Netrunner LCG: Salsette Island Data Pack Review

Hello All

Following on from the review we did on Democracy And Dogma Review we have the 5th pack in the Mumbad Cycle Salette Island. In this video myself (Ben), Maz and Adam give our views on the cards and come up with a few deck building ideas.

Thanks for watching.

Ben

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Netrunner: Democracy and Dogma Review

Hello All

Following on the AAR I posted up a week or so ago, today I have review of the latest data pack Democracy and Dogma. Myself and Maz give our thoughts on the cards in the pack, look at a few combos and options on how to use the cards.

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Netrunner: Tournament AAR

Hello All

Ben here from Breakthrough Assault, that small site from across the pond. It might surprise you but I'm not here today to chat about Flames of War, no I'm here to chat about (well, show you) Netrunner and A Game of Thrones the card game from Fantasy Flight Games.

I have been playing living card games now since last summer as with baby number two on the way I knew my painting time was about to disappear and I wanted something new to play that didn't need painting. A couple friends ran me through a few games of Netrunner and what was meant to be something I picked up a few sets of here and there and turned into a collecting obsession... I really must have all the cards! The price point to get into Netrunner was a little bigger than I hoped (but probably still cheaper than the average 40k army these days), so when A Game of Thrones was released I decided to pick it up too. I'm a massive fan of the show, I didn't want to decide to get into the game a few years down the line and have another big price point to over come.

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Android Netrunner: New Newb Revue Economy Study Corp Identities & Agenda

Cue the music!

Its the New Newb Revue-oo-oo...coming right at you!  

This time we continue our talk on Economy in Fantasy Flight Games' Android Netrunner, focusing on the Corps' Identities and Agenda through the Order and Chaos expansion.  In our first article, we laid out the basics and the follow on articles will cover the card types for the Corps and Runners.  Getting all of those into a single article would have made for a       L----O----N----G article and I was afraid that I might miss a key point or the reader might get lost in the verbiage.  The main focus of these articles is to share a little of what I have learned to hep the newer players understand a very key concept in the game.  Any comments from the higher skilled players are more than welcome, as I do not claim to know it all.  Now, let's dive in and start making you some cash and move from a Noob to Newb or better.

Show me the Muh-KNEEEE!!!

Following the construct we established in the first article we have:

- Taxing. The idea here is to make the Runner pay extra to do even simple things and to make runs so expensive that can’t do anything at the end of it (like pay to beat Traces or to Trash cards) or make more than a run a turn.

    - High Trash Cost.  These cards all make other cards more expensive for the Runner to trash or make it more expensive for the Runner steal an Agenda...all of which tax the Runner.

        - Identity:  Jinteki "Industrial Genomics" (The trash cost of each card is increased by 1 for each facedown card in Archives)

        - Identity: Weyland "Gagarin Deep Space"  (As an additional cost to access a card in a remote server, the Runner must pay 1 credit).  This makes any remote run more expensive as this happens before stealing agendas or trashing assets/upgrades.

        - Agenda: Jinteki  "Fetal AI"  (If Fetal AI is accessed from R&D, the Runner must reveal it.  When the Runner accesses Fetal AI, do 2 net damage.  Ignore this ability if the Runner accesses Fetal AI from Archives.  As an additional cost to steal Fetal AI, the Runner must pay 2 credits.)

    

 - Agenda: Neutral "NAPD Contract"   (The advancement requirement of NAPD Contract is increased by 1 for each Bad Publicity the Corp has. As an additional cost to steal NAPD Contract, the Runner must pay 4cr.)

        - Agenda: Neutral  "Utopia fragment"  (As an additional cost to steal an agenda, the Runner must pay 2cr for each advancement token on that agenda. Limit 1 per deck)

    - Traces.   

        - Identity: NBN "Making News"  (2cr Recurring.  Use these credits during traces).  Great card for "Tag Storm" decks...where you want to load the Runner with tags and then use those tags for a little resource trashing or to cause Meat Damage through Scorched Earth, Punitive Counterstrikes, Dedicated Response Teams, etc...

        - Agenda: NBN  "Restructured Data Pool"  (CLICK:  Trace2  - If successful, give the Runner 1 Tag).  Having the chance to make the Runner spend money or get a Tag and not having to wait for the Runner to do anything?  Priceless!

    - Runner Lose Credits: No Identies or Agendas

    - Runner lose Clicks

        - Neutral "False Lead"  (Forfeit False Lead:  The Runner loses 2 CLICKS if able).  True you lose an Agenda, but it’s only a "1 pointer" and at the right time...like the runner has 2 clicks left and they need to run your scoring server with the agenda in it that you can score next turn?  Situational and timing is everything.

    - ICE with Sub-routines.  Both of these Agendas give the Corp player the capability to add another sub-routine to a piece of ICE.  You can seriously mess with the Runner's math as they calculate the cost of a run.

        - Agenda: Haas Bioroid "Project Wotan"  (Place 3 agenda counters on Project Wotan when you score it. Hosted agenda counter:  Choose a rezzed piece of BIOROID ice currently being approached.  For the remainder of this run, that ice gains "= End the Run " after all its other subroutines.)

        - Agenda: Jinteki  "Nisei MkII"  (Place 1 agenda counter on Nisei Mk II when you score it.  Hosted agenda counter:  End the run)

    - "Psi Game" mechanic.  Solely a Jinteki mechanic for now, but just another way to drain 0-2 credits from the Runner every time they hit

        - Identity: Jinteki "Nisei Division" (Whenever you and the Runner reveal secretly spent credits, gain 1cr).  This card actually gives you credits for playing the Psi Game.  So it REALLY costs you 1 credit less to play. A lot of times you want bid 0 credits so you don’t lose credits...but you can now bid 0 credits and make a net 1 credit profits or bid 1 credit and break even.  You are harder to predict now and this will help you win more Psi games.

        - Agenda: Jinteki  "The Future Perfect"  (When the Runner accesses The Future Perfect, you and the Runner secretly spend 0cr, 1cr, or 2cr.  Reveal spent credits.  If you and the Runner spent a different number of credits, prevent The Future Perfect from being stolen.  Ignore this ability if the Runner accesses The Future Perfect while it is installed.)

- Surge Economy.

    - Identity: Haas Bioroid "Engineering the Future"  (The first time you install a card each turn, gain 1cr).  Very nice bonus as you are ALMOST always installing something every turn.  Makes vertical builds a little easier as a 2nd layer of ICE is now "free" (Pay 1 credit for 2nd level and get a credit for the install)

    - Identity: Weyland "Building a Better World (Gain 1cr whenever you play a transaction operation).  To maximize you want to have lots of Transactions...other surge cards mostly... mo money, mo money, mo money!

   - Identity: Weyland "Blue Sun"  (When your turn begins, you may add 1 rezzed card to HQ and gain credits equal to its rez costs).  This a mixed surge card.  First is you have to have card rezzed...an Upgrade, Asset or ICE.  Then you can pull it back into hand get credits equal to its install cost to do more things.  Where this is really beneficial is when you rez high cost ICE like Curtain Wall (14 credits) using Oversight AI (1 credit) and then use Blue Sun's ability to pull Curtain Wall back to hand for net profit of 13 credits!!!  Runners can beat this by making a run and breaking the ICE on Oversight AI which then trashes the ICE.  BioRoid ICE and BioRoid Efficient Research does the same thing.  Runners also need to be aware that Blue Sun NEVER has an empty credit pool as long as they an Asset, Upgrade, or ICE rezzed. 

    - Identity: Weyland "GRNDL"  (You start the game with 10cr and 1 Bad Publicity). 5 credit surge from the start of the game!

    - Agenda: Weyland Agenda "Superior Cyberwalls" (The Corp gains 1cr for each rezzed Barrier (as well as all Barrier ICE gaining +1 Strength).  Does Weyland have an in faction Barrier ICE?  Oh, hell yes! This is multi econ benefit Agenda.  The +1 Strength for Barrier taxes the Runner a little bit more and if you maximize Barrier ICE in your build you can get a couple credits just for scoring,

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Hostile Takeover"  (When you score Hostile Takeover, gain 7cr and take 1 bad publicity).  Classic surge.

   - Agenda: Weyland  "Geothermal Fracking"   (Place 2 Agenda Counters on Geothermal Fracking when you score  it. CLICK, Hosted Agenda Counter:  Gain 7cr and take 1 Bad Publicity)

    - Agenda: Jinteki  "Encrypted Portals"  (All Code Gate ice have +1 strength. When you score Encrypted Portals, gain 1cr for each rezzed Code gate).  Jinteki version of Superior Walls...only for Jinteki's favorite ICE, Code Gates.

    - Agenda: Weyland  "High Risk Investment"  (Place 1 Agenda Counter when scored and when used you gain 1 credit for each credit in the Runner's Credit Pool).  Neat way to get cash.  If you mix it with the Titan Transnational Weyland ID you can add Agenda Counters whenever you score agendas

- Click Based. Very simple...spend a CLICK or two and get more than credit/click in return.  These are my favorite Econ Agendas.  Averages >1 credits/click and once your score they can never be trashed/stolen.  Money on tap...or well...on click  ;-)

    - Agenda: Neutral  "Gila Hands Arcology"  (CLICK, CLICK: Gain 3cr)

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Government Contracts"  (Spend 2 Clicks:  Gain 4cr).  LOVE this one the mostest.

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Government Takeover"  (Spend 1 Click:  Gain 3cr).  Love this one a little less as it is a 9 advance cost agenda and limited to only 1 per deck.

- Drip. No drip Identities or Agendas

- Recurring Credits.

    - Identity: Weyland "Because We Built It"  (1cr Recurring.  Use this credit to advance Ice). Free money...can’t be beat, and with Weyland advanceable ICE this is a perfect match.

- Bad Pub.  Bad Publicity are free credits for the Runner to use EACH run.  This can be very painful for the Corp.  Luckily, there are some Agendas that allow you to remove Bad Pub.  Being able to remove Bad Pub lets the Corp mess with the Runner's economy.

    - Identity: Weyland "GRNDL"  (You start the game with 10cr and 1 Bad Publicity).

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Geothermal Fracking"   (Place 2 Agenda Counters on Geothermal Fracking when you score  it. CLICK, Hosted Agenda Counter:  (Gain 7cr and take 1 Bad Publicity)

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Hostile Takeover"  (When you score Hostile Takeover, gain 7cr and take 1 bad publicity).

    - Agenda:  Weyland "Posted Bounty"  (When you score Posted Bounty, you may forfeit it to give the Runner 1 tag and take 1 bad publicity)

    - Agenda:  Weyland "Vulcan Cover-up"  (When you score Vulcan Cover-up, do 2 Meat Damage.   When the Runner steals Vulcan Cover-up, take 1 Bad Publicity).

    - Agenda:  Haas-BioRoid "Project Ares" (Trash Runner installed cards, if Corp does they get 1 Bad Pub).

    - Agenda:  Jinteki "Clone Retirement"  (When you score Clone Retirement, you may remove 1 bad publicity.  When  the Runner steals Clone Retirement the Corp takes 1 bad publicity).

    - Agenda:  Neutral "Profiteering"  (When you score Profiteering, take up to 3 Bad Publicity.  Gain 5cr for each Bad Publicity taken).

    - Agenda:  Neutral "Veterans Program"  (When you score Veterans Program, you may remove up to 2 Bad Publicity).

    - Agenda:  Neutral "NAPD Contract"  (The advancement requirement of NAPD Contract is increased by 1 for each Bad Publicity the Corp has. As an additional cost to steal NAPD Contract, the Runner must pay 4cr.  As the Corp, you need to be VERY aware of this card when you build your deck.  It can get pretty expensive to score if your deck allows too much Bad Pub.

- Install for Free/Reduced Cost.  All of these help you save some serious ducats when you score them.  Curtain Wall or Wotan rezzed for free...saving you 14 credits?  oh yeah.  Add to that you get a bad ass piece of ICE up and ready to mess with the Runner.  BONUS!

    - Agenda: Haas Bioroid "Accelerated Beta Test"  (When you score Accelerated Beta Test, you may look at the top 3 cards of R&D.  If any of those cards are ice, you may install and rez them, ignoring all costs. Trash the rest of the cards you looked at)

    - Agenda: Haas Bioroid "Director Haas' Pet Project"  (When you score Director Haas' Pet Project, you may create a new remote server by installing up to 3 cards from HQ and/or Archives in that server and/or protecting that server (one at a time), ignoring all install costs.  Limit 1 DHPP per deck)

    - Agenda: Neutral  "Priority Requisition"  (When you score priority requisition, you may rez a piece of ice ignoring all costs)

    - Agenda: NBN "License Acquisition"  (When you score License Acquisition, install and rez an asset or upgrade from Archives or HQ, ignoring all costs)

    - Agenda: Weyland  "Firmware Updates"  (Place 3 Agenda Counters on it when scored and each Agenda Counter can place an Advancement Token on a piece of advanceable ICE...at least once per turn...per scored Firmware Updates).  

So, that’s the Identities and Agenda.  Next up will be the Assets, Upgrades and ICE. So, what’s your favorite Econ Identity or Agenda?  Sound off on the forum at.....

All images are from NetrunnerDB

SonBae (AKA Jeff Flint) is a long time wargamer and painter and lover of Flames of War, Android Netrunner/40k Conquest/LOTR LCGs and Advanced Squad Leader.   From cardboard to lead to cards, he has lost at them all.  Follow him @wwpdSonBae on Twitter.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Android Netrunner: Economy Study --- Basics

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The New NooB Revue is back...and this time its not about a new Datapack for Android Netrunner by Fantasy Flight Games. This time we are going to take a closer look at some of the concepts and cards that make these concepts/themes "click" in Android Netrunner. We will look at all the cards that have been released up through "The Source" and see how some of the older cards, that might have been overlooked for the shiny of the new cards, hold up.  So join me as I share the musings of an "experienced" noob...hopefully these things I have learned can help you avoid some of the errors I made early on. 

Credits controls EVERYTHING you do in Netrunner. Without it, you can't advance agendas, let alone rez ICE to protect them. You can't even score the dreaded triple Scorched Earth to flatline the Runner because you couldn't pay the cost to use those operations. Now, what are the different ways that you can make money for the Corp. I have broken this down into 6 main concepts:

- Taxing. This isn't really about your economy, but concerns the Runner's economy more. Greg Nordreng aka Nordrunner (@Nords3x4) made this concept of Netrunner famous with his Redcoats deck. Taxing, from the Corp point of view, refers to making the Runner spend more than they planned to do for an action. The only real way for the Runner to beat this method is to have more money and to Trash those cards providing any "Tax" ability. Recurring credits allow both the Corp and the Runner to have free credits to use to offset the tax. These are especially useful for rezzing cards, beating Traces, and for Trashing Assets/Upgrades.

    - High Trash Cost. The goal is to force the to runner to spend extra credits to perform a Trash action. SanSan City Grid has a Trash of 5 and really makes it hard to get rid of or continue to give the Corp a serious benefit. A subset of this is those Agendas, like NAPD Contract, that adds a tax to the Runner just to steal the agenda.

     - Traces. The idea here is to threaten the runner with an adverse action unless they spend credits to beat the Trace...and hopefully those credits are more than what you spent to land the Trace. Trace cards with high Trace numbers are best as they save you credits. Cards that drain resources and cause damage to the Runner or their rig beyond the base action available to the Corp of spending a Click and 2 credits to trash a Runner's Resource make the threat very real as you can make failing the trace hurt. 

 - Runner loses Credits. This covers cards that take credits directly from the Runner during the run. (Pop-up Window or Tollbooth anyone?)

    - Runner loses Clicks. This is similar to making the Runner lose credits, but here they lose Clicks as a result of their action. This comes back to economy as Clicks can be used to get money either through the 1 Click for 1 credit or through a card effect like Magnum Opus (1 click for 2 credits) besides keeping them from making more runs.

   - ICE with Sub-routines. Here we are looking for ICE with lots of sub-routines regardless of their Strength. Typically, the Runner has to pay to break sub-routines on a piece of ICE after they have paid credits to match the ICE's strength. So, lets say you have a piece of ICE that the Runner matches in Strength, the Runner still has to pay to break each Sub-Routine. Even if you have a low strength piece of ICE like Errand Boy (Strength 1, with 3 sub-routines) and the Runner has Mimic (Strength 2 and pay 1 credit to break Sentry sub-routine)...the Runner's Strength exceeds the ICE's Strength, so they can break it...but they still have to pay to break each Sub-routine...in this case 3 credits. The Runner has other tools to break more than 1 Sub-routine at a time...but even putting those in play costs them credits. Even the threat of having to break Sub-routines drains credits. 

    - "Psi Game" mechanic. A Jinteki special. Here the Runner and the Corp player secretly spend 0, 1, or 2 credits and then reveal them. If they spend the same amount then the Runner wins and gets a favorable action...like beating Caprice Nisei's "End The Run". If the Corp spends less than the Runner you can further drain another 1 or 2 credits per event. 

As the Corp, you need to make sure you have the credits available to rez those Assets and ICE to make sure you can take advantage of their taxing abilities. Some high Trash cost Assets can impose their tax on the Runner just from the threat the present. SanSan City Grid for example...even if unrezzed, the Runner will want to kill it before it rezzes to prevent the Corp from getting any benefit of it. Just leaving these type Assets unrezzed can save you money by not having to rez them and then cost the runner credits to kill them.

- Surge. These are cards that give you a one time boost...or surge...of credits. The poster child for the Corp Surge cards is Hedge Fund (Pay 5 credits to gain 9 credits). These can be just a simple gain credits like Hedge Fund, or they can be a little more complicated like the Weyland Agenda "Superior Cyberwalls" where, when scored, the Corp gains 1cr for each rezzed Barrier (as well as all Barrier ICE gaining +1 Strength). Cards like this need a little set-up to make the most of them. For instance, to maximize "Superior Cyberwalls," you want to make sure that you have a lot of Barrier ICE....and score the agenda of course.

- Click Based. These are those cards, typically Assets, where you spend Clicks and receive credits in return. Melange Mining Corporation is a perfect example. With this card the Corp spends 3 Clicks (and typically that is all he gets per turn) and in return he receives 7 credits. You find these as Assets (Melange Mining), Agendas (Weyland's Government Contracts spend 2 CLICK and get 4 Credit) and even Upgrades (Shell Corporation, Spend Click add 3 credits; Spend Click remove all credits). This is a sub variant of a surge economy, but since it requires an Asset or Upgrade it is distinct enough from Surge, IMHO, to stand on its own.

- Drip. This type of economy provides a steady stream of credits every turn, typically when your turn starts. The more Drip economy cards you have in play, the bigger the flood of credits. These break down into 2 sub-categories. The first is Steady Drip. Here you get the flow of credits every turn. PAD Campaign (Gain 1 credit when your turn begins) is a great example. The second type of Drip cards are those that have tokens and you get cash as long as there are tokens on the Asset. Cards like HB's Eve Campaign (Place 16 credits on Eve when Rezzed and remove 2 at the start of your turn), HB's Adonis Campaign (Place 12 credits on Eve when Rezzed and remove 3 at the start of your turn). Once you get several of these in play at the same time it creates a money making machine....one the Runner can't allow to continue most times.





- Recurring Credits. These don't really make you money, but rather they help you save money by not spending credits for certain actions. Weyland's "The Root" with its 3 recurring credits that can be used to advance, install and rez cards is a perfect example.

- Install for Free or Reduce Cost. Anything that you can install for free or at a reduced cost saves you a lot of credits, such as Weyland's Oversight AI (rez a piece of ICE ignoring all cost). These strong cards have risks. Many are Agendas and you have to score them and others like can cause the item rezzed to discarded.

For efficiency, you want to make sure a single card can do multiple things. For economy cards, these are typically cards that give money but can also tax the runner. PAD Campaign is a great Drip Economy card that Taxes as well with its good benefit for the Corp (1 credit every turn) and has a high Trash cost at 4 credits.

From the Runner's Point of view, many of the above concepts hold true.

- Taxing. The Runner can tax the corp by making more costly for them to rez their Assets/Upgrades/ICE.

    - Increase Rez Cost. Idea here is simply to make it more expensive for the Corp to rez cards and to put them into action. The Resource Xanadu (Corp pays +1 credit to rez ICE) and the Program Rook (ICE on this server costs +2 to rez) really start to make things expensive for the Corp to get anything done.

    - Derez cards. Cards that force the Corp to derez cards and then pay again to rez them. Cards like Emergency Shutdown (Play only if you make a successful run on HQ this turn; Derez a piece of ice) can make defending servers quite costly.

- Link. You can make running Traces expensive for the Corp with out spending credits. All you have to do is build up your base Link. Hardware like Rabbit Hole (+1 Link) and The Toolbox (+2 Link) and the Resource Borrowed Satellites (+1 Link) all work together and count as free credits to beat Traces.    

   - Corp Loses Credits. Account Siphon anyone? Anything that forces the Corp to lose credits as a direct result.

    - Cards that increase Icebreaker Strength/Break Multiple Sub-Routines. Again, any credit you don't have to spend breaking ICE saves you credits and makes the tax the Corp is trying to place on you. Personal Touch (Install on an ICEBreaker, ICEBreaker gets +1 Strength). The Anarch Program D4V1D can use one of its Power Counters to break ALL the Sub-Routines on a piece of ICE with Strength 5 or greater. The "maths" on these can get a little confusing, especially if you only look at it as a single run.

- Surge. Just like the Corp, these are cards that give you a one time surge of credits. Sure Gamble is the Runner version of Hedge Fund (Pay 5 credits to gain 9 credits).  

- Click Based. Same deal as the Corp. Magnum Opus (2 credits/Click) is the perfect example of a true click-based Runner econ card. Liberated Accounts (Place 16 credits and remove 4 credits/click) and Kati Jones (Spend Click add 3 credits; Spend Click remove all credits) are perfect examples of the click-based econ cards that use tokens.  

- Drip. This is mostly the same for the Runner. Daily Casts (place 12 credits and remove 2 at the start of the turn) is the King here. A different version of the Drip Econ for Runners is the card that gives a credit or 2 whenever the Runner does something. Cards like the Console, Desparado (get 1cr whenever you make a successful Run), or the Program, Au Revoir (Gain 1 credit whenever you jack out), pays you to do what you want to do anyways.



- Recurring Credits. For the Runner these work just the same. Every credit saved on install and using abilities is a credit saved to help you later for beating traces or trashing assets/upgrades. You can even find recurring credits to be used to trash cards (Scrubber: 2 credits recurring to trash cards)!

- Install For Free or Reduced Cost. These cards can save you a bunch of money of the long run. Cards such as the Shaper combo of Test Run (Search your stack or heap for a program. Install that program, ignoring all costs. When this turn ends, add the program to the top of your stack if still installed) and Scavenge (As an additional cost to play this program, trash an installed program. Install a program from your grip or heap, lowering the cost of that program by the cost of the program that was trashed). The end result is that you found a specific card you were looking for and installed it for free. Personal Workshop (host a card and place Power Counters on the card equal to its cost. At the start of each turn, remove 1 counter. You can also spend 1 credit to remove a counter and once all counters are removed you can install the card for free) is a classic example. The opposite of this is to trash one of your cards and get credits. Aesop's Pawnshop allows you to trash a card (any card you have, even those that can't normally be trashed like Wyldsyde) at the turn's start and get 3 credits.

- Bad Pub. As the Runner, these are Free credits to be used during EACH run, not just each turn. They can be used for anything you need to do during that Run...break ICE, beat Traces, Trash cards, pull things off of Personal Workshop, etc...) Yes, the Corp might get a scary piece of ICE, but those free credits never go away. Besides the free credits, there are cards coming out that allow you to take advantage of that Bad Pub. Blackmail allows you to run a server and the Corp cant rez any ICE That turn. You can access additional cards (Raymond Flint) or draw cards (Tallie Perrault)...and more to come!!!!

Now with the framework of what economy cards are we can next start looking at them by card type. Stay tuned for the next article where we will look at the Corp Identities and Agendas that can be used as economy cards.

All images (unless otherwise noted) are from NetrunnerDB

SonBae (AKA Jeff Flint) is a long time wargamer and painter and lover of Flames of War, Android Netrunner/40k Conquest/LOTR LCGs and Advanced Squad Leader. From cardboard to lead to cards, he has lost at them all. Follow him @wwpdSonBae on Twitter.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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The New Noob Review: Android Netrunner The Source Datapack (PT 2: Runner Cards)

Fantasy Flight's "The Source" Page

Hey fans its here....the final data pack of the Lunar cycle for Android Netrunner by Fantasy Flight Games... The Source! This article will take a look at the Runner cards from a semi-competitive player's point of view....well okay....a Noob's view point,  The purpose is for the article to be a starting point to spur discussion and together we can improve our our card analysis skills.  The Reddit discussion from the last data pack review really helped me see a few of those cards in a different light.

Events:

Code Siphon        
Faction: Shaper  Play Cost: 0  Influence: 4
Make a run on R&D.  If successful, instead of accessing cards, you may search your stack for a program and install it, lowering the install cost by 3 for each piece of ice protecting R&D, and then take 1 tag.  Shuffle your stack

I heard some call this the Shaper version of Account Siphon...but this is a nice tutor and can bring in that high cost ICEBreaker or your support programs (i.e Magnum Opus) for dirt cheap.  Worst case the server is open and you pay full price for the program...but, you get the program you want right then and there.  The one down side I have seen is that to benefit from the cost breaks you have some breakers installed to break ICE protecting the server.  Self-Modifying Code and Clone Chip are king here if the ICE is unrezzed and a Test Run or two earlier in the turn can help you set up for the Code Siphon later in the turn if the ICE is known. 



Bribery
Type: Run  Faction: Criminal  Play Cost: X  Influence: 2      
Make a run, During this run, the Corp must pay X credits as an additional cost to rez the first unrezzed piece of ice approached

If X equals Play Cost:  Nice tax to rezzing ICE, especially when mixed with the other Rez Tax options such as False Echo (pass unrezzed ICE, TRASH False Echo and Corp must rez that ICE or add it to HQ), Rook (Rez cost of each ICE in server is +2), Cortez Chip (TRASH Cortez Chip +2 to Rez Cost of ICE or...), Xanadu (Rez Cost of all ICE +1), and Reina Roja's Identity (Rez Cost of first ICE rezzed each turn is +1)




Programs:

Incubator  
Type: Virus  Faction: Anarch  Install Cost: 3  Memory: 1  Strength: NA  Influence: 3
When your turn begins, place 1 virus counter on Incubator.                                                      
CLICK, Trash:  Move all virus counters from Incubator to another installed virus program

Virus players have been waiting for this card a LONG time. Combined with Surge (Event, add 2 virus counters to virus that has gained virus token) and Grimoire (Hardware/Console Each virus entering play gains 1 virus token) you can get a A LOT of viruses applied to a single virus card very quickly.  Corps will have to monitor the virus tokens on Incubator closely and time their Purges carefully.  This means cards like Cyberdex Trial (Operation, Purge Viruses for 0 creds and a single click) are very valuable. But, if the Runner pairs Incubator with Fester (Whenever Corp purges Virus Counters, they lose 2cr if able) you can penalize the Corp financially as well as the tempo loss they get for purging.  Good news is that Incubator only loses the virus tokens on it and doesn’t get trashed in the event of a purge.

Ixodidae    
Type:  Virus   Faction:  Anarch  Install Cost:  1  Memory:  1   Strength:  NA  Influence: 2
Whenever the Corp loses at least 1cr, gain 1cr.       Trash Ixodidae if the Corp purges virus counters

Not sure about this one.  Maybe for a Criminal deck that hits the Corp in pocketbook or just as another virus for Noise to install mill a card from R&D.  Other than that not a fan.

Collective Consciousness
Faction:  Shaper  Install Cost: 2  Memory: 2  Strength: 0  Influence: 2
Draw 1 card whenever the Corp rezzes a piece of ICE

Interesting card and a way to stimulate card draw.  At 2 Install cost it does offer a throwaway program for Power Shutdown (Operation/ Trash Hardware/program of cost equal to or less than the number of cards the Corp just trashed from R&D).  The 2 Memory turns me off of it though.









Sage 
Type: Icebreaker/Decoder/Fracter  Faction: Shaper  Install Cost: 4  Memory: 2  Strength: 0  
Influence: 3
Sage has +1 Strength for each unused MU.   2cr:  Break Code Gate or Barrier subroutine

A split personality breaker?  It’s a Decoder...It’s a Fracter...No, it’s Sage!!!!! This brings about the new style of Runner that creates a big rig with LOTS of memory...lots of EXCESS memory to act as a "battery" to feed the strength of its ICE.  So Cybersolutions Mem Chip (+2 MU) and the combo of Origami (Program where max hand size is increased by the number of Origami in play and 3 in play that’s +9 to hand size) and the Ekomind console (Memory Limit is equal to the number of cards in your hand) that MU battery can be quite high!  As with all combos it is dicey and card draw engines and tutors will be key to get the cards you need out into play.  The 2 credit to break a Code Gate or Barrier Sub-Routine can get to be expensive, so tech like E3 Feedback Implants (Whenever you break a subroutine on a piece of ice, you may pay 1cr to break 1 additional subroutine on that ice) will help big time.


Au Revoir
Faction: Criminal  Install Cost: 1 Memory: 1  Strength: 0  Influence: 2
Gain 1cr whenever you jack out

Nice way to make a little something out of failed or partial run.  Mixed with Desperado (Make 1 credit for every successful run) you can get a 1 credit no matter how the run turns out.

Resources

*Earthrise Hotel 
Type: Location/Ritzy  Faction: Neutral  Install Cost: 4  Influence: 0
Place 3 power counters on Earthrise Hotel when it is installed.  When there are no power counters left on Earthrise Hotel, Trash it.  When your turn begins, draw 2 cards and remove 1 power counter from Earthrise Hotel           

I love this card for Shaper....heck I love it for Anarch too (Criminal can make use of it too I guess, but I don’t play those low lifes  ;-) ).  The downside of Wyldside is that the Runner draws a card and loses a click EVERY turn.  With Earthrise Hotel, the runner doesn’t lose a click and it turns itself off after 3 turns.  This helps you manage your hand size and your draw/install rate.  It’s just right.
                 

That completes the Runner cards.  How do you see the cards?  What are your favorites? Come join the discussion on the forums or in the comments below and let me and others know.  Together, we can crack the servers of those evil Corps.

All images are from NetrunnerDB

SonBae (AKA Jeff Flint) is a long time wargamer and painter and lover of Flames of War, Android Netrunner/40k Conquest/LOTR LCGs and Advanced Squad Leader.   From cardboard to lead to cards, he has lost at them all.  Follow him @wwpdSonBae on Twitter.

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