Time Bomb

♦ Time Bomb 1[credit]

Hardware: Weapon
Influence: 3

Install only if you made a successful run on a central server this turn. When you install this hardware, place 1 power counter on it.

When your turn begins, if there are 3 or more hosted power counters, trash this hardware and sabotage 3. (The Corp trashes 3 cards of their choice from HQ and/or the top of R&D.) Otherwise, place 1 power counter on this hardware.

Illustrated by Anna Butova
Decklists with this card

Parhelion (ph)

#69 • English
Startup Card Pool
Standard Card Pool
Standard Ban List (show history)
Printings
Parhelion
Rulings
  • Updated 2023-03-25

    Can the Runner use Rigging Up to put an extra power counter on Time Bomb?

    Yes. Time Bomb’s “when you install” ability resolves in between the instruction from Rigging Up that installs it and the instruction that gives the option to charge it. By the time the latter instruction resolves,Time Bomb has a hosted power counter and is legal to charge.

  • Updated 2023-03-25

    Can the Corp look at the cards that are being trashed while resolving sabotage?

    No, the Corp must choose which cards to trash first, and then all cards are trashed simultaneously. The Corp can look at the trashed cards from R&D in Archives after all trashes from sabotage have been resolved.

  • Updated 2023-03-25

    If the Corp has only 1 card in HQ and must sabotage 2, can they choose to “trash 2 cards from HQ” in order to only trash the 1 card in HQ?

    No, the Corp must trash 2 cards if possible. The Corp must trash the remaining card from R&D.

  • Updated 2023-03-25

    If the Corp has only 1 card in R&D and must sabotage 2, can they choose to “trash 2 cards from R&D” in order to only trash the 1 card in R&D?

    No, the Corp must trash 2 cards if possible. The Corp must trash the remaining card from HQ.

  • Updated 2023-03-25

    What if the Corp has only 1 card total in HQ and R&D and must sabotage 2?

    The Corp trashes all cards from HQ and R&D.

  • Updated 2023-03-25

    Does the Runner gain a credit when they sabotage and have Demolisher installed?

    No, the Corp is trashing the cards when resolving a sabotage effect.

Reviews

Huh. This is...neat?

I don't know, folks. I keep thinking there's something here but I can't shake my doubts. I like how its hardware, its unique so you can't just spam it, I like the influence cost, the art is awesome, I think running on a central server is a good prerequisite, but this doesn't feel like it will get played. The closest comparison I can think of mechanically speaking is Public Support, what with the ticking clock of power counters leading to a pretty decent impact. That was a good card that didn't see much play in my experience. However, that's a corp card, so I don't think this is a fair comparison.

I suppose you could put Stim Dealer as a comparison? The Black File? (And before y'all bring up something like Parasite, those are pretty explicitly "VIRUS" counters, and those can be purged. Not power counters, which aren't as easy to remove.) However, both of those cards weren't really played because they weren't really good. The Black File was really underpowered for what it was. Core damage was more of a taboo in the old game (no wonder they switched it from "brain damage"! A good move, in my opinion), so Stim Dealer really wasn't played. Unless you were one of those true galaxy brains that used Dr. Lovegood jank...

But that's not my biggest issue with this card.

There was already a "bomb" subtype...and you literally named the card "Time BOMB," and yet you didn't use it. I know EMP Device was forgettable crap, but come on!

(Parhelion era)

The drawback to Time Bomb is that, without Charge shenanigans, it telegraphs to the corp exactly when it will go off. (Even with Charge shenanigans they generally have some warning.) So without other pressure they can plan what cards they can sacrifice to the bomb. Pair that with, say, Chastushka on the turn it goes off, and that pressure is unexpectedly magnified in a brilliant way.

That's a good combo!

And here I was just going for the "bomb" jokes. You're out here making strong points.

With every old subtype there's the question of whether to do something with it or whether to let it fall out of memory. 'Weapon' is more generic, already exists on some new cards and is dinged by the new criminal poison hardware. I'mj happy with the decision to turn 'Weapon' into something and let 'Bomb' vanish into the past

Sorry, it's Asmund Pudlat who interacts with the subtype. Vial of Poison is another recently printed weapon.

What I like about the Time Bomb is that Sabotage is phenomenal when you stack it multiple times in a single turn. You can set it up so this fires the same turn you run with Chastushka, maybe trigger Esa, and overwhelm the corp's resources.

Well we already have a car called black hat, so now all we need are cards called

Black coat, white shoes and Cadillac (and yes, I pressed post to early on the previous one)

Seems like EMP Device got errata'd to be a weapon as well, so from NRDB's standpoint bomb is not a subtype

This is an hidden gem! It is very easy to use. Make a run (that you would have made anyways) and then, put this on the board. 3 turns later, Sabotage 3.

Now, it is true that Sabotage does actually less than seeing a card and deciding if we steal, trash or leave it (on top of getting the information), but it takes options away from the corp. If you have 3 copies of this, you have could do a total of Sabotage 9. That is 18% of the deck, or nearly one card out of 5. For the low price of 3 total. And nearly untrashable, since it is an hardware.

Any deck based around doing sabotage, especially deck using Avgustina Ivanovskaya, should be using Time Bomb also.

The effect of this card is always good and it encourage the corp to ice every centrals, making the corp spread itself.

Because the effect is not immediate, it could be seen as a slow card, but 3 turns goes fast and even in a 12 turns game, you should be able to play 2 Time Bomb usually.

If you have the slots, this should be used in a lot of anarch deck. It is actually better than Chastushka because of the ease of use, at a lower cost also!

Out of faction, it would be difficult to propose it, since you would probably want to play 3 of them. Maybe with Az McCaffrey: Mechanical Prodigy? Note that this synergize with Asmund Pudlat because of its weapon sub type.

The art is easy to understand and fit completely with the name and effect of the card. Amazing!

(Parhelion era)
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