Lengthy review, which is also sort of a response to Drakeheart, but since it is a mouthfull I am posting it separately.

I think this is one of those cards that looks very appealing, especially to newer players, but is a lot worse than it seems. Not garbage, but there is a reason this asset doesn't show up in competitive decks, even though tags are the hot rage.

You have to look at this card in some likely scenarios:

• The runner hits this unadvanced, in centrals or on the board. This is quite ok for the corp. I actually disagree with 2 trash cost being inconsequential. 0 or 1 is, 2 is just high enough to be annoying. And as stated, this is basically a moot access, since this "agenda" can't be stolen.

• The runner finds this with 2 advancements. A poor man's Ghost Branch indeed. Not bad if they also spend 2 to trash it, but as stated later, the runner can just let you keep investing resources.

• 4 advancement counters. How did you get here? Did you install, advance, wait a turn, 3x advance? Why would the runner run the card? Seems like a weird way to score a 5/3. Ronin maybe, that might be enough to go check it. They do take two tags. IF they run it. So this is potentially the best scenario.

• 5 counters. Can be achieved if you iaa, aaa. Great, all set up to advance advance "score". Because again, why would they run this? And because of the odd number of advancements, only 2 tags.

• 6 counters. By now you are telegraphing you definitely have some jank and the runner is trying very hard to remember the card pool. Or whether you might have the proverbial stones to slow roll a Goverment Takeover. They might go check, and take 3 tags for their troubles, not easy to shake. Buuut unless you play support cards, it will take you 3 turns to get here.

• You score it. Yay! You just spend 9 credits and 9 clicks to score a blank 3-pointer over three turns. You could have scored SSL or SDS Drone Deployment instead. Sure, it didn't pose you any risk of losing an agenda but this cost is so prohibitive that unless you are very far ahead anyway, you have just shot yourself in the foot.

This is a long-winded way of saying, I am not remotely terrified of this card. If you want to spend 3 turns scoring it, have at it. I am gonna snoop in your centrals while you do that. If you as a runner do fear False Flag, Drive By and Political Operative are great counters. Or call their bluff and run it with No One Home or On the Lam installed.

Combos nicely with Prisec and Dedication Ceremony, if you do decide to try it out.

It's Biotic Labor, except it costs 1 less and the runner can trash it because it is an asset. Actually though, because you need to install this friendly bioroid before he can get to work, you are essentially spending 2 clicks... to gain 2 clicks. So the strategy is installing Bass and using him on a later turn. This makes Bass less attractive than Biotic, despite being 1 less credit.

Of course, being an asset also has a few upsides. He can be reinstalled with cards like Team Sponsorship, rezzed more cheaply with Breaker Bay Grid, searched with Tech Startup and can be used in combination with Biotic in MirrorMorph. He is a combo player's dream, and I imagine people will continue to do cool things with him. Also, he is "only" 3 influence as opposed to Biotic's 4.

So yeah, less straightforward than his operation equivalent, but also wilder.

A 4 strength sentry with 2 subs (ideally 3) for 4 credits is great value for the corp. However, because of the traces, even if the runner face checks this, there is no guarantee it will actually fire. Trace 3 is just high enough to be relevant, especially now that Power Tap and a whole assortment of link cards are rotated. Outside of Sunny, who laughs at this card, and maybe link-friendly shapers like Kabonesa and Lat, there isn't a runner who can brush this off. And being able to trash a console is game-winning, while it can end the run as well.

Pretty decent card, especially if you can park it on HQ. Probably best in Earth Station. Not fantastic though.

With the rotation of Lunar and C&C, I was interested in seeing how Smoke would adapt to the loss of Cloak, Ghost Runner, Dagger, Switchblade and Refractor. But then Nisei printed very similar replacements so all that worry is now water on the bridge.

In the case of Afterimage, despite being able to breaks subs for real credits like Dagger, I think the similarities to Switchblade are more immediate. Both need to be imported from criminal (and you should, because what other killer are you gonna play. Fawkes?). Afterimage costs 1 more credit and 1 more influence though. On top of that, while Switchblade breaks nearly any current sentry for 2 stealth credits (Orion, a well-placed Surveyor and overadvanced Colossus not withstanding), Afterimage needs to be boosted twice or even three times to deal with higher strength sentries.

However, to bring up similarities again, once per turn you can bypass any sentry for the cost of 2 stealh credits. This is fantastic, as it essentially allows you to deal with even the most insurmountable of ice, like say a 16 strength Surveyor for an affordable price. And as an added cherry on top, you get to ignore annoying encounter effects such as with Data Raven. Don't use this abillity on Anansi though. Also keep in mind that due to timing, you can't use Pelangi to make something a sentry and then bypass it.

Due to starting at strength 2, this breaker also deals nicely with lower strength ice, such as Cobra, Sapper and Rototurret. All cost 1 credit, two subs or not. It also breaks almost every sentry of strength 3 and 4 for a regular and a stealth credit, instead of 2 stealth. News Hound, Cortex Lock and Drafter come to mind. Then again, Switchblade is great vs Tour Guide, a card you need an answer for. Although Afterimage can also get past it via bypass...

So all in all, I think the takeaway is that Afterimage is a very strong successor of Switchblade, better and worse in different aspects, and a card that keeps Smoke relevant in the current meta.

IMO, this is a prime example of a well-designed card that doesn't cost nearly enough and therefore ends up being a bit too powerful.

3 credits for a 2 MU console is amazing value at the worst of times. Except this only costs 2 credits, because Keiko triggers itself on install. No other card in the game gives you two unconditional MU for such a low price. Compare to CyberSolutions Mem Chip.

But, I hear you say, that isn't comparable. Keiko takes up a console slot. Fair. So let's take a look at the ability. A 1 credit drip every time you install or "use" a companion. Easy enough to reliably trigger every turn. There are several companions out already, most considered pretty strong.

A one credit drip isn't super broken, but in combination with a 2-MU console which costs two to install, I think it is slightly above the curve. Anarchs who like to be filthy rich and need MU for programs like Stargate will definitely consider this. Especially considering the lack of tempo loss compared to a card like Maw. Maybe Keiko should have kept its cost and been 1 MU instead? I don't know. I just know this feels a bit wrong to me.