Salvo Testing may seem like a fun option for those who like to experiment, but Crossy Road the reality is that it doesn't provide any real value in most decks and should just be viewed as "binder fodder".

Sebastião's unique ability highlights strategic resource management, essential for dismantling oppressive systems. In a similar vein, the game block) blast emphasizes critical thinking and planning, where players must outmaneuver opponents to succeed. It's fascinating how both encourage resource utilization to achieve victory, whether in activism or gameplay. Let's keep exploring innovative strategies both in real-life organizing and fun games like Block Blast!

Kind of just throwing ideas out there but I recently realized that this is the first and only "Mandate" card released. After trawling through the card list and eventually just searching by keyword I found that Rebellion Without Rehersal not only introduces a new mechanic in the form of Mandate but that this card right here is the only Mandate in the game.

What is the Mandate mechanic and why does this card's special effect only trigger if this is the first mandate? Well, that's exactly what I want to talk about.

The Possibilities:

1. A Mandate is a card that draws other cards - Unlikely, there are Operations in the same cycle that draw cards yet are not Mandates (Corporate Hospitality and Mindscaping)

2. A Mandate is a card that plays another card - Also Unlikely, there are Operations in the same cycle that play other cards yet are not Mandates (Greasing the Palm and Pivot)

3. A Mandate is a purely cosmetic subtype like Deep Net (see World Tree or Seraph) - Maybe... but probably not, otherwise why would this card care whether another Mandate has been played

4. An internal non-combo to prevent fast advance

This is the most likely consideration, as far as I can tell. If the Mandate sub-consideration did not exist, it would be possible to play 3 back-to-back Sudden Commandments, netting yourself 2 Clicks and enabling the ability to fast-advance a 4/2 from hand. Interestingly enough however, even if this was possible, it would be inadvisable because for the same number of cards (3) and the same number of credits (12) you could play 3 back-to-back Biotic Labors gaining 3 Clicks and scoring a 5/3 from hand.

That being said, Biotic Labor is rotating soon and it's possible the designers wanted to preemptively shut down fast advance combos and make it clear that this is not the new Biotic Labor, it's meant purely for tempo plays. Except... it can be used to fast advance, using this card and another card that could otherwise not be used for fast-advance like Subliminal Messaging, Red Level Clearance or Business As Usual it is possible to fast advance agendas from hand with this cards help, even post rotation.

So... why is the limitation there? Is Sudden Commandment meant to be a pseudo-fast advance tool, yet limited to only being able to fast-advance 3/1s and 3/2s, not 4/2 or 5/3s? Again, maybe it's just an attempt to curb future fast advance but since fast advance tools can be comboed together, it's still possible to use this card + RLC + The Holo Man to score a 4/2 from hand. Or use this card + Business As Usual + Vladisibirsk City Grid to do the same thing. Is the only goal to force more complex multi-card fast advance lines instead of just being able to chain one card into itself.

Perhaps the more interesting questions are;

A. Will more Mandates be coming in future sets and

B. What similarities and differences will future Mandates have?

Will future Mandates all allow you to gain an extra click if it's the first Mandate played that turn, or would they enable other effects like gaining credits if this is the first Mandate played that turn or installing a piece of ICE ignoring costs if that is the first Mandate played that turn or allowing you to shuffle agendas back into the deck if this is the first mandate played that turn?

Only time will tell but it's an interesting new mechanic that was slipped in without nearly as much hoorah as the new Threat N mechanic was for example.

One of the more interesting recursion cards in the game, it can be difficult to analyze and evaluate this card, but I want to give some heuristics and speculations.

Let's consider this card in 3 different contexts:

1. How useful it is for the average Anarch
2. How useful it is for Sebastião Souza Pessoa: Activist Organizer (for whom it is designed)
3. How useful it is out of faction (and by extension whether it is worth importing into Shaper or Criminal)

It's not perfect but I think the best comparison is Retrieval Run, as they are both run events that target Archives and replace access with the ability to install a program from the Heap.

There are three main differences I can see:

1. The program recursion only works after Threat 3
2. The difference in costs
3. The tag and added resource recursion

For the threat effect, I would say that it's generally true to assume that you want recursion later in the game and as others have noted, Threat 3 is substantially preferable to Theat 4 due to the technicalities regarding Agenda distributions. If this had said Threat 4, that might have been a problem, but Threat 3 is tolerable.

In regards to costs, Privileged access is free, but requires you to pay the installation cost of the program, while Retrieval Run costs 3 up front, but installs the program ignoring all costs. While this might matter in a Faction like Shaper that plays Lobisomem and Orca it's of little importance to Anarchs due to the cheapness of the vast majority of their most common programs.

Cleaver, Audrey v2, Boi-tatá and Mimic all cost 3 to install, meaning it's a break-even whichever way you do it.

And while there are a handful of slightly more expensive programs like Buzzsaw, Stargate, Odore, Num, Banner or Begemot. They are balanced out by programs that cost less than three like Leech, Fermenter, Imp, Botulus, Chisel or Utae.

In this sense, Privileged Access has already broken even with Retrieval Run so for this card to be on par the first effect just needs to not be a drawback.

While the wording can be somewhat overwhelming and difficult to follow, let me rephrase it as this: would you be willing to take a tag to install a 1 credit Daily Casts from your heap? The answer is probably yes. I don't think taking a tag to get a little bit of extra money is a true downside and in some situations, it may even be a bonus.

Because of this, Privileged Access is competitive with Retrieval Run, perhaps the bigger problem for the average Anarch is that Retrieval Run itself often isn't competitive. Anarchs are spoilt for choice when it comes to recursion, and are also the most common users of neutral recursion, the average Anarch deck of today probably runs a Buffer Drive, an Ashen Epilogue and 2-3 Labor Rights which allow them to cycle through the entirety of their deck more than twice, allowing a 45-50 card deck to function more like a 100+ card deck. In such extreme situations limited single or double target recursion like Retrieval Run or Privileged Access just can't compete at that scale and often get ignored as a result.

When it comes to the second consideration, Sebastião Souza Pessoa: Activist Organizer can stretch this card's value proposition quite well, getting all the major benefits regular Anarchs do while also counterbalancing the cost of the tag. Not only that but Seb often runs cards like Valentina Ferreira Carvalho and Friend of a Friend that further diminish the drawbacks of taking a tag and as a result, Privileged Access already sees play in Seb decks. At minimum you can take a tag, install a card from hand and reinstall an already used Friend of a Friend and an already used Fermenter, turning this into a high-value soft econ card, that can also be used to recur trashed breakers or unique connections in a pinch. I suspect this card will continue to see play in Seb for the foreseeable future unless something changes dramatically in the meta.

For other factions this card doesn't look so promising, Shapers have plenty of in-faction program recursion like Simulchip or Muse as well as strong general recursion in the form of Harmony AR Therapy so they're hardly desperate for a card like this. And unless you are DJ Fenrising Seb then most Shapers will probably regard the tag as toxic and avoid it like the plague. Criminals, on the other hand, are desperate for recursion, lacking good options of their own and theoretically have synergy with run events in the form of Ken “Express” Tenma: Disappeared Clone, Swift and Debbie "Downtown" Moreira but I still don't think criminals are likely to play this card as if you've already decided you need to spend influence for importing something you'd probably prefer to spend the same amount of influence on a Labor Rights or spend one more influence for Harmony AR Therapy.

Some worthwhile mentions:

1. Seb cares about Connections, which are a specific subtype of Resources, but Privileged Access can theoretically recur any type of Resource, Connection or otherwise
2. This card can recur up to 2 other cards but does not remove itself from the game like most multi-recursion options do, which in turn makes it an exceptional target for other forms of recursion
3. This card installs the cards it recurs rather than put them back into the stack like Labor Rights or back into the hand like Katorga Breakout, which means the added click compression could be valuable
4. You don't have to immediately remove the tag after taking it, so you could use this card for set-up/econ and then just run HQ or R&D for some additional multiaccess off Manuel Lattes de Moura
5. You cannot play this card if you are already tagged, which is probably obvious if you've already got into the habit of playing Seb but it's meaningful that this card will not work with proper tag-me decks that play Counter Surveillance for example

More broadly I think I like the direction NSG is taking with Runner Recursion, specifically with rotation in mind, cards like Katorga Breakout or Privileged Access are more specific, limited and intentional recursion than something like Labor Rights. And Ashen Epilogue has clear downsides and risks when compared to Levy AR Lab Access, which is probably for the best since excessive runner recursion, a state of the game I think we are currently in, risks creating problematic game states for the corp where Runner econ seems both fast and limitless and it's impossible to tax them out, (DJ Fenris + Steve Cambridge: Master Grifter in Shaper is particularly disturbing in my opinion and I think the game will be easier to balance with it rotated from Standard). Plus, well-balanced Runner recursion reduces the need for aggressive counterplay like Skorpios Defense Systems: Persuasive Power, Blacklist or Chronos Project all of which have their own problems.

Thematically I quite like this card and would honestly have loved to see more Seb + Eru cards as they seem like such a cute couple. The quote is a neat reference and the art well represents Eru's ability to sneak in and recover important data from the corp as a result of her position inside the corporations due to being a clone (see Eru Ayase-Pessoa). In regards to her ability to recur a Resource... perhaps it's a reference to rioters working with Seb and Eru getting arrested and the two of them using their privileged positions to help break their friends out? That would be a cool touch. Plus the creepy dude in the background well represents the fact that you can get it, but not without being watched and noticed (hence tagged). Very cool card, a great theme, Seb and Eru may not have landed well in the meta, but the story telling of these cards is top tier.

Of special note that this actually allows a Runner: - Being (or DJ Fenris ing) Nyusha "Sable" Sintashta: Symphonic Prodigy with a mark on HQ. or - Having a Pichação on an HQ ICE to recover a click from zero clicks (e.g. if the Corp does double False Lead, MCA Austerity Policy+Active Policing etc.) and from there on use other tools like Hannah "Wheels" Pilintra or Swift to recover further clicks.