MCA Austerity Policy (MCAAP) is a new, oppressive addition to HB's fast advance arsenal.
On the face of it, MCAAP gives a strong fast advance ability that has to be powered up. After rezzing and using its first ability twice (over two turns), the corp is left with the possibility to score a 4/x from hand on the third turn or a 5/x on the fourth. This in effect puts the runner on a timer from the moment the ability is first used, having two turns of 3 each to respond to the threat of a big agenda being scored from hand. For just 1, that's amazingly good value for the corp.
As the astute observer might note, this means MCAAP benefits from being installed behind some taxing ice- most sane runners will be all too happy to pay the 3 investment it takes to collapse austerity if it's installed naked. Moreover, even if the austerity policy is well protected, the corp still has to consider that plopping this card on the board is a big advertisement for the runner to hit your HQ hard in search of that juicy agenda you're itching to score.
The key to getting the most out of MCAAP is to use it to force the runner into lose-lose scenarios. When installed in a taxing server, it provides the runner with a dilemma- either hitting the server now, trashing MCAAP but potentially spending all their in the process, or let the corp power it up and score agendas from hand- in this case either option will open up a scoring window. Any time the runner spends resources on hitting protected servers to trash assets is a tempo swing in favour of the corp, and this is exactly the thematic beauty of MCAAP. It demands a response much like a rezzed SanSan City Grid or Mumbad Construction Co. does, but with a far more favourable rez-to-trash ratio for the corp. If there's one comparison to make, it's probably with the latter card- think of MCAAP as a cheaper version of MCC that eats instead of .
Finally, some synergies:
Rushing MCAAP behind a Fairchild 3.0 is really potent when the runner hasn't found their decoder yet, because they won't be able to click through its subroutines after losing a to MCAAP.
If you can stick the trace for Hard-Hitting News, the runner will be stuck with four tags and three with which to clear them. This can open a window for resource trashing or tag-combo cards, and offers a great way to keep the runner busy and poor while you charge your policy up.
Enhanced Login Protocol punishes the runner for making the runs they need to counter MCAAP, taxing already sparse clicks. If you're looking for jank, you can use Victoria Jenkins and Load Testing to rob even more and punish them further with Ryon Knight.
Fast Track will let you retrieve the agenda you need when you're ready to fire MCAAP's ability. Combo with Whampoa Reclamation if the agenda happens to be lying in your archives.
With Jeeves Model Bioroids on the table, you can score a 5/3 on the third turn rather than fourth (or something crazy like a Vanity Project on turn four). Other FA tools will combo for the same effect, but Jeeves is the most efficient since it takes advantage of your having plentiful to power its ability.