I thought I’d pose this question to the experts here since I’ve been unable to find anything definitive in my Google searches. If I run R&D or HQ and hit an Archangel, can I break it with an icebreaker or do I just have to let the trace run and either match it or not?
Last night I did this and had an Atman at 6 but my friend was saying that because it is being encountered after the point where I can use icebreakers or paid abilities, it cannot be broken like it could in the normal steps of a run. I tried to see if this question had been answered before, but I didn’t find anything surprisingly. Perhaps my google vocabulary just wasn’t up to snuff. I hope this has been answered, because if not, this card opens up a lot of room for many questions on what can or can’t be done when this in encountered for both sides.
My understanding it’s encountering a piece of ice. It’s not rezzed, so anything that specifies rezzed piece of ice can’t be used, but anything regarding encountered piece of ice should still work.
You CAN break it, but @warpchy is right about not being able to use cards that reference “rezzed”. From FAQ:
13 Archangel
• When encountering an Archangel during access, the Runner
follows timing step 3 of a run, ignoring the portions about
approaching ice/the server.
• If Archangel is encountered while accessed and it is moved
from its position as determined when accessed (e.g., from
R&D being shuffled during the encounter or from Archangel
being trashed from HQ by Utopia Shard during the
encounter), then the encounter immediately ends and any
currently open paid ability windows close.
• Archangel is not considered to be rezzed during its
encounter, and cards that interact with rezzed cards, e.g.,
Datasucker, cannot affect it.
You see, the FAQ says we encounter it as if we are in Step 3 of a Run. We break in 3.1. You can break the Angel.