Plucky Something

Investigative Journalist? Or is she a lawyer? An unassuming blogger, an aide to the president, a soccer mom with a VoicePAD... Whatever, I won't claim to knowing much about Android fluff text. Still as a resource connection, for a small fee she is willing to help to draw attention to shady corp operations. Unfortunately those efforts by necessity also draw the corps attention onto the runner. Furthermore, depending on the corporation in question, she's even willing to go to bat to defend the little guy as a one-off, the shadier the corp the more resources she's willing to put into defending the downtrodden.

Combos

Ops Reaction: With currently 15 gray ops & black ops cards out there some of which are both popular & powerful like Subliminal Messaging Closed Accounts Scorched Earth for example, means it's very unlikely that Tallie Perrault would be a dead card, in addition to her to draw ability, her ability to add bad publicity whenever a corp runs a shady op is very likely to fire and boost the runners economy for the remainder of the game... (if the runner survives the onslaught of course)

Tag-Me: Tallie Perrault represents another option to double-down on tags to run a gambit in hopes of dealing out more than the corp can. Other resources like Data Leak Reversal, Raymond Flint Joshua B. etc) each may help the runner to gain the advantage while eating tags.

Tag-me-not: Alternatively if the runner is not prepared to pursue a tag-me strategy Decoy, Forger, New Angeles City Hall or Qianju PT can be used to keep the tag away so all that is left are the bad publicity that Tallie Perrault has added after any black or gray ops.

Exploit: Whenever Tallie Perrault lands bad publicity, Raymond Flint can do his business and Blackmail can now come out to play, Activist Support, Frame Job & Investigative Journalism etc also can be used to boost Tallie Perrault's to card draw ability)

Damage insurance: With her paid to draw ability, Tallie Perrault is sometimes seen as a useful slightly cheaper addition (or in rare cases alternative) to Plascrete Carapace since it also can be used to quickly recover from damage (if the runner survived). Additionally, if the corp is floating a lot of bad publicity (some of which could be due to Tallie Perrault's ability) her paid to draw ability could potentially be worth many more cards than the 4 that Plascrete Carapace can save, so depending on the situation Tallie Perrault could cause tokens on Plascrete Carapace to last much longer. (Having I've Had Worse in the mix could provide the runner even more options). Tallie Perrault could even represent one more tool in countering Jinteki: Personal Evolution

Connections: Particularly if the runner sees the corp taking on a lot of bad publicity, As a connection card, Tallie Perrault can be tutored with Hostage. Additionally Calling in Favors Off-Campus Apartment both provide additional connection synergy

Keeping her around: Because Tallie Perrault adds tags (unless prevented through combos above) and many black ops in particular can only be played if the runner is tagged, she literally assists the corp in trashing her. This is where Fall Guy for example could be used to keep her around.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Bad is always good: The prospect of adding more bad publicity always presents an on going econ boost for the runner

Second guessing: With Tallie Perrault on the board the corp may be much more hesitant about playing gray & black ops cards (particularly if other combos like Raymond Flint and Blackmail could be activated in doing so.)

Card draw: Tallie Perrault's paid ability to for card draw could potentially negate much of the damage from Scorched Earth and other damage inducing cards.

Cons

Catch 22: Particularly when facing black ops, many of which cannot be played unless the corp is tagged, Tallie Perrault will likely have a difficult time landing bad publicity in response the corp may choose to trash her before playing any such operations.

Tag blues: risks of going tag-me can be catastrophic. Furthermore, Corp may actually be encouraged to play gray & black ops, seeing a possible opportunity to land a tag on the runner

Trashed: If tagged, the Runner risks losing Tallie Perrault before using her paid ability to for card draws

Flatline Unlike say Plascrete Carapace, runner must survive before using her abilities in reaction to gray & black ops

Summary

Tallie Perrault doesn't currently see a lot of love, she can fit in. Later as the meta grows undoubtedly there will be more gray & black ops, more bad publicity, resource, connection and tag-interactive cards, any such cards could give runners a reason to think about giving the plucky _______ who is willing to stand up for the little guy against evil corporations a call.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

No Small Bleed

Hemorrhage or bleeding out profusely is not a condition most people would like to experience, similarly the prospect of bleeding cards out of HQ is a condition most corp players would find distressing as well.

Combos

Empty out HQ: Itinerant Protesters along with a successful run on HQ with Legwork (or similarly running with several tokens on Nerve Agent) can potentially win the game, trashing remaining cards out of HQ with tokens from Hemorrhage potentially empties HQ out, representing a significant tempo hit to a corp player who may now be down some agenda points as well.

Run lots: Because of Hemorrhage's ability, the more the runner runs, the more pressure it can put on the corp. Hence Early Bird Public Terminal, Desperado,and other such combos make it easier for the runner to run even more often. Security Testing brings in income, Datasucker, Medium & Nerve Agent pile up the viruses even faster pressuring corp to spend s to purge viruses. Eater is a combo-friendly AI that may helps the runner get into most any server if s are sufficient, meanwhile Hemorrhage continues to charge up. John Masanori can make a run per turn help fill up the runner's grip which in itself allows the runner to run more aggressively. Lamprey takes it to the corp and gives even more pressure to purge viruses (bonus if Fester makes doing so even more costly).

Install & Run Hemorrhage sooner: Djinn in addition to its ability to host Hemorrhage (and still have 2 to spare), it's tutoring ability will allow the runner to get Hemorrhage out of the stack sooner.

ID Synergy: Both Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire & Gabriel Santiago: Consummate Professional are core set ID's that benefit particularly in combo with Hemorrhage, one for filling trashing into Archives the other for providing econ boost when running each turn.

Console Synergy As a virus Hemorrhage combos well with Desperado which provides more credit to run more often, Doppelgänger which provides a free run per turn and Grimoire for the extra virus tokens on install (then combo with Surge to for another 2 tokens, no run needed and now Hemorrhage i ready to fire!), additionally these and many more hardware options offer additional etc.

More Hemorrhage: It's always fun when a program combos with itself, 2-3 installed copies of Hemorrhage increases the threat of trashing cards out of HQ up to 2-3 times per turn! Putting pressure on corp to waste s to draw or better yet s to purge viruses

Run events: There are 27 run events all of which have synergy with Hemorrhage in some way, here are a few notable stand-outs: Dirty Laundry particularly for poor Anarchs, makes that run count for equivalent of Easy Mark in addition to Hemorrhage bonus etc. Account Siphon, Early Bird, Feint, Indexing, The Maker's Eye, Retrieval Run Vamp & Wanton Destruction on and on, each can make significant contributions to the Runner's strategy while simultaneously charging up Hemorrhage. Really of the 27 run events only Recon's ability to jack out represents a weak synergy with Hemorrhage, but even with Recon it could be argued that they compliment one another.

Swoop into Archives: With Hemorrhage moving cards to archives, Hades Shard could provide a game winning option to bypass ice protecting archives once enough Agendas have been potentially dropped in.

(Did I miss an obvious combo, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pros

Taxing: Adds another attack vector potentially forcing the corp to invest in protecting Archives, & purging viruses & recurring cards out of Archives.

Virus: As a virus Hemorrhage inherrently combos with many other virus-related cards

Pressure on HQ: since Hemorrhage gains virus tokens after any successful run, any unprotected or under-protected server represents a weakness on HQ, regarless of how well HQ itself is protected with ice.

Cons

Purge Viruses: since Hemorrhage requires at least two tokens to trash 1 card from HQ some defensive control is in the hands of the corp, particularly painful if the runner has been banking a number of unused virus tokens on Hemorrhage

Time consumption: while adding tokens to Hemorrhage can be done efficiently if the runner is doing so while running for other reasons simultaneously, to actually use virus tokens on Hemorrhage requires a each time which can come at the cost to tempo and furthering other priorities.

Apples & Oranges: putting an agenda into Archives isn't the same as stealing it. There is certainly no guarantee that cards trashed into Archives are indeed agendas, even so, some agendas such as The Future Perfect, NAPD Contract for example are harder to steal, not to mention upgrades such as Ash 2X3ZB9CY & Red Herrings etc. Furthermore if given the chance to use recursion options such as Jackson Howard & Archived Memories etc the corp can undo much of the hard work put into setting up the runners grand scheme of getting agendas out of Archives.

Summary

Hemorrhage is certainly at home in a variety of decks, Anarch decks in particular but not exclusively so. There are many synergistic combos available, imagine playing as a Shaper or Criminal ID, with Hemorrhage part of the game-play may actually look like playing Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire due to Hemorrhage sending cards to Archives.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

A Noble Cause

Veterans Program offers A corporation an opportunity to soften it's image, selflessly giving of it's resources to help the people that society owes so much to... Still some skeptics might say that generating public good-will to cover up other activities behind closed doors is jut the kind of long-game such corporations might want to play. Veterans Program represents a bad publicity removal agenda 2 times as efficient as Clone Retirement which though requiring more resources it isn't quite as painful if unsuccessful.

Combos

Clear up bad publicity from ice: Checkpoint, Fenris, Grim, Muckraker, Shinobi, Swarm, all are powerful ice which unfortunately are semi-self defeating in that they confer bad-publicity which the runner in turn can use to better navigate ice for the remainder of the game unless cleared off in some way.

Clear up bad publicity from agendas: Geothermal Fracking, Hostile Takeover, Posted Bounty, Profiteering, Project Ares, Vulcan Coverup all have the negative side effect of inducing bad publicity, Veterans Program could be decent compliment to any of these.

Bad publicity from assets: Reality Threedee is an example of an asset that unfortunately confers a bad publicity when rezzed.

Clear up bad publicity from operations: Hellion Alpha Test and Invasion of Privacy both add bad publicity, perhaps with bad publicity removal options like Veterans Program these operations could be even more viable in decks which otherwise can't handle so much bad publicity

Clear up bad publicity from ID: bad publicity from GRNDL: Power Unleashed may be mitigated by bad publicity removal options such as Veterans Program

Easier to score: Stacking up bad publicity makes NAPD Contract harder to score clearing them out of the way with Veterans Program might be advisable before putting NAPD Contract down to score

Completely flush resources : With the prevalence of Data Leak Reversal for example Veterans Program can be used to clear off bad publicity ahead of using The All-Seeing I to completly wipe the board of all the runners resources, which unless the runner had 3+ bad publicity on the corp this would be unpreventable.

(Did I miss an obvious combo, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pro

Efficient Double Duty: Clearing 2 bad publicity in addition to scoring an agenda point is what this card is all about

Counter Runner Mischief: There are several cards Runners can use to induce bad publicity such as Valencia Estevez: The Angel of Cayambe who's ability can be completely countered once Veterans Program is scored, Activist Support, Investigative Journalism, Leverage, Tallie Perrault. Futhermore the following runner cards provide a distinct incentive for the corp to remove bad publicity: Blackmail, Investigative Journalism, Itinerant Protesters, Tallie Perrault

Con

Riskier than bad publicity removal operations like Witness Tampering or assets like Elizabeth Mills etc.

Summary

Veterans Program is pretty straightforward but mostly defensive compared to many other 1 point agendas available for each corp. Still as a neutral agenda it's waiting to help any corp repair it's reputation if only deck slots weren't so tight.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Too Good To Be True

Sometimes scoring TGTBT can loose the game for the runner making it an agenda that the corp often WANTS to have stolen.

Combos

Punish with tags immediately: SYNC: Everything, Everywhere is an identity custom made for adding salt into the runner's wound whose been tagged, additionally rezzing Dedicated Response Team just before runner accesses TGTBT, give the runner a little taste of what could be in store with the next combo

All tag & no joy: What better way to show the runner your appreciation than to give a tag for free but avoid burdening him or her with an agenda! For example if the runner isn't quite able to cough up the 5 extra cost from Red Herrings they will access TGTBT but not steal it, taking the tag but no agenda. Similarly Strongbox allows the runner to access TGTBT gaining it's tag(s) but unable to steal it if there are no extra s to do so. Furthermore say more than one Agenda is in Archives when the runner accesses Archives, with Haarpsichord Studios: Entertainment Unleashed any copies of TGTBT will be accessed and therefore generously giving tags regardless of whether they are stolen or not (only 1 agenda would be stolen in such a scenario).

Punish with tags if runner goes Tag-Me: It's helpful to have some tag-based options to punish the runner in case the runner isn't able to clear the tag or (foolishly) chooses to go tag-me. Any of the following are examples of combos that could demonstrate to the runner the disadvantages of not clearing tags and why TGTBT is indeed Too Good To Be True: Big Brother or Midseason Replacements to pile on yet more tags followed perhaps with Psychographics to score agendas rapidly or Scorched Earth to go for the kill or Private Security Force to grind the runners grip down, Bad Times to mess with the runners rig of programs, Closed Accounts to target the runner's credit pool, score Market Research as a 4/3 agenda, Freelancer or The All-Seeing I to more efficiently trash resources and possibly Traffic Accident (if TGTBT causes runner to actually have 2 tags) etc

Second Guessing Runner: TGTBT along & NAPD Contract (just like Fetal AI for Jinteki ) etc, are taxing agendas that may give the runner second thoughts before running prompting questions like, "Do I have a enough to make a run right now?" or, "Do I have enough s right now?" etc such hesitation itself may provide lost momentum or lost opportunities for the runner.

Deal out some meat: Punitive Counterstrike may be able to strike the final blow the a runner thinking that clearing tags makes oneself safe

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

Tag from anywhere: Regardless of where accessed, even from Archives TGTBT is going to put a tag on the runner

Tempo-Tax: Picking up a tag from NBN is going to put a fair amount of pressure on the runner to clear tags, starting from 0 could cost the runner up to 3s and still keep the corp relatively poor and low on momentum

Multiple Tag Windows: With 3 copies of TGTBT, each potentially provides an opportunity to tag a runner who is desperately trying to avoid tags,

Score them: Runner not taking the bait? 1 point for each TGTBT for a maximum of 3 is not a bad consolation

Cons

Take it: Giving points away to the runner for free certainly raises the risk of losing the game later

No Tag-Me: Particularly with resources like Decoy (or other tag-avoiding methods) the runner can steal the agenda and the corp may end up with nothing in return. Even with the tempo hit of clearing the tag, it still may be a net positive for the runner.

Summary

TGTBT is certainly at home with NBN's philosophy of tag-induced punishment. 1 agenda point seems right for what it does. Providing flexibility and a fairly reliable way to get the tag-game started TGTBT is a solid agenda worth considering.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Cuts both ways

Tsurugi a double-edged sword of Japanese antiquity can either end the run or do a max net damage if it's s are able to fire, typically though it is chosen for its 4x taxing capabilities

Combos

Taxing: along with Komainu Tsurugi, Tollbooth and other taxing ice are often placed on key servers to maximize cost to the runner. Jinteki: Replicating Perfection perhaps could focus the runner's attention on central servers giving the corp fewer places to guard for the first run

Buff Strength: At only 2 strength Tsurugi is an obvious target for Parasite, Mimic etc. Combined with strength buffing options such as Chum, Corporate Troubleshooter, Experiential Data, IT Department, Lag Time, Patch etc all can improve Tsurugi making it more taxing and potentially out of reach for some ice breakers. (Switchblade still makes Tsurugi sad in most cases)

Flatline window: With a possibility of creating a flatline window for the corp, it can possibly be followed up with the runner accessing a Snare!, Certainly use a House of Knives token if available! (Not quite flat-lined? Perhaps finish the runner off with a couple Neural EMP when corps turn rolls around)

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments below, I may add it to this review)

Pros

ETR or Tax Unlike much of the Jinteki's porous ice suite, Tsurugi actually provides an End the Run allowing the corp some flexibility in protecting a server. (albeit at 1 added cost to tax)

Net Damage or Tax whether the runner pays to break the 4 s or takes the 3 net damage either-way it could cost the runner significant momentum or worse.

Cons

At 6 to rez, it can be costly particularly in the early game to rez, corp will need to hold 7 in reserve in order to fire it's 3 net damage s

At only 2 strength, Tsurugi is an easy target for Parasite ect.

With it's End the run first, If corp ends the run, then the remaining 3 's don't fire.

Summary

As a double-edged sword Tsurugi lends flexibility to fast-advance & kill/trap decks which at very least is able to tax the runner (in most situations) however on the other side of the sword with it's low strength and somewhat high rez cost it's not quite the most dependable tool for it to come anywhere near auto-include status.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.