With Hunting Grounds and Apocalypse, it is the most widely used Apex cards. At one influence, it is easy to splash in any deck that can make good use of it.

Every Apex, has 3 copies of it. It powerup everything that make Apex work. So, it is an easy decision.

Outside of Apex, it work really well with if you intend to use Heartbeat or Endless Hunger. But also, it can power up Aesop's Pawnshop. With Aesop's Pawnshop, you put Harbinger for one click and then get 3 per turn for 2 turns (clicklessly). That is some serious economy. Which is why it is often seen in decks that use Aesop's Pawnshop. Sometime, you can even power it up further with Reaver, to get credits and draw a card.

But it can power up Environmental Testing and Technical Writer and you can bring it back with Simulchip or with Reclaim. Making it quite valuable if you are going for that kind of deck.

Finally, it is good fodder for SDS Drone Deployment, Degree Mill and when you need to trash something from an ice like Fairchild 3.0.

The card, the color, the image, the baudot code, everything screams Apex and its theme. Downright fantastic!

At the same time it is the worst program and the cheapest program to use for passing an ice. But it only let you pass through, any other effects (beside End the Run) from the ice, you will get.

For reasons that belong to the past, it was specified that if the text state something else than just "end the run", the console cannot break it.

Endless Hunger is very special in the sense that it is the ONLY program that is not an "AI" that can break any ices. In the Q2 2023 meta, it pairs well with Poison Vial (the replacement of e3 Feedback Implants) to also break the other subroutines.

Another trick to use with this console is Adjusted Matrix to break any ices, in exchange for clicks. Especially if coupled with Poison Vial.

Here are the ices that cannot be directly passed according to the ruling :

• Macrophage
• Whitespace
• Fairchild
• Fairchild 3.0
• Loki
• Data Ward
• IP Block
• Loot Box
• Peeping Tom
• Pop-up Window
• Ballista
• Bulwark
• Formicary
• Mausolus
• Surveyor

For Hortum, I'm not sure because it is "end the run" until you put three advancements on it.

This is why, sadly, it is not a good breaker. And if you do not use it with Adjusted Matrix, you'll probably run out of card to install to power it up, if you do not use multiaccess cards.

The art is strange is slightly evocative of the name and effect. The quote is great and evoke some lore and an amazing theme. So far, Apex cards have been the most well done of the whole lot. Good!

This is the best console to prevent damage. Better yet, it prevent ANY type of damage, be it Core, Net or Meat damages.

This console usually need to be paired with Harbinger, since it need to trash cards on the board and Harbinger can be trashed twice. For Apex: Invasive Predator, this usually means that you become nearly immunized to damage, since Apex can install facedown card clicklessly.

When imported in another faction, at 3 influences, it is kind of expensive. Especially if you import also Harbinger. But can be used to use Tsakhia "Bankhar" Gantulga at nearly no cost, thus allowing to pass one ice for nearly free.

This amazing console will allow you to install cybernetics at no cost to you. So that Basilar Synthgland 2KVJ, WAKE Implant v2A-JRJ, PAN-Weave, Zenit Chip JZ-2MJ, Ghosttongue, Hippocampic Mechanocytes and Respirocytes will not cost you cards from hand, but rather cards from the board. Of note, it is more useful to use if for Core Damage Cybernetics (Basilar Synthgland 2KVJ, Zenit Chip JZ-2MJ and Ghosttongue), because those damage also reduce your hand size. For meat damage, you could just lose a random card from hand. This make Apex the best at using cybernetics, which is thematically appropriate.

Note that it would be a nonbo with Begemot, since this fracter actually need Core damages to be more powerful.

Some cards that do damage cannot be prevented, since it is part of the cost of using that card, like Light the Fire! and Finality. Also, for the same reason, you cannot use this console to prevent the net damages from Obokata Protocol.

This console is one of the reason to play Apex, especially when the meta is more about flatlining the runner than scoring out. Even if Apex is probably the weakest of the mini factions.

Everything about the art, the name and the quote speak volumes about the ability and lore of this card. That is how it should be. Well done!

When you play Apex: Invasive Predator, there are two ways to build the deck : either with Apocalypse or with Prey. The former makes you build all around the fact that you'll trash your own board. The later (this card) is more a regular runner. It feels more like a different Hippo.

Outside of Apex, this card is more suite to trash low strenght ice, because it require you to trash something from your board. A long time ago, there was Tour Guide that was nice to trash with this, now there is Endless EULA, Whitespace and Echo which can be trashed easily with this. At only two influence, it could be imported if your deck worries about those ices (especially Endless EULA). Otherwise, only Apex can really leverage this card to trash high strength ices.

The art is colorful, but a bit oversaturated, making it difficult to understand that those are tentacles from Apex: Invasive Predator. Still, quite thematic for the faction. Like always, I would have prefered if there was a quote or small bit of lore with the card. The name of the card really work with the concept of it. All in all, a good job.

The great equalizer. Many runners, many champions, have used this card as a counter for glacier or asset spam corp archetypes. While it also trash the board of the runner, most runner can bounce back fairly easily. But past the mid game, corps have a greater difficulty, since finding economy AND having enough time to setup is quite challenging.

For a mere 3 and 3 influences, you get a card that will allow you to deal efficiently against two difficult corp archetype. Asset spam corp put threat on the board unless you deal with them, thus putting your economy in shamble. While the glacier archetype will make it very difficult to pass the scoring remote, and can thus safely score out. If you can run the three centrals (and maybe score some points), you can just remove all those problems. Thus frustrating the corp of all their efforts to build their board up.

There are three counters to this powerful card.

1. Crisium Grid, Border Control and Anoetic Void, to stop the runner from having a successful run, thus foiling their plan for the current turn.
2. Any damage, like House of Knives, Snare! or Anemone, to snipe Apocalypse from the hand of the runner.
3. Making it too expensive to run one of the central, thus preventing the runner to be able to pay for Apocalypse.

This extraordinary card has an equally extraordinary art, and the quote in Baudot Code (The Destroyer of Worlds" is phenomenal. Best design of the pack!