Charlatan is interesting. I don’t think it’s good, but I am looking forward to playing with it.
Ygritte also makes me happy. I like these spoilers.
2 Likes
for an extra challenge, play with spy cameras out of Bios: try to keep in mind what’s in your grip, what’s in NVRAM, what’s on top of R&D, and what’s on bottom of R&D!
6 Likes
For a Passport that works on remotes, Abagnale is a good deal at 4 cost. Plus the trash ability is quite good. I don’t see it being splashed, but it certainly saves crim deck builders some influence if Peacock or Peregrine weren’t doing it for them.
8 Likes
I do like the Criminal decoder situation; a ton of completely mediocre breakers that each have some pros and cons. You can’t slot one of them and think “I’m perfectly happy with this situation.”.
If all icebreakers were like that, Netrunner would be in a better spot.
14 Likes
Criminal decoder diversity is has become as interesting as Shaper decoder diversity, just at a lower power level.
1 Like
Geisty will love this breaker suite.
3 Likes
Fair point. On that train of thought, I guess I mean that I think icebreakers could stand to be less powerful in general. Power creep has hit them pretty hard.
Half the reason horizontal play has been so good, I think, is because vertical play is largely invalidated. Even the decks that are successful that aren’t horizontal don’t rely on vertical play for the most part.
4 Likes
Just to make sure I’m understanding the timing on Charlatan correctly – you can’t use it on something freshly rezzed, right? Charlatan fires at 2, ice gets rezzed at 2.1?
I never even considered that. I’m pretty sure you’re right.
That’s a fairly significant power hit to the card. 
One more round of gut reactions:
Bios: I know comparison is difficult because they’re in different factions, but apart from that can we all agree that she is strictly worse than Andy? Andy is going to rotate, though, so I guess this might be the new go to for a rush opener. OTOH, since Shaper is the native faction for draw/tutor effects, this ability seems pretty ‘meh’ when you’ve got access to Diesel, Test Run, and SMC.
Spear Phishing: Cool. Off the top of my head, I’m not sure how to evaluate this against Inside Job when dedicating deck slots, but having the option is cool regardless.
Charlatan: I like this, a lot. At a glance it seems like it might be overcosted (especially since it also runs on credits), but it’s a pretty potent ability, so it might be right.
Abagnale: Huh. I actually thought this would never come – Crim now has a standard pump/break decoder that isn’t hot steaming garbage, and it comes with a little bonus ability to boot. It’s not stellar, but if you’re tight on influence it’s a fine option.
Brute-Force-Hack: First of all, what’s up with the hyphens? Seriously, Damon, your card names just make me cringe sometimes. In terms of power level, I… am less than impressed. It’s fine as a mini-vamp, I guess. And you know what the ice cost, so played well it enables you to skip past it or blow it up with a Forged Activation. But it doesn’t need to be a double, and it’s probably got less general utility than Emergency Shutdown (which doesn’t get played much anymore already).
Careful Planning: Cool. Coolcoolcool. Versatile – usable against ice, defensive upgrades (if they ever make a comeback), or even random assets. I dig it.
Deep Data Mining: I like it. I know why the cap is there, I don’t think its particularly necessary, but at least it shows they’re starting to consider the broken-combo-edge-cases (see, Damon, I can use hyphens too!). I dig the card regardless. =)
Egret: Love the idea. Unfortunately, probably a little underpowered for the current game. If this were printed 2 years ago as a Shaper Caissa (with a click ability to move it around) it would have been baller, though.
LARL: Not really a fan. 4 credits is expensive and it’s still not super fast. You’re basically paying four credits up front to have unlimited uses of a neutered Express Delivery… a card which has rarely been playable out of Crim, where your draw/tutor options are significantly more limited.
–
The combination of Bios and LARL does make me wonder if there’s something we haven’t seen on the corp side that is going to make ‘hiding’ cards in NVRAM or at the bottom of the deck appealing for some reason. If that is the case, and depending on the power level of those effects, these two cards might be a bit better than I’m giving them credit for.
3 Likes
Charlatan looks like Zordon from Power Rangers. What are they trying to tell us? FFG is in league with Rita.
3 Likes
Bios: I know comparison is difficult because they’re in different factions, but apart from that can we all agree that she is strictly worse than Andy?
While the comparison is obvious I think it’s unfair to just say she’s a worse Andy. I think the ability is interesting in that you can hide away four cards the the corp has no way of accessing. It also means the cards you keep will change depending on your opponents ID and you don’t have to immediately empty a large hand like you often do with Andy.
It may be the case that Andy is a stronger ID but she’s a different faction with different strengths.
5 Likes
Can anyone explain to me the utility of Bios’ power? If you have to use a click, then it’s just a draw. I know you get to look at six and then keep four, but six is just not that many cards. Like, what are you building towards in a deck with that power?
1 Like
I think that Bios’s value will depend on whether a mulligan reshuffles NVRAM or not. From a strict reading of the core rules, it doesn’t (though TD’s rules will hopefully explicitly address this). Picking 4 out of 6 twice and then a starting hand from the remaining 37 cards seems potentially very powerful and the optimal strategy is not obvious (to me, at least). It effectively combines a small deck size with a very consistent start, though without the link and click-efficiency of andy’s first turn.
It’s really intriguing to me, but if NVRAM shuffles with mulligan it gets worse quickly.
The way it’s worded sounds to me like either the NVRAM is not shuffled, or you can pick and choose any card with a click. That sounds pretty decent to me for goodstuff shaper, if you want that SMC/Temujin/whatever else you run as a 3-of. If you can get one of your silver bullets for the matchup in there, even better.
1 Like
i think Abagnale is clearly the better breaker at this point though
it’s 1 credit less to install and 1 less to boost on the same ratio as Peregrine, and Peregrine’s ability is balls (let’s be honest, especially all the new derez effects coming)
compared to Peacock, it’s 1 more to install and worse to break on code gates with 5, 7-8 str and exactly 1 subroutine
an all other cases, it’s either the same or better
so that’s:
Bandwidth
Cell Portal
Check Point
Lock Down
Red Tape
Tollbooth
Turing (on a remote)
Waiver
Wormhole
a couple of these can be broken with traces
some are really strong but rarely see play, like Wormhole
Tollbooth is basically the only one on the list worth worrying about
but Abagnale’s trash ability is why it’s better than Peacock (well, and all the other ice it breaks for way cheaper, like anything with more than 1 subroutine)
but why does criminal use an in-faction decoder? because they only really have enough influence for one out-of-faction option. the other is just there in case you draw it first or if it gets trashed, you have a backup.
but in the option of drawing your in-faction breaker first, you have to weigh your options on whether or not it’s actually worth it to install, say, Gordian, for the efficiency it’ll afford, considering that you already have a decoder out.
with Abagnale, it’s a no-brainer. you can trash it to gain a lot of immediate value, like saving 7c on Fairchild 3.0, 8c on Tollbooth, or 9c on DNA Tracker to bypass and then install your more efficient breaker, without losing any tempo (and potentially gaining some)
this is something i’d never spend influence on, but it’s awesome for criminal, and i don’t think i’d consider anything else ever again for my in-faction decoder. i’m really excited for this one.
10 Likes
Exactly what I was thinking. All your points, but emphasis on Abagnale being a straight upgrade for those of us that already run Peregrine.
2 Likes
i think it’s hard to qualify at this point, but i think one thing her ability does is help her be a bit more aggro with face checks early on.
with criminal, for example, you take some net damage from an early Komainu, Cortex Lock, or Snare! and lose a breaker, it’s pretty rough for the rest of the game
it could also be used to save combo pieces. as you take random net, meat, and brain damage throughout the game, they’re safely tucked away in a zone the corp can never influence. or just by digging through your deck for the other pieces, you often have to discard. this lets you have another place to tuck those pieces away.
i don’t think you need to make anything especially for this ability. you can lock away combo pieces, breakers, money options, whatever, and have a little less fear about losing them until you need them
i think you’re right though that, all of that having been said, you still only get to look at 6 cards. this is an ID that i think needs some play time to really gauge how it’ll affect the game
3 Likes