Most common fracter in the game, competing with Paperclip for the top spot in popularity.

Let's face it, Paperclip is better usually. So, why use Corroder?

First, out of faction, Corroder cost one less influence, at 2 influence. Making it easier to import it out of faction. Since shaper and criminal have inferior fracters, it will let you have more influence free for other cards.

Second, it is cheaper to install, at 2, it is really cheap to put on the board. If you use DZMZ Optimizer, it is often free to install.

Lastly, Corroder is almost as efficient as Paperclip, especially for single subs barriers (like Fire Wall).

Having a poem for flavor and quote is always nice. The art is evocative and the name fit completely with the theme of a barrier breaker. Second best breaker in the game.

Please read Fentonizer review, it is just as good in 2021 as it was in 2015. I love it.

Here, I'm updating the review because it has been more than 5 years since the last one.

Clot is the card to stop fast advance deck. Note that it will not do a thing for Haas-Bioroid: Precision Design deck which make use of Seamless Launch.

But against corp which use tools like Remastered Edition, Biotic Labor, Focus Group, Trick of Light, Psychographics and SanSan City Grid, the "Clot Threat" is a show stopper.

Getting rid of Clot might be as simple as doing a purge, but a purge rob the corp of a turn (outside of using Cyberdex Virus Suite or Reverse Infection). Which, in itself, is already a heavy price ( are precious).

But when you combine this with Simulchip, you can bring it on the board as soon as you see the corp trying to score an agenda in fast advance mode. Which is why the corp should always ask the runner for an action when there is Simulchip on the board, before putting the last advancement.

Of note, you can also use Gachapon to do the same thing as Simulchip, but you'll be less sure of the result.

Clot gives you a fighting chance against fast advance corps. Otherwise, you might lose by turn 7, which is often too soon to get your rig working.

Because of the Simulchip combo, Clot is most often used in Shaper deck, which are usually slower to build their rig, thus needing that fighting chance against fast corp decks.

Great card, often essential in many competition. Evocative art and quote. Well designed.

Fun and specific recursion. Iconic to anarch in that is make use of run on archive.

Why oh why would you use this? At 3, a lot of programs are cheaper to install (like Corroder). The answer is : because the best programs cost a lot!

At 2 influences, you can use this tool in any factions. There is two uses for this.

1. As an in-faction tool to get back lost program (from SDS Drone Deployment for example). It is an expensive replacement for Simulchip. But it is free of influence for anarch. With it, you can get back any programs. Which means you can get back Botulus or Chisel and put it back on an ice! It might be more expensive than the original program, but it extend you game plan that much more! Free passage on an ice is no joke.

2. Draw aggressively (with tools like Moshing), trash the expensive programs, and use Retrieval Run to put those programs on the board at a much lower cost.

Which program are good for such a purpose? Anything that cost more than 3, obviouly. And some of those are really good. Here are some examples :

1. Femme Fatale, economy of 6 and will let you bypass one ice. At 1 influence, you can have 3 of them.
2. Amina, probably the best or second best decoder of the game, an economy of 4.
3. There is Ankusa and Mass-Driver, but you need a specific plan to use those, since they are very inefficient.

A fun combo is with Tapwrm. You lose it to any purge. Then use Retrieval Run to make a successful run on archive (a central server) to put it back on the board, to the immense frustration of the corp. You might not make up for the credits spent on the next turn (Tapwrm usually net you 1 or 2 per turn), but it create a decision point for the corp : stall you in getting credits at the cost of losing their turn, thus basically giving you 4, or watch you get rich (especially if they have 20+ credits, that is a difficult decision).

That raccoon on card is exactly what personify this card, completely in sync with the quote. Fun card.

Flavorful card and fun to use. This card combine well with Run Amok and Tread Lightly, because those cards encourage the corp to not rez ices. You can then trash the unrezzed card right after.

At 2 influences, this can be used in any deck without too much problems. But, is it worth it?

For the corp, En Passant will cost them the and maybe the cost of placement (if the ice was stacked). For the runner, it cost only the use of the card (total of 2). Thus, this is not economic warfare, but rather a opportunity cost. Because it will lower the defense of the corp, especially if the corp has few ices.

This consideration is important. If you have a deck with less efficient breaker (Black Orchestra, MKUltra, Marjanah) being able to reduce the number of ices is important, since it cost you more to run through the ice than it cost the corp to rez the ice. If you want to penalise the corp, trashing a rezzed ice is better, because on top of the opportunity cost, you add the rez cost of the ice (by it you have to break that ice).

Best scenario : use Run Amok and face check the second ice of the server. Stop the run, trash that ice and then trash the first unrezzed ice.

En Passant is a fun trick to use because it often catch the corp by surprise and penalise the corp for not rezzing everything.

Art, name and quote are all in sync and wonderful. Fun card.

Early game, it is an amazing facecheck. It will set back the runner quite a bit. But as soon as a code gate breaker (decoder) is out, it will be broken for 1 or 2.

If you do not use code gate, it is a cheap and annoying ice to pass. But it will give some protection early game, but by midgame, it is just a bit annoying.

Note that this ice can be trash near instantly by Chisel.

By virtue of its cost, it is worthwhile ice, especially in horizontal decks. It can then be used to protect cards that are expensive to trash, like Jeeves Model Bioroids or SanSan City Grid, just because the runner will have to spend that extra bit much, making it that extra bit taxing.

This is the first funny quote that keep giving me a smile even after seeing it many many times. It line up with the name and effect perfectly. Great art on top of it. Good design.