I've been playing since the core set launched, but only with my wife running random decks that I was putting together and pruning as we went along, so while I do have a bit of play experience, my knowledge of the Netrunner meta outside of my kitchen is pretty lacking. I decided to check things out at my LGS's regular league night, and had some trouble with my Chaos Theory deck.

Specifically, a fter getting my butt very strongly handed to me by another player running a super-fast-scoring NBN deck, I realized that my Chaos Theory deck was pretty much completely reactionary, designed simply to get a full rig out ASAP to start running down remote servers. The issue was that all the 2-/3-advance Agendas were being scored before I could respond. Since I didn't really "do" much else besides enable running without having server-focused cards like The Maker's Eye, etc., it meant that I was pretty much stuck trying to get lucky with single card draws out of his HQ or R&D, which, as it turns out, wasn't a particularly viable strategy.

So I redesigned my deck, slimmed down on my total ICE Breakers due to my ability to fast-access them through Special Order and Test Run, and I built in some ability to wage war on R&D. I'd love any of your thoughts:

Identity:
Chaos Theory: Wunderkind (Cyber Exodus)

Total Cards: (40)

Event (15)
Diesel x3
Infiltration x3
Test Run x3
The Maker's Eye x3
Special Order x3

Hardware (14)
Dinosaurus x2
Rabbit Hole x2
The Personal Touch x3
R&D Interface x3
Plascrete Carapace x2
Replicator x2

Program (11)
Gordian Blade x2
Magnum Opus x3
Snowball x2
Deus Ex x2
Ninja x2

Influence Values Totals -
Criminal: 10

Test Run and Special Order are present to get my full rig out fast so that I don't have to use Crypsis, the former also letting me pull Magnum Opus earlier. Plascrete Carapace, Deus Ex, and Rabbit Hole are in the build for protection from meat damage, net damage, and traces.

Replicator does a few things. First, it allows me to fast install all three of my R&D Interface cards in quick succession. Second, once I identify the strongest and most prevalent ICE, I can quickly get all three Personal Touch cards onto the cooresponding breaker if appropriate. Third, once Dinosaurus is installed, it allows me to immediately pull the other one out of my deck so that I don't need to waste clicks drawing it uncessarily later.

The only cards that I'm not 100%-thrilled about are Deus Ex and The Personal Touch. I feel like I could maybe drop them for other options, but I'm not sure. Thoughts?

BTW: I have 2 core sets and every expansion, so feel free to make any replacement suggest short of 3 Ice Carvers/Aesop's Pawnshop.

Made a few edits to fit in Medium for increased R&D pressure, changing Gordian Blade to ZU.13 to account for the increased memory load…

Identity:

Chaos Theory: Wunderkind

Total Cards: (40)

Event (13)
Diesel x3
Test Run x3
The Maker's Eye x3
Infiltration x3
Special Order x1

Hardware (15)
Dinosaurus x2
R&D Interface x3
Rabbit Hole x3
Replicator x2
The Personal Touch x3
Plascrete Carapace x2

Program (12)
Deus X x2
Magnum Opus x2
Snowball x2
ZU.13 Key Master x2
Medium x2
Ninja x2

Seems like your game plan is

(a) build your rig as fast as possible (3 Test Run, 3 Specialo Order, 3 Diesel, 40 cards, Replicator deck thinning)

(b) then run R&D (Maker's Eye, R&D Interface), ideally with Deus X to protect against Snare!/Fetal AI clusters

© use breaks after big R&D runs to draw and expand your R&D attack capanility

Your defensive strategy (Carapaces and Deux X) combined with fast assembly seems like a good idea. Just a few pointers though,

(1) Replace Snowball with Corroder as you have spare unused influenced

(2) Use Femme Fatale as your killer for its synergy with Test Run (host it on Dinosaurus or Personal Touch it up)

(3) If you intend to run Deus X protection as well as 3 breakers and Magnum Opus, then you need to consistently hit Dinosaurus, up to 3

(4) With no resources (Workshop, Pawnshop, Kati, Carver, Sympathy are options), you might as well ignore tags and rely on Carapaces to protect you from Scorched Earth / Privare Security Force / Dedicated Response Team, up to 3 to synergise with your 2 Replicators. Obviously against the Midseasons / Psychographics NBN deck, you will need to adjust your attitude toward tags.

(5) If ignoring tags like old school Gabriel in his Carapace, as most traces deliver tags, Rabbit Holes become less necessary; with an Opus economy, you should be able to win the rare traces that matter (like Flare, Ash).

(6) As you have Deux X against Junebug or Ronin (as well as always maintaining a large grip), Infiltration is another casualty to ensure you "assemble as fast as possible" (you have Test Run for thrashed programs).

Obviously Magnum Opus is key (via mulligan, Test Run, Diesel). As a Shaper (albeit focused on quick assembly), you'll have to let Corp score a few early agendas (no room for Tinkering) instead of risking a half-assembled rig. Once assembled, you take control with up to top 6 card R&D attacks. I usually first run naked like a Criminal to rez a few ice before installing Opus (especially true if you have Deux X vs. Katana/Thorns). Because once you install Opus, you next need a killer to protect it from program thrashing and Femme ideally needs a sensible rezzed ice.

Anyway, keeping in line with your build, below is how I'd tweak your deck (for reasons given above).

Chaos Theory: Wunderkind (40 cards)

15/15 influence: ••••••••• ••••••

Event (12)

· 3 Diesel

· 3 Special Order ••••• •

· 3 Test Run

· 3 The Maker's Eye

Hardware (14)

· 3 Dinosaurus

· 3 Plascrete Carapace

· 3 R&D Interface

· 2 Replicator

· 3 The Personal Touch

Icebreaker (11)

· 3 Corroder ••••• •

· 2 Deus X

· 3 Femme Fatale •••

· 3 Gordian Blade

Program (3)

· 3 Magnum Opus

If you were willing to diverge further from your original build, I'd sacrifice assembly speed for more control

• - 3 Special Orders, - 2 Deus X, - 1 Dinosaurus
• +3 Vamp, +3 Rabbit Hole

In a 40 card deck with so much deck thinning, you should be able to find your 3 Breakers from 9 with 3 Test Run support so the Special Orders seem overkill. Why Vamp? With Magnum Opus, you will be richer than the Corp and you don't care about tags. At 0 credits, the Corp cannot rez ice and more importantly cannot trigger ambushes like Snare!, making that big R&D run safe (except triple Fetal AI, even then you can overdraw). This in turn frees you from Infiltration and Deus X which means Dinosaurus is less critical, only pumping your primary killer Femme and allowing a second Femme (to bypass an ice like Tollbooth on R&D).

If you are focused on Replicator, I'd probably use Kate for her discount (adding Memory Chips etc). However, when I tried this, I found her to be too slow. Maybe Chaos Theory who is faster, is the better choice. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. I'll run with your suggestions, especially using Vamp.

What would your thoughts on trying to fit Medium in? Do you think the combination of Medium, R&D Interface, and Maker's Eye is overkill?