I am also saddened by the console, I had hoped it would provide some cost savings. However, I could see it being used in a perfumeshop style deck, or potentially in Sil
this
Saker isnât awful. itâs confirming again why Datasucker is so great with Khan and that fracters are criminalâs weakpoint, but the console is just⌠idk.
i feel like the only thing it offers is 2 MU, but at the cost of 5c. i like the ability though: it increases accesses late game when there are a lot of pieces of ICE on HQ and makes it a worthwhile pursuit. it basically means you donât run any other HQ multi-access, and it combos with Sneakdoor Beta, but it doesnât combo with Khan any more than any other ID, and there are other consoles with 2 MU that cost less, like Box-E, which helps Khan by improving hand size for all those breakers that are constantly bouncing back to her hand.
so after her last breaker and console have come out, i think Khan is still waiting for Keros McIntyre
5 Likes
Someone pointed out that it could work for Stealth Shaper because it could replace Legwork and the console in one cardâŚ
3 Likes
I think itâs fine to be dissapointed here. Looking purely from the factionâs perspective, a huge amount of Criminal cards released of late have been extremely niche âsetâ cards. First we had Geist, Spike, Crowbar, Shiv, Forger, Spy Camera, Tech Trader and arguably Muertos Gang Member. Thatâs an awful lot of cards to print for one ID, and itâs pretty bad if it doesnât see play as none of those niche support cards are going to see play either.
Following on from that weâve had Khan, three birds, and now Gauntlet. Geist and his support was never particularly well placed, but Khan seems worse than that.
This is an awful of lot time and effort spent on effectively dead cards. If I were a designer, I think Iâd be even more dissapointed by how this has fallen out. Comparisons with other IDs (Smoke!) make the design choices seem particularly disjointed.
4 Likes
I wouldnât include Muertos in this list (try it with Street Peddler btw), but I definitely agree with you about the âsetâ cards. They seem to have made a similar designation with Weyland on the corp side.
That said, I can certainly see Khan getting the same sort of support that brought Geist around, such as the upcoming card in the next cycle. I would also argue that her suite is a bit more meta dependent than Geists, as her ability is built around ICE and she has expensive breakers. She could probably be good in the same sort of way as big rig Chaos Theory, just not flexible enough to deal with a varied meta.
Keeping our expectations low, I see.
I was hoping for the +2 mem. Itâs Needed for the saharasa/datasuckers/multithreaders. But the console needed some way to help with her economy.
3 Likes
It actually doesnât combo with Sneakdoor Beta because it specifies the broken ice must be protecting HQ 
6 Likes
Have people been trying Hernando Cortez? He is great against HB. Let them hit 10 credits and Run the hell out of that Fairchild you know is there.
Also, after extensive testing of 2 games, I think Khan is pretty strong against Architects of Tomorrow. My deck runs 3 Ice analyzer and 3 Compromised Employee.
5 Likes
I think that x3 of both actually makes a lot of sense.
1 Like
yeah, i think a lot of people are expecting new cards for Khan like what Geist got, but like Geist, she already had cards to support her (Compromised Employee, ICE Analyzer, Datasucker, Forged Activation Orders, etc., hell, even things like DaVinci, John Masanori, Autoscripter, Security Testing, and Jak Sinclair all seem made for Khan)
it just depends how useful they are overall. like Geist had cards like Grappling Hook and Cortez Chip, but they arenât that great for him (imo), Grappling Hook because of 46th card syndrome, and Cortez Chip because not even a card draw makes it useful.
it seems these previous cards are great for Khan, but still the overall package is a bit lacking.
i also think that Khan fits into the meta in a way that counters things like Architects of Tomorrow and corps that run a lot of illicit ICE, and with Hernando Cortez, really great against Blue Sun. the problem i think is how common either of those will be (sure, Blue Sun is extremely common as far as Weyland goes, but thatâs âas far as Weyland goesâ). sheâs a niche counter for niche strategies, and Cortez doesnât need Khan to be a thorn in Blue Sunâs side, but Khan really wants something like Cortez, otherwise i donât think she does too much that any other runner isnât already doing.
i still think weâre waiting for the âcriminalâ pack. so far, criminal has had less cards than shaper, who in turn have had less cards than anarch. iâm optimistically (perhaps naively so) that the last two packs will include a lot of great criminal cards
2 Likes
Agreed.
Oh, and also, Khan is super bad against Weyland Advanceable ICE. So she gets countered by an even more niche strategy. 
in pokemon, thereâs often tiers for competitive play. they use such creative names as OverUsed, UnderUsed, RarelyUsed, and NeverUsed (thereâs probably a SeldomUsed somewhere) and BorderLine inbetween as simply ban tiers (along with BL2, BL3, etc.)
itâs all a bit ridiculous, but in some alternate universe of Netrunner with these same metagame tiers, i see Khan and Builder of Nations battling it out in that lowest tier along with Building a Better World, Silhouette, and Exile
2 Likes
So⌠are you saying Khan is a Pidgey or a Spearow?
1 Like
No, sheâs obviously Far Fetchâd.
4 Likes
I think Geist and Khan arenât too dissimilar. Theyâre built to solve a problem that doesnât really exist. Their main issue is even if the glacier deck that they have game against gets really good. Dumblefork (and Val derivatives) murder it even harder.
All the good criminal archetypes start 3x Desperado. Until that card goes away, all other criminal decks will be short lived at best.
Geist had his moment in the sun for a few weeks at least. I think Khan is much worse.
1 Like
âIâll tell you this right off the bat: itâs not great against a lot of NBN or Jinteki decks.Given the meta at Worlds this year, you may want to hold off on Khan for a bit. But if you are feeling brave and you think glacier is going to be a thing (this deck murders Architects of Tomorrow), give it a spinâ
That pretty much sums up my experiences with Khan so far. Sheâs good and once her econ is set up, she has a punishing strategy if sheâs using the birds⌠It just takes longer to set up than NBN can score out, and Jinteki can snipe key cards from her.
Also? Inside Job. Seriously, you should play that card in Khan. Iâm also tentatively experimenting with Cybsoft Macrodrive, and it seems to be pulling its weight. (Iâd noticed the sequencing of being able to get money off the Ice Analyzers was a little awkward⌠If you run the Ice, break and de-rez it⌠You need money on the Analyzer previously in order to use Khan-stall.)
1 Like
Agreed, though Geist has the added benefits of being extraordinarily hard to kill. But Geist wonât be good until never advance strategies cease to dominate (itâs too hard to keep remote lock with disposable breakers) and asset spam ceases to proliferate (because you can cram your deck full of Bank Job and Temujin, but you may as well just play Andy).