Obelus

♦ Obelus 4[credit]

Hardware: Console
Influence: 3

+1[memory unit]

You get +1 maximum hand size for each tag you have.

The first time each turn a successful run on HQ or R&D ends, draw 1 card for each time you accessed a card during that run.

Limit 1 console per player.

Illustrated by Jenn Tran
Decklists with this card

Escalation (es)

#41 • English
Startup Card Pool
Standard Card Pool
Standard Ban List (show history)
Printings
Escalation
Rulings
  • Updated 2024-05-03

    UFAQ [Michael Boggs]

    If the Runner accesses a single card twice during a run on HQ with Obelus, how many cards do they draw?

    Two cards. The Runner is considered to have accessed two cards even if they end up being the same card.

    If the Runner accesses cards from another server during a run on HQ or R&D, such as through the ability on Hades Shard, does the Runner draw cards for those accesses as well?

    Yes. Those cards were accessed during the run, and the ability does not stipulate that the accesses must be from the attacked server or its root.

Reviews

Step 1: Make a run on R&D or HQ

Step 2: Use your Hades Shard during a paid ability window during the run

Step 3: Draw your deck after the run ends.

This is a wonderful console for tag-me Anarchs and a good counter to the tag heavy meta we find ourselves in.

(Intervention era)
1992
This is beyond crazy. I love it. —
Well, damn that's a neat idea —
Hot damn. Good work. —

This is the last of the Omar-related flavor/educational reviews. I decided to do these, not only because I love the flavor and references within this game, in general, but because I'm becoming an Omar fanboy. Anywho...

An Obelus, more commonly referred to as a division sign, comes from an Ancient Greek word for a sharpened stick or pointed pillar. Interestingly, before its mathematical implications, this sign was used in texts to mark passages believed to be corrupted or false. Such passages were marked as such to be deleted, or censored, in line with the conspiracy theme. Seems to fit fairly well with Omar.

(Quorum era)
584

Obelus adds to the long list of playable Anarch consoles. Some of interesting aspects of the card:

  • the increased hand size means you can go tag-me against kill decks & simply draw up to an enormous number of cards, good against Midseason Replacements & Hard-Hitting News. Importantly, one Hard-Hitting gives you enough hand size to survive BOOM!
  • the hand size ability is not actually that usable…because the best tagging decks are NBN & they have a card called Sweeps Week that you're turning into the best card in the game as your hand size grows
  • the successful run clause has so much nuance going on:
    • if you do an access replacement effect on R&D or HQ (e.g. Security Testing, Account Siphon), the trigger fizzles & you don't get to draw on any further successful runs
    • you have to draw the cards, it is not a "may" ability
    • "draw 1 card for each card you accessed" includes upgrades so defensive upgrades on R&D or HQ turn single accesses into "draw two" opportunities

The obvious synergies with Obelus are the Anarch viruses that scale the number of accesses with every successful run: Medium and Nerve Agent. If you hit a central server three times in a row, you'll only draw the first time, but then the next turn you're threatening to pull a fistful of cards and access a bunch. It's an extremely powerful effect that's mitigated by the set up: you have to be able to access a bunch of cards (e.g. be winning already), Obelus' 4 cost is nothing to shrug off, & just one MU isn't that great either in a faction that's notoriously strapped for memory, so much so that MemStrips is a card that's seen play.

Overall I think this card has two incredibly interesting abilities that are somewhat hard to take advantage of. In the right deck, Obelus is very powerful, but it's nowhere near as general-purpose as Turntable or Grimoire, which will likely continue to be the go-to console choices for Anarch.

(Escalation era)
2279
There is the option of course to tag yourself. This would probably mean importing this into criminal or account siphon into anarch. Either way, it is a lot of influence. But I still got to try it out. —
For self-tagging, I brought along Paparazzi and Joshua B in my last game with this console, neither of which cost influence. —
Joshua B imo is not a reliable tag option plan. The corp's gonna trash him the first chance they get than give you five clicks all game. At most you'll gain the click you spent installing joshua b. events, hardware or programs that tag would be a better option. —
It's not reliable, but I don't necessarily mind cards like that which coerce my opponent into spending clicks and credits to deal with me rather than focus on their own play. Plus, a Wireless Net Pavillion pushed the cost up a bit more, which in turn helped me slip past some ICE he could no longer afford to rez. —
Would Paparazzi even work for this kind of self-tagging? Doesn't it 'make you tagged' rather than actually giving you a tag? —
Activist support, John Masanori are two very reliable self tagging options. If you are running anarch heavy you could amped up and give yourself up to 7 tags in a full turn, brain damage doesn't matter much when you're increasing your hand size so dramatically. I wonder if Game day and Beach Party are worthwhile includes in a Omar deck. —
John only works once per turn for each effect. —
Paparazzi does not work, in much the same way that you cannot remove the Corporate Scandal bad pub to prevent All-Seeing I. —
So far no one has mentioned Hades Shard! —
Right, for people who missed it: you can pop Hades on an HQ/R&D run to access Archives, then draw additional cards equal to the number of cards in Archives. There's a game on Dodgepong's stream where @murphy draws 17 cards with Hades :) —