Just going to point out that this does not deny access, (the wording is very specific and novel) so this is one of the most efficient ways to trigger "instead of accessing [do x]" cards.

There's an obvious synergy with Fork/Knife/Spoon as a non-parasite way to destroy ICE.

Gets through barriers as well as a Corroder; gets through Sentries like a Garrote . . . that's a powerful AI. Situational, but no more so than a Cyber-Cypher or an Atman. Great in the right deck; useless for straight running (if you're not blowing up ICE or triggering "instead of accessing" events/programs, what are you doing with it?).

One word: Keyhole.

Again, not a 1-star rating.

I think this is just a great piece for Anarch.  Obviously it works with things like Keyhole, Wanton Destruction, Vamp, Account Siphon, Singularity, Datasucker tokens, Retrieval Run, obviously Forked/Knifed/Spooned , basically anything where you don't access cards or other benefits of making successful runs. 

It also just helps you not get owned by surprise ICE.  Things like Rototurret, Neural Katana, Ichi, Tsurugi.  Yeah, Mimic can get through these things as well (with a little help for Ichi), but Eater gives a lot of flexibility.

that is my favorite use with this card can run save always if have an okay amount of money. 

Eater is a Program that denies the main purpose of a run (to access cards) while strongly supporting its secondary purpose: to trigger conditional abilities or play conditional cards.

At 4 cost and 2 strength, this is the strongest AI in the game. In comparison:

• Crypsis and Overmind are more expensive to install and have 0 base strength

• Atman is tied to a fixed strength that has to be decided from the moment the Runner plays it

• Knight is click costing and can't break subroutines on multiple pieces of a ICE during a same run

• Darwin's strength can't be boosted for credits during a run. It takes many turns to get efficient. Plus it costs 2 credits per broken routine.

• Alpha and Omega are each tied to a single piece of ICE, and cost 7 for 1 base strength

• Wyrm is such a bad joke that I don't write it in markdown format. I don't want you to see it. Just forget about this card.

Pros - Make successful runs

Providing the cheapest way to make successful runs with a single breaker, Eater allows you to play some really powerful tricks. Think of any card that reads "whenever you make a successful run..." and/or "instead of accessing cards..." Here are a few examples:

First, it supports run events to trigger their ability. Go:

• Vamp
• Account Siphon
• Wanton Destruction
• Indexing
• Singularity
• Retrieval Run
• Escher

With Eater on the rig, we can play all this crazy stuff and punish the Corp badly. Ruin their credits, Trash a server (goodbye SanSan City Grid), Trash HQ etc...

With John Masanori, you are sure to make an extra draw each turn.

It allows you to play Data Leak Reversal and use Unregistered S&W '35

Boost Hemorrhage, Datasucker and Chakana to great heights.

Derez Janus 1.0 or Archer with Emergency Shutdown.

Expose HQ with Expert Schedule Analyzer

Works well with Silhouette: Stealth Operative has an ID to get a complete overview of the board.

Run again with Doppelgänger.

Play Hades Shard, Utopia Shard and Eden Shard at no cost.

Trash pieces of ICE. Yes, rip a server with:

• Spooned
• Forked
• Knifed

Once the server is stark naked, go and access cards.

Having trashed assets, upgrades and pieces of ICE, you still need to score points. So why not then play Notorietyand Quest Completed ?

But by far the strongest interaction Eater allows is to make successful runs triggered by Keyhole. The latter bars you from accessing cards anyway. It is then possible to win a game only with Eater + Keyhole + Hades Shard.

Cons - Access 0 cards

From the moment you use Eater during a run, say goodbye to:

• Medium and Nerve Agent
• The Maker's Eye and Legwork
• HQ Interface and R&D Interface

Eater is counterproductive with Edward Kim: Humanity's Hammer as an ID.

But mainly the bane of this card is Swordsman. If Eater gets popular - and I personally expect it to be - Swordsman might see a lot of play anew.

Another Problem is Crisium Grid.

Looking forward to play this.

The useful traits of this card have been mentioned, so no need for me to go into the details of it.

The thing I want to comment on instead is this card's significance as a paradigm shifter. Its synergy with existing cards in the pool plus additional cards it is releasing with means it is immediately useful on release and enables a very specific variant of Anarch play style that should be competitive with virus centric Anarch decks.

But, and this is a testament to good design, it is also not just a niche card as it is generally useable even outside of a deck focused around it.

Great card, all around.

This card is nothing short of a monster. Its efficiency is sickening and its synergy with Keyhole, Wanton Destruction and Account Siphon should make it a staple in the meta for a long time. Expect to see more Corps running Crisium Grids and Swordsmen from here on out.

My only warning to go with this card is do not expect it to carry you from game to game alone. It's drawback is significant and, while devastating, a single Swordsman in front of some EtR Ice on R&D will see your day ruined. Likewise with the aforementioned Crisium Grid and any remote servers if you don't have a Singularity on hand.

I'd recommend having a least a Femme Fatale or even a couple Knights of Crypsises (Crypses? Crypsi?) to make sure you don't find your game plan thwarted due to over-dependence on this card. All that said, this might be the most impressive Ice Breaker to hit Netrunner since the Core Set.

 

My only warning to go with this card is do not expect it to carry you from game to game alone. It's drawback is significant and, while devastating, a single Swordsman in front of some EtR Ice on R&D will see your day ruined. Likewise with the aforementioned Crisium Grid and any remote servers if you don't have a Singularity on hand.

 

I'd recommend having a least a Femme Fatale or even a couple Knights of Crypsises (Crypses? Crypsi?) to make sure you don't find your game plan thwarted due to over-dependence on this card. All that said, this might be the most impressive Ice Breaker to hit Netrunner since the Core Set.

Yeah; very true. I'm running it with Overmind currently. I find Crypsis too slow these days. Femme is always strong, but I don't tend to have the cards in Anarch to cheat it out easily and I don't want to pay full cost so unless I intend to include some Femme enablers I wouldn't include it in Anarch and go with Knight instead.

As to Singularity, that is a card which went to binder on release, but I've been playing it for a few months now and it has done a lot of good work for me. I added a 1 of in an Express deck of all places to solve the persistent problem I was facing in my small meta of Caprise and Ash and other upgrade laden super servers. It was immediately useful, and turned me on to the card in a big way. Its ability to play well with Eater just makes it that much better.