Syailendra (🏛️🏔️) is the “new Mausolus”: a $4/5s/3↳ AP–CodeGate, that’s advanceable (“Seven Wonders ICE”).

Design

Like Mestnichestvo, this has an On-Encounter ability that's gated by advancement, and that “resolves” the ice's first subroutine.

I think Advanceable ICE with On-Encounters, or with “Anti-Breakage” abilities (like Akhet and even Hortum), are more fun than ice which (like Colossus) boost strength and/or make subroutines harsher; since the former “guarantee” some partial returns on your investment.

I also like “advancement”-subroutines, because it:

• is contextual/situational: Being blank unless something advanceable is installed; and never a generic “+1[$], +[click]”. It's also more valuable on Agendas/Assets than on ICE: a Tree Line’s +1 strength is worth less than a Charlotte Caçador’s econ (Gain 4[$]. Draw 1 card.), an Off the Books’s selection/compression (Search R&D for 1 card. Add it to HQ or install it, ignoring all costs.), a Clearinghouse’s kill (Do +1 meat damage.), or so on.

• can have interesting decisions: If you're advancing an agenda that can be stolen (revealing some information, modulo faceup/expose), or an asset that can be trashed (wasting your advancement, modulo fast [trash], Hosted advancement counter: … costs), you're taking a risk. If you're advancing an ice, then you're hedging; no risk, but much less value.

However, double-advancing a single card (saving 2[$], [click][click]), or even requiring a rooted card to be advanced (like Jinteki) as well as a piece of ice, could lean more into this “higher risk, higher reward” gameplay. While granting the advanced card a “self-protective” Public-esque ability could “hedge” for more safety (like City Works Project’s When the Runner accesses this agenda while installed, … for each advancement counter on it.).

[EDIT] (as @Baa_Ram_Wu pointed out) If Syailendra—like Mausolus—ended the run once triple-advanced, then—despite being ‘porous’ and with ‘light’ subs—it could ‘harden’ itself for the third encounter, after being facechecked twice (since the 1st sub resolving would level-up the 3rd sub before it resolves, during that same encounter).

CF. Doomscroll, which ‘doubles’ its own effect for the second encounter, after being facechecked once (without detagging).

Notes

IMO, the tax of Syailendra’s subs (Do 1 net damage. The Runner loses 2[$]. Place 1 advancement counter.) is softer than Mausolus’s (Do 1 net damage. Give the Runner 1 tag. Gain 1[$].).

However, by both pinging and credit-zapping (like Vampyronassa), Syailendra does enable Measured Response (FWIW): both its Do 4 meat damage … and its … unless the Runner pays 8[$]..

Synergies

Advancement that's repeated/incidental (whether subroutines like Syailendra’s/Akhet’s, or triggers like Wall to Wall) obviously synergizes with anything advanceable. Especially infinitely-advanceable ones, like:

• Logjam
• Tree Line

• Mestnichestvo

• Clearinghouse

• Charlotte Caçador
• Vladisibirsk City Grid

As well as with “Advancement-Moving”, like:

• Hearts and Minds

See x:"can advance" t:asset|upgrade|ice z:standard b:active

PS. read @DarkoM’s/@Kram’s review/comment (most of my review was written during spoilers over on Reddit).

Flavor

Syailendra means “King of the Mountain”. The art shows Borobudur, a Buddhist temple (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Java, built by the Syailendra Dynasty.

• Shailendra dynasty (Wikipedia)
• Borobudur (Wikipedia)
• UNESCO

This card is, verbatim, 30yo:

1. WotC (1996): TRAP!
2. FFG (2012): Snare!
3. NSG (2025): Byte!

[$0] Node [-$0]: Ambush
(Corporation uncommon)

If you pay [4] when Runner accesses TRAP!, it does 3 Net damage and gives Runner a tag, even if TRAP! is not installed. Ignore this effect if Runner accesses it from the Archives. If TRAP! is accessed from R&D;, Runner must show it to you.

≡

[$0] Asset [-$0]: Ambush
(Jinteki 2/5)

If Snare! is accessed from R&D, the Runner must reveal it.

If you pay 4[$] when the Runner accesses Snare!, do 3 net damage and give the Runner 1 tag. Ignore this effect if the Runner accesses Snare! from Archives.

≡

[$0] Asset [-$0]: Ambush
(Jinteki 2/5)

While the Runner is accessing this asset in R&D, they must reveal it.

When the Runner accesses this asset anywhere except in Archives, you may pay 4[$]. If you do, give the Runner 1 tag and do 3 net damage.

This card already has two reviews, but if you read either of them, let alone both, you'd probably be confused and slightly misled. Is this card unplayably bad? Or is it a great console for any Anarch? Well... neither.

This card is built for Esâ Afontov: Eco-Insurrectionist and Esa only, I have never seen this card show up in a competitive deck outside of Esa and I have never seen a competitve Esa deck that plays anything else in it's console slot. It is, without question, one of the most "hard-coded" console/runner pairs in standard.

For the average Anarch this is indeed Brain Cage + Spoilers + Akamatsu Mem Chip and that is not worth your console slot, almost anything else would be better, even importing a console like Aniccam or Hermes would be preferable to this.

For Esa however, it does many things

+2 Hand Size - let's you take 2 additional Core Damage, that's two more Running Hots or two more Finalities on top of your "regular" Core Damage budget. After all, since Esa treats hand size as a resource, it stands to reason that +2 Hand Size would be worth a lot

1 Esa trigger (bought and paid for) - That means 2 extra sabotage and one instance of card cycling as soon as you install it

1-2 (sometimes more against certain decks) Bonus Sabotage - Whenever an Agenda gets scored, you'll get an extra instance of Sabotage to boot, which will usually be at least once or twice a game

Cheap Infaction MU - with Begemot requiring 2 MU, having an cheap, zero-fuss source of extra memory is another nice bonus

Best case scenario this card is functionally bankrolling 2 Chastushka's worth of sabotage over the course of a game, half of which it triggers itself. That's... exactly what Esa needs.

Would Esa play Brain Cage if it was still in standard? Almost certainly. But in the context of the more limited cardpool, where your only other alternatives are cards like T400 Memory Diamond, Hippocampic Mechanocytes or Supercorridor, Marrow is simply the best option you have when building an Esa deck and that's why for the foreseeable future, this card will continue to be hard coded to Esa.

TLDR: Esâ Afontov's Console, and Esa doesn't like to share...

Chromatophores (🌈) is a “better Egret” (1[$] less to install, installable on unrezzed ice too)”, but is it good?

Custom

IMO, this Trojan could've also been “slowly self-mobile” (to move around beyond Arissana tricks or without burning a Simulchip). For example:

• [click]: Host this program on another rezzed piece of ice.: CF. Hush

• [click], Remove another copy of this program in your heap from the game: Install this program from your heap.: can recur itself if host gets over-installed.

• Whenever an agenda is scored or stolen, you may host this program on another piece of ice.: can move itself around a few times a game (but not at will).

• Whenever you pass host ice, you may remove 1 hosted power counter. If you do, host this program on an installed piece of ice protecting another server. + When you install this program, load 1 power counter onto it.: gets one free move (but can't “surf” down a three-ice server with a single breaker).

Flavor

Most octopuses can colorshift like a Chameleon, as well as shapeshift (CF. Pelangi, which means “rainbow” in Indonesian/Malay).

Chromatophores are color-producing, or even color-modifying (like in cephalopods), cells.

Chromatophore#Cephalopod_chromatophores (Wikipedia)

See also the reviews on Egret/Pelangi/etc, or commentary on Kit decklists, for the general behavior/strategy around “painting” ice-types.

Proprionegation (🤯) is the “new, AgInfusion’d Nisei MK II”.

It's Archives-Redirection (IE. The Runner moves to the outermost position of Archives):

• is a quasi-EtR (against the originally-attacked server).
• can have a Forced-Encounter (given any rezzible Archives ICE).

For example, after the Runner has bankrupted themselves running through a glacial remote, you can “negate them” away (from your “IA’d” Charlotte Caçador or 2nd Proprionegation), and into a Bathynomus’d Archives (a 4 strength with ↳ Do 3 net damage.).

Proprio (vs Nisei):

• its redirection can't be prevented (“un-Shred-able”).
• it can't fizzle an If successful, … trigger, like against Clean Getaway (but not Transfer of Wealth): You can make them waste the click (on Run-Events that compress checking a server with generating some econ), but you can't keep them from gaining the 6[$] (unless your Archives is iced with a rezzed/unbreakable EtR).
• it can't protect Archives, like against Maintenance Access (or before a Deep Dive): You can make them waste credits, even suffer net damage, or so on (by re-encountering any Archives ice), but you can't also make them waste a click (by re-running).

Faction-Pie-wise, Server-Changing (in general) may be the “Jinteki-est of Jinteki” effects, related to how the faction:

• loves ICE-Swapping (like Tatu-Bola).
• cares about Archives (like Bathynomus).
• deals the most net damage (with any AP).

Flavor-wise:

• Proprio-ception is how you know what position your body is in, whether it's moving, and so on.
• Proprio-negation would inflict the Runner with somatic hallucinations, induce a sleep-paralysis nightmare, an inconvenient out-of-body experience, or so on.

Rules-wise (as the Runner):

• You're already approach’ing the ice: Thus, like Mitra Aman, the Corp can rez it but you cannot jack out (before encountering it, if rezzed, or just passing it, if unrezzed).
• But you can jack out before breaching (whether or not it's iced): If you fear accessing an Ambush ‘poisoning’ Archives (like Mavirus or Fujii Asset Retrieval).
• Your Server-Locked Run-Events are still ‘fizzleable’. In particular, Transfer of Wealth, which implicitly reads Run HQ. If successful [against HQ], … (Whereas Run a central server. If successful, … wouldn't fizzle.)

The Elevation box includes this “refcard”:

With Proprionegation, the Corp can send the Runner to Archives, no matter what server they were running before. The Corp can use this ability during any paid ability window, but will most often want to wait until the Runner passes all of the ice protecting the original attacked server.

If there is ice protecting Archives, the Runner will approach the outermost piece of ice. The Corp can rez that ice as normal, and the Runner will not have an opportunity to jack out until after they pass that ice. If there is no ice protecting Archives, the Runner will have an opportunity to jack out, or they may continue the run and approach Archives.

If the attacked server changes, "if successful" abilities won't resolve unless the new server is one that could have been chosen to begin with. For example, Transfer of Wealth specifies a run on HQ, so if that run turns into a successful run on any server other than HQ, the Runner will not take a tag or drain the Corp's credits. By contrast, Clean Getaway can be used to run any server, so its "if successful" ability works regardless of whether the attacked server changes during the run.