Adding a review as there isn't one at the time of writing.
Attini is an important reminder that ICE doesn't necessarily have to be about keeping the runner out (EtR) or about killing the runner (net damage). It's enough just for ICE to tax the runner and, in doing so, squeeze out their options elsewhere.
So, with that in mind, let's jump right in, assuming one has their preferred Decoder at hand, just how good is Atttini at taxing the runner? For the purposes of this initial analysis, we'll ignore the spend 2 credits, the damage, and the Threat effect and treat this as a generic 6 cost, 5 strength, 3 subroutine code gate.
- 3/7 credits for Euler (depending on whether the card has been played this turn) (2 to Install)
- 4 credits for Penrose (requires stealth credits) (2 to Install)
- 4/5/7 credits for Unity (depending on the number of installed Icebreakers) (3 to install)
- 6 credits for Gordian Blade (with extra upside against stacked Code Gates) (4 to Install)
- 3 credits for Hyperbaric (if fully pumped) (3 to Install + 8 to pump)
- 5 credits for Lobisomem (net a power token of course) (8 to Install)
- 2 credits for Umbrella (requires an attached Trojan) (3 to Install)
Outside of Shaper, the options are more limited and generally worse:
- 8 credits for Buzzsaw (4 to Install)
- 7 credits for Abaasy (with a minor upside for cycling cards) (2 to Install)
- 7 credits for Abagnale (or trash to bypass once) (4 to Install)
- 7 credits for Cat's Cradle (2 to Install)
- 5/7 credits for Shibboleth (gets worse after Threat 4) (1 to Install)
From what we can see, Attini breaks even against most Decoders after a single run (if you include the Decoder's Install Cost) and it's pure profit from then on for any subsequent runs. Not bad, but not amazing either.
The first and most legitimate criticism of this card is that it is a terrible gear check, as even if the runner has no Decoder installed, they can still break it for 6 credits (or tank the 3 net damage). In fact, if you're using a Decoder from outside of Shaper, chances are 6 credits is actually a discount.
If you're looking for a scary card to face-check, this just isn't it, there are far more terrifying cards in Jinteki, Saisentan being one of the first to come to mind. But, the two aren't really comparable, if you're face-checking Jinteki ICE without an installed Killer then quite frankly you've got much bigger problems than anything Attini can throw at you.
But it would be wrong to dismiss Attini just like that because Attini isn't trying to be Saisentan, it never claims to be Saisentan, it doesn't want to be Saisentan. You wouldn't dismiss a piece of Bioriod ICE just because the runner can click through its subroutines. Taxing the runner is an end in and of itself and since 1 click is generally accepted to be worth 2 credits, I think the value contrast of Attini to Bioroid ICE is very fair.
Once Threat 3 is reached, not much generally changes, if the runner still lacks a Decoder then Attini functionally becomes a 3 net damage ICE, which is still relatively poor for a 6-cost ICE (once again, contrast Saisentan) and is unlikely to kill on it's own. That being said, most runners still wouldn't want to tank 3 net damage to the face and assuming they have their breaker suit installed, all this means is that the non-shaper cards lose their small discount. One minor thing of note, as mentioned in the above rules clarification is that this effect also stops the runner from spending credits to use interrupt abilities to prevent the damage, (i.e. something like Caldera could not trigger) however, there are very few cards that function this way and even the ones that do exist see relatively little play in the meta at the time of writing. For this to have any effect Threat 3 would have to have been reached, the Runner must have something like a Caldera installed, but not a Decoder installed and then must attempt to run into a facedown Attini only to get shocked when they take 3 net damage, all of which just seems too niche to be meaningful. However, if future cards are released that offer a cheap and efficient way to prevent damage such that some new breakless runner strategies emerge this card could have some added usage, but obviously, this is purely speculative.
But how does it compare to other similar Code Gates? Well quite frankly, there aren't many. There are no other 6-cost Code Gates in Jinteki and the next cheapest card is Lotus Field, which costs 5, has 4 strength, ends the run and has a niche tech against Anarch strength shredding. Outside of Jinteki the closest comparison is M.I.C. another 6-cost Code Gate that has 3 subroutines but only 4 strength, M.I.C. has the added selling point of ending the run and can be trashed to attempt to end the run in a pinch, but against a runner with a Decoder set up and a click to spare it's ever so slightly worse than Attini. Meanwhile Valentão and Piranhas are off doing something very different with conditional end-the-run effects and bad publicity.
The closest comparison is probably Vampyronassa which costs 7 and has only 4 strength, making it slightly worse on the face of it. The only upside is that if Vampyronassa triggers you get 2 net damage, tax the runner 2 credits, gain 2 credits and can draw 1-2 cards. If we assume the runner triggered Attini in such a way that they took 2 net damage and paid to 2 to prevent the 3rd net damage then the two pieces of ICE are remarkably similar with only small econ upsides for the Corp from Vampyronasa. Once again, Vampyronassa is not an early gear check and when it comes to taxing a Runner with a full rig, a 4 strength 4 subroutines piece of ICE vs a 5 strength 3 subroutines piece of ICE is the same for many breakers, and similar for a couple of others. All in all, they're pretty similar and it will often come down to personal preference, Attini is 1 cheaper, but if you get even a single Vampyronasa trigger it will have a net cost of 5 due to the 2 credit "cash back." In certain Sisyphus Protocol glacier decks you may even be tempted to include both.
On the whole, this card isn't necessarily bad, but it's not a terrifying game-changer like Anansi or Cloud Eater. This card probably struggles to find a place in butcher-shop archetypes that need more consistent net damage and generally run a pretty lean budget. Similarly, Fast Advance wants cheap gear-check ICE to keep the runner out long enough to score and thus has little use for Attini. For 3 Influence I doubt this gets splashed into any other factions either. It's one home is probably Glacial Jinteki, who is willing to pay the upfront cost to rez and expects to reap the rewards over the course of many expensive runs. It has some nice synergy with Ivik too, by cheapening it's rez cost, if you don't want to look out of faction for your Barriers. Glacial A Teia: IP Recovery anyone?
Thematically, Attini refers to a tribe of ants who farm and cultivate fungi, essentially gathering leaves and other organic matter for the fungi to decompose and then feeding on the growing fungi, as the art beautifully represents. Attini can be found throughout the Americas and can form massive hives ranging from a few hundred to a few million individuals and live in huge subterranean nests. Personally, I think it would have been cool if this card leaned more into this theme, perhaps it could've cost a bit more but whenever certain conditions were met (perhaps on encounter, or when an encounter ends, or when a subroutine triggers or is broken for example) the card gains credits on it, which can then be spent to install or rez other pieces of ICE. This way the Attini could be used to collect "organic matter" from the runner to "grow the fungus" which can then be "fed" into other ICE, gradually growing the Corp's "nest" of threats. Just a thought, though obviously not the direction this card took.
TLDR: A pretty decent card all around, it has a cool theme with very fitting art that is quite at home in the cycle in which it was released. It has solid numbers and can work in Glacial Jinteki decks looking to tax the runner such as A Teia: IP Recovery which was also released in the same cycle but I'm not looking to splash this card into every Corp deck I can.
