I think this card is likely underrated. Granted it isn't a powerhouse by any means, and NISEI has said that they plan to generally reduce the power of ice from here on out.

But I think this card has an effect that is very rarely seen: guaranteed net damage mid-run. Aside from specific damage prevention cards like Caldera or padding like Aniccam (note we are losing I've Had Worse, Sports Hopper, and Guru Davinder when Midnight Sun is released), the runner is guaranteed to take 2 net damage when this card is rezzed, no matter how many credits or breakers they have.

Other common cards that can cause damage mid-run (outside of accessing an Urtica Cipher or Snare!) are Ben Musashi and Hokusai Grid. But Anemone adds another layer of calculus to how safe a server is, outside of the server's root. If there is an unrezzed ice in front of a remote, it could now require SIX cards to steal Obokata Protocol, or stealing a Sting! could now be part of a run that deals up to 5 non-optional damage at once, just from one unrezzed ice.

When to rez Anemone is an interesting decision for the Corp, I think, and also presents some interesting decisions to the Runner. If the Corp suddenly chooses to rez an Anenome, what are they thinking? Is this advanced card actually an Urtica Cipher and not a Nisei MK II? Should I jack out?

I think it will be interesting to see how Jinteki evolves when Midnight Sun is released in full, and if they get some of the pep back in their step that they very much need. I hope that in the meantime, Anemone will be a fun addition to their mind-game arsenal.

So, at the time that this card is coming out, we don't know a whole lot about what Borealis will look like as a whole. We don't know what other Killers will be in there, we only know one sentry (Anemone) and we don't know if there's anything waiting in the wings to play with the "weapon" subtyping on this, which is purely flavor at the moment of this writing.

What we do know is that, at this moment, there is one Gold Standard killer, also in Crim (the home of great Killers), by which all others must be judged. Bukhgalter - it's efficient, reasonably costed to get down, and much like Discover™, it's the Card that Pays You Back! So how, indeed, do these two cards compare?

Based on the pure numbers of how much it costs to break a given sentry with both cards operating on their own best lone potential... Revolver holds up really well, actually. Against all but 2 Sentries in the current Startup format, Revolver is equal or cheaper on credits when compared to Bukhgalter. In some cases, it's much cheaper - if you find yourself facing down a Tyr or an Archer, you'd probably rather pay 4 than 7 to get through them unharmed. And for the 2 exceptions - Swordsman and Anemone - well, first off, I'm not sure anyone has run Swordsman for years, but more importantly, each of them cost 2 to Bukhgalter's 0. Not nothing, but not the biggest downside either.

The real conversation between these two is a little more about incomparable traits. Bukhgalter's downsides are that it costs one more to install than Revolver, it costs more influence to import it, you're getting a rebate rather than a discount with it, meaning you still need to have cash on hand, and the rebate only works once per turn. Revolver's downsides are that it breaks 7 subs, total, and with that seventh sub (already known as "throwing the gun at them") it trashes.

The truth is that in an ideal game, you'd probably want to have both of these out, but that scenario is unlikely until Glacier makes a big comeback. decks that are likely to hit one sentry per turn are still going to be better off with Bukhgalter. Decks that like to make a LOT of runs in one turn will prefer Revolver. As a result, this card might end up seeing more play in Shaper than in Crim, especially with Deep Dive encouraging the Big Turn playstyle and having Simulchips and Harmony AR Therapy in-house.

So this is another way to write Stimhack, a classic old card. Now we have 2 options. This one and Overclock.

Stimhack had a fit as a 1 of to do that run where you're in late game and you know that's the winning agenda and gives you 9 . Also found a place in shaper decks because those 9 bucks cans be used to install stuff mid-run with Self-modifying Code (SMC).

So for those shaper uses they made Overclock, just 4 credits asking just for 1 to trash whatever you need to trash, have a little push in that run or use SMC if you're a shaper. No brain damage so it's less money and more accessibility so you cans put it in System Gateway.

But there was a part that was missing. Something impactful with the brain damage. There was something cool about self-inflicting damage. Something very anarch. As the Joker said in the AI generated script for a Batman movie "You drink water. I drink anarchy". And there is few ways better than drinking anarchy that some self brain damage.

So instead of a event it's a resource. So instead of 0 and 1 you will need 1 and 2 that you can divide in 2 diferent turns if you want to telegraph the corp "this is the deal, what are you going to do about it". What gives you in exchange? Depending on the board state.

This cards counters some stuff like Anoetic Void, Manegarm Skunkworks, Prisec and the advancements of City Works Project. So the main idea is to get a server full of stuff out. That trap? on the archives. That region that costs 5 to destroy? see ya.

Remember that this trashing happens before you access the cards so if there is any facedown agenda you'll need to go to archives to retrieve it. And some agendas abilities still happen there. Agendas like Obokata Protocol, Bellona, Send a Message to mention a few. Also agendas can be retrieved using Spin Doctor so I recommend to take any pesky doctor before using this.

And for the corp, how to counter it? Apart that from your ice you still have abilities such as Earth Station: SEA Headquarters. For other hard end the run effects... you still have Border Control or Nisei MK II that can prevent for that all thrashing.

Also: remember that the brain damage cannot be prevented (by Heartbeat for example) because it's a cost. If the cost doesn't happen then the effect doesn't happen. (it's like when you cannot prevent the net damage if you decide as a runner to steal Obokata Protocol)

Great card!

Terrible. If you're not already playing Mganga, I'd leave this one in the jankpile.

Jinteki: "We remember failed ideas, but do not carry them forward." Also Jinteki: "Let's carry forward Mganga's one-time ~2 net damage into an overpriced version of Tithe most runners will break for $1 and Bukhgalter will break for $0."

To start with: this ice has virtually zero long-term value in most matchups. Aside from Anarchs, every other killer and Amaukua break this for $0-1. Without the ability, this would be a bad ice at a cost of $0. (Ignoring its net damage for a moment, $0 Pop-Up Window causes a larger credit swing than this ice in most matchups). If you're thinking about this ice, its role is mostly the short-term net damage. It's a costly way of dealing 2 net damage, but you have to wait for a tight window of opportunity where they're running on the server and the net damage would actually be meaningful. The timing on using this ice is going to be super-funky, Anemone is usually a one-shot ice which virtually ignores whether the runner has a breaker, so Anemone will probably be a weak option early compared to Aiki/Saisentan/etc and 2-3 net damage is unlikely to set up early kills. It could be useful late-game for getting a few net damage in after your other ices can reliably be broken. If your Kakugos and Aikis have successfully wrecked their stack and they're low on cards, 2 net damage might be very meaningful. It is a very cumbersome way of closing out a game and a sad early draw though. Jinteki is the least able to afford inefficient ice and cards which you have to sit on forever, and this card is nothing but inefficient on a good day and VERY sensitive on when it can be used effectively.

This ice is not very promising in low commitment setups. Including a few of these in your deck in the hopes they might screw up a run on Obokata, well, you could have used a much better card like Anoetic Void and ended any run with some upshot around threatening to end a second run later. The only economically viable reason to use an ice with a rez:break cost ratio this terrible is to set up funky kills. This exists in the Brainstorm space where you're only using this high-commitment, something you're building around as a win condition. Like Brainstorm, it's not a good win condition but it will be memorable when it happens. Surat City Grid could generate 6 net damage suddenly if the runner runs into a server with 3 unrezzed Anemones. Surat might be able to generate some kills with 2 Anemones (possibly after a Kakugo) but this is a lot of variables. In imports, if you were building around net damage, I could see this working as a way to kill a runner who's already taken multiple brain damage, but that's a really hard condition to pull off in the current card pool. (If HB gets a viable brain damage agenda, like one that requires a brain damage as a cost to steal or a 3/2 which causes a brain damage upon being scored, maybe revisit Anemone then).

Jinteki ice urgently needs a rework. We're flooded in forgettable net damage at this point. Can we try anything else? For example, maybe showing the corp the top few cards of R+D (maybe with an Anansi-like rearranging), turning a runner card facedown for a turn, destroying a non-virtual resource (probably not the first time someone coded a bioweapon for DJ Fenris, let's be honest), or trashing a non-program card out of the runner's faction or moving a card to the top of the stack. Steve has a cool ID ability where the runner picks 2 cards from the heap and the corp picks which one the runner gets to keep. Maybe a Jinteki ice could have the runner choose 2 or 3 cards from their hand and the corp chooses 1 to trash? (The Steve-like selection helps reduce the chance that a runner takes a devastating hit like losing a breaker and is more strategically interesting than random net damage).

If you're trying to score 3/2s out of hand, SanSan City Grid is a lot more economically efficient. Vlad Grid makes it somewhat safer to score 4/2s out of hand, but the added install click and rez cost feels unwieldy for what it offers. 2 counters invested is a major commitment and most runners will trash it there. If you're looking for an advanceable semi-trap to bait runs, I guess it's okay. With NGO Front, you hope they check, with Vlad Grid, you're probably hoping they don't. Problem: against NBN they usually do.

I don't anticipate a lot of use for this card for fast-advance while SanSan is available; if your gameplan calls for scoring cards out of hand, 3/2s are much more reliable than 4/2s. With SanSan, you can score a 3/2 every turn. With Vlad City, you can score a 4/2 every two turns. You have to love your 4/2 effects for that to be worth building around. You also have to be SO tight on influence that the cheaper/safer Seamless Launch doesn't work.

If you have enough influence for Dedication Ceremony, but not for Reconstruction Contract, this might be a viable ReCo alternative for NBN players who care more about influence or reusability than efficency. Suppose you end a turn with a Vlad City Grid lurking on the board. Next turn, you could use Dedication Ceremony and score a 3/2. This leaves your Vlad City with one token on it, which allows you to threaten another 3/2 next turn. (Install agenda, advance the agenda, place a second token on Vlad City, and then move 2 tokens from Vlad City).

Vlad City might create options for other advanceable cards. If you have a Reversed Account (and no influence for Dedication Ceremony), it will probably spend at least one turn on the board with 1+ counter on it. (Very few people install a RA, advance it once, and then trigger it that turn, that's probably not the play). However, if Vlad City feeds your Reversed Account 2 counters, triggering a Reversed Account on the turn it is installed would be stronger. Problem: a Vlad City left on the board with 2 counters is even less likely to survive the turn than a Reversed Account with 1. Another problem is that Dedication Ceremony is so much more efficient than Vlad City for most advanceable assets.

Vlad City might create janky fun for Improved Protein Source or any cards you wanted to play on top of an agenda score. 4 influence for a not very good card is rough, but if you're playing Improved Protein Source, you probably aren't playing for power.