Strength 3. That would be 2 trashed cards with Faust, 2 credits and no access with Eater, 2 credits with Knight, 3 turns and 2 credits with Darwin, 3 credits and a power/virus counter with Overmind/Crypsis. All of that to prevent the corporation from getting 5 credits. I don't think this is something you want to break. It's also an advertisement , so in Spark the runner loses a credit.

Good in Spark. I don't think it's worth deck slots elsewhere.

Good in Spark. I don't think it's worth deck slots elsewhere.

Really?  It seems like straight up econ to me.  Downside is they might not trigger it (put it over R&D?), upside is it pretends to be ice.  Also combos with Chum!  If this is over R&D there's no way the corp is going to keep paying the tax just to deny you the 5 credits, and that's if they even have an AI.  Strength 3 is good against Atman.

Maybe in EtF - gain a credit installing, gain 4 when passed. Also, this card loves the Architect.

it's a Hedge Fund level of economy piece on a piece of ICE that can be used to protect your economy assets if the runner tries to go trash them.  keep those Pop-ups on centrals; this card is amazing, with or without Spark Agency.

It'll be fun to run through right before an Account Siphon.

Nice to see ICE opening new possibilities in credit-denial decks: now I can run Vamp before Siphon, as long as I hit this in between? Thanks, NBN! Keep the derpitude coming.

Make the Corp's ICE work for you!

Really?  It seems like straight up econ to me.  Downside is they might not trigger it (put it over R&D?), upside is it pretends to be ice.  Also combos with Chum!  If this is over R&D there's no way the corp is going to keep paying the tax just to deny you the 5 credits, and that's if they even have an AI.  Strength 3 is good against Atman.

Some have likened this to econ as ice like Pop-up Window; the thing is Pop-up Window is good because it always does something and it sticks around. This ice on the other hand only sometimes does something and it self-trashes. 

If you want econ, just run real econ instead of this. Its not like there aren't plenty of econ options available without adding the complexity of potentially paying an install cost and hoping the runner encounters the ice at a time that is convenient for you and makes the decision you want them to make re: to break or not to break. 

If you want ice, just run real ice instead of this. Its not like there aren't viable ice options available to NBN.

It is an undirected high-variance card that doesn't participate in any sort of a larger theme other than it's advertisement keyword, which currently only Spark cares about. 

YMMV, but I'm not seeing it on this one.

It'll be fun to run through right before an Account Siphon.
 
Nice to see ICE opening new possibilities in credit-denial decks: now I can run Vamp before Siphon, as long as I hit this in between? Thanks, NBN! Keep the derpitude coming.
 
Make the Corp's ICE work for you!

this is a pretty strawman argument. why would the corp rez this against Vamp/Siphon?
if it's on a remote, just don't rez if you expect Siphon and HQ isn't defended well and you don't already have a lot of credits. if it's on HQ, just don't rez against a siphon

so many NBN decks include 3x Sweeps Week and 3x Hedge Funds because it's great economy. this is the same level of economy in a piece of ICE. it won't fit into every deck, but it's by no means awful.

You're on a roll, mate.

Obviously the Corp isn't rezzing it during an Account Siphon.

As I stated, running through this before you play an Account Siphon is a nice way to pump the Corp's coffers to give the Runner a little something to aim for.

There are plenty of times a Runner might be sitting on A.S. waiting to maximize the gain, only to see the Corp blow through credits turn after turn. Cards like this one (or, say, Sundew) are a real bonus, especially if the Corp has already rezzed this (only to have it broken, by, I dunno, an Eater?).

Using this well will require some excellent timing by the Corp, and it's completely dependent on the Runner's deck. That's not really Hedge Fund. Runner has the initiative here, almost completely, although there is some jank the Corp could pull to ensure the 4 credit net.

So if the answer is "well, don't rez it in fear of a coming Account Siphon," I'd argue that's not, perhaps, a really reliable or stable economy card. Granting initiative to a credit-denial deck regarding your economy? That's got to be the worst move a Corp player can make, so this is, at best, a dead draw against one of the most popular tournament archetypes.

So, no, not a Strawman. This will be fun to run through right before an Account Siphon. I expect to do that the first time I see it and the last time I see it, and so will everybody else.

I am thinking that as the corp I would not be electing to rez this against an AI icebreaker unless I had an effective defense over HQ. As most know, account siphon is a thing.

The key is that you need to be finding ways to get some mileage out of the fact that it's ice. KS is right -- if you want immediate, reliable money, you have options; if you want stopping or taxing ice, you have options. This is a hybrid card like Thomas Haas, and should be deployed as such. For example, getting 4 credits in your bank during a run which steals an agenda primes the pump for midseasons or SEA source exactly when you need a cash advantage. It can also bait a trap or encourage a wasted run, and produces the opposite of what the runner expected/desired when they run early to try to get you to spend your credits.

I have repeatedly found it useful for encouraging the runner to run where I want (like any piece of facedown ice can do), and have repeatedly used it to help pay for a Midseasons (like any transaction event can do). But there are relatively few NBN cards that can modify running behavior while also providing you with a payday via a click that you sunk one or more turns ago. Perhaps it merely suits my style. But I've taken a liking to this card.