Nanomanagement is a direct reprint of Biotic Labor from the ANR core set which is in turn a direct reprint of Overtime Incentives from the original netrunner ccg released way back in 1996. This is a card that has quite literally existed as a part of Netrunner for as long as Netrunner has existed. Needless to say, old-heads know this card well so I'm going to target this review exclusively towards newer players who have never had the joy of firing a Biotic Labor and might currently be scratching their heads looking at this card and wondering what to do with it.
Corp Turn Fundamentals
Playing an Operation takes a click, so functionally, you are spending 1 click and 4 credits to gain 2 clicks for a net result of +1 click and -4 credits. Essentially allowing you to take 4 (non-nanomanagement) clicks in a single turn.
Let's start from the top by taking a look at all the potential actions available to the Corp that they can spend this extra click on.
Gain a credit: Terrible idea, spending 4 credits to gain a credit is throwing 3 credits down the drain so definitely not the play
Draw a card/Install multiple cards: If you wanted click compressed draws or installs Top-Down Solutions or Red Level Clearance are much cheaper alternatives so I'd refer you to those
Purge (and then take another click: Once again you're probably better off playing something like Mavirus or Flyswatter for compressed purges
Trash a resource: Theoretically a possibility but when you add up the costs and conditions you need to be in a boardstate where the runner is tagged and the fourth most important Resource on the table is worth 6 credits to trash. Anecdotally, this almost never happens.
Advancing a card/playing an operation/using a card ability: Now we're cooking, this is the meat of Nanomanagment’s applications, fast advance and (to a lesser extent) combo kill.
Kill Decks
Certain click intensive combos like Mutually Assured Destruction + End of the Line require extra clicks to be played in one turn and Nanomanagement finds a home here. Other click intensive kill combos that include Pivot or multiple copies of Public Trail + End of the Line find use for Nanomanegement as well. But these combos are expensive and finicky to pull off so while you're more than welcome to have some fun designing exciting combo kill decks this review will focus on fast advance from here on out.
Scoring Agendas
Let's establish some logical lines of reasoning.
- At its core, netrunner is a game about scoring agendas (some players might disagree with me but let's operate on this doctrine for now).
- If you want to score agendas, you're going to need clicks.
- The click requirement to score an agenda is simply the advancement requirement + 1. Since to score an Agenda you must spend 1 click installing it and a number of clicks equal to it's advancement requirement advancing it.
- A normal Corp turn consists of 3 clicks which means the only type of Agenda that can be “naturally” scored from hand are 2/1s.
- 2/1s represent the lowest amount of points you can get from an agenda (we don't talk about Domestic Sleepers) and since 2/1s tend to have relatively weak abilities too, most decks need to score at least some number of larger agendas to win and this can't naturally be done directly from hand.
To score larger agendas, you'll often need to install the agenda and potentially even pre-advance it on one turn, and then score it on the next.
The question of how to do this without the runner just stealing them is central to archetype divergence and playstyle.
Will you hide them amongst a sea of assets? Bluff them with the threat of nasty traps? Defend them under mountains of ICE reinforced with powerful defensive upgrades? Rush out using gear checks and tempo scoring tools? Fork the runner with the threat of nasty reprisals?
Nanomanagement (and other fast advance tools like it) offer you another solution by letting you bend the rules of the game, by giving you a 4 click turn (or by placing multiple advancement counters in 1 click) it's possible to score out 3/1s or more commonly 3/2s in a single turn, directly from hand without needing to leave it in a remote server for a turn.
This leads to the archetype known as fast advance, often shortened to FA and occasionally called “rush.”
There are also “hybrid” decks that score out some agendas behind ICE and then fast advance the last agenda to win. Anecdotally these decks have found more success in recent years than the “pure” FA variants have. But both variants must include some amount of "fast advance tools" nonetheless.
The only catch is cost, Nanomanagement tacks a 4 credit premium on top of the existing costs to score out an agenda and when scoring agendas is already one of the most expensive activities in the game you are going to need a very robust economy to make this card viable.
Additionally, its high influence cost at 4 pips per copy makes it difficult to import outside of HB.
Combos
Operation contingent Fast Advance like Sudden Commandment or Nebula Talent Management: Making Stars can be combined with Nanomanagement to FA a 4/2.
Wage Workers + Nanomanagement can also FA a 4/2.
Nanomanagement + The Holo Man can FA a 5/3 in MirrorMorph since the first three clicks will technically be Operation, Install, click Holo then you can still triple advance.
Alternatives
All factions have atleast some means to gain clicks or place multiple advancement counters in 1 click.
Jinteki
Jinteki has the most limited Fast Advance options in standard, the only one being Moon Pool, which requires extra agendas already in HQ or Archives which you then cycle back into R&D for clickless advancement counters. In a deck with a large number of agendas (10+) this is worth considering, otherwise, it will be hard to consistantly trigger it.
Weyland
Slash and Burn Agriculture is incredibly cheap and easy to use, but it puts an agenda face up in archives, so unless Archives is well defended, you have a Spin Doctor on the table or it's the winning Agenda, you're going to have to accept that you're functionally trading points with the runner. Additionally, Agendas cannot be imported so you can't play this outside of Weyland.
Plutus isn't fast advance in and of itself but it can be combined with click-neutral operations such as Petty Cash, Red Level Clearance, Greasing the Palm or Peer Review to become a fast advance tool. It is incredibly cheap once setup, to the point of sometimes even being credit positive and can be used multiple times so long as you have multiple click neutral operations, but it needs to be pre-installed and protected, and comes with a special rez cost that can be difficult to pay.
Puttin these two to the side, let's talk abou the real King and Queen of FA, HB and NBN.
Haas-Bioroid
Big Deal
It's easier to use than needing to assemble 3 Biotic Labors to FA a 5/3. But it's high cost makes it inflexible and strictly inefficient for fast advancing 3/2s. And its trash cost makes it vulnerable to the runner while you're busy saving up the credits.
Greasing the Palm
By installing and placing an advancement counter in 1 click you can FA 3/2s and it's one of the very few credit-positive FA tools in the game. However it can be challenging to get the runner to float a tag, especially in HB which lacks much tag support.
Otto Campaign
Another credit positive FA it can be used to FA 4/2s on the turn it pops. But, since it takes 3 turns to tick down and has a measly trash cost of 2 credits, it gives the runner plenty of time to shut it down before it can be useful.
Bass CH1R180G4 While cute and thematic (he's even referenced in Nanomanegement's flavor text) is simply inferior to Nanomanegement. Since you have to spend a click to install him on a prior turn, he doesn't functionally save you any credits over Nanomanegment and he doesn't have any frills like being reusable. I suppose certain niche decks might consider him because he's one influence less or because you can rez him at a discount using something like Mahkota Langit Grid but for most decks, there's little reason to play Bass.
NBN
Focus Group
It's technically an option but its inconsistency means it almost never sees play.
Sudden Commandment
It has utility applications and provides bonus card draw but it has substantially more rigorous requirements than Nanomanagement, needing Threat 3 and another click Neutral or click positive operation to combo with. Plus, like Big Deal it can be trashed.
Shipment from Vladisibirsk
While a Big Deal at one 17th of the cost might sound appealing I wouldn't underestimate the requirement. Getting the runner to float 2 tags is quite challenging and the amount of time and resources you'll spend on giving the runner those tags and getting them to stick is variable, but it's ultimately a large hidden cost I wouldn't underestimate.
The Holo Man is flexible, reusable and more efficient than Nanomanagement if used more than once. But, it needs to be pre installed and can be trashed, meaning even if you don't need to protect your agenda, you'll need a way to protect the Holo Man.
Vladisibirsk City Grid is like The Holo Man in the sense that it's reusable and more efficient if reused but needs to be preinstalled and protected. Generally The Holo Man sees more play unless you have some synergy like that of Pravdivost Consulting: Political Solutions.
Closing Thoughts
Ultimately, Nanomanagement, while not necessarily the most efficient in a vacuum, shines due to its overwhelming consistency. Unlike almost every other FA option, it doesn't require setup, support or extra conditions to make it work and can't be easily trashed. As long as you have the money, Nanomanagement can do the job.
These traits have classically made Biotic Labor a staple in many HB FA decks, HB hybrid decks and still made it a valuable import into other factions in spite of its incredibly high influence cost. I have no reason to assume the same won't be true for Nanomanagement.
So, the next time you find yourself struggling to score out that last agenda, try slotting a Nanomanagement or two to make it a hybrid deck and start experimenting from there!
TLDR: A reprint of what is arguably the most classic fast advance tool of all time and remains one of the most reliable ways to fast advance today.
"a best case of '2 Chastushkas', from the Cybernetic and On-Score abilities, plus the +2 max hand size", for just two credits, is a great way to look at it!
— D4v1d-Gr43b3r