Honor and Profit Review Part 3

Our staff has put together an analysis of the Honor and Profit deluxe expansion. In this third part we will be looking at cards 37 through 55. We’ve used a one through five scale; five being the best. The cards are listed in numeric order. Our reviewers are listed in alphabetical order. Let us know in the comments how you feel about the cards in this expansion!

Sorry for the delay in this and the lack of formatting, the final installment slipped through the cracks.


Logos
(17 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
Let me be honest with you: this card does nothing. Example: “the Corp scores an agenda, as of now you’re 1, 2 or possibly 3 agenda points behind; what do you search for? An Icebreaker to break into the scoring server? Should’ve gotten to it before the Corp scored. An event? A run event? Uh, the agenda’s already scored. An economy event/resource? Sure, unless in some dire situations, 1 economy card will never grant you any game. A (non-economy) resource or an hardware?” This is getting into the very gimmicky side of things. If you’re searching through this card ability for a second time, then I think the game will be over for you very shortly. It’s just an under-performing ability, because of what triggers it. The hand size doesn’t save this console and the cost, for what you get, is just abhorrent.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
I’d have been a bit more comfortable paying 3 credits for Logos to be honest. That being said, Criminals generally don’t need more than 1 additional MU to run their breaker suits, so we’re good there. The increased hand size is a boon vs. every flatline deck out there, so we’re square here too. The last ability is the odd duck as there generally is no “one card to rule them all” in a losing situation. But it is still a perk. Heavy draw decks will love this console and the future will see its use for sheezy.

Grimwalker - 2 out of 5
Synergizes well with Iain, as well you'd expect. Not much extra MU, but a totally unrestricted tutor effect is potentially huge. I don't like how it's a dead draw late game, and $4 install is kind of inconvenient early game, plus the expense of whatever you'd tutor. It feels sub optimal, overall, which is ironic because it’s a cruel joke this can’t go in a Professor deck.

Jamieson - 4 out of 5
Criminal consoles are always going to be compared to Desperado and going to lose out to him 9 times out of 10. The hand size bonus is really nice.The search is great since you can get any card. I would just be worried that some games you might not get to use the search ability as many times as you would like. Especially in those 6 agenda Medtech decks that are around right now. If Desperado was not already the go to criminal console this would be the gem.

Scud - 3 out of 5
This is a fine console. It’s a great console in an Iain deck. It’s a pretty darn good console in a Jinteki-heavy meta. It wants to be in a different kind of deck than Desperado or Doppelganger (both of which want to be in different kinds of decks from each other, too), which I see as very good design. The cost seems a tad too high for only +1MU, though...

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
The simple fact is it's not better the Desperado but it has enough differences that in the right deck it could sing. I feel it belongs in anarchs more often than not, they are the faction that is lacking in search cards and benefit greatly from a well timed card (eg. Keyhole, rook, knight, the source and vamp) and the hand size increase helps with our only in faction draw card (Wyldside) that is very hard to control at times. With an influence of two it's really not unreasonable to run a few in anarchs but working around the Memory is going to take some work...



Public Terminal
(14 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
The Runner cards are pretty self explanatory. 1 for 1 recurring credit is a good value, as you immediately get your investment’s worth. The number of run events will dictate how good this card is in your deck. There might be a version of Tenma that uses a Public Terminal & Prepaid VoicePad economy, although, I’m not sure that is very efficient. Still, this card is fair. Very fair. You have to work for it to be good, but is a nice tool to have nonetheless.

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
To the player who likes the sure thing, PPVP would be the the most optimal choice if you were faced with the dilemma of needing some recursion. While it is true that run events typically cost a little more than non run events, (in my builds anyway) I still pack enough non runs to warrant the inclusion of PPVP over Public Terminal.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
Easier to get your money's worth out of than Prepaid Voicepad, I guess, if you have the events to make it worth your while. If this had come first, then people would probably call PPVP the nerfed-neutral version of PT, and find ways to run it. They're both fine cards; I don't know they aren’t in more decks that could use them, since they both quite easily pay for themselves and boost tempo.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
I like cards that can fill out more than 1 use. This card is very narrow focused targeting run events. I like Prepaid Voice Pad since that can be used on all events and its neutral so its better out of faction.

Scud - 1 out of 5
Slightly cheaper than Prepaid VoicePAD and slightly less effective, since PpVP can be used to play any Event. Oh, and PpVP is Neutral, so no Influence costs for Criminal. If this card were a Resource (and, even better, a Resource: Connection) I could understand it. If it were 0 cost to install, I could understand it. However, as is, I just don’t see why they’d print a strictly worse version of an already existing card. The single credit discount isn’t worth the additional restriction on use, in my estimation. If there were a lot of 4+ cost Run Events, so you’d want 3x Prepaid VoicePAD and 3x Public Terminal in your deck, this would make more sense to me.

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
And now we get to Express's Console....
I'm not going to go into a huge rant over this and PPVP because the simple fact is this card is cheaper and more narrow then PPVP but in decks that really only use Run events this will do lots of work, it's cheap fast and will pay itself off after the first run event you make...



Unregistered S&W '35
(16 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
Jackson Howard, Bernice Mai, Elizabeth Mills, Akitaro Watanabe, Caprice Nisei, Chairman Hiro, Tori Hanzo, Ash, Director Haas and the list goes on. It already has a lot of targets, that see a lot of play (Jackson, Caprice, Ash), or are mildly played (Bernice, Akitaro, Director Haas). Granted you’re required to basically waste a full turn to murder someone, but that may be even better (and more economical) than running the server to trash it. As a 1-off it’s an excellent tool at the Runner’s disposal. 1 cost is just very, very good for this type of card. I wouldn’t mind to pay 3 credits, let alone 1! At three influence it’ll be steep to import to other factions, although possible. I suspect a lot of shooting will occur in the near future. It’s time to meet your maker, Jackson!

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
Okay, so this handy firearm can off some common threats like a Jay-How when all you want to do is indexing run, or a Caprice when you can’t seem to read the corp for a common bet, but in all of these situations, when have you ever been completely helpless? There’s always a way to play around the corp’s game. This card speeds it up at the cost of basically your entire turn, sure, but is it worth it? Do you really need it? Or is its existence enough to make the corp think twice about including all the usual suspects in their builds...

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
Pretty darn cool. I think this is going to be at least a 1x in a lot of decks if only to kill Jackson Howard and Caprice, let alone many of the other options that this can take out. It's dependent on that HQ run, so I have to ask how many people will really get that big a benefit out of spending a whole turn just to Feint and shoot. Because you can't just drop it into any deck, and possibly situational, I’m giving it a gentleman’s 3.

Jamieson - 4 out of 5
I love that this is a Hardware, keeping it in play. This solves so many of annoying problems for a runner. I REALLY want to give this a 5 but that influence count holds it back. I want to have this in green badly but 3 influence holds me back.

Scud - 2 out of 5
If you’re constantly running into Ash+Caprice decks, this thing is going to be a 5+ for you. The only thing that would make it better under those circumstances would be if you could shoot the choad playing Corp, too. In a general sense, though, this is a utility card that is sometimes just going to be blank for you. That means the 3 pips of Influence are going to keep it from being seen outside of blue in any but the most annoyingly Caprice-y metas. (I don’t see it as dealing with Jackson very well, since as soon as you install it, the Corp can just activate Jackson’s remove from game ability.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
I honestly feel this card is a meta dependant card, and with no way to search for it ATM (aside from Logos) it's really hard to justify running a single copy in a deck. I know that it screws over a lot of super annoying cards but unless those cards are in at least 60% of decks in your meta then I see it as a dead draw more often then not until we get a good hardware searcher...



Window
(11 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
I’ll give it 2, just because it’s card draw. Other than that, this isn’t really a good card. If in anticipation for Will O’ the Wisp, you already have the strongest answers: Self-Modifying Code; Special Order. Other than that this is another gimmicky card. Once you have more manipulation of your stack, this may become a stronger option. If only Express Delivery (see above) would put cards to the bottom.

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
As things stand you could use Window to reclaim a lost Li’d treasure. Otherwise, it’s a no go for now. Future cards will bring its merits back to the land of the living in due time.

Grimwalker - 1 out of 5
If Will O' The Wisp becomes a thing--and I think it will--this will see some use, otherwise this is kind of marginal and I can't see it making the cut just for what, regretting your choice on Mr. Li? Even so, I question putting things in your deck as a meta call against one specific corp card. It's a boxwarmer until more cards come out that put cards on the bottom of the deck.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
This is a future play when we see will o’ the wisp come into print. Its nice that its Hardware so its not going to take up MU or get burned like a resource could. 1 influence lets everyone enjoy it ( unlike the previous card). You could use this with Mr Li but I think that's overdoing it right now and wasted card slots.

Scud - 2 out of 5
This is the preemptive in-faction Will-o-the-Wisp counter that also happens to work well with Mr. Li. It isn’t so much about correcting a poor choice made when choosing which card to keep, it is a way to leverage the additional information you obtain from using him to draw. Still not a hugely impressive use, but it does serve a purpose.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
We have all seen Will O' The Wisp and this card is going to help a lot with getting your breakers back when that comes out but until then this card has a very narrow use with Mr. Li and I truly don't feel it will see play...



Alias
(16 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
The average cost for Alias to break sentries is 5-7 credits, which is not bad. Not being able to be used in remotes reduces its utility by a lot in a faction that already has Garrote, Femme Fatale and Faerie.These breakers although good are very narrow. You won’t use them in a deck that wants to keep pressure in all the servers. And with the rise of Jinteki and its shell game, these breakers will have to wait until they have their chance to be in the spotlight. Still may prove useful in a deck whose objective is to only R&D lock the opponent.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
With the current overall meta moving to taxing ICE, the central only breakers are all a boon to the game. Pair them with Datasuckers to really streamline the strength pump process and you’re in the money. I have been running the whole suite with moderate success. My failures have not come about from the breakers mind you, they seem to be the only consistent thing in my decks. As an avid DS user, Alias is basically perfect. I can easily squeek by with a single DS on the table now where with Ninja/Mimic I generally needed 2. Great card, but not for every build.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
I really really really like the design of the central breakers. They're not world-beaters, but they're very thematic and they do fill a niche that Criminals have in their lack of very good in-house software. They fit well in the Criminal design space given the large granularity of their boost/break abilities, and while they're more efficient than their in-house competition, they trade it off for reduced utility in other ways. They invite people to think outside the box as to how they're going to deal with remotes, while simultaneously acknowledging the Criminals' penchant for hitting centrals. They’re not huge on the power curve, but more so than most marginal cards, they really do invite people to get creative, so they’re a worthy addition to the card pool. As far as Alias specifically goes, it compares favorably in cost to Ninja and Femme for most breaks--which is to say, nothing breaks Sentries efficiently but Alias sucks less than many options.

Jamieson - 3 out of 5
Is this a good breaker = YES. It is sitting currently with an average break cost of 4.12 credits and thats really good against Sentry ICE. We see that this is first of the central only trio so downfall being no remote attacking action here. If you are going with a R&D or HQ lock this is a perfect choice. 1 MU and 2 influence its sitting about right. The dip in rating is because Ninja in faction gives you the versatility to attack anywhere and the other option in faction are also too good to ignore , Faerie, Garrote. If you are already using Datasucker system it will probably not get you away from Mimic.

Scud - 3 out of 5
If you’re focusing on the Central servers anyway, why not save some of your Influence for cards that augment and accentuate that plan instead of importing ‘breakers? Central-only ‘breakers + Notoriety/Quest Completed is a real thing. Alias is a solidly affordable Killer with a good average break cost and a nice install cost. Not everyone likes the idea of trashing your Killer, regardless of how cheap is gets you through, because then you need to spend Influence on recursion. And paying 9 to get a mediocre Killer with an awesome ability that is easily negated isn’t everyone’s cup o’ tea, either.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
I am not a fan of this Central server only idea at all, it's just giving you huge handicap...
I would almost always want a Ninja over this card, the pricing is not different enough to warrant the glaring flaw of not being able to run all servers...



Breach
(16 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
Of all the three central-breakers I rate this higher than the other two just because of its sheer power. Corroder is still the best go-to, but at least I can see some utility in Breach, as it can save you some credits against bigger ICE (especially Curtain Wall, which Breach breaks for 4-6 credits). In decks that attack central servers only it might be even better than Corroder. I don’t like these programs that much tough, I rather have a more costly but flexible breaker than a narrow and focused breaker, unless that breaker is Cyber-Cypher level of good, which these aren’t. I can, however, respect them and their presence warrants some thought for the Corp if it wants to effectively defend its centrals.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
Breach will really help you knock down those beast barriers. Of the 3 central breakers, it is my least favourite. This is due to the mandatory spend of 2 credits on the subroutines. Other than that, it is exceedingly efficient at busting the biggies. There will be games where you are thankful you packed this beauty. Especially if you’re breaking something that has been Oversighted or Bioroid Efficiencied...

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
See Alias for overall comments. Of the central breakers, Breach has the most thankless task to go up against a very solid low-influence out of faction Fracter for the same install cost. It’s quite a left-handed compliment to say it’s better than Aurora if you’re playing a low-influence Iain or Silhouette build, or if your Tenma deck has its influence tied up in Run events.

Jamieson - 3 out of 5
This is helping criminal save influence over using Corroder as it sits on par for average cost to break ICE. Outside of faction Shaper will take Corroder for versatility and Anarch already has it in faction. It was nice option only for Criminal and only if you are playing the central only run game.

Scud - 3 out of 5
I’ve already talked about Centrals-only ‘breakers in general, so let’s stick to Breach on it’s own. It is comparable to Corroder except it costs blue no Influence to use, which leaves you Influence for more fun Central Server Run Events.

SlySquid - 1 out of 5
I am not a fan of this Central server only idea at all, it's just giving you huge handicap but this is the worst of the bunch, it breaks Eli 1.0 for the same cost as a Corroder EXCEPT ONLY ON CENTRALS... Such a poor idea IMO...



Bug
(9 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 1 out of 5
2 credits per card is such an abysmal cost for the effect you are granted. Ok, information is important in Netrunner, but how much do you really need to operate? Normally you can leverage the risk/reward, without having to sneak peek every card the Corp draws. And what if they draw Hedge Fund? You see it, they play it, yeah, well done you. If there’s a way for you to have a good every turn income (maybe you have 2 Underworld Contacts), you may control a little bit the Corp draw, but if that’s what you really want to do, just go for Nerve Agent, HQ Interface, or new and fresh Legwork.

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
With a spotty list of target corp decks that Bug would really help out with, it’s a bit too shoddy an ability to use MU on for me. I can see its merits to be sure, but the cost is steep. I don’t know if I’d be so ready to burn my hard earned credits just to sneak a peak.

Grimwalker - 1 out of 5
As much as corps are drawing these days I really think this could be a money sink. It's cheap to install, sure, but MU choices are getting kind of hard. Are you really going to bleed yourself $2 per turn, let alone $4 for every click to Jackson Howard?

Jamieson - 1 out of 5
Burning up an MU slot on this just bugs me (pause for laugh track). This is very costly and does not aid much in a faction that runs HQ alot anyway. I don't see Anach being able to run this as the wont want to burn the 2 credits or have the MU space. And Shaper has one of my favorite cards ( Woman in the Red Dress) so they can do something like this for free as a Resource Connection. ( Seriously if you have been ignoring Red Dress take a 2nd look)

Scud - 2 out of 5
Bug isn’t going to be very much help against Cerebral Imaging, but it pairs well with Legwork, allowing you to better gauge when you should power through for a multi-access. However, if you want an effect like this, I would suggest using Expert Schedule Analyzer, instead. It may end up costing a bit more (to get through any ICE on HQ), but it has the added benefit of activating passive “successful run” effects (Datasucker, Nerve Agent, Pheremones, etc.). Since I don’t think very highly of Expert Schedule Analyzer, I think that says a lot about Bug...

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
I like the existence of this card, not sure how playable it will be in a competitive setting but it may be fun to have a single copy in your deck to have a little more information at a higher lvl of play. I'd say I'd almost always choose Woman in the Red Dress over this but they both have their upsides and downsides...



Gingerbread
(16 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
This Icebreaker is marginally awesome. It doesn’t work against most ICE, but the ICE it goes up against, you end up on the better end of the deal. Shadow, Shinobi, Viktor 2.0, Viper, they just sob at the sight of Gingerbread! Fear the Ginger! This, however, only really works as a 1-off fetchable program. Maybe it can find its place in Shapers (because of Self Modifying Code and Test Run, albeit the latter being a dubious strategy) and decks that run Special Order. It can be real good, or real crap, depending on the meta. But, when it’s good, it’s awesome.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
So, I haven’t tried any decks so far that target specific ICE subtypes, ergo I can’t speak at length about them. However, speaking from an efficiency point of view, Gingerbread is pretty sweet. The time will come when a suite will include subtype breaking breakers exclusively and at that time I’ll definitely give it a whirl. But for now, I play the waiting game...

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
Solid, a worthy include. There's a lot of tracer ice out there and this could get a lot of work done for you as a supplement to decks that don't run link. Oddly enough I think the Professor will want this card quite often, as he loves to plan for edge cases. That guy keeps a copy of Disrupter on file, and this is loads better.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
This will pick up steam the more we see higher base traces but right now there is no real reason to be runner this. I think we will see Gingy in a new Sherk movie before we see him in decks.

Scud - 2 out of 5
This is a nice one-of include if you play a lot of tutors. It can break Flare, Viktor 2.0, Shinobi, and the Ichis (both of ‘em). Those are some nasty customers that Gingerbread breaks efficiently. And there are a number of other pieces of ICE that he can help you with. The issue is, of course, that he’s meta-dependent, which means in a large tournament setting, he’s going to use up a card slot and not ALWAYS be useful.

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
With the rise of connection based economy it's easy to see a weakness in that tactic and being tagged is the biggest problem, also if you know you have no link and see it as a glaring flaw in your deck you can simply thrown in Gingerbread as a way to stay aggressive without worrying about a chunk of really annoying ice...



Grappling Hook
(19 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
Let alone the fairly obvious combo with E3 Feedback Implants, this is a nice tool to have. It’s horrendous against 1 subroutine ICE, but other than that you can get fairly good uses out of it. Being a program does cost it a little to manage, but I suspect, on the other hand, makes it go very well together with Clone Chip.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
Jamieson will have more to say on Grappling Hook than I, but for what it’s worth, it ruined me a few times. E3 becomes a necessity, as well as some program recursion, but it does work. I think we’ll see this breaker suite dominating the scene soon enough.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
If you've got this and E3 Feedback Implants, you can get in pretty much anywhere for $3. That doesn't suck. There are plenty of ice out there with subroutines that can be disregarded if you're willing, and this can get you past a Wotan, Ichi, Janus, Enigma, Viper, Caduceus, Tsurugi, and many others with minimal hassle. This will see a lot of play.

Jamieson - 3 out of 5
This is a cool idea for a program that works on any ICE. Really glad to see they didnt group this as an AI. Reasonable influence level and really good MU requirement makes this card available to all. Trash to use makes it appealing those that use the program recursion of Shaper but paired in faction E3 makes breaking ICE cheap. Or combo this with Overmind to save on tokens. Definitely has its uses but just have other tools in your belt since 1 subroutine ICE has nothing for this to grab onto.

Scud - 4 out of 5
Even without E3, Grappling Hook rules. Two pips of Influence make this an extremely splashable utility program. Sure, it isn’t going to do anything against 1-Subroutine ICE, but Grappling Hook can protect you from a lot of nastiness when facechecking and can enable that one last glory run when you’re low on cash.

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
I look at this card as a get out of jail free card, it's not always going to be useful but it'll save you more often than not, I think the best way to play a card like this is to set it and forget it. I love the idea and design of this card...



Passport
(18 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
No. Just no. Out of the three I think Passport is the least well positioned in a world where you already have Torch, Gordian Blade, Cyber-Cypher, Yog.0 and Zu.13 Key Master, which are all better options. Even if Passport breaks code gates cheaper than some, its narrow nature doesn’t provide him any chance of topping the other ones. Most Criminal decks import Yog.0 or Gordian Blade and they’ll keep doing just that.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
Best one of the central breakers. Efficient, cheap and all code-breaky. I can’t say too much about it except it’s efficiency is multiplied by a Datasucker token.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
See Alias for overall comments. This is probably the most solid of the three Central breakers--it breaks Inazuma, Tollbooth, and Viktor, all my favorite 5 STR Code Gates, for only $1 more than Gordian. And that install cost is hard to argue with.

Jamieson - 4 out of 5
This is a great Decoder. Only down side is being central servers only like the others. On average cost to break ICE you are only paying a fraction more to get into the servers than if using Gordian Blade. ( Passport breaker average = 3.27). MU requirement being 1 is great and install cost of 1 is amazing. This is as great choice to use in faction to save on influence. Probably won't see much use out of faction. Shaper dominates the Decoder market and Anarch has Yog in faction.

Scud - 4 out of 5
See my Alias entry for general Centrals-only ‘breaker comments. Passport is a great Decoder and the fact is that Code Gates, especially the non-Yogable ones, go best on Centrals (okay, well, Tollbooth is good on Remotes, too) so chances are you’re going to see the nasties right where Passport will do the most good. It’s Influence cost isn’t much of a factor since the other factions have solid Decoder choices in-house.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
I hate the thought of playing a card this narrow but unlike it's brothers Passport annoys me the most only because Yagura is my favourite ice and this is the most efficient way to break it, but other then that I feel it's better replaced by almost any other breaker...



Push Your Luck
(Somewhere between 11 and 15 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
This is an all or nothing card. I can see its use in a situation you know you’re gonna lose, so you just enter in a Mushin no Shin state and bid a large amount of your money, if you get double, you may win a game where you had no business winning, if you lose, well, you’re gonna lose anyway. However, what I don’t see, is a deck that wants that effect. But I know there’s some brilliant madman out there who’ll put this to the test and win some games on this card’s account.

Corps3mourn - 1 out of 5
Nope. Nope all day. I understand the risk for reward, and I also understand this card will be paramount in a large number of runner wins, but I will not gamble my credits on a 50/50 when I’m already suffering. Fun idea though.

Grimwalker - 1 out of 5
“I've often seen these people, these squares, at the table. Short-stacked and long odds against, all their outs gone, one last card in the deck that can help them. I used to wonder how they could let themselves get into such bad shape... and how the hell they thought they could turn it around. Just walking in here makes me queasy. The brick walls. The ******* mopes at the tables. The musty smell. I feel like Buckner walking back into Shea. But what choice do I have?” Easy: don't get in a spot where this card is the right play. The one star is that the artwork is amazing and is clearly the other side of the game being played on Mushin No Shin.

Jamieson - ? out of 5
For the first time ever I don't have a solid rating. I want to tell you this card is good and when you need that last push it will give you the cash you need. But I want to tell you this card is bad and it will fail you when you need it the most. High risk. High reward. This card will be both loved and hated and most of the time by the same person. It is not reliable but has tremendous up side. Ying Yang situation. I find it fun in casual games but can't rely on it in tournament play.

Scud - 1 out of 5
When this card works, it’ll be your favorite card in the game. When it fails, you will curse it to the fifteenth ring of hell, the one reserved for cards that toally hosed you when you needed them most (as according to the Gospel according to St. Garfield). Truth is, the only way to come close to relying on this card is to use Prepaid VoicePAD to pay for it and then bet 1 or 2, giving you a gain or loss running from -2 to +2. It’s a last-ditch, “I gotta get into that sever THIS TURN or lose,” kind of card. Except you have to have 2 + half the credits you need to crack the ICE already in hand. As a one-of in an early-aggression deck that loses steam in the mid- to late-game, this may let you pull out some victories. You would be better off running more economy, instead.

SlySquid - 5 out of 5
I'm going to play the devils advocate with this card, whereas almost all my peers are rating this low because it's too risky I'm going to max it out! 50/50 odds are great you won't ever find those odds in a casino, but I think my favourite part is you let the corp make the choice putting all the pressure on them lol! I honestly feel this card could have costed zero to play and it would still only be used by the players that embrace chaos, I love this card and look forward to play testing it out... Just think you only need one huge payoff! And as a last ditch effort this card is going to to a lot of work...



Security Testing
(17 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
This is a cool card that can bail you out from poverty. Functions very well with Dirty Laundry, Gabe, Desperado and Virus tokens. I think this card can benefit the Anarch faction very much, as you still gain value out of doing a non-access run. Also, Jinteki, nice Shock!’s you have there, in the Archives, it would be a shame if I was to run into them but not access them! Lastly, if you’re tired of choosing a server you can always sell this to Aesop and net 3 more credits.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
An excellent companion to the central breaker suite, Security Testing will help to keep the credit pool steady, which in turn will help you stay busy. An ideal pairing resource for Ken, the ability to make money on a run is indispensable for a criminal. I believe it was ruled that they don’t stack, but you could still stand to gain from taking this card.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
I think I'm probably going to have to accept that my free rides on Subliminal Messaging are going to come to an end. Modest, but solid. It won't take much to pay for itself--and for crying out loud, how many times has Gabe/Desperado made a chump run on HQ just for his $3? It’s already getting serious table time.

Jamieson - 3 out of 5
You can't stack these and thats what turns me away. I feel that if you can do one action that gets you a few different other actions thats always good. What do I mean? Make a run, since you have to anyway. This gains you 2 credits and what ever the you potential access. Add in DataSucker and Desperado and you are doing alot of work for just making a run. Everyone loves that money bonus Gabe gets for a HQ run. Here is your chance to get that on any server. Hefty price to pay out of faction though.

Scud - 3 out of 5
At three pips of Influence, we won’t be seeing it out of faction very often, but it is a solid card that provides yet another way to augment your runs. Stack this with Desperado, Datasucker, etc. and you can gt a lot of utility from your runs and force the Corp to ICE up every server.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
Knowing you can't stack this makes it hard to want to run, I think I'd almost always want a Bank Job over this...
It is nice to make the corp want to ice up everything just so you don't get to click for two credits but again I feel it's just not going to see play...



Theophilius Bagbiter
(15 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
A card like this is very hard to evaluate. You’ll want to play it if you’ve already have a Kati Jones, Armitage Codebusting, Magnum Opus or some other permanent economy cards. Two turns later of making money and drawing up (Professional Contacts also very good) and you’re immune to net damage and meat damage. You also have your entire deck of cards at your immediate disposal. These are fairly unique and strong abilities if you have the means to make them work. Right now you’d have to sweat to make this work and the Corp would just win in the meantime. But further ahead there might be some combinations of cards that make Theophilius Bagbiter a reasonable tool. But he’ll never be more than that, a reasonable tool, to hose certain strategies.

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
I would imagine you’d need to prepare for Thad BB here. Having your burst economy all lined up or your Kati Jones primed. Having a semi permanent Andromeda ability means you’ll need a great deal of draw splashed in too. I don’t know what the appeal will be for Bagbiter. Looked him up online though, found some neat dialogue between programmers. Check it out.

Grimwalker - 1 out of 5
Don't get me wrong, I love Cerebral Imaging but Theo here just makes me cringe. Losing all your credits is excruciating and punishes the very strategy you'd want to use him for. You have to pair him with Kati Jones, almost inescapably. He's another connection so sure, Calling In Favors can scrape back a few bits, but a horrible cost to enable a marginal card is not my idea of a good time. I can conceive that there may be some epic tower of jank that makes him good (Cerebral Imaging was a real sleeper) but right now I really really don't even want to try and make that work. His four influence cost is just baffling, and makes it prohibitive to try and combine with Duggar's draw-10-cards next cycle which itself is 4 influence. This is my runner-side pick for “I reserve the right to eat my words,” as I have already fully reversed my initial low estimation of Tennin Institute.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
The first thing after I look at a card ability is look at the influence cost. WHAT THE HECK. Theo brother, 4 influence. What does FFG have planned for him. I STRESS right now he is not helping you but something tells me we will see him again.

Scud - 3 out of 5
Yes, yes, yes, you have to lose all your credits in order to install the Bagbiter. So don’t install him unless you’e ready to recover quickly (clicked-up Kati, a Magnum Opus, even an Armitage or Liberated Accounts). I think people are underestimating the utility of having a huge hand size. Yeah, padding against Net/Meat/Brain damage is great, but having a huge chunk of your deck at your fingertips can be huge. I understand the high Influence cost—this guy could be sick in Shaper and Anarch.

SlySquid - 4 out of 5
This is a card that screams COMBO DECK! I just know that in the future the card will be the reason a deck is next to unbeatable, that said I don't think that deck exists right now but I do know it's going to be fun with Wyldside and Duggar's! This card will be a game changers and my score is accounting for it's future applications...



Tri-Maf Contact
(16 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
Being able to use more Tri-maf Contact means that Criminal gets a Magnum Opus like engine, fetchable through Hostage that enhances Calling in Favors. All in favor of this card. A tag, though is your worst enemy. But these resources that are going out for Criminals incentivize new styles of play, which is really what we were asking. No longer you’ll go: “Oh boy, time to defend HQ”, since the angles the Criminal can now attack are wider. The one influence is really cool and I can easily see this out of faction as a strong permanent-economy card.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
Mini Magnum Opus with a potential to backfire… Still, it’s mini Magnum Opus in blue, in resource form. We’ll see it out there for sure as the downside could be mitigated by simply holding what you don’t need. I’ll be giving this a spin.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
I like that Criminals are being given more options for deckbuilding than event-heavy Tag-Me, such as this which gives good return on investment as long as you don't compromise the organization. It does raise the question I've had pretty much always, whether the Criminals themselves are freelancers or whether they're beholden to one or more syndicates. Anyway--Fall Guy is a great card to have in concert with TMC, as is Lawyer Up which I think is underplayed in favor of Tag-Me. These are non-unique, so have two or three. At that point Calling In Favors might be worth a copy or two in your deck.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
The only thing that stands out for me with this card is that its a connection. There is safer ways to get credits in this game. I dont like the single turn use per turn and definitely don't like what happens if its trashed. Armitage Codebusting is a better play if you are not trying to be King of Connections.

Scud - 3 out of 5
If you’re playing Resource-heavy (especially Resource: Connections), then Tri-Maf Contact is gonna be right in your wheelhouse. Yeah, it’s a bummer that you REALLY have to be careful of Tags, but Fall Guy can save you so hassle and is a pretty solid card in his own right. Three of these can get you 9 credits in a turn (click each one once, then play Calling in Favors). That’s a lot of late game scratch and it only gets better if you have other Connections.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
Unless you are going for a connection deck I think you have far better options, Armitage being the best...



Mass Install
(14 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
I think Noise will love this card, granting him more explosive turns sending cards to the Archives. Just imagine Datasucker, Parasite and Imp for a total of 6 credits and 1 click. It’s a nice burst. Other than that, maybe Professor will want to utilize this, and other “Big Rig” Shaper decks as well. You’re trading time for money, as you have to have the money needed +1, at the ready, sparing you the clicks.

Corps3mourn - 1 out of 5
The first thing I think of is, “When was the last time I needed to install 3 programs in one turn?”, and I can’t come up with an answer to that. Either I don’t have the credits, I don’t have the programs, or I don’t have the need. Odd card.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
This is…pretty interesting. I can see this card being played out of shaper, who can fist up with Quality Time and get those cards out of their hand. This is definitely a boost to Noise--can you imagine that guy building up some money and then dropping three viruses before an Archive run? It's nice work compression.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
There will be times when you think this is going to be good but 9 times out of 10 when do you really need to install so much, paying all the install costs +1 for this cost to play, then have credits left over to use those programs.

Scud - 3 out of 5
This card can enable Virus-dump shenanigans in Noise (Viruses tend to be cheap), surprise rig-building in Shaper, and, well, not a whole lot in Criminal, actually. I’m very fond of this card since it can alter the game rapidly.

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
Not a card that will see a lot of play but it is fun to think of a few cool uses for it, most notably Andy with her huge hand and Noise because you could use this to drop a lot of cards into the archives in one turn for a sweet sweet glory run.
The other cards I think that is going to be fun with this is Duggar's and Joshua B, it's going to do a lot of work in decks it's designed for and won't be played it almost every other deck. Cool card



Q-Coherence Chip
(9 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 2 out of 5
This card is really good if you’re not running anything that trashes itself. If you can have it lying around for a couple of turns it should give you a nice edge of having a bigger rig. Pairs very well with Overmind (see below) in first turn install. With that said, I’ll also add that Shapers will not likely want this since they have a lot of self-trashable programs. Anarchs already have the best consoles for Memory Units, so this sits at an awkward spot. Maybe Criminal make an use out of this Chip, although I doubt it. Still it might propel an Overmind build and help big rigs. Being free to install is nice. If you can balance your deck to withstand the consequences of this being trashed then it might be the best Chip available as of now.

Corps3mourn - 1 out of 5
I can’t really foresee any particular uses for Ol’ Q-Chip here. Its temporary-e-ness is a glaring issue. Even if a program is trashed from the hand… Eep. As a sure thing guy, I’d much rather pay a little more for permanence.

Grimwalker - 1 out of 5
Plenty of people are running memory chips and this expands those options for non-Shapers. It isn't great as it's basically incompatible with self-trashing programs like Sharpshooter, Faerie, or Grappling Hook. I suppose it's good for Power Shutdown soak, and a good sale to Aesop. A “1” in this case doesn’t mean it’s a terrible card, but you have to make so many sacrifices if you go this route. I want to rate it a 2, but I've tried to build decks with it but my SMCs and Parasites and Caissa keep saying "no" and it will trash itself off of Grip damage that happens to hit a program.

Jamieson - 2 out of 5
I was in love with this mem boost; until it was ruled that if a program is trashed from your grip then that can trigger this to trash. I hope you got your overmind boost before that happens. Too much net damage fling around right now to make this a dependable play, Im sure it will be said but you can throw this to a pawn shop for a nice bonus. I want to like this so bad - instal cost of 0 for 1 MU is really good. There might be a couple cowboys out there that pay for high risk high reward and you will see this in those decks.

Scud - 1 out of 5
Cheap MU but right now it feels like this is simply an Overmind enhancer, getting you a few more counters on install. I’d say Parasite-recursion Kate might like this BUT SMC will kill them as will the Corp uninstalling any Parasite-hosting ICE.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
Time to call Aesop's, I think I have some junk I can sell... If you really want to memory you'll spend the influence making them Akamatsu's...



Overmind
(21 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 4 out of 5
Overmind is a good Icebreaker. Shapers will most likely help it fulfill its potential to the max. On first turn install it’s 3 subroutines you’re looking at that only need the strength credits. That is a nice deal. You obviously want to pair this with high MU consoles (Deep Red), E3 Feedback Implants, Grappling Hook and maybe 1 or 2 Q-Coherence Chip (see above), to avoid spending a lot of power counters. When depleted recycling it through Scavenge, or Aesop’s into Clone Chip, or any other effect just adds him a little more value. In a pinch 1 or 2 power counters might be just enough to get you in. It has a lot of versatility and I think there’ll be a couple of Overmind builds going about.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
It feels so Green, doesn’t it? With all the in-faction MU that Shapers have to offer, it seems like the appropriate home for Overmind. I love that it breaks everything but Swordsman, and that if you build for it, it’s hyper effective. That means E3 Implants and a ton of MU and recursion. You do it right and you’ll be breaking through everything.

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
Apparently Lukas has already chimed in that this is not as bad as people have said. Well…maybe. Out of the box, it's barely better than Crypsis. However, I'm already seeing some people building lists to minmax it that look playable: Deep Red MU counts, run it with Exile and E3 Implants, Scavenge it to refill it and draw. It's a lot of moving parts though, so will need support and you have to ask if it’s worth the effort.

Jamieson - 4 out of 5
This is such a great card. Great early game when you can install and get max tokens. We have tools for the crafty builders out there to really stretch its life span. Crypsis is still hanging on and a staple in most runner decks and this card can do more work for you than crypsis. I think you are going to be seeing E3 a lot more.

Scud - 4 out of 5
I may be a bit on the high-side for this one, but I’m excited about Overmind. As an early ‘breaker, it’s pretty great. Teamed up with E3, it can stay pretty great for a while. The slightly lower cost and the lack of tempo loss will make this my go-to “in case of emergency” ‘breaker of Crypsis.

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
We have the new all breaker, at first glance I thought this was going to be a great option for Crypsis but the more I thought about it I realized they couldn't be more different, the reason Crypsis is still king is because it compliments all decks whereas almost every other AI breaker needs a lot of support to make it worth playing and Overmind is no exception, it needs a lot of tools to work at a high level and if you are willing to focus your deck on it you will see huge rewards otherwise stick with Crypsis, Knight or my favourite Worm...



Oracle May
(17 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 3 out of 5
Oracle May is an interesting card. Obviously this combines very well with Test Run and Motivation to make you earn 2 credits and a draw almost assuredly. Because it trashes the card, if you fail in naming the correct type, this might work together with Exile enabling some sort of concoction, although a fairly suspicious one, I might add. The one influence sticks out like a sore thumb, but it’s probably for the best, as including her for free would punish the Corp for the Runner’s luck draw. I’m failing to see a deck right now where this would fit perfectly, but maybe one will come out sooner than later. You can also use her in a more reckless fashion, naming probably Operations most of the time and don’t caring too much with what you trash. When we see more heap-based cards, this may grow into a stronger option.

Corps3mourn - 3 out of 5
Motivation’s new companion. Bringing an already potent build into focus as a possible mainstay of green runners, Oracle May will breath new life into the beastly breaker builds. Solid support card.

Grimwalker - 2 out of 5
And fifty-seven Shaper players just punched the air. Oracle May will make Motivation/Eureka decks functional, which will be nice, but I don't know if it will make them good. Will see MonoTorchFemmeStar decks? Will she have a use in Anarch or Criminal? I don't know. We'll see. Matt Zeilinger has a high res version of the art up on his site and a birthmark on her left eyebrow and the large ring reveal Oracle as the card player on Sure Gamble, so that’s nifty. In my headcanon she’s Exile’s lost love from Motivation, as well.

Jamieson - 5 out of 5
Damn - neutral cards that cost me influence are so frustrating for me. I always want them in my deck. This is the can that when I say I loved the most. 1 credit to play, resource/ connection. Most think she needs to pair with motivation but truth is heavy event criminal can use here no problems. There is a need to be creative with how you gain credits now and May is the start to those new economy trains we need to be running.

Scud - 2 out of 3
If you can get the Motivation/Oracle May combo up and running, that’s a nice little econ boost. In a vacuum, though, she’s just alright. Test Run likes her a lot, since she bssically refunds you 2 credits at the beginning of the next turn. Right now, though, the 2 pips of Influence make her far less useful than many other utility cards.

SlySquid - 2 out of 5
If you really want to use Motivation then this is the card for you, I'd talk about it with test run but let's face it Scavenge is an all around better combo...
I think it's just going to work in an Aesop's based economy motivation deck, but even then I think it's janky...



Donut Taganes
(19 out of 30)

Ashtaroth - 4 out 5
The ability Donut Taganes has is very strong. If you put him in your deck, you build towards him, negating his effect, but that only holds true to you. I think this will help credit denial strategies, coped with Account Siphon, Vamp, the Source, Chakana and whatnots (even if you have to pay 1 more for said Events), funded on a resource heavy economy to really put the brakes on a corporation. Fortunately he is unique and its inclusion is not for free and that’s for the best. Effects this strong will see some deck that looks for them and the Corporations will have to be aware that sometimes in the near future an Hedge Fund will be a 6 credit Beanstalk Royalties.

Corps3mourn - 2 out of 5
If you build for him, you’ll benefit. If you don’t, just pass on him. Not too much to say here. As time marches on and we see the arrival of each new data pack, Donut will gain in presence, but for now he’ll be the lynchpin of janky control runner decks. Dat influence tho...

Grimwalker - 3 out of 5
In my opinion possibly the most interesting runner card in the set and very much one that will be very swingy depending on the meta. He could be very impactful on an opponent who isn't prepared to see him, he's a poke in the eye to core set Weyland which is very popular, but you have to build around him. Still, more than any runner side card, he is giving me the desire to build a deck to leverage him. I think he could very easily prove to be rage-inducing for the corp and I'll be revisiting some disruption-based decklists very soon.

Jamieson - 4 out of 5
woo - Donut dude, 2 influence for something that can punish yourself. BUT thats the best part; you know its there so you can prep for it. And remember that new economy engine I was talking about that card makes it sing. Why, because you punish corporation hurting those operation cards they use so heavily. I think this is such a good card , but sadly won't see heavy play for the influence count is borderline too much.

Scud - 3 out of 5
An interesting card that will take a little bit of skill to use effectively. Seems to suggest a Resource: Connection heavy, Event-lite deck that doesn’t mind getting behind a little bit. Hmmm, where you start with that build?

SlySquid - 3 out of 5
Another card that needs to be built around but if you do the payoff will be huge...
I think this guy will see his fair share of play!