Think of your family

'So you don't want to cycle off the bioroids in section C?... Hmmm remember that "business trip" to Thailand? Perhaps your wife were to see an interesting photo album get posted to your VirtuaBook wall? ... Yeah I thought so, nice doing business with ya." Blackmail that time-honored tradition of paying someone to do something by NOT doing something, translates into Android Netrunner by allowing the runner to bypass all unrezzed ice on a server.

Combos

Sling some mud: While some corp decks can produce bad publicity on their own, many do not and Blackmail is a dead card if the corp isn't floating bad publicity. Valencia Estevez: The Angel of Cayambe is by far the most popular way to do so making Blackmail potentially ready to go from turn one. Frame Job , Activist Support etc represent other ways the runner can take matters into his or her own hands to get the party started.

Sooner: Planned Assault is one of several options available to make sure that Blackmail is tutorable sooner rather than later giving the runner the greater opportunity to make a Blackmail when the moment is ripest. Warning!: cards like Blacklist can screw with such a recursion strategy.

Play it again Sam: Déjà Vu Same Old Thing and perhaps even Levy AR Lab Access represent ways to get more life out of Blackmail

Melting ice away: Servers with rezzed ice don't gel well with Blackmail, Parasite is the ice-trashing mainstay, Utensils: Forked + Knifed + Spooned can do wonders trashing ice, Crescentus, False Echo & Emergency Shutdown, Feint offer additional ways of suppressing ice by derezzing . Eater is an excellent ice-breaker for such a strategy.

Knowledge based decisions: Drive By, Infiltration Silhouette: Stealth Operative are examples of ways the runner could know ahead of time whether a server is indeed worth using Blackmail to push into.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Save : A deeply defended server (say 50 layers of ice) is still only 1 to access. (provided all ice unrezzed)

Surprise: 1-3 well-timed Blackmail runs could potentially end the game perhaps surprising the the corp who thought all that ice out there meant something

Cons

Rich corp: Blackmail's ability depends upon the corp not rezzing ice, unfortunately if runner if avoiding opportunities to have the corp rez ice, this can result in the corp being flush with cash and no longer burdened by worrying about economy (this often is not good for the runner)

Ice Rezzing: If the corp get's wind of Blackmail being in the cards, he or she may simply rez ice during the corps turn using cards like Executive Boot Camp Eliza's Toybox, Amazon Industrial Zone, Oversight AI, so the more rezzed ice on a server directly reduces the effectiveness of using Blackmail.

Dead card: If corp is able to clear bad publicity away with Restoring Face, Elizabeth Mills, Rex Campaign, Veterans Program etc then all instances of Blackmail are worthless unless the corp somehow floats bad publicity again.

Summary

Blackmail's main limitation being it's requirement of having the corp float at least 1 bad publicity in order to use limits it's appeal in many decks, still under many situations it could potentially be significantly more economical than say Stimhack etc means if the runner is willing to include some kind of bad publicity inducing mechanism into their deck as well it could certainly be viable.

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The Last

Omega representing the last letter of the Greek alphabet bookends the theme started with Alpha (The first letter of the Greek Alphabet) allowing the runner to have an economical AI option on the last piece of ice on every server.

Combos

See the code behind everything: Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman transforms the first ice of every server into code-gate where decent decoders such as Gordian Blade or Torch can take on everything, then Omega can take care of the last. For deeper servers Paintbrush (at the cost of 1 time it is used) could potentially make any server protected by less than 5 layers of ice insecure! (even more if any middle ice happens to be code-gate anyway.) Escher could be used to rearrange things to suit the runner even more (move none-code gate ice to innermost layer for example to make the server more efficiently accessible in the future)

First & Last: Alpha & Omega represent an AI suite that makes most any server protected with less than 3 ice insecure. (see Cons section for Anti-AI exceptions)

By-pass: Inside Job has quite a bit of synergy with Omega making it much more likely for the runner to actually reach that last piece of ice where Omega can do it's work. Similarly DDoS could potentially have the same effect on a server where outermost ice is unrezzed.

Install cheaply: At 7 to install such a limited AI might give pause, while Omega is most effective early game, Personal Workshop can bring the price down to potentially 0 if the runner is patient. London Library allows Omega to be installed free (temporarily) where it can then be trashed by the runner with Scavenge to cycle it on to the rig by sending it to the trash momentarily only to recur it thereafter, cost? 2 (not counting installation of London Library) net savings? 7 . (With a little less certainty Eureka! could possibly accomplish the same thing.) Alternatively Test Run with Scavenge could allow the runner to tutor for Omega first, total cost? 2s & 3

Keep server on thin ice: So long as key servers are thinly defended Omega can continue to be a reliable AI ice breaker. Forked, Knifed, Spooned & Parasite can certainly be used to remove layers of ice, additionally Forged Activation Orders, perhaps after Account Siphon or Emergency Shutdown to make the corp poor can also effectively remove yet more layers of ice.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Early game access: With Omega out early, the corp faces the difficulty of having to create 2 layers of ice on each server (possibly both layers needing End the run's) before having any meaningful measure of security.

Cheaper ice-breaking: Particularly when facing sentry ice, Omega can provide a more cost effecting breaking compared to many killer sub-type ice breakers.

Cons:

Anti-AI: Swordsman & Turing both represent hard counters to an AI-only ice breaker strategy. Since Omega has only 1 base strength, Wraparound or any other uber-high strength ice could be rather taxing or even potentially price a runner out of a server.

End-Game Particularly mid-to-end game the corp will be able to deepen protection on servers diminishing the runners ability to reach ice target-able by Omega

Cost: At 7, Omega's cost is right up there with other heavy-hitters which given it's limited scope could make that cost a bit more difficult to swallow.

Summary

Omega is one of the least popular AI ice breakers, still perhaps in combo with Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman & Paintbrush, ice-trashing programs etc it has a viable nieche that favors aggressive play-style.

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Face-Checking AI

Face-checking ice throughout a game can keep the corp running low on and provide valuable intel to the runner about the corps defenses. Alpha is an icebreaker built for face-checking.

Combos

First & Last: Alpha & Omega represent an AI suite that makes most any server protected with less than 3 ice insecure. (see Cons section for Anti-AI).

Insurance?: Snitch could compliment Alpha allowing the runner to face-check then decide whether to continue on to break the ice with Alpha or simply save resources and jack out instead.

Install cheaply: At 7 to install a limited AI such as Alpha might give pause, London Library allows Alpha to be installed free (temporarily) where it can then be trashed by the runner with Scavenge to cycle it on to the rig by sending it to the trash momentarily only to recur it thereafter, cost? 2 (not counting installation of London Library) net savings? 7 . (With a little less certainty Eureka! could possibly accomplish the same thing.) Alternatively Test Run with Scavenge could allow the runner to tutor for Alpha first, total cost? 2s & 3

Keep server on thin ice: So long as key servers are thinly defended Alpha can continue to be the go-to AI ice breaker. Forked, Knifed, Spooned & Parasite can certainly be used to remove layers of ice (in such cases the next ice is now the outermost ice! Alpha gets to play again!), additionally Forged Activation Orders, perhaps after Account Siphon or Emergency Shutdown to make the corp poor can also effectively remove yet more layers of ice.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Face checking: Alpha an an AI ice breaker can help mitigate the problem of getting caught with an unbreakable ice sub-type. (When accessed effects still apply) This allows the runner to pursue an ice-rezzing to tax the corp strategy perhaps or simply gain information via probing etc.

Early game access: With Alpha out early, the corp faces the difficulty of having to create 2 layers of ice on each server (possibly both layers needing End the run's) before having any meaningful measure of security.

Cheaper ice-breaking: Particularly when facing sentry ice, Alpha can provide a more cost effecting breaking compared to many killer sub-type ice breakers.

Cons:

Anti-AI: Swordsman & Turing both represent counters to Alpha otherwise low-risk face-checking strategy Wraparound also could potentially price a runner out of a server.

End-Game Particularly mid-to-end game the corp will be able to deepen protection on servers diminishing the reach of Alpha

Cost: At 7, Alpha's cost is right up there with other heavy-hitters which given it's limited scope could make that cost a bit more difficult to swallow.

Summary

Alpha as an AI could potentially compliment a variety of decks and play styles. Every AI comes with it's trade-offs, Alpha's trade-off favors the early game and could certainly be used to full effect before the corp is able to fully defend it's servers. Still at 7 and 3 influence along with the likely hood of needing yet other AI's particularly for the late game gives many runners ample reason to look elsewhere.

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Because you can always use more memory

With up to 3 copies of CyberSolutions Mem Chip installed a runner could potentially have 10 not counting additional from consoles or other factors. What could you do with such extra memory besides install lots of programs?

Combos

Power: Overmind and lots of extra represents an AI icebreaker that can really make use of all that extra (cards such as Aesop's Pawnshop & Déjà Vu or simpler yet use London Library to keep bringing it back to maintain the power with all the extra )

Strength: Sage is an example of a card that can have it's strength buffed significantly by lots of extra

Money: Data Folding allows the runner to gain back the 4 investment in CyberSolutions Mem Chip, then after 4+3 turns it's just extra income. To slightly accelerate the return on investment, installing up to 3 copies of Data Folding the runner could be making a net 3 per turn for no clicks. Additionally London Library allows the runner to "borrow" programs the grip at no install cost then choose to return the program to the grip before the end of the turn or trash it having extra memory opens up a wealth of combos with this in mind.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Simple: As hardware, CyberSolutions Mem Chip simply does it's job, confers 2 and offers no compensatory negative effects or limitations in it's text. (Q-Coherence Chip I'm looking at you)

Harder to trash: Unlike resources or programs, as hardware CyberSolutions Mem Chip much safer from being targeted.

Cons

Not Cheap: At 4 to install, CyberSolutions Mem Chip is currently the most expensive chip available.

Extra : Pursuing an "unused memory" strategy does have a hard counter in Cortex Lock

Summary

At only 2 influence points, CyberSolutions Mem Chip is on the edge of being splash-able particularly considering that some of it's "unused memory" combo options are neutral at no influence cost. CyberSolutions Mem Chip deserves a consideration as one way (in addition many good consoles) to address memory issues in a deck, particularly Shaper decks... because as with today's tech toys, many decks can always use more memory!

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Knowledge is Power

Knowing what the corporate executives are up to can provide so much intel to the runner so as to send the whole house of cards falling down, or the runner might just overhear mundane office gossip and leave the him or her wondering whether the resources spent could have been better used elsewhere.

Combos

Big push: After playing Executive Wiretaps (say for first two 's) runner could then follow up with Planned Assault to hand-pick any run even that from the stack that suits the state of cards in HQ. A bunch of Agendas? Legwork might suit well, nothing worth accessing? Perhaps Account Siphon instead. Lots of Agendas but Ice is too taxing? Stimhack might do the trick.

Double synergy: With up to 13 different Double cards for the runner currently available, Starlight Crusade Funding (say with Adjusted Chronotype?) encourages the runner to "double-down" on Doubles cards possibly mitigating the cost if playing 2-3 double cards in a single turn. With such a strategy the runner is likely to accrue a number of Doubles in the heap making Power Nap potentially a very effective

Because knowing is how you know stuff: Silhouette: Stealth Operative's ability to expose cards in addition to pulling back the curtain on HQ with Expert Schedule Analyzer or Executive Wiretaps followed up with Bug's ability to keep up-to-date with future card draws could give the corp player a strong sense that the room is rather drafty

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Revealing: the distinction between "accessing" vs "reveal" is a big difference. Revealing cards with Executive Wiretaps allows the runner to learn information while safely avoiding ambushes like Snare! & Shock! etc.

Iceless: Unlike it's program counterpart Expert Schedule Analyzer or the R&D semi-equivalent Indexing, the runner doesn't even have to face any ice to learn valuable intel. (also either with Expert Schedule Analyzer or Executive Wiretaps the runner sees all of HQ no matter how many cards there are not just 5.)

Bluffing Takes a Hit: Many resources are often spent conventionally running on HQ in the hopes of maybe pulling an agenda, with Executive Wiretaps the runner can avoid traps and learn whether HQ is really worth going after, with possibly two remaining s to exploit the information learned. Additionally future turns maybe similarly compromised as the runner can use information learned to full effect and adjust strategy accordingly.

Cons

Costly: as a double (costing an extra to use) and 4 to boot, Executive Wiretaps is not a card to play willy-nilly.

Random: Executive Wiretaps is not a card that can be depended on to move the game in the runners favor, card reveals may be worthless as often as they are fruitful, but expensive in either case.

Summary

Knowledge is power, and if your running style is to conservative and risk averse Executive Wiretaps has something to offer you.. for a price. While currently not a very popular card, more Double synergy for example may give runners a reason for a second look.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.