Coming this Summer

I believe it must have been this past summer when I first started experimenting with an idea for a new form of the Butchershop deck.  Granted, Butchershop may have been in decline at that point.  After all, I think that was around the time when the 2015 World Championship decks were released, bringing Data Leak Reversal Paparazzi Wireless Net Pavillion Fall Guy to the masses.  Still, I went on tinkering with the idea.  And I was still able to win a few games with it.  So I present to you my own spin on Butchershop:

Michael Bay Presents: Explosions! - 49 cards
Identity: Harishchandra Entertainment - Where You're the Star

Agendas (21 points)
Executive Retreat - 3
Restructured Datapool - 3
TGTBT - 3

Ice
Data Raven - 3
Hunter - 2
Pop-up Window - 3
Tollbooth - 3
Wall of Static - 1
Wraparound - 3

Assets
Jackson Howard - 3
Lily Lockwell - 3
PAD Campaign - 3

Operations
Archived Memories - 1 (2 influence)
Hedge Fund - 3
Midseason Replacements - 2
Scorched Earth - 3 (12 influence)
SEA Source - 1
Sweeps Week - 3
Traffic Accident - 3 (3 influence)

Being a Butchershop variant, the main idea is to try and tax the runner so you can set up for a kill.  However, I don't think this arrangement does it very well.  I've gone with Harishchandra over Near-Earth Hub as I find I don't use the ability of NEH frequently enough to benefit from it, while knowing what the Runner is holding could be of great use.  That is, when I remember to tell the runner.

Agendas are a bit interesting.  TGTBT is there primarily to be used as bait.  You want the runner to hit this so you can folllow up with Midseason for even more tags.  Restructured could let you place large amounts of tags on the runner.  Executive Retreat is there mostly as filler, as I couldn't bring in Global Food Initiative due to the influence limits, and the deck isn't really set up for that.  Though, it might be a good idea to replace Executive with GFI and the Restructured with Explode-a-palooza.  The second one would certainly be thematic.  Maybe then replace TGTBT with Project Beale.

Ice is a mix of permeable and somewhat taxing.  It's not supposed to be about always keeping the runner out so much as it is letting them in at the right time, in theory.  Data Raven forces a tag, letting you see their hand, and maybe can let you place a tag at any time.  Hunter could land an early tag as well, plus it is cheap to rez.  Pop-up Window taxes the runner slightly, and makes some money for you.  Tollbooth should be taxing as well, although with Hunting Grounds becoming more popular, it may not be as taxing as it once was.  Wall of Static and Wraparound offer some cheap ETR ice that should still be a little taxing as the game goes in.

Assets are focused mostly on getting to the cards you need.  Jackson for straight up card draw and some recursion.  Lily Lockwell is an interesting choice.  She gives you three cards on rez, so ideally you want to bring her online when you are about ready to make the kill.  She can also be used to put an operation of your choice on top of the deck at the cost of a tag, so you could make decent use of the tags piled up on the runner.  PAD Campaign provides some drip economy.

Operations are the main way you will win.  Scorched Earth and Traffic Accident are your kill cards.  You'll ideally want at least one in your hand to make the kill so you can draw into another.  Midseason is how you'll get enough tags on the runner to make the kill.  SEA Source can land a tag to set up for a double Scorched.  Sweeps Week and Hedge Fund provide some burst economy.  Finally, Archived Memories sort of acts as a copy of any operation in your discard pile, or lets you pull off a kill with one Scorched, as you can use Archived Memories to get it back on the same turn you played it.

Now the downside.  The deck feels very vulnerable to Shaper.  It's easiest for them to defeat traces thanks to their easy access to lots of link strength, plus they have Film Critic in faction, which dodges both TGTBT and Midseason Replacments.  Criminal will also likely present problems, as Account Siphon can leave you without the money needed to make the kill unless you are lucky enough to have all three copies of Traffic Accident at once, and they don't bother removing the tags.  Finally, there's always the possibility that Plascrete Carapace will show up, which will make it much harder to make the kill.  It is possible to score out, but if the runner has had the time to set up, it's not likely you'll be able to do so.

Out of the ten games I recorded while playing this deck, I won 5 and lost 5, giving this deck a win rate of 50%, which is not great for a Butchershop variant.  As such, I put aside the deck for a while.  But that's the thing about movies - there's typically a sequel in the works.

Oh, and the deck takes its name from a sketch in an episode of Robot Chicken.  In the sketch, the characters are watching trailers in a movie theater, and one of the trailers is for a movie by Michael Bay which is nothing but explosions.  You can view the clip here: https://youtu.be/v7ssUivM-eM

Until next time, keep circulating the tapes.