This card surprisingly has been given some life due to it perfectly targeting Jinja City Grid installs.

If you expect Jinja in your meta (especially when it's combined with Surveyor), this card has no restrictions for ice-swapping (besides the material play cost) unlike restricted card Inversificator or make-a-successful-run-on-HQ Escher.

Unfortunately, one of the two pieces of ICE swapped will likely still be unknown to you but I never said this card was good, now did I?

A fun, interactive and strong card overall.

But have you ever stopped to consider the flavour and card mechanics together..?

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“I’m sorry, sir, we weren’t expecting you! As our regular security protocol goes, can you answer what the capital purchases in Sector B-007 are for?”

“Uh, a new asset, obviously.”

“…Sounds good to me. You’re cleared for authorization to the purchasing card. Oh and by the way, it was our NGO Front in Sector B-007 but you obviously knew that, right sir?”

“Sure, of course. Oh and don’t mind if you see some casino expenses pop up on the purchasing card, thanks.”

When you think of Weyland 4/2’s, not many pop into mind – Oaktown Renovation probably sees the most play (unless you’re a firm believer in the conspiracy theory that says Corporate Sales Team was printed without its green colour). However, Armed Intimidation should be right up there in contention with Oaktown as the de facto Weyland 4/2 given the release of Scorched Redux. With it in hand, and the runner on 3 or less cards, this becomes a 5/2 that says “win the game”.

Of course, it’ll never be that easy as it’s not an agenda counter – it has to be triggered the moment it’s scored. In addition, it’s not self-defending and its ability can be countered by damage prevention or tag avoidance. In fact, it’s as if the agenda was built to be hard countered by On the Lam, which still sees some play in the current meta.

Despite this, don’t be afraid to just slam an Arm. In. anyways even if you don’t have the combo tools ready to go or the runner is being cautious of hand size. The ability is still a significant tempo loss for the runner, especially in the early game before they’re set up. For those not running tag punishment, you may not see the full value of this card. However, given that decks like rush Argus (ala Lobstermodernism) are quite prevalent and are doing well, this card deserves a good look.

When scoops first came out for this card, it got a lot of hype as being the “Corp Siphon” (although let’s all admit we were a bit delusional given that Son of Siphon was spoiled at the same time). Since then, the card has been discarded as mere binder fodder. Let’s take a look whether or not it’s worth playing.

Current tagging win conditions include Exchange of Information which causes huge point swings, High-Profile Target which puts fear into runners’ hearts, and Psychographics (+ Beale). Other traditional tag punishment includes Closed Accounts and Self-Growth Program which see some play but don’t quite win games alone like the prior 3 cards mentioned. One possible reason they still see play is that they don’t require scaling – they work even at one tag which means it only takes one mistake from the runner to end up with a tempo loss. Market Forces, on the other hand, requires quite a few mistakes to be worth its slot.

First, the runner would have to take several tags. Let’s be very conservative and say 2 is justifiable. Easy enough, tagstorm or a Hard-Hitting News can do the trick.

Second, the runner must not have the money to clear the tags or chooses not to. But wait, the runner does need enough money that we can actually siphon them, right? So they need to go tag-me.

Lastly, the runner has to maintain a sizable credit balance AND the corp requires a need for the siphoned credits.

With so many caveats to getting the full value from this card, it’s hard to justify its presence in any tagging deck. My own personal experience with the card in a tagstorm SYNC deck is having to wait and wait and wait until the right moment when the card finally becomes “worth it”. Unfortunately, by the time that does happen, either I’ve won the game from PsychoBeale/HPT or my opponent’s odds of winning are already zero. All in all, I like the card, I just wish it didn’t require scaling.

When you think of sentries, especially high-investment ones, you think of monstrous pieces of ICE that could end games alone given the right situation. Each faction has or has had a sentry that is to be feared given the corp has enough credits to rez it: Archer, Janus 1.0, and especially the new Anansi. However, NBN has only had...Flare? Thoth? Both of which are only good if the trace is successful which means they can be 1) paid through or 2) broken with high-link.

Enter Hydra.

While the beast doesn’t end games alone, with the right support, it can be absolutely devastating. If all of Hydra’s subs fire (with the help of cards like Data Raven, Bandwidth, Eavesdrop, or the new Acme Consulting ID) you can guarantee Snare! on a stick. Unlike the ambush though, you’re paying a net of 1 credit more for an ETR sub.

Let’s say the runner does have their killer out though, is that 10 credit investment worth it?

• Mongoose will need 7 credits to break 2 subs and 8 to break all subs

• Na'Not'K (assuming an average 2/3 ICE remote) will need 9/6 credits respectively

• MKUltra will need 9 credits to break 2 subs and 12 to break all subs

• Freshly printed Ika will need 8 credits pre-hosting or 6 credits otherwise

With almost every common killer requiring a minimum of 6 credits, Hydra is excellent as a big, taxing ICE and can really be considered as an alternative in decks that would normally run Tollbooth, Data Ward, etc. It also raises a big middle finger to Hunting Grounds which has generally been the bane of so many amazing NBN ICE like the two just mentioned.

However, every NBN player should ask themselves two questions before including Hydra in their deck:

1) Am I regularly able to afford the 10 credit rez cost? You’ll still need to pay the initial 10 even if you might get refunded.

2) Is a high-cost sentry, whose only punishment against runners being a tag and an unsuccessful run, worth it to my gameplan?

If you answered Yes to both questions, consider a x1 or x2 Hydra in your deck and drink up on those delicious runner tears.