With the rise of decks based around Jeeves Model Bioroids as the premier Fast Advance option since the restriction on AstroScript Pilot Program, is it now Edward's time to shine? Since Jeeves decks tend to focus on Operations to install and advance agendas, he seems very well placed to cause problems for them. Sniping key Lateral Growths, Shipment from SanSans or Biotic Labors forces the corp to play fair or aggressively ice their central servers - leaving them less protection available for the Jeeves remote. Add in the fact that he has native access to the Anarch breakers and tricks we all know and love and we could be seeing a new player in the latest metagame.

This card seems perfect for importing into Apex decks, which generally require an extra for an Apocalypse turn but have few effective ways of generating one (Amped Up is 3 influence and forces a Brain Damage, Hyperdriver is hard to install alongside Endless Hunger and All-nighter and Temple of the Liberated Mind are non-Virtual Resources). Out of the Ashes is excellent for Apex since it can be first installed face-down using Apex's ability - bypassing the weak first effect to pay 1 for a normally zero cost action - then trashed to Endless Hunger, Heartbeat or Prey for an effect. Then, when the time for the Apocalypse comes, the Apex player is able to make the first run on a central server without spending , run the other two centrals on s 1 and 2, Apocalypse on 3 and install Heartbeat on 4 to survive any damage that the vengeful Corp might be sending their way.

This is a card that no runner would normally want to play. The jump from 3 up to 4 is incredibly helpful for the Corp - worth far more than the jump from 4 to 5 - since it allows the Corp to score any three advance agenda directly from hand. You could potentially play Akshara if you really needed an additional to win the game on your next turn - if you needed to play two Notoriety for example, or perform multiple Medium runs on R&D. However, most factions already have a card that can perform this task without also allowing the Corp an extra to potentially throw a roadblock in front of your glory turn. The only faction who could really make use of influence-free generation are Criminals since their only real method is Autoscripter which is expensive and reliant on having a program in hand.

The criminal identity that could probably make the most use of this card is Iain Stirling: Retired Spook. As his identity power relies on being behind, giving the Corp the ability to score more easily in the early game isn't as bad for him as it is for other Runners and it gives him extra actions in his own turn to get what he needs set up and thus accelerate to the late game where he is hopefully advantaged. It helps Iain a lot that Akshara is a connection since his decks are the ones most likely to be making use of this particular subtype through Hostage, Calling in Favors and Off-Campus Apartment. Once set-up is complete, the deck can dispose of Akshara through Aesop's Pawnshop (helpfully also a Connection) to prevent any Corp shenanigans now that they are on the back foot.

The main use I can see for this card is in Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire decks. Not only is the card a virus, triggering Noise's trash ability on install, but it synergises well with his go-to console Grimoire - allowing for a faster set-up of the ability. The main benefit of this card in a Noise deck, however, is that it allows for a more strategic use of Noise's R&D trashing ability. Once this card is set up, you can use virus installs to trash only those cards in R&D that further the Corp's current plans or hinder you. If the top card is an Agenda, a card that is particularly valuable to the Corp at the current time, or something you would prefer not to access in R&D but don't mind running into in Archives when going for the win (like a Snare! or Cyberdex Virus Suite) you can install a virus with the knowledge that what is being trashed will work to your advantage - whereas if the top card is currently useless to the Corp (like an early gear-check Ice that you have the tools in play already to deal with) then you can forego installing a virus (since the trash would actually benefit the Corp) and avoid wasting runs on R&D that turn - allowing you to focus your efforts on setting up for future turns or pressuring the Corp in another area. Although this card is out of faction for Noise, it being a virus means it can be searched out of your deck with a Djinn and so can easily be included as a singleton to mitigate the two influence cost. In the later game, as the cost to access R&D increases, the card becomes more difficult to set up, but the low install cost provides a cheap R&D trash on installing and it actually turns a profit if sold to Aesop's Pawnshop, or can draw a card or remove a tag with Chop Bot 3000 without breaking the bank.