Compare: Indexing × Mind's Eye
Usage
For example,
(1) If you immediately use both charges on either mode in order, it can (as a simplification) act like:
[$2] Event: Double - Run
As an additional cost to play this event, spend [click].
Run R&D. If successful, instead of breaching R&D, look at the top 4 cards of R&D and arrange them in any order. Then you may breach R&D.
(2) If you Rigging Up it, you get three counters for zero credits (and each one is worth a lot):
[$0] Hardware
When you install this hardware, load 3 power counters onto it.
…
Behavior
Notes:
Cataloguer's pseudo-access can avoid ambushes while still digging; cf. Deep Dive’s pre-approval/non-contiguous access.
Cataloguer hoisting an agenda can guarantee an “if you stole” trigger (e.g. Mad Dash); cf. Stargate trashing an agenda.
Stackability: It modifying successful runs (Whenever you make a successful run on R&D, …) without initiating runs itself (cf. [click]: Run R&D. If successful, …), lets it synergizes with other run-events and "run-'ograms".
Robustness: Being hardware, it can stick around without using any memory or being vulnerable to tagging; and because the counters are power, they can't be purged away.
Information: Even if you miss on agendas in R&D (which is unlikely if they're there), you'll know you're more likely to hit in HQ (or protected in a remote, or facedown in Archives).
Synergies
“Facilitation”: Because breach-replacement-based R&D-arrangement needs multiple runs, one ‘setup’ run and one or more ‘payoff’ runs, you'll need ways to run efficiently and succeed consistently (unless you just want to lock them for two or three turns).
Multiaccess: Because Cataloguer can rearrange four cards deep, even if you see four agendas or four zero-to-trash assets, you'll want to stack multiple multiaccess effects across multiple payoff runs (unless you just Finality them).
Charging: Because of how powerful each individual power counter is, Cataloguer is very lucratively charge-able.
Cards (in-faction):
R&D Multiaccess:
Charging:
R&D Facilitation:
In particular, Trick Shot and Beatriz Friere Gonzalez both (a) make breaching easier (via hosted credits and server deflection, resp.), and (b) make breaching better (via multiaccess). However, Beatriz Friere Gonzalez’s “Sneakdoor”-effect helps only during any ‘payoff’-runs (aka. breaching R&D breach), when R&D is well-protected and HQ is ill-protected, but not during a ‘setup’-run (aka. successfully running R&D).
(Obviously, there are a lot of powerful out-of-faction synergies too, like Inside Job and The Twinning.)
Counterplay
The Corp can ‘counter’ Cataloguer’s rearrangement with any shuffling that's instant-speed (e.g. Spin Doctor) or mid-run (e.g. Gatekeeper); cf. Jackson Howard vs. *Indexing.
Within Ob Superheavy Logistics in particular, any trashing effect also triggers a shuffling effect; likewise, a (once-/twice-)overscored Project Atlas can shuffle away the (1st-/2nd-)counter off Cataloguer (including both within the same turn / in the middle of a run).
However (acknowledging the negative differences of costing more credits and seeing fewer cards), there are two positive differences between Cataloguer and Indexing w.r.t. counterplay:
- it “adds onto” runs (only after they succeed);
- it can be used twice (such as after a shuffle).
Thus:
- Even if the Corp ends/‘fails’ the run (by rezzing a Crisium Grid, committing to an Anoetic Void, or so on), you don't waste any of Cataloguer’s power-counters (unlike wasting Indexing from being a card-in-grip).
- Even if the Corp cracks a Spin Doctor, the Runner can have hedged against any one-shot shuffle by (re)running R&D (ie. not spending the last counter on breaching R&D, saving it to re-rearrange post-shuffle); although, you can't hedge against a multi-shot shuffling or tucking effect (e.g. Flower Sermon, which
@CallForJudgement mentions in the comments).
Probabilities
For example, even against a forty-four card deck with only six agendas (all five-three’s), there will be an agenda among the top four cards of the deck almost half of the time, and Cataloguer will see it: Calculate Hyp({≥1-of-4} | {6-per-44}), which is ~46%; we can steal exactly three agenda-points around 37% of the time, and six agenda-points around 8%.
(By the way, we can check how likely seeing at least a given number of agenda cards in a given agenda suite is, by calculating the cumulative hypergeometric distribution, using "AetherHub" or "StatTrek"; you just enter four numbers, like 44, 6; 4, 1. in the example above. However, we can't check how likely seeing a given number of agenda points is with those online tools, like by typing in an agenda suite with "X 2/1's, Y 4/2's, and Z 5/3's".)
Quarantine is very good, and I'm a big fan of Greg Egan in general. He's even from my home city!
— Anzekay