Tech Talk - Sherlock 1.0

Welcome to yet another Tech Talk, the weekly series that offers a look at the when, where, how, and why of using a specific (and usually disliked) Android: Netrunner card. This week, to prove that Tech Talk doesn't shy away from controversy, we're investigating how best to use HB's newest Bioroid ICE, Sherlock 1.0.

DOCUMENTATION: The BBC's new Sherlock show is a critical darling. People flocked to the theaters to see Robert Downey, Jr.'s take on the character (the first time, anyway). Even CBS's Elementary is doing pretty well, despite being produced by, you know, CBS. All in all, it seems The Great Detective is enjoying a new swell of popularity, people gobbling up any and everything to do with good old Sherlock Holmes.

Except for Haas-Bioroid's newest Sentry ICE, Sherlock 1.0 (Trace Amount), that is. Scuttlebutt is that poor old Sherlock 1.0 is just a pale imitation of the mighty Ichi 1.0 (Core). For a cost of 6 credits, Sherlock 1.0 gets you a Strength 5 Sentry with two subroutines. For a credit less, Ichi 1.0 gets you a Strength 4 Sentry with three subroutines. The vox populi point out two of Ichi 1.0's subroutines straight up TRASH the Runner's programs while each of Sherlock 1.0's two subroutines only initiate a Trace⁴ that, if successful, simply uninstalls the Runner's programs, sending them back to the top of her stack.

The masses go on to explain that, due to having fewer subroutines, Sherlock 1.0 suffers more from the built-in Bioroid weakness (the Runner is able to spend clicks to break subroutines without credits or icebreakers) than Ichi 1.0. They taunt poor Sherlock 1.0, calling him "Two-Click Rick" while they high-five Ichi 1.0 and call him "Steve McThree-Click." Or so Tech Talk imagines.

Maybe if they'd drawn Sherlock 1.0 to look like Benedict Cumberbatch, the ladies might like him a little. As it is, he's is getting very little love.

The truth is, of course, not as simple as "Ichi 1.0 good, Sherlock 1.0 bad," of course. In fact, if that jerk Ichi 1.0 didn't exist, Sherlock 1.0 would probably be getting all sorts of high-fives. If the Runner doesn't have the clicks to break his subroutines, Trace4 is a darned powerful base and, even with the extra link that Runners tend to have built into their decks, it's probably going to cost a few credits to get through unscathed. Sure, the programs end up back on the Runner's stack instead of in her heap but she still has to get the cash together to reinstall AND spend the clicks to draw the cards. That's a pretty decent tempo hit. (Sometimes, when they are feeling very charitable, the rabble will point out that Sacrificial Construct, which can save your programs from Ichi 1.0, cannot protect them from Sherlock 1.0. Then, usually, they'll just go back to laughing and pointing.)

It's true, though, that in a vacuum, Ichi 1.0 is a better piece of ICE. Luckily, no card gets used in vacuum in Netrunner (cue desultory comment from an astronaut-in-training that plays in the vacuum simulation room). Sherlock 1.0's strengths become apparent when you look at him in combination with other cards.

INSTALLATION: The most obvious cards that combine well with Sherlock 1.0 are the other Bioroid ICE. Ichi 1.0 might be "better" but you can still only put three copies in your deck. Now you can add three copies of Sherlock 1.0, giving you double the chances of getting rid of Runner programs. HB loves deep stacks of Bioroid ICE that lessen the impact of the "use clicks to break subroutines" drawback, so stack a Heimdall 1.0 (Core) and a Viktor 1.0 (Core) in there while you're at it.

If you're going to be layering your Bioroids into some sort of deadly sheet cake of doom, why not take a look at the "Stronger Together" Haas-Bioroid ID from What Lies Ahead, the one that grants all Bioroid ICE +1 Strength. Suddenly, Sherlock is a Strength 6 Sentry. "So, what," Nicky Naysayer says, "Ichi 1.0 gets +1, too!" Yeah, well, that only gets him to Strength 5 and, what with Ninja (Core) and its 3 credits for +5 Strength being the go-to Killer right now, that still puts Ichi 1.0 within one boost. Sherlock, however, requires the Runner to boost her Ninja twice, spending 6 credits just to match strength. That's 6 credits to get through Ichi 1.0, 8 credits to get through Sherlock 1.0.

(Tech Talk Sidenote: Just like with Sherlock 1.0, the internet is completely sure that the original "Engineering the Future" HB ID is simply better than the new ID. Depending on your style of play, that can be true. It is easier to see the benefit of "Engineering the Future" when you get that free credit for installing. However, "Stronger Together" can cost the Runner a lot of extra credits over the course of a game, enough to easily match and/or exceed the one credit per turn benefit of the original ID. Take a look at some of the less-played HB cards, like Shipment from Mirrormorph, Experiential Data, and even the new Encryption Protocol (Trace Amount) for some ideas on how to build that deck.)

IMPLEMENTATION: Okay, here's where Tech Talk has to throw in the towel – for the same amount of Influence (two pips), Ichi 1.0 is, in almost all circumstances, a better card to bring in out-of-faction.

So what is the circumstance in which Sherlock 1.0 is the better choice? NBN. One of those Trace⁴ subroutines is going to be a Trace⁶, which is gonna cost. NBN tends to run multiple lightly protected servers, so costing the Runner some clicks is a good things on that front as well. And if you're packing ChiLo City Grid? Sherlock 1.0's your man. Er, Bioroid.

COUNTERMEASURES: The usual tricks that you use to combat HB's Bioroid ICE, in combination with all that extra link you've been packing since What Lies Ahead released, will do the trick when you hit a Sherlock 1.0.

For all the talk of E3 Feedback Implants destroying HB, Tech Talk has yet to see many decks packing it, since it tends to be a mostly dead card against other factions. If you want to use it, try running Peacock (What Lies Ahead) and (*deep breath*) Aurora (Core) as the Decoder and Fracter, respectively, in your Criminal deck. Spend your Influence on other nifty stuff. Probably, you know, Datasuckers or Ice Carvers or something else to help make Aurora not suck so bad.