Starting game fails with error "com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull" (corruped usercache.json)

Moderator Note

Try renaming or deleting the usercache.json file in your [Minecraft data folder|http://hopper.minecraft.net/help/finding-minecraft-data-folder], as it may have been corrupted.

[19:56:12 INFO]: Looking for orphaned versions to clean up...
[19:56:12 INFO]: Looking for old natives & assets to clean up...
[19:56:14 ERROR]: java.io.IOException: Stream closed
[19:56:14 ERROR]: Game ended with bad state (exit code 1)
the launcher shows:
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: Using incremental CMS is deprecated and will likely be removed in a future release
[19:56:14] [Client thread/INFO]: Setting user: LapexAnni
[19:56:14] [Client thread/INFO]: (Session ID is token:5a41b92540874ac38bafe0b6b802a165:b20bcd6df77641918a74e35d59e76a37)
Exception in thread "Client thread" java.lang.NullPointerException
	at com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull(Preconditions.java:213)
	at com.google.common.collect.Lists$ReverseList.<init>(Lists.java:767)
	at com.google.common.collect.Lists.reverse(Lists.java:759)
	at lt.b(SourceFile:156)
	at lt.<init>(SourceFile:43)
	at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.<init>(SourceFile:155)
	at bpo.<init>(SourceFile:41)
	at ave.<init>(SourceFile:293)
	at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.main(SourceFile:124)