The changed deck agenda point count is the sole advantage this has over Project Beale, but it's a big one. Two of them essentially give you an extra non-agenda card slot. How many times have you wondered what single card to cut?

It's best used in decks of X/2's, since it then also lets you score 3 agendas to win, while requiring 4 for the runner.

If you're more combo-oriented, it can also be used with point-denial cards like News Team, Shi.Kyū, 15 Minutes, and Quantum Predictive Model to reduce the effective agenda density down to much lower numbers. This tactic is best used in a lower max-deck-size identity like SYNC: Everything, Everywhere to potentially lock the runner out of reaching winning agenda points. For example, that's the purpose of Greyfield's interesting deck "Don't try to score 7 points".

Won't be played in Shaper, because of Akamatsu Mem Chip.

Unlikely to be played much in Anarch, since Anarch loves viruses (e.g. Parasite,) which tend to get trashed, and MemStrips is generally superior for them.

So, Criminal then. Can't play it with Faerie or Crescentus, two great cards for Criminal. Criminal doesn't have much recursion, so you're skirting dangerously on the edge of having your rig trashed, made more risky by the lack of Faerie. Is that worth saving the credits from Dyson Mem Chip or the influence from Akamatsu Mem Chip? Probably not.

So unless you're a non-virus Anarch deck or a Criminal deck that plays fast and risky, but doesn't need Faerie, look elsewhere for memory. New neutral ID's, I suppose anything goes.

Donut complements anti-asset cards like Hacktivist Meeting, Whizzard: Master Gamer, and Scrubber to shut down Corp economy. Of course, then you can't really run Event economy, as it will shut that down, too. Some events will still be worth playing (e.g. Sure Gamble still becomes Easy Mark, and Account Siphon is still quite good), but you would want to rely more on a resource economy to avoid the penalty yourself. Or run Magnum Opus.

Of course, Donut takes 2 influence for each copy, and you never want to draw more than one, so Hostage becomes the perfect pair with Donut. Search him out when you need him, but grab other things when you don't. Even outside of Criminal, it still only costs you 2 influence for Hostage, the same as Donut. So the question isn't how many Donuts to run, it's how many Hostages to run. (True, it could get trashed, but if you're really worried about that, run Fall Guy.)

If you're running Hostage, then a whole host of other cards become attractive, like the aforementioned Scrubber, or Professional Contacts, Aesop's Pawnshop, The Supplier, Tri-maf Contact, Film Critic, The Helpful AI, Woman in the Red Dress, Inside Man, Kati Jones, and Underworld Contact. Then Off-Campus Apartment and Calling in Favors become potential additions as well.

So basically, if you're running a connection-based deck anyways, Donut Taganes fits. If you're running a economy disruption deck, Donut Taganes can fit. Try to pair him with asset hate as well, to shut down ALL of the Corp's economy.

Corporate Town has the ability to wreck someone's economy. But in some decks, it's now mandatory, because of one card: Film Critic. Film Critic is what Clot is to Fast-Advance, except for Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed, Jinteki: Personal Evolution, and any deck stacked with cards with steal effects, as noted in its reviews. It requires an answer, and Corporate Town can be that answer. It also pairs well with The Future is Now to get it when you need it (and not show the runner.) The best alternative is to tag them to trash Film Critic, but most Runners fight tooth and nail to prevent being tagged on the Corp's turn, or possibly Contract Killer (however, that costs 4 influence, requires several clicks, and only hits Connections, although it can also do damage), or Snatch and Grab (but only trashes a connection and requires a trace, so much more narrow.)

Many of those same decks would gladly run Archer, after all, it's cheap, brutally effective, and they have cheap agendas to spare! For the same influence (or lack thereof), they now have Corporate Town - the card that ends their woes against Film Critic, with the ability to cripple decks even if Film Critic isn't a target.

When it's good, it's very good. Worst case, you lay it out alone face down and force them to decide if it's worth the 5 to trash, after spending a click to run it. Best case, you ruin their entire game plan, taking out Film Critic, a loaded Kati Jones, stacked Off-Campus Apartment, Tri-maf Contact for meat damage (maybe even a kill!), stacked Personal Workshop, Aesop's Pawnshop that's literally their econ engine, Wyldside draw engine, Daily Casts before they take any credits, loaded The Supplier, make them use Hades Shard, or Utopia Shard, Liberated Account, Professional Contacts... Kill them all. Film Critic was the tipping point; Corporate Town is now essential in the right deck.

And if you're NBN, you can run License Acquisition to install+rez it for free (even from Archives!), but then they get a turn to take it down before it has its effect. Do note, NBN can also run Character Assassination, or Breaking News + trash from tag.

TL;DR: Corporate Town, tagging them, Contract Killer, or Snatch and Grab. That is, until they print another truly viable resource-hate card. (Having a requirement of them being tagged kind of defeats the point... I'm looking at you Freelancer/The All-Seeing I)

The main comparisons are with Grim, because it has the same strength and routine, and Lycan, which is advanceable and in the same faction. Some other alternatives are Rototurret, Lancelot, Sagittarius, Ichi 1.0, Ichi 2.0, and NEXT Gold. Note that they are mostly Haas-Bioroid, who will likely prefer to conserve influence when they have their own options, but Jinteki and NBN will be debating the merits of splashing influence. (For a full up-to-date list of program trashers - aka destroyers - see here.)))

Nebula compared to Grim:

• Upside:
• No Bad Publicity cost to rezzing.
• Adds threat to advanced ice.
• Can be combined with advancement manipulation (Constellation Protocol.)
• Downside:
• Costs up to 4 more (can be reduced to a total rez cost of 3 3 which still translates to more than Grim, unless you're using advancement manipulation.)
• May stick out like a sore thumb if you're playing a scarce few advanceable ice.

Note that the value of Bad Publicity depends on your asset & icing strategy. Using binary ETR ice (e.g. Ice Wall/Quandary), and rushing stuff out early? Bad Publicity probably doesn't matter, and Grim is a good pick. Anything else? Consider something else.

Nebula compared to Lycan:

• Upside:
• Stronger (5 vs 3.)
• Potentially more tricks with advancement manipulation, especially in Blue Sun: Powering the Future or Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within.
• Can be used in combination with Lycan for better bluffing.
• Downside:
• Costs up to 3 more.
• Can't change type. (This is a huge difference.)

Strength 3 -> 5 is a big jump for sentries, especially in straining Mimic, Femme Fatale, Alias and Pipeline. Interestingly, they synergize with each other for the purposes of bluffing. Archer is the only Destroyer at the moment with higher strength (at great cost.) +2 strength usually means at least +2 to break.

Full comparisons:

• Grim | Has been used to great effect in quick binary ETR decks to keep it active and the runner in lockdown.
• Lycan •• | The biggest advantage here is that it can become a code gate, which is huge, and means you can take out their sentry breaker with it. However, it has a lower strength. Note that you can use them side by side to good effect - advancing an ice once leaves them guessing: Are they threatening a Code Gate, or a Sentry? Also consider that Wormhole is an advanceable Code Gate that can trigger pre-rezzed trash-routines with an insane 7 strength, and the same exact cost of Nebula.
• Rototurret • | Cheaper and ends the run... but at 0 strength a twig breaker will stop it, and a Parasite will kill it instantly.
• Lancelot • | Costs neutral influence, meaning Weyland thinks twice, but less for others, still the strength is fairly low. Most decks that go grail go all-in, so you probably already know if you're using it.
• Sagittarius •• | If you're HB this is a decent alternative. Slightly weaker and relies on a trace, but if the routine fires, you can guarantee you hit at least one program with 3.
• Ichi 1.0 •• | Again, if you're HB this is worth considering. A great taxing ice threatening the same effect. Often you can get it to fire once before it becomes a tax to pay. This is used in decks of the opposite archetype as those for Grim.
• Ichi 2.0 ••• | Everything that was good about 1.0 is amplified in 2.0, but at a higher cost. Still, if you were willing to pay for Nebula, Ichi 2.0 falls in the same range. But, it costs 3 influence outside of HB.

Overall, it's an interesting ice, with it's own situational uses. Haas-Bioroid is unlikely to give it a moment's notice, and Weyland will debate between it and Lycan (but potentially include a mix of both.) Jinteki and NBN may not think much of it, outside of Trick of Light decks, given the plethora of other options and small upside for the cost.