Jinteki Biotech, the one identity that can simultaneously threaten kill, fast advance, and play like glacier. Jinteki Identities that do each of the three jobs better are, Kill: Jinteki: Personal Evolution and Industrial Genomics: Growing Solutions, fast advance: Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within and Harmony Medtech: Biomedical Pioneer, and Glacier: Pālanā Foods: Sustainable Growth, Jinteki: Replicating Perfection.

Biotech is cool because it can do and threaten all three types of win conditions at once and the runner has to keep all three in mind as they play against the identity. Also, most players don't really know how to play against this identity because it isn't really used much.

So lets get the review started.

A really good card that you should probably make room for if you're playing Biotech

Jeeves Model Bioroids. Jeeves allows you to score an unadvanced 5/3, do 2 net damage + Punitive Counterstrike, or reshuffle Archives into R&D AND do something else.

Kill

The brewery

Before you flip, the runner has to have at least 2 cards in hand at the end of a turn or they'll die. This means that if they run on a double advanced Project Junebug they have to draw 2 cards in order to be safe. You can complement this with Punitive Counterstrike and other cards, like if they hit a Snare! and slow the runner down.

Fast Advance

The greenhouse

This takes most people by surprise. If you have clones are not people in play, a 5/3 agenda (like Global Food Initiative ) face down and they don't check it, you get four agenda points and threaten to win the game at that point. Since you're probably playing 3 pointers, Punitive Counterstrike becomes a lot more strong at that point, since the runner is now on a timer and Punitive rewards 5/3's.

Glacier

The Tank

Remember at the start of the game where you had all of those operations that you played and got like 40 credits from. Did you want to do it again and have central servers that have Snare! in them, 4 ice tall central servers, and a Caprice Nisei at the bottom of the thing, and have enough money to rez all of them?

Which side to choose

The brewery (kill) is usually good reckless runners who rely a lot on early game aggression. Usually this is criminal, but there are flavors of criminal that rely more on setting up, like seige engine Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord. Don't try to kill those, they're harder to kill.

The greenhouse (fast advance) usually good against runners who take FOREVER to set up, but then R&D lock you into oblivion, like Shaper in general, Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord or Sunny Lebeau: Security Specialist. Set up a gear check early game, find that 5/3 + Jeeves Model Bioroids and a "Clones are not People" and just score out twice.

The tank (glacier) is good against runners who intentionally make it hard to do something/deny the corp from doing something. Asset denial, ice destruction, operation destruction, putting cards at the bottom of your deck, trashing the top card of R&D by through Data Leak Reversal, Bhagat, making you overdraw, or Fear the Masses. The tank allows you to get those critical pieces that make your deck work back into your deck and stabilize.

Insert Robot intro here

Agenda points and the space that it fills

So in reviewing agendas, the main point of putting agenda's in your deck is to make the count for points in your deck. Voting Machine Initiative counts for Three points, so if you put two initiatives in your deck, its the equivalent of putting 3, 3/2's in your deck.

A big driver for why you would do this is so that you have more space in your deck for cards that you actually need, like ice, Ash 2X3ZB9CY, or money cards.

Before the release of this card, the only in-faction 5/3 that existed was Project Wotan, which filled the space, but it essentially just gained you three credits once the runner's rig was up. So most people don't count it.

Other alternatives for the 5/3 space within HB include Global Food Initiative, Hades Fragment, Utopia Fragment, Eden Fragment, Executive Retreat, and Priority Requisition. The last two aren't really used much, not sure if people count them.

Score ease

Like all of the 5/3's its hard card to score. You have to dedicate an entire turn (install advance, advance), to setup the score. And then another entire turn to score the card. Granted, you're basically half-way to winning the game. But it did take you two entire turns and 5 entire credits.

Protection

It doesn't really protect itself. Which is ultimately why this card isn't used much. The Future Perfect, NAPD Contract, Global Food Initiative all protect themselves and don't give any benefit other than the points.

Power!!!

So in conjunction with Enhanced Login Protocol and a scored Voting Machine Initiative, the runner will only get two clicks turns to run a remote to steal an agenda. You don't want to just spend those counters/the current at any time though.

You want to do it when it matters.

When you've planted a card in your monster remote server, with an Ash 2X3ZB9CY and a ton of money. That way, 1. The runner can't really click through your bioroids. 2. Turing is a monster to break. 3. If they want that 3/2 they have to spend their entire turn getting in, trashing the Ash 2X3ZB9CY and getting in again

... and in the end, it could've just been a Jackson Howard sitting face down, but you make it SEEM like it was an agenda. And at that point you've made them waste significant resources to get through your monster server.

Or if the runner is just unprepared to spend their entire turn to get into the server (usually not because you'll be planning to score that other 3/2) Voting machine initiative basically lets you score that 3/2 no problem.

Summary

Personally I like the card. It fills that space that Project Wotan was supposed to fill but doesn't because Project Wotan just forces you to ... waste 3 credits for like two entire turns of effort and gives you three points. At least voting machine initiative helps open those scoring windows after its scored.

Flavor

Like most politics type things in the Mumbad cycle Voting machine initiative has the theme of wasting time. All the politics cards exist to just cost the runner clicks/time Bio-Ethics Association, Sensie Actors Union, Clone Suffrage Movement, or stall the corp. Like the The Black File, The Price of Freedom, Populist Rally. Things used to prolong the game for just one more turn.

Voting Machine initiative just adds to that by forcing the runner to run into their voting machines...

Which are apparently everywhere when you score it, and show up when it matters

Hi Fire Wall, you've been out for like a year now or something.

Time to review!

Potency vs breakers

Against everything except Morning Star and Cerberus "Lady" H1. Morning Star will break for 1 credit and Cerberus "Lady" H1 will break for 2 credits and a 'counter'. If you're playing against a shaper with Cerberus "Lady" H1 you shouldn't rely on exhausting their counters, or taking the counters into account as tax since they have Clone Chip and Levy AR Lab Access in faction.

Most breakers will break this ice for 4 credits average.

It also happens to be really good against Atman before Datasucker counters are out. Since it increases strength for each counter, you can just click the wall once and that Atman isn't a problem anymore!

Strengths

Rez to strength ratio

For an ice the rez to strength ratio is really nice for its position on the curve. Especially for a card so high up on the curve. Compared to other midrange ice, the only card that really compares to this puppy is Eli for the 4 cost to break (*rolls eyes* except for Cerberus "Lady" H1). If you want an ETR ice that is also taxing for later, here you go!

Advancable

Stops fixed breakers/atman until they get those pesky Datasucker's

Resistant to instant explosion because Parasite

Because it is such a high strength ice you have an entire 5 turns until a bare Parasite just blows it up and makes it sleep in archives for the rest of time. You still have to worry about Datasucker though.

Very Splashable

Oh man, a taxing 4 cost to get through ice that only costs 2 influence? To include three out of Weyland it just costs 6 influence total! I find the difference between dedicating you deck around an out of faction card is between 2-3 influence. Usually 1 influence cards are utility cards. Like Jackson Howard and Back Channels. 2 influence cards are usually just solid cards that you can include when you have like, 2 spare influence.

Weaknesses

Advancable

Well, like its advancable and usually clicking to advance ice is a really bad idea. You're wasting clicks on your turn that you could be doing other things with, like winning XD. You could play around this by including like, space ice asset stuff like Space Camp? You go for it... person... who... Weyland Consortium: Because We Built It ...

The rez cost

Yeah uh, this is the same problem that Bastion has, but Bastion isn't like significantly taxing (three credits to get in isn't a big deal), (four is a Sure Gamble). So when you rez this card, you're investing a significant amount of money in there. On the bright side, you'll be making that rez cost back in two runs (which is typical for most ice).

Overall and how to use

I like this card, this card serves its purpose. When you need a midrange ice that's moderately taxing you can throw this card in. It also happens to have synergy with Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within as it is resistant to blowing up and can become really, really taxing later when it has like three counters on it.

Flavor!

Oh man that subtext is hilarious (I take no credit for noticing this) its a continuation of Ice Wall's's subtext. This is the orginal subtext

"I asked for ice as impenetrable as a wall. I can't decide if someone down in R&D has a warped sense of humor or just a very literal mind." -Liz Campbell, VP Project Security

and this is Fire Wall's text

"Definitely a literalist." -Liz Campbell, VP Project Security

life is great.

This card is made for Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within.

As Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within, your ability basically makes it so that you can score 4/2 agendas as 3/2 agendas after installing once, face down on the board. So now, with the release of Improved Protein Source you can rush out a 4/3 agenda!

Because you could potentially win after scoring another 4/3 (because of "Clones are not People") the runner has to check that one remote, or run more aggressively (have successful runs) after you install anything new in there that isn't an upgrade if they don't want to lose. And that's when you put your Snare! in the remote server.

If they're being aggressive and can get into (like archives for some reason). You can still win without your ability with an unadvanced improved protein source if you have two advancement counters and Trick of Light at that point as well.

I was waiting for reviews on the latest pack and I was like, I might as well try writing a review for it instead of just waiting for people to write a review for me. So here we go!

You look at this card and you're like, "That's a really cool effect but, what archetype am I going to put it in?" It turns out that it actually works in the most anarch decks, since most anarch decks are focused in trashing, something of the corp. Anarch decks (at least how I understand it) are usually focused on draining the corp of something. Ice (cutlery), assets Whizzard: Master Gamer, operations Edward Kim: Humanity's Hammer, cards in general Wanton Destruction Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire. And when you trash something of the corp's they need to find that piece again.

That's when System Outage comes into play.

Lets say that the corp just scored a 4/2 that isn't an economy agenda (like NAPD Contract) or a 5/3 Global Food Initiative. Usually at this point in the game the tempo flips over to the runner (because the corp just spent 5 and 5 to score something behind either gear check ice or some taxing ice like Turing.

At that moment you have your window to strike at their tempo with System Outage.

At this point you probably have whatever you need to start applying pressure. This is when you start drawing your cutlery ice and trashing all their ice so they have to go digging (and drawing cards) to just keep you out. Or when you start trashing all of their server upgrades like Ash 2X3ZB9CY or Caprice Nisei or Breaker Bay Grid from their R&D so they can't do the upgrade combo and have to dig for the second one. Or when you start trashing operations out of HQ as Edward Kim: Humanity's Hammer and they have to try to draw their combo again.

And because the corp is losing every time they draw extra to try to recover whatever your anarch is making them lose due to System Outage. That window of not having whatever their looking for, whether it being ice, or assets, or operations. Increases because they don't have the money to play those things that they're looking for.