When you play Apex: Invasive Predator, there are two ways to build the deck : either with Apocalypse or with Prey. The former makes you build all around the fact that you'll trash your own board. The later (this card) is more a regular runner. It feels more like a different Hippo.

Outside of Apex, this card is more suite to trash low strenght ice, because it require you to trash something from your board. A long time ago, there was Tour Guide that was nice to trash with this, now there is Endless EULA, Whitespace and Echo which can be trashed easily with this. At only two influence, it could be imported if your deck worries about those ices (especially Endless EULA). Otherwise, only Apex can really leverage this card to trash high strength ices.

The art is colorful, but a bit oversaturated, making it difficult to understand that those are tentacles from Apex: Invasive Predator. Still, quite thematic for the faction. Like always, I would have prefered if there was a quote or small bit of lore with the card. The name of the card really work with the concept of it. All in all, a good job.

The great equalizer. Many runners, many champions, have used this card as a counter for glacier or asset spam corp archetypes. While it also trash the board of the runner, most runner can bounce back fairly easily. But past the mid game, corps have a greater difficulty, since finding economy AND having enough time to setup is quite challenging.

For a mere 3 and 3 influences, you get a card that will allow you to deal efficiently against two difficult corp archetype. Asset spam corp put threat on the board unless you deal with them, thus putting your economy in shamble. While the glacier archetype will make it very difficult to pass the scoring remote, and can thus safely score out. If you can run the three centrals (and maybe score some points), you can just remove all those problems. Thus frustrating the corp of all their efforts to build their board up.

There are three counters to this powerful card.

1. Crisium Grid, Border Control and Anoetic Void, to stop the runner from having a successful run, thus foiling their plan for the current turn.
2. Any damage, like House of Knives, Snare! or Anemone, to snipe Apocalypse from the hand of the runner.
3. Making it too expensive to run one of the central, thus preventing the runner to be able to pay for Apocalypse.

This extraordinary card has an equally extraordinary art, and the quote in Baudot Code (The Destroyer of Worlds" is phenomenal. Best design of the pack!

All too soon, this wonderfully quirky mini faction will rotate. But in the meantime, you can enjoy it will all its card pool. And it is for the card pool of Apex: Invasive Predator that you play this identity.

Apex allows you to become near immune to damage, thanks to Heartbeat and Reboot. All of this being boosted by the fact that you can clicklessly put a card on the board (face down). Quite efficient.

But it gets better, you can use its signature breaker, Endless Hunger, with Adjusted Matrix combined with Poison Vial to break any ice for a single click!

Sadly, because it cannot have anything but virtual ressource, Apex tend to be poor. Fermenter help, but it more difficult. Same problem goes for drawing your deck, since a ressource like Earthrise Hotel is not available to Apex.

Of the three mini faction, it is the weakest, but also the most flavorful.

The art is disturbing and unforgettable. The lore that comes with the mere existence of this identity is amazing. Great work!

One of the highest strenght sentry in the game. But how does it compare to other sentries? Badly I'm afraid.

Each faction has a similar or higher strenght sentry that will do more than Assassin. NBN has F2P, Weyland has Trebuchet, Jinteki has Anansi and Haas-Bioroid has Bloop. Paying 7 for a 2 subs sentry, even with 5 strenght, feels bad.

So unless you want to have a lot of high strenght sentries in your deck, then Assassin is seldom warranted. Of course, if you are playing Improved Tracers, then it might be worth it, since it cost no influence and only Sherlock 2.0 and Trebuchet are tracer ices that could benefit from that agenda.

Beautiful and evocative ice, with a nice piece of lore (or quote) going along with it. Amazing job!

This little asset is often used in asset spam that aim to rush. Since it gives credits as soon as you start it, it is always credit positive on the first turn.

But there are three identities that profit from Launch Campaign : Spark Agency: Worldswide Reach, NBN: Controlling the Message and Ob Superheavy Logistics: Extract. Export. Excel.. For Spark, it simply trigger the ID ability, thus taxing the runner that little bit more. For CtM, it encourage the runner to come and trash the asset, thus taxing them more at no expense for the corp. But Ob can really leverage this asset.

If Svyatogor Excavator is on the board, Ob can get 2 from it and then trash it for 3 (total gain of 4 on the first turn, or 5 on any subsequent turn) and tutor a 0-cost card on the board (like Spin Doctorm Rashida Jaheem or Prisec). Even without Svyatogor Excavator, when Launch Campaign trashes itself, Ob can still tutor a 0-cost card. Quite good!

Otherwise, this asset gives 1 more than a Hedge Fund, at the condition that it survive on the board long enough.

I wish I understood what is the reference for "Astrobar". It seems to be some kind of depiction of launching a product from the moon. No quote or lore coming with the card however. It could have been much better.