S-Dobrado

S-Dobrado 2[credit]

Event: Run
Influence: 3

Run a central server. The first time you encounter a piece of ice during that run, bypass it.

Threat 4 → The second time you encounter a piece of ice during that run, you may spend [click] to bypass it. (This ability is active if any player has 4 or more agenda points.)

Illustrated by Scott Uminga
Decklists with this card

The Automata Initiative (tai)

#12 • English
Startup Card Pool
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Rulings
  • Updated 2023-10-04

    The Runner plays S-Dobrado to run a central server defended by 1 piece of ice, and accesses Ganked!. If the threat level is at least 4, can the runner spend a click to bypass the ice they are forced to encounter?

    Yes.

  • Updated 2023-10-04

    The Runner plays S-Dobrado, bypasses a piece of ice, and continues to approach the next ice. The Corp rezzes Archer, lowering the threat level below 4. Can the second S-Dobrado ability still be used?

    No. In order for the Runner to trigger S-Dobrado’s threat ability, it must be active when the second encounter begins, and it is no longer active after the Corp forfeits an agenda to pay Archer’s additional cost. The Runner cannot spend to bypass Archer.

Reviews

Upon initially viewing S-Dobrado, you may be tempted (as I was) to see it strictly as a linear upgrade to Inside Job. And in truth it would be, except for one key difference--the word "central." Whereas Inside Job can be used on any server, S-Dobrado is limited to central servers only.

The benefit is initially somewhat appealing. Around mid-game and beyond, you can double S-Dobrado's effectiveness for the price of another . If you want into centrals, this seems like a good idea, right? However, when deciding between this and Inside Job, you must ask yourself, "What is the cost of both a and of losing the use of this on a remote server?"

If a is roughly worth about 2 (something that will vary depending on the efficiency of your deck) then this means that the act of bypassing the second piece of ICE needs to save you at least 3 to be a positive. Probably all but the lowest strength gear-check ICE will cost around 3 or more to break so it's not totally unreasonable to think that you will get this value--but it's also not 100% reliable either.

Overall, S-Dobrado will be useless against 1 tax ICE. Additionally, the prospect of saving just 1 against a 3 tax ICE does not seem amazing when faced with giving up your remote server use of the skill. The math starts working in your favor heavily though when you start looking at ICE that costs 6 to get through. Getting a Sure Gamble's worth of s is great value. This however relies on the ICE actually being that expensive to break and that it is the second-most piece of ICE coming inwards to the server. This is by no means guaranteed. Likewise, a corp that runs ICE-light may never even double-ICE their centrals, meaning you've given up remote access for nothing.

Lastly, let's look at the loss of remote access itself--you cannot use S-Dobrado to threaten remote-scored agendas that sit in the server for a turn. You cannot use it to sneak into double-ICEd remotes and trash pesky assets. You are strictly looking at this to get you into centrals. Therefore, justification of inclusion of this card in your deck must come from the following situation:

"It is game-winning to me that I am able to easily access central servers, even if they are heavily protected by multiple pieces of taxing ICE, while giving up my ability to activate any other event card, or -to-run abilities."

(Since remember, the card itself occupies the Event action.)

The problem is, I struggle to think of that many situations where this is true. It would turn on abilities that require an HQ or R&D run (since these are more-likely to be double-ICEd than Archives). It could potentially do something like get you into a server for that last Aumakua counter that you need. But... overall if you're just including this because "bypass is cool," for a single access, then there are almost certainly better things to include (like simply Inside Job). No, we must combo this with things like Docklands Pass or WAKE Implant v2A-JRJ. But hey, those are already in Criminal, right?

(The Automata Initiative era)
102

Been a minute, huh?

So I come back to Netrunner after a few years and find out that they let me run 6 copies of Inside Job now? God I love Criminal.

Yeah I read the card, I see that it says "centrals" on it, but come on. Mercury doesn't care. I need y'all to understand how many servers I have multiaccessed that I absolutely did not deserve to even touch. Why learn all the new ICE in the game when you can just do a sick vault over it?

Back in the day you used to have to splash DDoS to pull the kind of shenanigans this lets you do in-faction. Forget the good old days, the current ones are gooder.

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)
856

S-Dobrado (🥋) is a central bypass event, that later “kicks” into a double-bypass pseudo-Double.

Compare: Inside Job, with the same play cost and influence cost.

Flavor: The “‘S’-shaped folding” is a capoeira move.

(The Automata Initiative era)

Upon initially viewing S-Dobrado, you may be tempted (as I was) to see it as strictly a linear upgrade compared to Inside Job. And in truth it would be, except for one key difference--the word "central." Whereas Inside Job can be used on any server, S-Dobrado is limited to central servers only.

Lol jeez, sorry--did not mean to post this here XD