With the release of Reaver, Harbinger now has a lot more utility outside of Apex decks. Any deck running Aesop's Pawnshop and Reaver should consider splashing another 3 influence to slot 3 Harbingers.

Installing 1 Harbinger for a click gives the runner 6 credits and 2 card draws over the next 2 turns once the engine is set up. Being a program, Harbinger also fires Technical Writer for an additional 1-3 credits to be collected when required. 1 click for 6-9 credits and 2 cards is pretty nuts, and Hayley goes one step further by allowing you to install 2 Harbingers in 1 click. That's 12-18 credits and 4 cards being drawn for a click (over 4 turns though). Using a Clone Chip to bring Harbinger back (making sure to fire the Clone Chip on the corps turn for that extra draw from Reaver) just makes sure Aesop is never out of stock.

On top of this, whilst Harbinger is waiting to be sold by Aesop, he acts as a great target if the corp forces the runner to trash an installed card (like Power shutdown).

7 influence for Reaver for 3 Harbingers out of Shaper is a steep ask, and you if you have to import Aesops too the total influence hits 13 which is something only Sunny would seriously consider.

So the obvious use of this card is to feed Apex's cards like Endless Hunger and Heartbeat. But it has a few other uses as well.

For Apex, it's probably his best defense against Power Shutdown. (Which would otherwise take a heavy toll on his Endless Hungers)

But outside of Apex, it can serve a different purpose - when comboed with Aesop's Pawnshop, it's worth 3. Twice. Cards that you can play for 0, and that give you equivalent returns to Lucky Find are pretty rare. (Without being a double, and for half the influence, to boot!) You can bump it up even further with Wasteland.

The idea behind Harbinger is that it can be trashed twice by cards that need installed card trashing to fuel their abilities, like Endless Hunger: the first time you turn it facedown, the second time it goes to your heap.

You also want to make sure you have a Harbinger out before you run with Endless Hunger on the board, if you're anticipating an X=0 Power Shutdown.

With Hunting Grounds and Apocalypse, it is the most widely used Apex cards. At one influence, it is easy to splash in any deck that can make good use of it.

Every Apex, has 3 copies of it. It powerup everything that make Apex work. So, it is an easy decision.

Outside of Apex, it work really well with if you intend to use Heartbeat or Endless Hunger. But also, it can power up Aesop's Pawnshop. With Aesop's Pawnshop, you put Harbinger for one click and then get 3 per turn for 2 turns (clicklessly). That is some serious economy. Which is why it is often seen in decks that use Aesop's Pawnshop. Sometime, you can even power it up further with Reaver, to get credits and draw a card.

But it can power up Environmental Testing and Technical Writer and you can bring it back with Simulchip or with Reclaim. Making it quite valuable if you are going for that kind of deck.

Finally, it is good fodder for SDS Drone Deployment, Degree Mill and when you need to trash something from an ice like Fairchild 3.0.

The card, the color, the image, the baudot code, everything screams Apex and its theme. Downright fantastic!