If you want to find the art for the other side. Also, I have just now learned you need to have 200 characters to publish a review, so here I am writing out a paragraph about that fact. So how are ya'll doing?

I've had a bit of fun with this ID already. Hoshiko and her console, Keiko, give me the impression of how to build a companion deck. If you're running Taka, Fueno, Maemi or Poemu, Keiko helps lessen the credit loss from Mahou Shoujo.

Speaking of which, we finally have a flip identity for a Runner! Let's talk about Untold Protagonist for a bit. 4, 45 minimum, 15 influence... I'm not the best at Netrunner, but I feel this is pretty standard. Her ability, though, is what sets her apart: "When your turn ends, if you accessed at least 1 card this turn, gain 2 and flip this ID". In other words, you have more of an incentive to run. 2 credits as a reward for an access seems good, but then we come to the flip side: Mahou Shoujo.

Side note, my Japanese isn't the best (only two semesters in college), but I think it translates to "Magic Girl". And this magic girl has three things going for her. First, she now has a link. In my LGS meta, there weren't a lot of tracers, but there were way too many Weyland Kill decks. Second, she's Digital. Correct me if I'm wrong, but only one other ID had the Digital subtype, and it was Apex. A card also released in Uprising, DreamNet, can be used without needing to spend time on link. I'm not sure if there are any other digital interactions, but I think theoretically, you could run a cloud suite if you had an additional link, such as from The Archivist. Third, her first ability: "When your turn begins, draw 1 card and lose 1". If you remember earlier, I mentioned how Keiko helps mitigate the credit loss. Simply drop a Fencer, and you get your credit back. Or just install a resource with Poemu. Get your credit back.

Of course, one must always awaken from their dreams. If you don't access any cards while you're playing Mahou Shoujo, she flips back over to Untold Protagonist. So the pressure's on to get accesses each turn, or return to the waking world. As such, you can be kind of screwed if the Corp decides to put a server behind a paywall, force you to trash your precious allies, or simply end the run with an earlier score.

My thoughts on Hoshiko? This ID, if done correctly, can be a lot of fun for you. Hoshiko might be an easy ID to build around. Just make sure you aren't wandering into an ambush blindly.

Hoshiko is pretty neat.

I've been out of netrunner for a few years. Stopped around Flashpoint, and only recently got back in, when some friends said "hey, let's play Startup!" So this review is from the point of view of someone who mostly plays Startup format these days. It's possible that there are deep, subtle nuances that I'm missing from not having played this card in standard. You have been warned.

That said. Hoshiko is pretty cool.

It took me a game or two to really "get" her ability. I found it kind of hard to parse, since it's spread out across two sides of her card, but the simplified version is basically:

• As long as you can keep accessing corp cards, you get to turn 1 into 1 card draw at the start of every turn.
• The first time you do this, you get a bonus of 2.
• If you ever stop accessing cards, all this goodness stops, and you go back to being boring until you get some more card access. (But you do get the 2 startup bonus again!)

Or, the REALLY simplified version is, Hoshiko is an alternate take on MaxX: Maximum Punk Rock - She gives you clickless card draw every turn, but at a cost. Hoshiko's cost is different (1 instead of milling 2 cards), but she also has to keep running to keep it going as well. This might seem like I'm being overly reductive, but as someone who played a fair bit of MaxX, Hoshiko felt very familiar.

So let's talk about the specifics, and why Hoshiko is so great.

First, there's the upgrades Hoshiko gets when she's in her virtual magical girl form: One of these is obvious - she's got an extra 1 when she's flipped. But the other one is more subtle - she gains the Digital keyword, which is not on a whole lot of runners. (I think Apex might be the only other one?) Digital is neat because it lets her (And Apex!) make extremely good use of DreamNet. (Which, to be fair, is obviously a card designed with her in mind.)

These are nice. But the real power in her ability is from the ability to get a constant stream of cards without spending clicks. This gives you a huge amount of tempo. Yes, it costs her credits instead, and yes, when evaluating cards, we often assume that 1 is roughly equivalent to 1 card. But they're only roughly equivalent. Cards are still usually better. Runners are super good at getting credits, and only mostly good at drawing cards.

Or, to put this another way, Hoshiko lets you turn your efficient credit-gaining cards into efficient card-drawing, which is almost always a good deal.

Or, to put this another way, if you fill a Hoshiko deck with cards to gain credits cheaply, you'll have plenty of credits AND cards.

So, given that - what's the best strategy for Hoshiko?

After playing with it a bit, I think that ultimately, Hoshiko's goal should be to try to stay flipped as much as possible, and stay rich enough to afford it. And then just ride the crazy tempo she generates to outspeed the corp. There's also probably an argument to be made for running every other turn, and flipping as much as possible, for fewer card draws and more free credits, but I'm not convinced that this is really worth it, since then you lose out on things like DreamNet.

So if you want to access cards once per turn so you can stay flipped, that has a few implications for deckbuilding. Overall, I've had the best luck building for Hoshiko when I build around cards that give extra benefits to successful runs, but don't replace card access. So for example, Dirty Laundry is excellent, but Security Testing is less so, because it doesn't help keep you in magical girl mode.

So Dirty Laundry is great. Bravado is also great, but a bit expensive on influence. Red Team is another excellent Hoshiko card. Overclock doesn't give you money directly, but might as well be a clickless Sure Gamble, any time you're starting a run that you know will cost at least 5. Leech is not technically credits, but it might as well be, given how much cheaper it can make your runs.

Drip economy is also good. DreamNet is obviously built for her, and probably belongs in any Hoshiko deck I can think of. She has a pretty cool console too, in Keiko. It doesn't directly tie into her abilities, but it has the potential to generate a lot of credits, without having to spend time clicking for them. (As long as you include some companions in your deck at least!) This is not a huge burden, since they generate a lot of passive income themselves. Paladin Poemu, Trickster Taka, Mystic Maemi and Fencer Fueno are all good sources of drip econ in their own right, as long as you have something to spend them on. Which you should, if you keep running and drawing cards.

As with most runners, Hoshiko also wants multiaccess, to provide threat against centrals. Here things get a little weird, since the default Anarch solution, Stargate, does not play super-well with Hoshiko's ability. It doesn't allow you to access cards. I've actually had better luck importing The Maker's Eye. The new Jailbreak card is also excellent here - even if it's only +1 card access, it more than makes up for that with the zero cost and free card-draw.

What else. Icebreakers? I don't really have any strong opinions about icebreakers for Hoshiko, other than Odore is amazing, if you go the virtual companion route. (It also plays very nicely with Leech!)

Overall, I've found Hoshiko to be a lot of fun to play. Her ability feels strong enough to be viable. (She's definitely viable in startup. I assume she can do okay in standard as well.) Her theme is unique. And her mechanics are great because they encourage you to always be running. And really, at the end of the day, isn't that what Netrunner is all about?

CW: Blood, Vomiting, Mental Illness, Misgendering

Hello. I'm looking for my son, Jack Tyler. I overheard his friends call him "Jackie" so maybe you know him by that. He seemed to have done a lot of research on the hacker known as Hoshiko Shiro and may have even done cyber crime on their behalf. I'm very worried about him. The last record he left was this chat log:

[@suthun started a new thread of private messages.]

[21:33] [BOT] Signtron: This is the beginning of your EPIC conversation with @suthun! This connection is secured through PKT. Click here for your public key. Remember that no-one at Sign will ever ask for your login credentials. Beware of scams. A full list of our terms and conditions can be found here. Please report any suspicious activity to your local authorities.

[21:33] suthun: hey, you awake? I couldn’t find you at the dropoff so I thought I’d hit you up on your pda. Word is nbn gobbled up this platform a couple weeks back and put in a backdoor but i just wanted to make sure you’re all right.

[21:36] kominsky: I’m bleeding.

[21:36] kominsky: There's a lot of it and I think I might have to call an ambulance.

[21:36] suthun: wait don't call anyone just yet!

[21:36] kominsky: OK, I won't.

[21:37] suthun: Sorry if i’m being harsh but NEVER go and seek help so quickly after a run. The cops will be looking for someone that matches your description. Not to worry though I got you. Kestrel lives real close. She’ll help you clean up. Does it feel like your head just exploded?

[21:38] kominsky: Uh, I think so?

[21:38] suthun: sounds like net damage. Jeez, that brings me back. OK so you’re gonna want to run to the bathroom, hover over the sink and tilt your head back. Pinch your nose really hard and don’t fall asleep. Try to swallow anything that comes up (yeah i know it’s gross :/)

[21:38] suthun: breathe slowly and think calm thoughts

[21:39] suthun: Kes has chems she’ll try and clean up once she gets there.

[21:40] suthun: did that help

[21:42] kominsky: Yeah, that helped.

[21:43] suthun: honestly, i feel bad. That gateway sim I put you through doesn’t really prepare you for the reality of choking down unexpected ice. You’re not mad at me are you? Here’s hoping you have the goods at least :<

[21:44] kominsky: Honestly?

[21:44] kominsky: I feel great!

[21:44] kominsky: I mean, my heart was pounding the entire time but when I felt the cold hard data in my hands and could see all the firewalls I had just leapt past like a heroine in an action movie doing all these impossible flips and kicks

[21:45] kominsky: All for a good cause. Haas can choke on it for all I care.

[21:45] kominsky: Honestly, I could do this every week

[21:46] suthun: yeah, maybe pace yourself a little bit hun xD

[21:46] kominsky: Sorry. I got a bit excited. I dumped it all onto an external drive that I ejected immediately afterwards.

[21:47] suthun: niiice.

[21:49] kominsky: So, what do I do with it exactly?

[21:50] suthun: It’s money. You need to pay for that operation somehow, and the other two, of course ;)

[21:50] kominsky: I suppose. How much though? Can Kestrel help with that?

[21:52] suthun: oh for sure she can, though she does charge commission. Sad thing about being a runner. You finally score and about half of it gets eaten before you even know what you’ll do with the credits

[21:52] suthun: most of the cash goes to botnet hire as well as repairing and upgrading your rig btw

[21:53] suthun: maybe don’t look at your bank account for the next couple weeks :’)

[21:54] kominsky: I see.

[21:59] suthun: You decided on a hacker group? You sure talk like an anarch.

[22:01] kominsky: Honestly, it’s not something I’ve thought about. I’m scared to commit.

[22:03] suthun: I’m just saying that it’ll be easier to secure breakers and such if the devs know you have common values.

[22:03] kominsky: Yeah.

[22:03] suthun: and like, it's hard to believe but Zahya is out there somewhere and she’s not gonna tolerate you impersonating her for long. You gotta carve out your own identity some time.

[22:05] kominsky: There’s a magical girl anarch.

[22:05] suthun: oh yeah! hoshikomagica!

[22:06] kominsky: :O

[22:06] kominsky: WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

[22:06] kominsky: I LOVE MAGICAL GIRLS

[22:07] suthun: I don’t know. I guess it never came up.

[22:07] kominsky: oh my god like especially moon sailor remember when she suplexed an entire rocket ship into lady deaths face and the theme music started to play as she ran over and freed Yoko and she gave her a big hug staring into each other that was so cool i cried at that part 😭😭

[22:08] kominsky: You have to tell me everything.

[22:09] suthun: RE moon sailor honestly, I can’t say I’ve seen it. I’m not much into anime :S

[22:13] suthun: To be honest I’m not sure what to tell you. I know of her, she’s extremely active on relay chat and is kind of a big deal over there but I’m not her best friend or anything. She’s got something of an aggressive, bombastic style that’s kinda hard to explain. Works a lot with viruses. Got a net avatar like a superhero. If you’ve seen any ai companions floating around on warez sites. Keiko? most of those were originally written by her. Word on the grapevine she hit some kind of personal drama and most of the public versions are waiting on updates.

[22:13] kominsky: That's amazing! 😍 I already feel like her #1 fan. Wait so does this mean?

[22:13] kominsky: That I can be a magical girl? 🥺 (Not a superhero that's a different thing)

[22:14] suthun: You already are, champ ^^

[22:20] suthun: uhhh you all right in there? You throw up at all? I almost forgot to ask about tags.

[22:20] kominsky: no it's fine I just got gender feels I’m ok :3

[22:21] kominsky: !! the doorchime just went

[22:21] suthun: don't. Answer it. Stand by

[22:22] suthun: Nah kessie just text me it's fine.

[22:23] kominsky: Doesn't make me any less nervous.

[22:24] suthun: of course. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you. I’ll link you the neuro mods l8r

[@suthun left the private message thread]

If you know where he might have gone, please contact [NET ADDRESS REMOVED BY AUTOMOD FOR SPOOFING ADDRESS (Suspected source: Precision Design Engineering Security Team HBPD)] please I want him to come home