This card has me looking forward to other SanSan Cylcle cards like Vintage T-Bird, Middle School Sockhop, and Rodeo Drive Bristro as they all perfectly exemplify ANR's Cyberpunk setting.

Maybe it's time to slow down on the Data Packs for awhile, FFG.

Okay, okay, the theme isn't great. "Hand size" is one element that hasn't been clearly defined mechanically: evidently you can get it from Public Sympathy, but also from specialized programs, satellites, consoles, Mental Health Clinics, and even a sleazy neckbeard. And now evidently you can spend all day on the beach and get the same effect?

But writing that off, how does it match up mechanically?

First obvious thing is that "lose a " cards are pretty much universally terrible if you aren't running Adjusted Chronotype, or, at a bare minimum, Aesop's Pawnshop/Chop Bot 3000 to get rid of them when you need your clicks late-game. But, of course, this means that you now have a two-piece combo, minimum, which costs influence outside of Anarch or Shaper.

So what is hand size good for? Well, it lets you build up a nice buffer against kill decks; having more than 5 cards in your grip makes it pretty hard to Scorch or Ronin you. But against a glacier deck like ETF or Replicating Perfection, that doesn't matter, and besides, Plascrete Carapace is enough in most cases. However, we're already seeing the "negative hand size flatline" deck show up with Valley Grid, and the upcoming Cybernetics Division: Humanity Upgraded and Self-Destruct Chips promise more of the same. Beach Party is probably the single strongest counter to that sort of deck.

That's probably not enough to warrant deck slots for all the pieces you need to make Beach Party work. You need something to make a large hand size actively help you win, instead of just passively helping you not lose.

A large hand size is only actively useful if you're using it to hold cards, which means you need good card draw. Quality Time and Duggar's are extremely efficient card draw, provided you have some way to handle that many cards. Note, though, that if don't have an Adjusted Chronotype, you can't actually use Duggar's since you need to activate it. Wyldside is also a good draw engine, but then you need Gene Conditioning Shoppe to trigger the Chronotype twice. But let's be real here; you probably want to be running Game Day, because drawing 8 cards in two clicks is disgustingly efficient.

After that, go nuts. Play out complicated combos. Drop Ekomind and Sage, or get an Overmind with a bazillion counters (just watch out for Cortex Lock.) Spam out Amped Up, Stimhack, and Stim Dealer to juice up with all the clicks and cred you can handle--who needs brain cells anyway? Or just run a deck full of "silver bullet" programs, use the ones you want, and Freelance Coding Contract the rest in the bin.

I don't expect to see this card in tournament play; it's just too inconsistent with the current card pool. But if you're in the market for some grade-A jank, look no further.