Doppelgänger gets beat out by Desperado in most ways except for influence. It's harder to use Desperado outside of Criminal because of its 3 influence cost, and now it's tough to squeeze the old cowboy into any decklist because it's on the NAPD's Most Wanted List. I have a feeling this is going to encourage Crims to explore other options at console, which could give the D-O-double-P a chance. If it doesn't, I doubt anything short of card errata of Desperado will make Dopps and other crim consoles see play.
I most often see Doppelganger in centrals-focused decks, using the extra run to meet the requirements of Notoriety, Quest Completed, and Apocalypse. These events, combined with the centrals-only breakers and events like Inside Job and Feint, become substantially easier to play.
The most important synergies have the language, "whenever you make a successful run," or the like because these abilities trigger on both of Dopp's runs. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Three Steps Ahead can earn an extra 2
- Build up counters on your favorite programs, like Doppelsucker, Hemorrhage, Medium/Nerve Agent, Chakana, Pheromones, or DaVinci
- Speed up your Street Chess with Pawn
- Drip-Syphon your foes with Lamprey
- Try to make... something... happen with Record Reconstructor
Other combos to note:
- Further enhance the above abilities with an Early Bird, making two runs for 0
- Make a run of your design, then follow up with a Doppelrun on an un-iced server to trigger Security Testing or Bank Job
- Kick off your turn with a Jak Sinclair run (maybe against that un-iced server for creds), then make a Doppelrun during which you can use programs. Bonus: This makes 3 Steps even stronger!
- Try to do some fancy work with Shards: Hit R&D, install Eden, Doppelrun HQ, and Eden to force the corp to draw just before a multiaccess with HQI; similarly, hit HQ, install Utopia Shard, Doppelrun Archives, and Utopia to access two cards the corp may have been guarding. Both actions seem situational, but each only costs 1.
So, all you Doppelrunners out there, get to it! Comment with other combos or strategies if you discover any!
P.S. "Doppelsucker" is a gross word. Like, it just sounds...dirty...