Q-Coherence Chip

Q-Coherence Chip 0[credit]

Hardware: Chip
Influence: 0

+1[memory unit]

When an installed program is trashed, trash this hardware.

One of the core problems of quantum computing is isolating the system from external factors to prevent decoherence. The Q-Coherence Chip is one, imperfect, solution.
Illustrated by Gong Studios
Decklists with this card

Honor and Profit (hap)

#52 • English
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Reviews

Won't be played in Shaper, because of Akamatsu Mem Chip.

Unlikely to be played much in Anarch, since Anarch loves viruses (e.g. Parasite,) which tend to get trashed, and MemStrips is generally superior for them.

So, Criminal then. Can't play it with Faerie or Crescentus, two great cards for Criminal. Criminal doesn't have much recursion, so you're skirting dangerously on the edge of having your rig trashed, made more risky by the lack of Faerie. Is that worth saving the credits from Dyson Mem Chip or the influence from Akamatsu Mem Chip? Probably not.

So unless you're a non-virus Anarch deck or a Criminal deck that plays fast and risky, but doesn't need Faerie, look elsewhere for memory. New neutral ID's, I suppose anything goes.

(The Universe of Tomorrow era)
500
In theory, backing up Q with a Sacrificial Construct would be helpful. it might help vs a Marcus Batty + Destroyer sub. Now we're looking at a lot of slots for a few extra MU. I think you're really just using these as a temporary boost for stuff like Overmind ans Sage, where the risk of losing the MU is minimal. —
Now that Akamatsu Mem Chip has rode off into the sunset along with Kate, Shapers are left with Dyson Mem Chip or Cyberdelia as their cheapest Memory options. Q-Coherence Chip might have gotten a look at, if it weren't for Self-Modifying Code. Other popular splashes in Shaper include Clot, Tapwrm, and Grappling Hook. —

Unfortunately very difficult to play due to the fact that trashing your own programs trashes the chip. Otherwise, it would have been a great tool for The Professor: Keeper of Knowledge. As printed, it's hard for me to wrap my head around this card. Many builds end up trashing one of their own programs at some point, especially Shapers, which tend to require the most MU. Anarchs have their own solution coming in MemStrips, so it's hard for me to see this chip ever seeing play.

(The Source era)
174

The recent FAQ (2.2) notes that the text should read “Trash Q-Coherence Chip when an installed program is trashed.” trashing programs from hand is fine. Installing these could prevent the need to trash programs (intentionally), so this is more playable than possibly first thought.

(The Universe of Tomorrow era)
More playable, sure, but still not very playable IMHO. The big problem, even with the errata, is runners frequently like to trash program X in favor of program Y, and this makes that so very painful. For 3 creds more you can also get +1 link with the exact same faction cost. —

This is a decent way to increase MU for Apex: Invasive Predator, since its main breaker, Endless Hunger takes up 4 memory slots and its console, Heartbeat only grants +1 MU. It has no influence cost, which is appreciated when deck building for the three mini-runners, as the 25 influence, while seemingly huge, does not allow for much wiggle room. No install cost helps a lot, too, since Apex tends to run low on credit. With one or two of these, Apex is capable of running a traditional breaker suite alongside its trademark breaker (or a Gingerbread and a few Panchatantra).

(Democracy and Dogma era)
Except Apex wants to trash his Harnbingers early and often... —

This card could see use in Andy Stealth builds that don't play Parasite and just use Faerie until Switchblade is established. Being able to have more Cloaks isn't too exciting, but maybe it could allow for a late game Sneakdoor though.

(The Source era)