scrapyard leela

After playing 20~ games with some variation of this, I think this is version that can handle the widest variety when it comes to corp archetypes. Compare to Leelashop!

Playing Aesop's Leela in a shell of pure money feels amazing, sure. Most games you sit on a pile of maybe 30 or 40 bucks slow pressuring the weakest corp server and threatening to lock the remote. However, due to your slow setup time, you need a different plan against most corp archetypes since they will probably get a head start on whatever they want to do.

The more I've played this deck, the more I've needed tools to suffocate the corp from all angles in a classic controlling style. Each of the 1-ofs is picked to combat a specific corp matchup. Use the insane card advantage provided by Li + Dealer to find the tool you need while amassing an insurmountable credit advantage.

Cards

• 3 Aesop's. 3 Cache. 3 Harbinger. 3 Casts: The aforementioned piles of cash. We always clear tags until we are on the home stretch.
• 3 Desperado: Even without laundry or sec test this is too good. Don't underestimate how central this is to our plan.
• 2 Dealer. 2 Li: Gaslight was playing Li first and it's essential, finds all of our 1-ofs. Think of the dealers as better QTs that give you a drip instead of a burst. They let us take 5 click turns to establish that initial credit lead.
• 1 Drive By: Helps conserve Inside Jobs against junk in the remote and make Caprice decks rez her early. Sniping SanSans never gets old either. Probably don't use this against PE!
• 1 Emergency Shutdown: This + Femme are our answer to big ICE.
• 1 Employee Strike: Glacier decks typically have the raw tax to deplete our resources, this will let us deplete theirs. Blue Sun, RP, & Sol just to name a few.
• 1 Special Order: We need an answer for rush corps.
• 1 HQI: Swapping Legwork for this has made the biggest difference. Making one run a turn is often the play and this let's us get so much value from running HQ. Leela makes the corp slow down so the agendas will build up in there.
• 1 RDI: Wish we could play 2, but strike + utopia are both necessary. Often this is installed after poking R&D for most of the game once some of the Jackson's have been used to shuffle agendas out of HQ.
• 1 Sneakdoor Beta: Best card in the deck hands down, the corp never ICEs archives enough and we can often anticipate stealing an agenda or two, exposing servers they thought were safe. This card in this deck makes me feel like playing Old Leela where one turn sets them reeling for the entire game.
• 1 Utopia Shard: The second best card in the deck. Makes our HQI go so much further, gives us counterplay for FA-from-hand and SEA-Scorch. This is the coup de grace when the corp slows down to play around the bounce.
• 1 Gang Sign. 1 Bank Job: These are our flex slots. Gang Sign is one of those cards that could be more econ but having the extra angle of attack can limit the corps options. Against Rush and FA decks that slow down too much this seals the game. Against PE its a MOpus click. Bank Job can give us that burst of cash to trash whatever assets are installed in the open. We need to stop the corp from making money at all costs. Either or both of these could be another IJ, dealer, or Faerie.
• 1 Corroder: Don't lose this.
• 1 Cerberus Rex. 1 Passport: 2 Rex is unnecessary. Femme is for code gates mostly. Make them install enigma on HQ or get siphon'd.
• 2 Faerie. 1 Ninja. 1 Femme: Not enough run events for Sniper and not enough slots for Mimic. I install Femme in 75% of games as my primary sentry breaker but Ninja helps against anyone on Grim or Assassin. 3 Faerie would be nice but the tech cards are better IMO, we can take the hit to pay for our breakers upfront.
• 1 Crowdfunding: Tragically, this feels essential in this deck, or else it would be a good precon. The 4th casts and the 3rd drug dealer at the same time. We make usually make 3 runs in a turn for good value and reinstall this 2-4 times a game.

Notable Excludes

• Plascrete: Out-money them or knock out their kill pieces.
• Dyson Mem Chip: Plan your turns well and you won't need this. Time out when to play the Sneakdoor and when to trash it.
• Zu, Gordian, etc.: Our influence is better spent on cards that can pressure the corp.

Matchups

• Blue Sun: It will be hard to contest a very early OAI play but the strike can let us claw our way back into the game.
• RP: Don't let them stick any assets. Strike makes their plan to tax your clicks on the remote very leaky and can clear ELP.
• Weyland: They will rush hard so look for IJs and Special Order. Utopia can make killing us impossible.
• SanSan FA decks: Drive By and obscene amounts of cash. Utopia lets us clear their hand before we install RDI.
• Spiky Jinteki: Unless we are against Batty the dealers will keep us flush in cards that are mostly replaceable. The shard can send snares and the baby to the bin. Against Batty we want to go tag me and siphon them to keep them off the psi game, pinging the kill pieces from hand.
• Sol: Strike again.
• Nisei Div.:This is your hardest matchup. Strike can salvage it somewhat but they can usually score on command. This is one of those decks where we need to attack from every angle with all of our 1-ofs to keep them off balance because if they ever get setup with a Caprice in the remote and a Mk II scored we are toast.

Final Thoughts

This is a deck that rewards a lot of ingenuity and forward thinking strategy with a focus on controlling the corp and slowly weathering them down through a series of precise strikes. If that sounds like fun to you, give it a try!