Deconstructing: The Weyland Consortium

Welcome back to my Deconstructing series, looking at the cards for a faction in detail. We continue with a Corp faction, with The Weyland Consortium.

The Weyland Consortium is about crushing their foes mercilessly, and upgrading their Ice which only they can do.

So, let us begin

Identity
Weyland Consortium: Building a Better World (Core) - Currently, their ability is only rewarded from two cards in the game presently, Beanstalk Royalties (Core) and Hedge Fund (Core). So on the one hand, their ability can happen more than once per turn unlike Haas-Bioroid for example, but won't happen more then six times in the game without getting back cards from Archives. But, I also see this as an ability that can only get stronger as time passes.

Agenda
Hostile Takeover (Core) - The first of our agendas, both of which are only worth a single point. As it requires only two advancement tokens to score, it can be safely installed and completed in a single turn, if the Corp so wishes. It is a tremendous boost to the Corp's economy, giving them 7 credits when scoring. Taking into account that two clicks and two credits were used, it makes an effective profit of three credits, plus the agenda point. This is slightly mitigated by the fact it also grants Bad Publicity to the Corp, one of only two cards in the core set to do this. As such, take this into account for credits the Runner will need when they run against you.
Posted Bounty (Core) - Our second agenda, and in my mind, one of the most different. Requiring three advancement tokens for only a single point, it is not the greatest on paper. However, when it is scored, the Corp has the option to instead of getting the card, they can instead gain a Bad Publicity counter and also tag the Runner. Now, this is one of the few ways that the Runner can be given a tag on without using a trace or sub-routine. As a result, it combines well with Scorched Earth (Core) for when you want to flatline the Runner that turn.

Asset
Security Subcontract (Core) - Our only asset in the core set, and as it is not an ambush asset, it makes Weyland the only Corp without an in-faction trap or some kind. For cost of a piece of Ice, it is the equivalent of us playing Beanstalk Royalties. Currently I feel this card is limited in use, but for those rare times when you want to trash your Ice such as when Femme Fatale (Core) has targetted one of your Ice. On the whole however, I see this as a low priority card to be included.

Ice
Archer (Core) - The first of our Sentry Ice, and I can't think of a piece of Ice that people are as mixed on whether it should be in decks. With a strength of 6 and four sub-routines, the current Killer Icebreakers will need to spend 10-14 credits to break the entire Ice, assuming no modifying sources. Whilst it only requires four credits, it also requires an agenda to be forfeited, regardless of the value of the agenda. In-faction, the most likely source will be Hostile Takeover. What is useful to know is that Priority Requisition (Core) and Accelerated Beta Test (Core) ignore all costs, which includes forfeiting an agenda.
Hadrian's Wall (Core) - Our first Barrier, and the most expensive piece of Ice in the core set. It is also the first of our Ice where it can be advanced for increased strength, so that when the Corp has spare resources, they can make the Wall even bigger and harder to break through. As it has End the Run (ETR) twice, it means that the Runner has to get past both of them, increasing the cost for them to get through. However, I feel the cost versus reward of Hadrian's Wall is that great, and so does not currently make it into my Weyalnd deck.
Ice Wall (Core) - Our second Barrier, and can also be advanced for extra strength. I cannot stress how amazing I find this piece of Ice, and include it in every Corp deck I play, regardless of faction. Whilst strength 1 is easy to break, until they do get a suitable Icebreaker, the strength is meaningless. Having a rez cost of only 1 credit, whilst also having the ETR sub-routine, it can help keep a Runner at bay early game, allowing us to prepare our defenses further. Because it has an influence cost of 1, it can easily fit into most decks without taking away much influence.
Shadow (Core) - Our second Sentry, and the third of our advanceable Ice. The sub-routines on Shadow are strange, in that depending on how many credits they have, their link and their Icebreaker, they may not bother breaking either or any of the sub-routines. If it costs more than two credits to break the first sub-routine, then depending on how many credits the Corp has they may avoid breaking as it denies them more credits than the Corp would gain. For the second sub-routine, it depends how much it would cost them to break compared to how much it may cost to avoid getting the tag, or spending the click and two credits to remove it afterwards. If tagging the Runner is key to your strategy, then this Ice could be useful. Otherwise, I would pass on this one.


Operations
Aggressive Negotiation (Core) - The only means in the game currently that allows a Corp to look theough R&D for any card they wish. Unfortunately, this comes with the restriction that the Corp must have scored an agenda that turn. Due to how the timing structure works, you can score an agenda after the draw phase, at the start of the action phase. Because of this, you can wait until after you have drawn your card to decide if you should score an agenda that has been waiting to be scored, and then search using Aggressive Negotiation.
Beanstalk Royalties (Core) - A strong credit generating card, for giving the Corp a large influx of resources, for no cost other than the click to play it. When used by Weyland, going from 3 credits to 4 credits (due to our identity) becomes more noticeable, as that is the same gain as every other Corp receives from playing Hedge Fund (Core).
Scorched Earth (Core) - Our most notorious card, and one that currently is meta defining. Because of this card, no Runner would want to risk having three or less cards in their hand at the end of their turn, especially if they are tagged. This card is designed to work with Posted Bounty and Shadow, being able to give the Runner a tag. Fortunately, as we own the card, we are not forced to pay four influence per copy we include in our deck. As such, whilst we can build a deck without it, there is little reward to not having it unless you never plan to tag the Runner.
Shipment from Kaguya (Core) - An operation to encourages the Corp to use advanceable Ice, it lets us place up to two advancement tokens (thankfully on different cards!), for no credits and just the click to play the card. Want to advance an agenda and that Ice Wall protecting it at once? Or perhaps you have an install agenda and a trap, but don't want to give away which might be which? Or even worse, a pair of installed traps to trick the Runner into running against? And so forth. Unfortunately, I feel this is a card which can easily be overlooked.

Upgrades
Research Station (Core) - The only card in the game at time of writing, which increases hand size. Helpful if you want to have a larger hand to reduce the chance of agendas being scored from it. There are two problems I have with this card however. The first is that I find the Corp rarely goes over their hand limit by the end of a turn. The second is that if they do, the Runner can still trash the card if they run against HQ, which will then force the cards to be discarded, although not until the Corp's next discard phase.

So there you have it, my thoughts on The Weyland Consortium, and their cards.

One area that Weyland are weak is that they have no code gate Ice, and so will have to spend influence to fill the gap. Whilst it doesn't have ETR, my favourite is Chum (Core). Early game it helps boost Ice Wall, whilst late game it makes Archer into an absolute beast!

With Weyland, I think the big thing about them is how much do they want to focus on flatlining the Runner with Scorched Earth? Do they want it to be their primary win condition, making sure they can get tags on the Runner and keep their grip low until they can flatline them? Or is it a supporting theme, where it may not flatline them, but at least makes them have a minimal grip which will slow them down and give the Corp time to score agendas? Most the Weyland decks I have seen on here have been the former, which is why I am testing the latter.

Please note that like so many people, this is based on theory and a small but growing amount of practical experience. I do not dare declare myself as a seasoned veteran, although I do plan to be one day