As a startup player, every runner should be aware of Saisentan. It has the honor of being the only card in Startup that, with no setup, can flatline an unsuspecting runner with 5 cards in grip. Yes you need to have at least 3 of a card type in hand to make that possible, but that's not really that unlikely, especially if you're running a specialty runner like Az McCaffrey: Mechanical Prodigy or Ken "Express" Tenma: Disappeared Clone. But what are the odds of being flatlined? If you were curious like me, the math is: Assuming the corp picks the 'correct' card type: 3 Same type in hand - 10% chance of being flatlined 4 Same type in hand - 40% chance of being flatlined 5 Same type in hand - 100% chance....

Seeing the above math, and the fact that the minimum is 3 net damage, and you're often worried about being low on cards against Jinteki, it's clear this ice is meant to be a punishment for runners face checking random ice with no breakers, or basically an ETR against runners who don't have a killer installed (just, this ice ETR by killing the runner. Which will do it). You can even cheekily get some damage on runners who think they are safe putting a Botulus or Boomerang on this and running.

So how does Saisentan do when the runner has the killer? In startup, it's okay. Basically every killer is breaking for 3 creds. Bukhgalter gets through with 4 but their rebate brings to 2, and Afterimage also spends 2. Odore pays 5 if they don't have their virtual friends, and Echelon has to pay 6 if it's by itself. None of these are terrible deals, but really you're looking for an unprepared runner facechecking this. And that's why runner friends, always be aware of your face.

Two words: Face. Splat.

At 2 Strength for 5, Saisentan is an expensive rez, even among other Sentries. It's closest companion is Neural Katana which is 1 more strength, for 1 less to rez, though 2 fewer subroutines. And that difference in subroutines makes all the difference. If Sensei-tan didn't have it's Encounter power, then it's a question of Strength cost vs Break cost

Some notable examples include:

Mimic breaks Katana for 1, vs 3 for Sai-sentence.

GS Shrike M2 breaks both for 4.

Ika breaks Katana for 3 vs 2 for Caeser-Ten; assuming already hosting.

Shiv actually has an easier time with Sailly-senten, requiring only a couple fellow breakers, or even fewer with a bit of boosting to crack all three subs.

The summary is that the credit tax to the runner is roughly the same, favoring Sentai-san only where breaking is more taxing than boosting, typically with static breakers; though I'll leave an in-depth comparison as an exercise for the reader...

But there's a wrinkle in all this I mentioned earlier. Thaisentan isn't actually JUST 3 Net damage. If allowed to fully fire, this card will land up to 6 Net damage. SIX. Realistically, it'll probably only land 4. Only.

Which brings me around to my initial two words. If you can pay for the rez cost, this cards puts an unprepared runner to well within flat-line range. In-Faction, this is a dangerous little Sentry, with a premium price to pay for it's premium package, and at three influence, it's probably not going to see use outside Jinteki, though a few of you will probably prove me wrong.

All this being said, is it worth the slot? From me, it gets a firm Maybe. It's ability and subroutines make it physically painful to move through, and while it's always going to be cheaper for the Runner to crack than for the Corp to rez, it makes an excellent face-blender in the early game. If you can afford the cost early enough to make it worth it, much like another high-rez-to-low-strength Sentry... Well, you're probably not looking to win by scoring.

Saisentan significantly affects runner calculations on how dangerous an unrezzed ice could be. If they get surprised by Saisentan and don't have a method to break most of its subroutines, they take a devastating amount of net damage (usually 4-5).

If you are playing Saisentan all of your unrezzed ice look scary early on, enabling high-value early plays. It fights very well against most of the cards a runner might use to break an unknown ice early (e.g. Boomerang, Engolo, and Botulus), so a turn 1 Rashida will probably work out for you even if they do think they have a way inside. It's also costly enough that having an unrezzed ice on HQ could be able to deter an early Diversion of Funds.

After the runner has a killer, it usually costs 3 to break Saisentan, which is not great for a 5 cost ice. MKUltra costs 6 to fully break Saisentan, which is excellent. Note, if they are running Bukhgalter, keep your sentries together, Bukhgalter is awesome against the first sentry but struggles against its friends. (A Saisentan costs 2 for a criminal to break on a server which has no other sentry but 4 on a server which already has a sentry).