This game has seen its fair share of broken stuff, as have most games. And in the spirit of learning from one's mistakes, we often see retrains of old cards attempting to fix those problems. Conduit replaces Medium, now in the right faction and slowed down a tad. Pennyshaver and Paragon each try to replace Desperado, each with their own twists. And I've been pretty satisfied with these callbacks and fixes. They've been balanced, fun, and still pushed enough to be relevant.

But when I saw the Spin Doctor, I thought I had something crazy in my eye. Surely they didn't just give us a retrain of Jackson "Three Influence" Howard? Jesus Howard? The savior, the staple, the must-include, the card you were surprised if a corp deck ran any less than three. While it may look innocuous to newer players, the old guard knows. Jackson was dominant. He was the face of Corp recursion and the reason running Archives was a wasted click.

So let's say it is with reserved optimism I look at Spin Doctor. On the one hand, I've seen good retrains, and the playtest teams seem to have a good finger on the pulse. On the other hand, I've been burned before. I've seen Jackson in action. I played during the Museum format, so I know how bad it can get when Corp recursion gets good. I hope the Spin Doctor doesn't take us back in that direction.

Weird idea: Could you use Panchatantra to give a Bioroid the subtype Icebreaker, and thus use the Bioroid to break itself through Next Activation Command? It doesn't say "Icebreaker Program".

'Cause that would be awesome. I ship it.

This is not really a review of this card in particular, so much as a review of the state of Link in general. Because it's tough out here in standard. Gone are the days of triple Rabbit Hole, and we are in a distinctly linkless era.

Our options for link at the moment are:

• Three Consoles. Reflection, Forger and Security Nexus. The former two are not very strong (especially in Criminal, who have Paragon to work with), and Nexus wants other Links to work with anyway.

All of these also means giving up your Console slot, which isn't very attractive if all you wanted was some Link.

• Two connections. The Archivist and Cybertrooper Talut, both of which are both unique and faction-bound. Bad in multiples and costing influence, these guys are not the strong Link we're looking for.

• Power Tap: Is great, but on the MWL. That means giving up your unicorn, which is a steep cost for some Link.

• Borrowed Satellite and Sports Hopper. One is faction-bound, and both are woefully inefficient if you want Link...

Our best option seems to be Sports Hopper, and that's not a great place to be in. Link as a mechanic is the counterplay to strong Traces, such as CtM and Surveyor. If your deck had a problem with these tactics, your answer would have been to slot some Link and give yourself a fighting chance.

Which is a strange thing. Cards like No One Home, Citadel Sanctuary and everything Sunny Lebeau ever did clearly shows an interest in traces as a mechanic from both sides of the game. Yet Runners have very few options to find some good sources for Link, even as Traces are becoming meaner, stronger and more punishing.

I for one am looking forward to when we can have Link be a bigger deal again, and really exploring what can be done with the mechanic.

Two words, for this lady: Psychic Field. Rez her in the Jackson window, and watch the Runner play for their lives...

More reliable than the Prisec combo, as that one relies on BOTH winning a Psi game and getting lucky with the runner's access order.

The greatest lie in Netrunner.

Whizzard has a cybernetic left arm, yet his subtype is Natural instead of Cyborg.

You deserved everything you got, you fraud. May you and your recurring credits never plague our assets again.