Angry Val (Utah Regional Winner 4-2) [26 players]

Heartthrob 2490

Been working on an extreme aggro Val deck for months now with @Yeoda, using the foundation that he put together that won him and @Dodgepong their SCs. Been honing it with @Akanderson (he took 3rd with the same deck) and @JackWeyland (he took 2nd using Good Stuff Val).

This deck goes hard early until the corp can stabilize, then gets itself gathered as quickly as possible for an Apoc, then attacks everywhere it can until they lock you back out (if they can), then sets up for more aggressiveness/Apocalypse.

On the day went 4-2 (2-2 in Swiss, 2-0 in cut) losing to my main sparring partner Austen's NEH (We ran the same decks) and to @rumirumirumi's IG Biolock. 26 players on the day, way low turnout for us due to unlucky circumstances for many players (including bad weather blocking the Colorado crowd).

Notable that I lost both games in which I didn't see Siphon. Our meta is pretty Weyland-less, though I suspect Blue Sun is a bad matchup. Against NEH I prioritize aggressive Keyhole spam, using Siphon if they aren't careful with their asset rezzing. You can almost always land midgame Apoc.

Things I would change: -2 Wanton, -1 Amp'd. We've tested Councilman in those slots, but didn't love them. Might try Making an Entrance x3 when that comes out. For now maybe Infiltration/Run Amok or something in those slots.

S/O to Blakfyre Games for hosting a great tournament even though a host of bad timing elements kept a lot of players from making it (unfortunately we ended up having fewer players than one of our SCs). I'd say 95% of the top players in the area were able to make it though. So the small tournament didn't make life easier other than one less round than we anticipated. Also a s/o to all my fellow Hackaholics!

You can watch a bunch of the matches here including the finals: https://www.twitch.tv/hackaholics/profile

19 comments
18 Apr 2016 Jack Weyland

In the right hands, this deck will give any Corp a hard time. It's been a nightmare sitting on the other side from Angry Val while we tested and honed. However, I'm happy all the work payed off.

18 Apr 2016 Badeesh

Yes! In MaxX I am using Chopbot's for extra draw and putting the apoc'd cards back into discard for recycling. Why not MaxX for this? Blackmail seems a bit luxurious for an overall (imo) slower build?

18 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

MaxX Apoc is great, I love it and think Chopbot is a great slot. The reason I like Valpocalypse right now is because Blackmail fixes a lot of Apoc Anarch's weaknesses (iced up centrals, crisiums, ice on archives, no remote pressure). This deck uses DDoS, Blackmail and Siphon to make sure central ice doesn't get rezzed early. If they drop crisium early you can blackmail and get it so that Eater/DDoS can still land Siphons and Apocs. They essentially need to double ice all three centrals at least to avoid the Apoc and even then you might be able to combo Eater/DDoS/Blackmail to get it off. This version is quite a bit less dependent on the heap as well, making Chronos Project less dangerous. In our testing Chronos could really ruin MaxX' day and IG is often packing it.

18 Apr 2016 Badeesh

Ahhh. That is really a solid idea, hadn't thought about circumventing Eater's weakness with it. Compelling idea.

18 Apr 2016 yeoda

I have some stuff to run by you. Need to go behind closed doors again. :). Great job, you guys! Can't wait to see you all at worlds where we can kick butt again.

18 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

@yeoda always trying to get me behind closed doors...

19 Apr 2016 Jack Weyland

@Heartthrob I know you tested a third siphon for a while. What lead you to drop the siphon and add the extra apocalypse?

19 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

Back when this was mostly a Siphon spamming Anatomy of an Anarch build, it was still possible to keep most corps broke. But now that's not really feasible (see ETF's sexy sexbots). Now the siphons hinder the corp, but it's mostly a way to pay for all of your disruption game. Also, in testing we found that you really wanted to see Apoc earlier. Even Apoc'ing only 4 cards off the table can be a big tempo hit to the corp.

So TL;DR: Moar disruption moar fasterer.

19 Apr 2016 dodgepong

Cool, I was wondering what list you guys were on for that regional. Congrats on your performance! How did you like the Liberated-less econ package?

It looks like you're all-in on Femme as your alternative breaker to Eater for dealing with Swordsman, Turing, and pretty much any barrier. Are you ever concerned about being locked out of an important central due to the inability to access a Crisium Grid/Caprice behind stacked barriers, or even stacked central Turings? I've still been enjoying Yog/Mimic, and Knifed seems really useful when IGs these days are playing meaty barriers like Hive and Ashigaru. I would feel really uneasy about playing just the Femme, personally, especially if I lose it to Apoc and can't get past a Barrier + Crisium anymore. Interns is a b****.

I agree that Councilman doesn't usually work like one might want it to. What about Imp? I've been thinking about how I might cram that into the build, especially with the necessity of dealing with remotes while still setting up the Apoc.

I don't think Run Amok is for this deck. For 3 credits, DDoS is a much more effective Inside Job. When I played it, it just felt redundant and generally not terribly useful. I do still like at least 1 Wanton, though, especially for combo and kill matchups.

Anyway, those are my random thoughts. Glad to see the archetype continuing to evolve! I'm looking forward to Making An Entrance as well!

20 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

Thanks Ben! If you've ever had a chance to play against us you'll see we play this archetype a lot differently than ole Yeoda does. He goes face checking early and keeps pounding through whatever ice they put on their servers, while our strategy doesn't let them rez central ice ever if possible. Our game is to attack open centrals hard, then get blackmails/DDoS/Siphons/Eater all ready for Keyholes and Apocs. Not letting them rez ice in the early game usually makes the midgame very dangerous for the corp.

So our Lib-less, Peddler-less, Mimic-less, Yog-less package is more suitable for us as we don't want to install anything anyway and they shouldn't get much rezzed. The occasional Sword/Turing is unfortunate if they get razzed, but you find ways around. Femme is a luxury, nothing more. We tried yog, parasite, mimic, corroder in that slot and none of them made sense with our attack strategy. Also I hated Peddler in this build when I had it - too many high inf Events that I can't lose.

I do like knifed, and with Hive on the comeback I may need to make room for it again.

20 Apr 2016 strundle

Can you walk me through some typical situations that you've included Retrieval Run to address? I'm a bit stumped since I don't see a way on your end to move the face down Apoc'd cards into the heap. Is it mostly just for post-Apoc recovery of stuff (Keyhole/Eater) you pitched early in the game and the occasional discount on a Femme install?

20 Apr 2016 percomis

My guess is you probably dig a lot with Inject and Retrieval is to get back stuff you threw that way (and probably the Femme discount, yes.)

20 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

@percomis pretty much nailed it. With 3x Eater and D4 and Keyhole you'll end up with something trashed at some point. Retrieval also has a bonus of being a safe way to run archives against IG on the turn you want to Apoc (won't lose it to shock).

22 Apr 2016 NetrunningAmok

@Heartthrob Very cool deck. I have been running a similar Val deck exclusively for the last 4 months or so, and plan to take it to the Madison regionals this Saturday.

I am relying on 3 Parasite to deal with central Swordsman and Turing. The Femme Fatale is a cool touch! How has it been working for you?

I'd also be curious to know how your econ and draw worked for you. I am running 3 Sure Gamble, 3 Day Job, and 3 Liberated Account. I have been a little short on cash the games where I can't find Account Siphon. Especially if I have been trashing expensive assets and/or SanSan City Grid.

Congratulations on the win! I hope my deck will perform as well on Saturday!

23 Apr 2016 Heartthrob

Appreciate it, thanks! GL today

3 parasites eh? That's a hefty chunk of the inf that I don't have room for. The way we run this deck Femme is nothing more than a luxury piece but when she shows up she's great. For the most part we attack without giving the corp a chance to rez ice. The first Apoc usually lands with a combo of DDoS and blackmail. If Turing does get rezzed on central it sucks...but that hasn't happened all that often with the style of play (our meta is very big on Foodcoats too, so it's not like we don't see it.)

I like Gambit over Lib because there are lots of targets right now with all the horizontal decks and I can burst up in creds for more Keyhole/Trashing...also prefer DL over Lib so that you can keep the corp honest while supplementing your econ. But that doesn't mean Lib ain't good. It's good.

30 Apr 2016 SolitaryBee

This is the kind of Anarch I like. A true aggro build that rewards early pressure.

Wanton Destruction is a keeper in my opinion. Has got me last minute wins and escapes from kills. Have been running with Liberated Accounts and DDoS.

Initial impressions of Making an Entrance are that it plays real nice with Inject in a deck where you don't want to miss your Eater/Keyhole if you can avoid it.

1 May 2016 kingivan24

I was at that tournament when I am only 10 years old. I was happy that you won! Congrats!

8 May 2016 MrBrown

I've played a bit with a similar list, and have found Hactivist Meeting really useful. Especially since it stays after Apocalypse.

28 May 2016 cortexjackal

I hated playing against this, again and again. Good job!