Out of all the amazing cards in Reign and Reverie, this is the card that got people most excited. And I am not gonna lie, I am right up there with them. DJ Fenris is probably not the most powerful card in the set, but it is the most interesting one we have gotten in a long time. And it again makes me sad that the game is ending, so that we will never get new identities to explore his mechanic with.

For the cost of three credits, you get to import the ability of a g-mod ID that does not match your faction. This is somewhat similar to yet very different from Rebirth, which lets you go into a different ID from the same faction, as you forego your original ability. The g-mod restriction limits the number of ID's by quite a bit and that last part is important, as it takes away some of the obvious combos that exist within the same faction. Still, what makes this card so exciting is the huge amount of possibilities that still remain, and how it is incredibly fun to basically play with a duo of runners instead of just an einzelganger.

First off, let's look at all the possible ID choices you have and try to rank them based on their potential. Do keep in mind that how good an ability is, is very dependent on how you build your deck. Also keep in mind that Fenris is limited to 1 copy, which means it could be a while till you draw him. And which ID you go into is largely dictated by which phase of the game you are in. Having said that, some thoughts:

Bad

Noise: included because he is technically an option in casual play, but he is not legal anymore. Even if he were, only anarchs install a ton of viruses. While not possible, just thinking about him with Freedom Khumalo is giving me nightmares.

Chaos Theory: there are plenty of cards that give you 1 MU and then some for 3 credits.

Smoke: same as CT, you can get what you want out of her ID cheaper in a different card. The value in CT and Smoke as ID's is in their low deck size and their synergy with shaper cards, things you won't have as a criminal or anarch playing DJ Fenris.

MaxX: your deck needs to be build around her mill mechanic to profit, and I don't think any non-anarch ID wants to trash their deck for 1 free card per turn.

Kabonesa Wu: as with Maxx, your deck needs to be build around her ability to make this any good. She'd be solid in shaper, but alas.

Geist: bad to mediocre in most decks, fantastic in (pirate) Hayley. More on that later.

Pretty good

Reina Roja: good in the early and mid game to tax the corp. Bad late game.

Los: again, good in the early and mid game as you get free money. Bad late game as the corp will have most their ice rezzed. If you are anarch/shaper you likely also don't have many cards to derez ice, so you won't get the full value out of this ability.

Quetzal: usually meh, but potentially gaming-winning against Skorpios.

Liza: situational, but the nuts in decks that can reliably get rid of tags through Citadel Sanctuary or runners who want to go tag-me.

Amazing

Steve: clickless recursion of power cards benefits pretty much every runner. Also gives you some inherent damage protection. Arguably the best choice for non-criminals.

Hayley: saving clicks is always amazing. Good in most decks, but bonkers in Geist and any other deck that installs a ton of stuff.

Two synergies warrant special mention. First off, the obvious one between Geist and Hayley. Pirate Hayley builds, with cards like Grappling Hook, Kongamato and Gbahali, receive a ton of tempo through Geist's ability, getting you free cards every time you use a trash ability. And he in turn goes into overdrive due to Hayley's ability to install two cards for the price of one, especially since he runs tons of cheap resources and breakers. Expect to see DJ Fenris as a staple in these decks.

The other one is the mini faction runners, who can go into g-mods of any of the three main factions, giving them a ton of possibilites. Unfortunately Apex can't install non-virtual resources, so it is out. I can't say how good DJ is in Adam, as I am not that familiar with his play style. Sunny however, loves this card. Early game you can save a ton of tempo with Hayley, her link and need for draw makes Liza a prime target backed up with Citadel Sanctuary, and late game she can recur her power cards with Steve. Mommy's got a new friend!

So yeah, if you couldn't tell already, I am in love with this card and want to put it into everything. And as it only takes up one deck slot and influence, I probably will. Just another great note for a bittersweet ending.

I was very unimpressed by this card upon first reading it, until I realized it combos with Maker's Eye and Deep Data Mining. This means that not only will you see the top 3 or (hopefully) 5 cards of R&D and snatch some agendas (hopefully), you will make 3 or (hopefully) 5 credits in the process. This means Mike easily pays for herself after one multi-access run on R&D. Doesn't work with Equivocation though, as you reveal the corp card and either make the corp draw it or let it stay on top.

It is kinda sad that Mike is unique, but she would probably be a bit OP if she wasn't. Still, if your deck is centered around hammering R&D hard and often, this card is a solid include which will make you a fair amount of money for almost no entree fee. Run multiples, as you want to see her early. Hopefully.

This card has some similarities to Indexing, in that you get to see the top cards of R&D (4 instead of 5) and decide whether it is in your best interested to go in to snatch an agenda. Contrary to Indexing, you don't actually have to make a potentially expensive R&D run to get to see the cards, it will cost you zero credits and 2 clicks instead.

The glaring issue is that you are not stacking the cards, the corp is. If there happens to be an agenda in the 4 revealed cards, the corp can choose to bury it. If there is no agenda, the corp has a chance to stack R&D in their favor, an underrated yet powerful effect. At least with Indexing, even if you whiffed, you could still give the corp useless cards and put their Rashida Jaheem or Hard-Hitting News at the bottom. And they would have no idea which cards are coming up, which if they do know gives them an advantage in formulating a game plan. This card does help the corp significantly. Also, seeing 4 cards instead of 5 does not sound like a huge difference, but imo that is deceivingly so.

Obviously this card is meant to be used with Top Hat, and if you happen to run these two together, your R&D access will be like super precise sniper fire. And IF the corp has a ton of expensive ice on R&D, the disadvantages of this combo potentially are outweighed by the money you save. Does that make it better than just running Indexing though? I am not convinced, but I have been wrong before, so time will tell.

As always, be watchful of Mirāju. It will F up all your R&D sniping dreams. Best stick with The Maker's Eye or Deep Data Mining if your meta is fond of said ice.

An extremely powerful card at even the worst of times. For the cost of 3 credits and a click you get to not only check archives and keep the corp honest, you also get to see a card from HQ and R&D for your trouble. As icing up archives is usually not a priority for the corp, you will likely get in with little to no issues, and have the value of a run on all three centrals for just 1 click.

The real kicker though, the one everyone is talking about, is that this card works in combination with The Turning Wheel. Build up counters over the course of the game, and when you are ready to win, play D&C for a huge access on both HQ and R&D, giving your counters double the value for a fraction of the cost, provided archives is easy to get into. Also synergizes with Black Hat, so Sunny can fire that and then use this card to immediately see the top 3 cards of R&D and 3 cards in HQ. A costly turn, but potentially game winning on itself.

The mere existence of this card means corps will have to return to properly icing all three central servers, such as during the heyday of Temüjin Contract, lest they want to lose to this card.

A fun card with a potentially powerful effect. I've been playing a few games on jnet and trying to get this to work in conjunction with Wari. With Wari installed I can do the following:

-Use Silhouette, 419 or other expose to learn the subtype of a piece of ICE not guarding HQ.

-Spend 1 to play Embezzle and make a run on HQ, paying my way through any defenses.

-Use Wari to add the above referenced ICE to HQ.

-Name ICE and hope to reveal two ICE. Trash them and gain 8s.

In practice, it is difficult to pull of and probably not worth it. The few times I made the successful Embezzle run, I revealed just one ICE, netting me just 3s, an uninstalled ICE, and a trashed ICE. However, the play just felt good, and I'm going to try it a few more times in hopes to reveal 2 ICE.

Realistically though:

Using Embezzle with Wari gives you a bit more information and a bit higher chance of success. But in general you don't have a lot of knowlege of what is in HQ. So just throwing Embezzle out there is probably not worth it unless HQ is unguarded. And with the now balanced Account Siphon released, you probably won't find HQ unguarded anymore (especially versus Criminals where the restrictive influence cost will keep this card).

So I'm throwing Embezzle in the jank pile; where I happen to live.