Welcome to the new HB dream: scored Self-Destruct chips, player hits a Gyri Labyrinth, and end of turn you rez Chairman Hiro for the win.

As anyone who's played a brain damage deck knows, getting brain damage to stick, especially enough to win, is hard. Most existing builds I know of that work try and land a chunk of BD (via edge of world, overwriter) and then rely on something like Neural EMP / Ronin / Junebug / Counterstrike to finish the job. I don't see that strategy changing, but this ID promises to make it even easier to set up that BD->kill threat, a strat supported by the new HB agenda (Self-Destruct Chips) and complimented by Ryon Knight (who dissuades running last click, which is when you need to run if you have to draw 3 after taking damage).

That hand size limit will definitely hurt the corp - hand destruction (like Wanton Destruction, Utopia Shard, and Itinerant Protestors) becomes even more potent when you only have four slots to hide agendas, and Legwork has a 3/4 chance of seeing that singleton you've kept there. I see this ID running some sort of agenda-stealing punishment (like Punitive. Midseasons) just to captialize on that fact. Or, they could invest in HQ upgrades. Research Station + Panic button, anyone? :)

One last thing. Anarch gain a lot of powerful tools (Amped Up, Stim Dealer) that give them brain damage in O&C, and Stimhack remains popular. Brain damage decks get better as these BD-inflicting cards again popularity. Then again, if this kind of HB archetype does become successful, expect to see singleton Brain Cages, and maybe even a Public Sympathy or two.

Great review, it would be perfect if you added links to all the cards you mention. All you have to do to achieve this is to add a # before the card names. (when editing, then also arrow to the right across the card name and choose the card from the list.) —
"Jake Bullet, Cybernetics." "That's traffic control." —

Assets I look forward to tutoring with EBC:

  • Jackson Howard
  • Snare!
  • Sundew
  • Melange
  • Hostile Infrastructure
  • Encryption Protocol
  • Daily News Show

It can see it being good in Blue Sun, not just because you want the Root, but also because there are lots of times you'd like to be able to rez a card just so you can pull it back and deploy it somewhere else. EBC lets you do just that.

I imagine this seeing a lot of play in horizontal decks, as it acts as a kind of mild economy card as well as letting you tutor your best assets to the table.