My first reaction to this is: eh, why?

Anarchs have the best fracter in the game in-faction: Paperclip and it's not due to rotate for quite a while.

Due to how Yusuf first requires charging by making runs and then allows you to break ice without paying money it seems designed like a secondary breaker. However it's 2. That level of memory hungriness is typically reserved for extremely efficient breakers that rarely see use in practice and very efficient economy cards like Magnum Opus.

Ok, I guess I should review this under the assumption that Yusuf is installed on Progenitor or with MemStrips to give it a fair review. The thing is though, if you're going to do that you need a Progenitor just for Yusuf. Pulling off a combo just to get a secondary breaker feels inefficient, to say the least. MemStrips is a bit better though you'd better have a use for that remaining 1 as well.

The only thing Yusuf does really well is generate virus counters. If there were a card that lets you use the virus counters on Yusuf for something else it could be a viable support tool. However I didn't find such a tool. Maybe one will be revealed later in the cycle but until that time I simply don't see Yusuf as a useful breaker.

Puffer is not a great killer as is. 2 to boost is just too much to be good (although par for the course for killers) and a 2 killer that only breaks 3 strength or less sentries without boosting is pretty mediocre. Considering the main competition in criminal: Mongoose, Femme Fatale, Lustig and Golden I wouldn't want to say Puffer is bad but it's not ahead of the pack either.

All that changes though if you have a way to install programs without taking up MU. There are four general purpose cards for that: NetChip, Dinosaurus, Leprechaun and Dhegdheer. NetChip requires a lot of influence and space if you want to use it. Dinosaurus takes up the console slot. But Leprechaun (1, allows hosting 2 programs, 2 influence) and Dhegdheer (0, allows hosting 1 program, 2 influence) are perfect for hosting Puffer. Let me just assume Dhegdheer is going to be used since unless you have a lot of MU expensive programs the risk of installing 2 programs on Leprechaun given program destruction likely outweighs the benefits.

If you manage to install Puffer on Dhegdheer the cost benefit ratio changes dramatically. You just need to spend a few clicks to match the worst ice you expect to encounter and you can break any ice by paying 1 per sub. That's Paperclip levels of efficiency (once you've set it up).

Even if you don't have the strength matched when you encounter a piece of ice Puffer has a fallback option in just paying 2 per strength you lack. So unless you're running on a really tight budget you're not going to get into trouble with Puffer/Dhegdheer.

And note that even if you don't have Dhegdheer yet and still need to run Puffer is not a bad killer. It's perfectly reasonable to install a Puffer, run inefficiently at first and later once you get Dhegdheer out install a new Puffer to replace the old one.

The downside of this whole arrangement is that you need at least a few Dhegdheers in your deck if you want to have a good shot at drawing it early enough to make a difference. So that's 4-6 influence you need to spend on your sentry breaker as a criminal. That's uncomfortable unless you can make the Dhegdheers pull their weight in other ways as well, e.g. with Data Folding (though that's more of a long term strategy which might not yield results early enough for criminals).

I had originally discarded the idea of using Puffer out of faction due to the high influence cost. But a single Puffer in a shaper deck that already runs Dheghdeers and Self-modifying Code might just be worth it.

I was writing this review to make a point that Zamba is pretty weak. Only problem? It isn't.

GPI Net Tap

Zamba plus GPI Net Tap is pretty good. It's 1 credit per unrezzed ice approached during a run. Let me just remind you what bad publicity is, you know the thing corps are so scared about: 1 free credit per run only usable during a run. Zamba + GPI Net Tap is 1 credit per unrezzed ice (determined at time of approach, so ice that got rezzed this run counts). This means that as long as the corp doesn't rez a piece of ice you get extra money. Oh, and of course you're free to derez ice yourself and the next time you'll get the credit.

In combination with cards like Rubicon Switch and Keros Mcintyre a derez based strategy could be pretty economical. Assuming for the moment that the corp can rerez ice the next time you approach it you pay the cost of ice with Rubicon Switch to derez and get 2 from Keros and 1 from Zamba + GPI Net Tap the next time you approach that ice. On ice that costs 3you break even, only spending 1 click to derez the ice and the corp loses 3 to rerez. More than that and you lose Rez cost - 3, less than that and you gain credits (though the corp loses very little credits in the process).

Of course what's most fun is to derez a really expensive piece of ice, perhaps with Emergency Shutdown and then when the corp can't rerez it fly by it and get money in the process.

As for other cards Zamba combos with, well it's less great. Here's a list of other non-rotated runner cards that expose corp cards:

• Infiltration - Not often played but I guess if you happen to have Zamba installed you'll be happy with your 1.
• Silhouette: Stealth Operative - One expose per turn given a successful HQ run. I guess Zamba is an interesting option when playing here just to get a bit of extra income.
• Drive By - Realistically Zamba simply reduces the price of this one a bit. It's an interesting card if there's a lot of Jinteki in your meta, but I doubt you'd want to include Zamba just for this.
• Spot the Prey - Zamba makes this 1 cheaper. Woohoo.
• Deuces Wild - In case you have nothing better to choose than the fourth option.

It looks like the Kitara cycle is going to have more criminal cards that expose corp cards so Zamba may in a few months not just be good with GPI Net Tap.

NBN program and hardware "destruction" (resources are already vulnerable given tags). The best case scenario is using a Self-Growth Program on a broke runner (or following up with Closed Accounts) and kicking their breakers or other vital cards like Magnum Opus back to hand. Should keep them busy for at least a turn.

Since you can only use Self-Growth Program on your turn you may be able to get a runner to 7 cards in hand but they'll only need to discard at the end of their turn, so they can reinstall given sufficient credits.

Self-Modifying Code, by virtue of not trashing, can be used to kick out even cards like Jarogniew Mercs that cannot otherwise be trashed or cards under the protection of Dummy Box or Sacrificial Construct. Though, of course you can also just kick those off the board and trash the cards you're after by other means.

The big downside of Self-Growth Program is that it's a pretty weak form of getting rid of cards. You just delay the reinstall. I guess the idea is that along with The All-Seeing I and Closed Accounts you have a toolbox to mess up the runner's game long enough to open a scoring window. Like Fast Advance it's about outrunning the runner.

Jank combo: Self-Growth Program in Chronos Protocol: Selective Mind-mapping followed up by net damage. Most inefficient way to trash an installed runner card.

Death by a thousand bruises Weyland. Except for the little problem that meat damage tends to come in big packages, not small, and you only get 1 counter regardless of amount of damage.

It's nice for fast advancement if you have Crisis Management or Dedicated Response Team and can keep the runner tagged. But eh, a runner staying tagged against Weyland is not likely to survive anyway.

Probably your best bet to make Reconstruction Contract work is to combine it with the thematically appropriate Weyland Consortium: Builder of Nations. In the best case that gives you a free counter every turn, provided the runner doesn't trash your contract.

I'm not saying Reconstruction Contract can't work. But it seems like a card that you'd toss into a BoN deck thinking "it's cheap and potentially I'll score an agenda with it".

One thing that is useful about Reconstruction Contract is that it can provide a way to add one or two missing advancement tokens to an agenda relatively easily and safely. At 4 to trash the runner is less likely to go after it so as long as it's not an obvious Government Takeover scoring option it should be relatively safe. Meanwhile scoring out a Corporate Sales Team in one turn is quite useful.