Spree

Spree 0[credit]

Event: Run
Influence: 2

Place 3 power counters on this event, then run any server.

Hosted power counter: Host 1 installed trojan program on a piece of ice protecting the attacked server.

Sometimes an artist will be seized by the uncontrollable urge to create.
Illustrated by Ferenc Patkós
Decklists with this card

Rebellion Without Rehearsal (rwr)

#86 • English
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  • Updated 2024-05-26

    Can Spree install trojan programs?

    No. Spree only moves programs that are already installed to a different host.

Reviews

Corp: Surely three Archers and a Valentao is enough to score behind, right? You only have 5 credits and you don't even have anything on the table...

Runner: shakes spraypaint can with intent


Although it's a bit situational, in the right deck, this card is incredible. With a Poison Vial, a Slap Vandal or charged Botulus somewhere on the board, and a few credits, you can effortlessly run through a 3-deep remote piled high with big ice for the winning agenda steal (or key asset trash). If you instead use Rigging Up to get down the Poison Vial and have the Slap Vandal in hand as Arissana (or spend a click to pre-emptively install it on the first ice before running), you can even go 4-deep. Although it's a one-time trick, ask Criminals how effective those can be. This is best at getting into a remote late-game that the Corp can't imagine you can break out of nowhere (which is also when they're most likely to put an agenda in it).

Even if you don't have the opportunity to maximize it on a big server, Spree can be situationally useful in just repositioning your installed Trojans without having to do Simulchip flickers, saving you precious resources, and preserving accumulated Botulus counters.

I wouldn't slot this in a deck running regular breakers hoping to get giant Kyuban value; as funny as it would be to surf a Flux Capacitor down an ice stack for big charge value on a Cataloguer or Amelia Earhart or something, it's surely not worth the deck slot.

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)
175

IIUC, by moving around a Chisel before each approach, Spree can accrue up to 3 virus counters on it off a single run, while also shrinking all three ice on a server by an average of at least −2 strength each (cf. a local K2CP Turbine), even post-purge. Or, off just one of Spree’s three ‘charges’, you can move a big Chisel onto an brutal piece of ice (like an Anansi or Trebuchet) that's outermost, after having built up several counters on it by running through or bumping off a gentle piece of ice (like an Ablative Barrier or Ping) that's elsewhere, which UAV can't do (even if it could yank back viruses, it would reset their counters anyways).


P.S. Design-wise, my favorite Shaper effects are the “moving stuff around”:

(So I hope Spree will still see some play in Arissana, despite how good Burner and Trick Shot will be in any Shaper.)

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)

An astute observation regarding Chisel. Not sure I follow your logic in saying least -2 strength to each ICE. Assuming a server 3 ICE deep which are not destroyed as a result of hosting Chisel and no virus counters to start, we should see -1, -2, then -3 strength I believe. Of course, interactions with Monkeywrench, which can also be moved, open up a whole range of new possibilities.

@FreqKing I said "at least an average", which was unclear; what I meant "-1, -2, and -3 strength averages out to -2", and starting at "-1 strength was the the minimum, even after a purge or if just installed"