Mass-Driver

Mass-Driver 8[credit]

Program: Icebreaker - Decoder
Memory: 2 • Strength: 1
Influence: 3

Whenever this program fully breaks a piece of ice, the first 3 subroutines of the next encounter this run do not resolve.

Interface → 2[credit]: Break 1 code gate subroutine.

1[credit]: +1 strength.

Illustrated by Alexandr Elichev
Decklists with this card

Blood and Water (baw)

#67 • English
Startup Card Pool
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Rulings
  • Updated 2024-04-12

    ANCUR UFAQ [Michael Boggs]

    If the Runner breaks all the subroutines on a piece of ice with Mass-Driver, can they still break the subroutines on the next piece of ice that would not normally resolve?

    Yes.

    If the Runner breaks all the subroutines on a piece of ice with Mass-Driver, then breaks one of the first three subroutines on the next ice encountered, does the fourth subroutine on that ice resolve or not?

    Only the first three subroutines on the next piece of ice are ever ignored. If the Runner breaks any of those subroutines, then the effect of Mass-Driver does not pass on to the next subroutine.

Reviews

A big, powerful and expensive breaker that works best if you look at ice through a shaper lens. Shapers have cards like Escher and Inversificator to alter the layout of servers. With them you could arrange a heavy piece of ice to be behind an easily broken code gate (or something Egret made into a code gate).

That does suppose however that there's heavy nasty ice that justifies the high cost of Mass-Driver. In the current meta that's far from guaranteed. And since Mass-Driver and its support cards pretty much require a deck to be built around them that's rather a big problem.

Maybe I'm just being grumpy but I don't really see a way to make Mass-Driver reliable enough to be worth the high cost.

(Blood and Water era)
399
I just realized the ability text misses the words 'for the remainder of the run' :O It works on the next ice you encounter, no matter if that is directly behind it or during the next run or three turns in the future. —
It says 'the next ice you encounter this run'. No janks, sorry. :P —
I was about to say you were wrong flamingeyebrows, but I noticed that it is just mistyped on the info plane. The card does indeed say this run. —
with retrieval run this isnt too bad at all. Retrieval run for femme fatale is tried and true value, especially with some same old things on the table. Alice Merchant loves retrieval run. —
but still cost ten to get through fairchild 3.0.... I guess I still have mixed feelings —

Lets see, this Mass-Driver takes up twice the memory of 2 typical breakers, is twice as expensive to install as 2 typical breakers, and breaks subroutines half as efficiently as a typical breaker.

So what do you gain? Almost certainly you will still need all types of breakers in your deck, so you do not save slots. Actually this card probably eats up extra slots because you will be tempted to cheat it out. You are including this card solely for its special ability, but I guess we probably knew that going in. Unfortunately, this card is so inefficient that you are better off just breaking the next ice normally. Furthermore, unless you are Kit, you are counting on the corp to position their ice a certain way. Good luck with that. Finally, there is no guarantee that the ice behind the piece you break has less than four subroutines.

Pro tip, use typical icebreakers instead of Mass-Driver

(Crimson Dust era)