Wotan

♦ Wotan 14[credit]

Ice: Barrier - Bioroid
Strength: 10
Influence: 5

[subroutine] End the run unless the Runner spends [click][click].

[subroutine] End the run unless the Runner pays 3[credit].

[subroutine] End the run unless the Runner trashes 1 installed program.

[subroutine] End the run unless the Runner suffers 1 core damage.

Illustrated by Christina Davis
Decklists with this card

Second Thoughts (st)

#30 • English
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Reviews

If there was ever a piece of ice that explained what to use Eliza's Toybox for, it was this. It big, it's scary, and the runner is not going though this with a plan and serious dedication. Because the surprise of running into Wotan is never going to do damage, it's the perfect Ice to rez outside of a run. Add in a Heinlen Grid and the runner must break this ice with a breaker without some very specific setups (such as having 3 credit on cashe to take off after losing all their credits).

It's a piece of ice you need to build you deck to support, but it's something that will stop the runner hard for a while and can open up a scoring window when they were expecting something a bit less absurd.

For added benefit, put an advanceable trap behind this to really crush the runner spirit after they've spent so much to get in.

(Data and Destiny era)
223

Wotan, of the famous Project Wotan and subsequent playmat is named from the old Norse God Odin (Woden, Wotan, etc). I sometimes like to think about this card being named from the German tank operation in WW2 called Operation Wotan but alas, in Russia, Moscow captures you. Much like the ill-fated Battle of Moscow, Wotan is a sort of shiny massive barrier in the corpus of Bioroid Ice. Blue Sun: Powering the Future Decks might enjoy him with Oversight AI or Bioroid Efficiency Research but in the end, a 10 strength Barrier without many punishing effects doesn't really do much but offer a "wtf" moment when you rez him. Sadly, I love Wotan and as I have deemed him, "LORD OF THE ICE" I am a "wtf" moment lover.

(The Underway era)
158
Well, first of all, it's a barrier, and so it does a fair bit more than most barriers at not simply being "end the run". It's a bioroid, but without the ability to click to get through, and while it is technically passable without a breaker, that *is* punishing. It occupies the same place as curtain wall but with one more sub and no positional clause, although it is unique. I think it's an excellent wall, while I agree that it works best with ways to rez for free or at least cheaply. —
I love the artwork for this card, and I really want to like this ICE, but I really can't. —
Other than Bioroid Efficiency Research + Accelerated Beta Test HB decks, he won't see much play simply because he's 5 influence. Curtain Wall is 2 influence, and achieves nearly the same effect, with no option to click + credit + trash + damage to get through w/o a breaker. Janus would also be an easier splash for the surprise brain damage and ward against running, particularly in a kill deck. —