Envelopment

Envelopment 5[credit]

Ice: Barrier
Strength: 5
Influence: 3

When you rez this ice, place 4 power counters on it.

When your turn begins, remove 1 hosted power counter.

This ice gains "[subroutine] End the run." before its printed subroutine for each hosted power counter.

[subroutine] Trash this ice.

Illustrated by Scott Uminga
Decklists with this card

Midnight Sun (ms)

#60 • English
Startup Card Pool
Standard Card Pool
Standard Ban List (show history)
Printings
Midnight Sun
Rulings
  • Updated 2022-11-20

    If the Corp trashes a piece of ice (such as Envelopment) while the Runner is encountering it, then installs a new piece of ice protecting the same server with Ob Superheavy Logistics, where is the Runner’s position relative to the newly installed ice?

    The Runner is inward from the new ice, so they will not approach it. When ice is uninstalled during a run, the Runner and all ice protecting the server immediately “collapse” their positions toward the root of the server. Ice cannot “jump in front of ” the Runner by trashing and installing midrun.

  • Updated 2023-10-01

    Can the Corp trash M.I.C to end the run after the runner has broken Envelopment’s “End the run” subroutines, but before the “Trash this ice” subroutine resolves?

    Yes.

Reviews

It's the card designed to finally make Street Magic shine :).

On a more serious note: the real question is, how good is this in it's true home of Ob Superheavy Logistics. If the runner breaks but lets the trash-this sub fire, that probably means there is going to be a Border Control on this server for free through their ID 'Obgrade' ability, ending the run at the corps whim.

So if you want to get through on the same run, paying 5 with Paperclip or even Propeller is expensive enough that you start to calculate how often you would want to do this. This may get better with time, but on a run you want to succeed at, this will never be less than 4 to break with Clippy against Ob. Also unlike Sandstones strength, there is no known way of hastening the process of eroding the subroutines - at least yet. Notably, at least in the Startup format you're looking at

  • a much worse with 6 or 7 for Cleaver,

  • 7 or 8 for Corroder as well as

  • 8 or 9 for a Gauss that's been around for a while, or 6 or 7 on the turn it was installed. That's pretty hefty and a good reason to not skimp on the influence for your fracter looking back to Standard.

Also be on guard if the Ob you are playing against uses Envelopment


As we are talking sad already:

Envelopment gets released

(Midnight Sun era)
622

Paperclip can trash this unassisted for $4. If your gameplan generates a huge amount of value from trashing your own cards, cool. If not, drawing this card is probably worse than clicking for a credit. The fair market price for a card which drains $4 from the Runner one time is zero credits. So, if you're not playing Envelopment hoping to getting it trashed, this is not the ice for you.

In Ob, this looks very playable. The turn it’s rezzed, the runner can trash it for $4, beat it without trashing it for $5, or let it end the run. If you haven’t fired Ob yet this turn, Envelopment is a bit more efficient than Fire Wall. If you have already fired Ob, the runner will easily trash this for $4 and you’re losing the exchange. In Ob you’re building around a ID ability which can only be fired once per turn, I think this ice will probably be less reliable than it looks.

(Midnight Sun Booster Pack era)

It does seem like the obvious intended interaction is with Om, which can immediately install a 4 cost card and rez it for free.

Yeah, for Om, Weyland has many good $4 ice. Border Control (another self-trash card) and Mausolus are monsters and maybe a surprise Winchester.

Maybe Echo Chamber if it's last click, though you aren't firing Ob off it.

Just imagine how hilarious Street Magic would be

I usually break all the subroutines because their $4 cards look better than Envelopment

All the other reviews are much better than this one I would argue

Anyways; Strength 5, 4 ETR subroutines is rather solid I think, since that ends up being rather expensive. Best case scenario the runner avoids the server for 4 turns waiting for the power counters to run out. Doubtful that would happen anyways.

However, now that Banner is out, you know what happens. Corp pays 5, runner spends 2 to ignore all those subroutines, except for the one trashing the ICE of course.

Anyways what i'm trying to say is, I think there are more solid barrier options, obviously pairs well with Ob Superheavy Logistics: Extract. Export. Excel. but, again as I said, Banner.

(The Automata Initiative era)
5