Just as Hades Shard alleviated my frustration with Jackson Howard, thereby dissolving my compulsion to smash any yellow-colored objects in my house and allowing me to get some sleep at night, Clot has come into my life to rain shit on tournament-obsessed fast advance nerds who should have never stopped playing Magic: the Gathering.

Has there ever been a better time to be an Anarch? Not since Self-modifying Code has one runner faction had it so great. Seriously. In the very first data pack since Order & Chaos flooded us with unfathomably fun and powerful cards, we get the one card in the game that actually forces SanSan-obsessed twinks to play Netrunner. I love this card so much that I have ordered 500 more packs of The Valley in the hopes of fashioning an orange tuxedo out Clot cards. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say this is the most vindicating moment of my entire life.

PROS:

• Invalidates the most annoying Corp deck builds with the exception of Jinteki: Replicating Perfection.

• Forces Corp to tell you when to run on HQ. Did they just purge virus counters? Guess who's probably holding an agenda or two.

• Is a virus, thereby working in harmony with the best runner ID in the game.

CONS:

• None. This card does nothing wrong.

Sadly this card is a counter for nothing other than good times and game enjoyment, as the official ruling is that you have to use Fun Disrupter before the Corp declares his or her trace strength. This means if your opponent is Blue Sun, and they have more than god (and of course they will), this janky little piece of cardboard will spare you from exactly six of the 49 tags you were about to get from Midseason Replacements.

Pros:

• Good to play if you would like to have an argument about the rules in the hopes of stalling the inevitable double Scorch headed your way.

• Combo with SMC and surprise your opponent. Congratulations! You now have three fewer to spend on preventing the next trace, which starts ...now!

• Only 1?

• Can be combo'd with a Sharpie to make a Desperado proxy.

Cons:

• Does nothing of any value.

• Even the art is nondescript, suggesting not even the makers of this card had any idea as to what it was supposed to do.

What once started as Jackson Insurance in my Noise deck has now become a must-include card in all my decks. Why? People love relying on Jackson Howard! You would be surprised how many agenda points this guy has gotten me when I drop him unexpectedly while playing Reina Roja: Freedom Fighter or even The Professor, and how many times those points resulted in a game winner. People will treat Archives like some kind of run-proof vault in which they will feel secure cramming every agenda in their deck, their Social Security Number, and all incriminating photos of themselves as long as they have their favorite yellow card on the table, sated by that shit-eating grin.

It is a cheap, dirty, and craven way to win, but I encourage every Runner to do the same. Jackson Howard Dependency Disorder (JHDD) is a rampant illness in this game, and the only way to fight it is to force the Corp to be more creative.

So after a few games with Earthrise Hotel in place of Wyldside in my Noise deck, I can say that the main problem with this card isn't the initial cost, it is that it leaves you after three turns. If you play Noise like I do (and it may be fair to argue you shouldn't), you have now gotten used to letting Wyldside burn away for the majority of the game. Without being able to tutor for anything besides viruses, Noise depends on massive card draw, especially if you run standard breaker suites. (And let's be honest if you're only running Crypsis/Darwin while relying on Hades Shard you are a terrible person.) Even when I had Earthrise in my starting hand, I still felt "under-drawn" by mid game. Resorting back to one click/one draw after the hotel kicked me out really ruined my game's pace.

I personally feel that Wyldside + Daily Casts is a much better team than Earthrise Hotel + Armitage Codebusting. The number of clicks spent in each combo tend to average out, but with the former I get through my deck more efficiently.

I could see using Earthrise more in a Noise (or any other Runner) deck that doesn't use Aesop's Pawnshop. With Aesop's in play you always have an out if you get sick of wasting credits to WS. But if you would like to ditch Aesop's for a more traditional economy for some reason, Earthrise Hotel has the benefit of not having to marry it for the entire game.

For me though, Wyldside still suits my needs better.

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.