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Tech Talk - Snowflake
Jan 22 2013 06:09 AM |
Scud
in Android: Netrunner
Android: Netrunner Tech Talk Scud
Each week, Tech Talk hones in on one particular card, discussing when to use it, when not to use it, how to use it, and how to get around those who use it. This week, by popular demand (well, one person asked...), we take a look at Jinteki's very unique Barrier ICE, Snowflake (What Lies Ahead).DOCUMENTATION: Barrier ICE. Big, fat walls of bits and bytes that stop the Runner cold. Sure, there are Barriers that also pack a little something extra for the unwary Runner (Heimdall 1.0 and Wall of Thorns for right now) but overall, what a Corp wants from its Barriers is the plain old stopping power of those three little words - End the Run.
Snowflake's subroutine forces both the Corp and the Runner to secretly spend one of three amounts of credits, then reveal the amounts. If the amounts spent are the same on both sides, the Runner gets through. If the amounts are different, *BOIOIOIOIOING*, the Runner bounces on out. The nice thing is, since the subroutine provides three choices, and a non-match keeps the Runner out, the Corp has a 66% chance of ending the run. You also have a 33% chance of not only Ending the Run, but costing the Runner credits, to boot. (Important Caveat: Tech Talk studied probability in, like, the sixth grade. Also, Tech Talk is aware that the Corp "loses" 1 credit rezzing Snowflake in the first place. This has no bearing on whether or not the Runner actually lost money.)
For the low-ish "cost" of a 33% chance the Runner walks on through, you get a 3 Strength Barrier for 1 credit that might also function as a lower-level Tollbooth. That's two credits less than the 3 Strength Wall of Static or a double-advanced and therefore 3 Strength Ice Wall. A Strength of 3 means that once the Runner has their Fracter on the table, they'll be paying 2 credits, the top amount allowed by the subroutine, to break it (assuming, of course, they are running Corroder or Battering Ram; Snowball will cost the runner 3, Aurora and Crypsis cost 4, and Morningstar will only cost 1 after the initial 8 credit investment).
INSTALLATION: Cheap and reliably effective, Snowflake is the kind of ICE you are happy to see in your opening hand. Rezzing Snowflake isn't going to put you in danger of not being able to rez the ICE protecting the other Central Server (because who ICEs up Archives on turn one?) during the Runner's first turn. Heck, if you have a Hedge Fund on turn one, you could go into the Runner's first turn with enough credits to rez Snowflake and Tollbooth. That's not a bad deal.
In the mid- and late-game, Snowflake is no worse that Wall of Static (and it costs less). In fact, Snowflake may be better than Wall of Static because there is always the chance that some cocky Runner will decide that he can read your mind, like he's Neo or something, and not break the subroutine. That temptation might make leaving Snowflake out and active longer than you might keep a Wall of Static (or even a moderately-advanced Ice Wall) around a good idea.
IMPLEMENTATION: At 2 pips of Influence, most other Corps probably aren't going to want to splash Snowflake when they can get the infinitely-advanceable Ice Wall for 1 pip. If you are *really* good at reading your opponent and are therefore relatively sure you can cost the Runner money most times they try to get through the subroutine, Snowflake might fit into any Corp deck you make. You gotta be pretty darn sure, though.
COUNTERMEASURES: When in doubt, pay 0 credits to Snowflake's subroutine. That way, you either get in for free or you cost the Corp credits, which, if you are running on HQ or R&D, might actually be better than accessing a random card.
- Epidemic989 and HaphazardNinja like this
47 Comments
It's probably wise to put another piece of ICE outside of Snowflake, especially if it's on a central and not a remote (i.e an attrition target, not a burst target.) Make the runner invest BEFORE they hit snowflake, they really have no reason to play the stupid mind game, and it's a Wall of Static you got at a 2 credit discount. When Snowflake is on the outside - well, when the corp is getting creds for some peak, you can tell them "Lose a cred or let me in." (And of course, if you do this all game, you can spend 1cred once for hilarity entry.)
the only real good thing about this ice : It's a Wall 3str for 1 credit. It largely trumps those forged activation orders intended to lure you into spending your money
the only real good usage I think is playing on its position: if you put it rather innermost in your forts, when the runner encounters it, since he has already paid for other ices and does not want to waste his run by losing to your jedi mind trick, he will then pay to break it no matter what.
It's hard to imagine choosing this over Wall of Static.
Also I'm afraid your sixth grade probability has failed you. If the Runner and the Corp both choose from {0,1,2} randomly, the runner has a 2/3 chance of spending money, and the corp a 2/3 chance of ending the run (regardless of the runners choice), leading to a 4/9 (44.4%) chance of wasting runner money. Fortunately probability isn't relevant at all as neither side is going to make this choice randomly, so the relevant branch of mathematics would be game theory.
Again, Snowflake isn't a top tier piece of ICE but it has it's uses.
Ice in front of HQ
Ice in front of R&D
click for cred
Runner first turn:
Run on HQ - rez wall of static
Run on R&D - rez enigma
click for cred
Enjoy your second turn corp. Can't hedge fund, can't safely set up a remote server for melange corps or pad campaigns...
Corp 2nd turn:
click click click for 3 creds
Runner 2nd turn: draws a few cards, keeps his creds high.
Corp 3rd turn: set up a remote server with economic card with another wall of static in front. Click for cred (4 creds total)
Runner 3rd turn: lololol run on remote server. Corp loses 3 creds to rez. 2-4th actions are spent installing an icebreaker and maybe breaking into the appropriate server.
Corp 4th turn: If the corp put down a melange mining corp, he has *exactly* the 1 cred he needs to rez it. If he put down a pad campaign or adonis campaign, he's SOL and can enjoy using his 4th turn to click for cash.
So as you can see, saving an extra 2 bucks early on a piece of ice is killer. Even if the ice is a little weak or leaky, it's still probably better than a wall of static. I'd prefer wall of ice because it ends the run for sure, but snowflake scales better into mid game because its base strength is higher.
Early game was really horrible for some corps, especially in the bottom 25% of unlucky games. Now it's a little bit better.
You said that Snowflake scales better into midgame than a Wall of Ice.
Really? If a runner bounces off snowflake for free, you've gotta be spending at least 1c every time for that. If you put any of those credits into ice wall, you could have a strength 4/5/6 etc ice wall by that so-called midgame.
You can't compare snowflake to wall of ice and say snowflake is better midgame. You just can't.
Corroder and Battering Ram: 2 credits
Morning Star: 1 credit
Crypsis: 4 credits
Snowball: 3 credits (+2 strength for 2cr, break for 1cr)
Aurora: 4 credits (+3 strength for 2cr, break for 2cr)
Right? Or am I missing something?
No. You don't know in advance that he'll bounce off "for free". And if he does, he's wasting an action doing it. I'll pay a buck to make the runner lose an action.
"You can't compare snowflake to wall of ice and say snowflake is better midgame. You just can't."
Yes I can. Mid game, the runner is going to want to actually break ice. Wall of ice is at strength 1. Most barrier breakers don't have to pump up to break it. This is not true for snowflake.
"If you put any of those credits into ice wall, you could have a strength 4/5/6 etc ice wall by that so-called midgame."
It's the delta, not the absolute position. You spend creds to make him lose actions, therefore he takes longer to reach mid game.
"You can't compare snowflake to wall of ice and say snowflake is better midgame. You just can't."
The runner has a full rig. Would you rather have a wall of ice or a snowflake? Herp derp.
Noe, you're right. I added that parenthetical last minute, after having put my son to bed. Moral? I shouldn't do math when I'm half-asleep. I even had the cards in front of me. Sometimes I scare even myself.
Thanks for the catch, I've fixed the article so that, in the future, my legion of fans don't get bum advice.
If the runner has a full rig, I'm probably not greatly interested in Wall of Static or Snowflake, but I'll take the Wall. It won't let me down if I manage to trash his fracter or let him through for a necessary discount at a crucial moment, and Snowflake requires that I hold onto 2 credits (maybe 1 at a stretch, but that greatly weakens it) to be remotely effective anyway, so I'm not really saving anything by choosing it.
Seriously, if you lack the 3 credits to rez Wall of Static, Snowflake is at best a 50/50, and running on it twice (first run pay 0, second pay 1) guarantees a break. Even first turn I'd still choose Wall of Static.
Edit: This was supposed to be about Wall of Ice, but it's not. As Snowflake isn't likely to compete for space with Wall of Ice anyway (in what way is either worth running out of faction?) it's probably far more relevant than the intended post would ever be.
Or the corp selects zero and laughs at you as you waste actions running into the wall! Even ending the run for 1 credit is still wasting one of the runner's actions. So don't act like you're just losing a cred.
"If the runner has a full rig, I'm probably not greatly interested in Wall of Static or Snowflake, but I'll take the Wall."
Well yeah, but, that's not an option. You either take wall of static for 3 or you take snowflake for 1 + X. In the mid and late game the runner isn't going to waste actions trying to juke your snowflake. He'll be able to break it for 2 creds. So the subroutine is only a "disadvantage" early game.
Also, as Jinteki, you're playing a low variance agenda game. Everything in your deck is worth 2 agenda points. So you can accept a low probability that the runner scores 2 point early. I might agree that the uncertainty is unacceptable if you're running a priority requisition deck.
"Seriously, if you lack the 3 credits to rez Wall of Static, Snowflake is at best a 50/50, and running on it twice (first run pay 0, second pay 1) guarantees a break. Even first turn I'd still choose Wall of Static."
If you choose the wall of static on the first turn, you incur a huge economic penalty. Literally 50-60% of your creds gone. Enjoy protecting your other servers.
You have to accept some risk if you're playing the corp. If you try to lock down all your servers 100%, you basically lose your first 3-4 turns clicking for cash to pay for your WOS setup.
The subroutine is a disadvantage the entire game because if at any point the corporation has 0 credits, snowflake becomes free to pass. Late game I've found that the runner is often one or two credits away from winning the game (or at least scoring more agenda points/prolonging the game), Snowflake might give them a shot that they would not otherwise have.
Jinteki can only run a deck full of 2 agendas if they use Private Security Force, which doesn't really help many Jinteki plans, thus most Jinteki decks I've seen are indeed using 3 point agendas.
If on the first turn I drop Enigma and Snowflake instead of Enigma and Wall of Static, then the runner can guarantee they'll break through Snowflake by running at it 3 times paying 0 a throw. If you want them to only succeed once instead of 3 times then you're going to have to spend all of that money you saved. (The runner can actually guarantee two successes, but it'll cost them.)
Look, if the runner wants to get in, he can get in. This is true for every piece of ice. If you want to spend 4 clicks doing it, okay. You can get through snowflake. You can also get through all of the HB ice and most sentries.
"Having a run ended for one credit is not a wasted action at all. If the runner had Click: The corp loses a credit as an action, I think it would be used all the time."
Depends if the corp has ice already rezzed. If he has ice up he doesn't need a ton of money.
"The subroutine is a disadvantage the entire game because if at any point the corporation has 0 credits, snowflake becomes free to pass."
Don't have zero creds then? It's not super hard.
"Late game I've found that the runner is often one or two credits away from winning the game (or at least scoring more agenda points/prolonging the game), Snowflake might give them a shot that they would not otherwise have."
And if you had a wall of ice there instead, they'd be able to break it for 2 creds. Instead, they might require 3+ creds to break snowflake.
"Jinteki can only run a deck full of 2 agendas if they use Private Security Force, which doesn't really help many Jinteki plans, thus most Jinteki decks I've seen are indeed using 3 point agendas."
You don't run snares? You can run data raven... And the point of PSF is not simply to use it, it's to pressure the runner into avoiding tags really hard.
"If on the first turn I drop Enigma and Snowflake instead of Enigma and Wall of Static, then the runner can guarantee they'll break through Snowflake by running at it 3 times paying 0 a throw."
You don't like HB do you.
If you drop Enigma and WOS the runner can gaurantee that you have 0 creds remaining. Enjoy not having an economy till the 4th-5th turn. What's the runner got by then?
"If you want them to only succeed once instead of 3 times then you're going to have to spend all of that money you saved. (The runner can actually guarantee two successes, but it'll cost them.)"
Again, you need to accept that they can get into your servers early. This is entirely possible even if you put down WOS and enigmas. They could easily have an efficient icebreaker in their hand. You cannot base your game strategy off minimizing runner access. That's why there are ambush cards in this game.
This about sums it up. If you don't hold onto two credits Snowflake is really bad, so why not just spend those 2 credits on a Wall of Static and be done with it. Being cheaper is Snowflake's only advantage, and as it requires you to keep credits for it, it's not even cheaper in effect. Coming up with excuses to cover it's shortcomings doesn't change that.
First, you only need to hold onto one credit. Second, the reason it's good to have them on hand is because the runner may not want to force you to spend them. After all, he has to spend actions to do it.
Third, you can always chum it up. Problem solved 110%.
"Being cheaper is Snowflake's only advantage, and as it requires you to keep credits for it, it's not even cheaper in effect."
Adonis campaign says what? Pad campaign says what?
"Coming up with excuses to cover it's shortcomings doesn't change that."
Observing that the runner can get through Snowflake if he tries really hard doesn't change the fact that the runner can do the same thing with many, many other pieces of ice.
Snowflake ain't so strong in the front. Chum ain't so strong in the back. Data Raven ain't so strong in front of the remote with the Priority Req. That's why you raven R+D and put Chum in front of that remote and Snowflake in back. Saying "Look how bad this ICE is when I put it in the wrong spot!" isn't really a good way to analyze the worth of a card.
Chum is only a solution if the runner lets it fire. I guess if you draw two limited use early game ice early in the game, and combine them, yeah, you're decently protected. Of course, things get fun when you only draw either/or.
Bonus points for herpderp.
Well, we can't rely on being lucky enough to get the 2 ice hedge fund start...