Akshara Sareen

♦ Akshara Sareen 0[credit]

Resource: Connection
Influence: 0

Each player gets +1 allotted [click] for each of their turns.

"Our shared humanity is our greatest strength. And as we share more broadly, our strength grows, not dwindles."
Illustrated by Anna Edwards
Decklists with this card

Democracy and Dogma (dag)

#46 • English
Startup Card Pool
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Rulings

No rulings yet for this card.

Reviews

To have any value, Akshara needs to be played with cards that block the corp's ability to FA and cards that multiply what the runner can do with a 5th click. Clot, The Source, The Black File, or a Vamp/Account Siphon lock can shut down corp advancing strategies, She can mean an extra card milled with Keyhole, Data Leak Reversal, or Wanton Destruction, an extra access with Quest Completed, Medium, or DDOS. She can enable an extra point or two scored with Notoriety or Liberated Chela, or allow the runner to use a 5th click to chain Duggar's, Day Job, or Investigative Journalism into a combo. She likes Apocalype, Fear the Masses, and even Three Steps Ahead (when's the last time someone mentioned that card?) as well.

Akshara might also find a home with Adam, where she fits in well with Always Be Running.

Akshara is definitely not a card to be slotted in casually, but can augment a strategy that relies on making mega turns to powerful effect. In particular, I think she finds a home enabling some potential anarch and shaper combos.

(Blood Money era)
39
Dr Lovegood does nothing to Akshara, save for turning off your own click. His effect is no longer active in the Corp's turn. —
Oh, good catch. Well, less good for Adam then. Poor bioroid, he just can't catch a break. —
Though true, Dr. Lovegood can turn off the downside of The Source, which works with this. Now if only Adam had enough good cards to not need the influence for The Source in three other places... —

This is a card that no runner would normally want to play. The jump from 3 up to 4 is incredibly helpful for the Corp - worth far more than the jump from 4 to 5 - since it allows the Corp to score any three advance agenda directly from hand. You could potentially play Akshara if you really needed an additional to win the game on your next turn - if you needed to play two Notoriety for example, or perform multiple Medium runs on R&D. However, most factions already have a card that can perform this task without also allowing the Corp an extra to potentially throw a roadblock in front of your glory turn. The only faction who could really make use of influence-free generation are Criminals since their only real method is Autoscripter which is expensive and reliant on having a program in hand.

The criminal identity that could probably make the most use of this card is Iain Stirling: Retired Spook. As his identity power relies on being behind, giving the Corp the ability to score more easily in the early game isn't as bad for him as it is for other Runners and it gives him extra actions in his own turn to get what he needs set up and thus accelerate to the late game where he is hopefully advantaged. It helps Iain a lot that Akshara is a connection since his decks are the ones most likely to be making use of this particular subtype through Hostage, Calling in Favors and Off-Campus Apartment. Once set-up is complete, the deck can dispose of Akshara through Aesop's Pawnshop (helpfully also a Connection) to prevent any Corp shenanigans now that they are on the back foot.

(Democracy and Dogma era)
34
The Source can be a good combination with Akshara to prevent fast advance of the corp. —
She could be decent in clot-lock decks, but I think the best use for her is to apply extra pressure via Medium or the run-all-centrals cards (Notoriety, Quest Completed and Apocalypse). It's also worth mentioning that she's pointless on the turn you install her unless you do it via DaVinci or Artist Colony. —
I don't think she is pointless on the turn you install her. It is not an "at turn start" effect so you should get the click immediately. Yes, you are basically getting the click used to install her back, but it is still a no-click install. —
@Drakos That's my point. Unless you use a clickless means of installing her, she is a 0 gain install that gives the corp an additional click on their next turn. You could use something like DaVinci to install her instantly, going up to 5 clicks for the turn, but that's of moderate to negligible benefit to the runner and shapers have better ways of getting extra clicks. —
The one thing she has going for her: If you have Apocalypse in the Heap and a Same Old Thing out, having that one extra click makes a huge difference. —

This is a runner card that allows the corp to fast advance. Furthermore, the corp benefits from Akshara FIRST because the runner used up their extra click by installing her (barring shenanigans). If the runner is in need of extra clicks, there are less risky ways to get them. Hyperdriver, Stim Dealer, All-nighter, Amped Up, Temple of the Liberated Mind. In other words, Akshara's not going to be competitively played. There could have been some real potential if she was a corp card.

I'd say her best shot at seeing play is in a Jesminder Sareen: Girl Behind the Curtain flavor deck. I'd still include The Price of Freedom when it comes out, for the sake of drama (and cuz Akshara sucks).

(Democracy and Dogma era)
Akshara is Jesminder's sister, and is the leader of the political movement for clone suffrage. Jesminder's running is mainly to help ensure that Akshara's campaign succeeds, running interference on all the people trying to mess with the movement. (And by the looks of it they're ultimately successful, Akshara is assassinated at her victory speech). —
Hence the title, "girl behind the curtain". Cool, good to know! —