be between Grails, Komainu, and even just those multi-sub ice that never went anywhere like Eli. Against RP, which also exists and is also powerful, Knight is simply too click-intensive without packing cards specifically to support it. By itself, it’s basically NBN tech.

I know people hate Crypsis but I’d almost rather have a Crypsis than a Knight these days. Yes, it costs 3 more. Anarchs aren’t as dirt-poor as they used to be - especially this Whizzard decklist, which runs a similar economy package to a deck I used to run and can make silly money if necessary. Yes, you have to pump it. You’re running Datasuckers anyway. Assuming you’re planning to use it to pass a single mystery ice, you have identical click efficiency (install>click Crypsis>run vs. install>move Knight>run), but you don’t have to spend your 4th click just saving your icebreaker, and when it’s all said and done you still have a Crypsis on the board. The corp can’t just eliminate it by picking up or installing over a single piece of ice.

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