Adding a review as there isn't one at the time of writing.

Hammer is AI hate with extra upsides. For those new to Netrunner, there are three basic types of ICE: Sentries, Barriers and Code Gates and three corresponding Icebreakers that can break subroutines on the associated ICE, Killers, Fracters and Decoders respectively. However, there are also AI programs, that can break any type of ICE, but usually have some special rules to limit their power. Still, some AI breakers are incredibly powerful and the Corps form of counterplay to these AI breakers are pieces of ICE like this, ICE with special rules to make it impractical to break it with AI. If this card were "balanced" we would expect it to be painful but not insurmountable for AI-reliant runners, but be slightly subpar against regular Killers.

Since AI programs are usually not also Killers, you can only break one subroutine on this piece of ICE using an AI breaker, which guarantees at least 2 of the subroutines firing. As long as you didn't run on your last click (you shouldn't be running on your last click anyway), a tag is removable and almost always a lot less painful than losing an already installed resource, piece of hardware or program. This means that this card comes down to the question for the runner: do you have a more valuable resource/piece of hardware you want to protect or a more valuable non-conventional breaker program you want to protect? Either way, this is terrible for the runner, if they break the program subroutine they risk losing a critical resource like the The Class Act or The Twinning or they risk losing their console or a critical MU providing tool like DZMZ Optimizer or another important piece of hardware like WAKE Implant v2A-JRJ or Docklands Pass. If they break the hardware/resource subroutine then they risk losing a program, presumably the AI breaker in question, though the Corp can also target non-breaker programs like Cezve, Paricia, Fermenter or even Self-modifying Code. Plus taking a tag in either situation to boot. Definitely a nasty surprise.

This card also has some very nice externalities due to its wording, think Boomerang, Botulus, Rielle “Kit” Peddler: Transhuman, Pelangi, Egret, you start to get the idea, a lot of the runner's creative tools to break Sentries without Killer's start to look a little sketchy.

However, bypass effects do still work, Physarum Entangler, Laser Pointer, Inside Job, S-Dobrado, Backstitching and Alarm Clock can all still completely bypass Hammer without ever needing to technically "break a subrountine."

The next major downside of this card is that it is a pretty pathetic early-game face check. If the runner has no programs, hardware or resources installed, running first click on their first turn, they're probably very happy to see this, because if you didn't already know, 6 credits is not the market rate for a tag. Quite frankly, whoever sold you this is ripping you off because you can get a tag for 1 or 2 credits: Ping, Virtual Service Agent and Vasilisa all come to mind and even something like Funhouse is much better value.

But assuming the runner does have installed cards they want to protect and assuming the runner already has their Killer, what kind of costs are we looking at?

• 5 credits for Carmen (3/5 to Install)
• 2 credits and 3 hosted power counters for Revolver (2 to Install)
• 9/6/3 credits for Echelon (depending on the number of installed Icebreakers) (3 to Install)
• 4 credits for Orca (plus you get to charge another card) (10 to Install)
• 6/4 credits for Ika (depending on if it's already hosted) (0 to Install)
• 3 credits for Afterimage (requires stealth credits) (or 2 credits to bypass, still requires stealth credits) (4 to Install)
• 6/3 credits for Na'Not'K (depending on the number of ICE protecting the server) (4 to Install)

Also worth mentioning that Mimic can't break it without assistance and Femme Fatale breaks it for 7 credits but that's somewhat beside the point of Femme. Also at the time of writing Bukhgalter is banned but if it wasn't it would break it for a net expenditure of 4 credits if that's the first Sentry.

All in all I'd say that this worked out pretty much as expected, ingnoring fringe cases like installing an Orca from hand (rather than with Spark of Inspiration) or a solitary Echelon or this being the only piece of ICE against a Na'Not'K this doesn't exactly break the bank. Against a runner with a Killer this is hardly the most taxing piece of ICE and as we've established it's pretty meek in the early game.

An advanced Colossus can tax the runner a lot more, with similar levels of damage if it's subs fire, Saisentan is still probably one of the most terriying cards in the game for just killing an overeager runner and Winchester gives you the same strength and number of subs, with similar levels of damage if they fire for 2/3s of the cost (asssuming it's over HQ).

Thematically, though, this card really hits the mark, see you can try all of your little tricks and bring all of your little AIs and you may think that you're sooooooo smart with your viruses and making my ICE think that it's something that it's not but let's see how well you deal with a freaking Hammer to the face. Plus the art is awesome, showing the thunderous moment when the Hammer strikes the Anvil. Oh wait, Anvil, despite being released in two different Cycles and having 2 very different effects and use cases, this is a nice extra little easter egg, the Anvil sets them up and the Hammer strikes them down.

If I could make one change to this card, I would probably have made the tag subroutine something else, like an End The Run or maybe dealing 3 net damage. Something just as punishing as the other two subrountines, so when you try to break it with something other than a Killer you either sacrifice a program and a hardware/resource to continue the run, or protect one and lose the other while being unable to get in. It also doesn't make a lot of thematic sense why a Hammer would be tagging you...

TLDR: Considering our starting premise, I'd say that this card pretty much hits the mark in terms of balance, there are better options against true Killers but this is quite punishing against runners relying on AI or other non-Killer tricks. On the whole, whether you choose to include this card is a matter of meta and playgroup, if the meta favours AI and Botulus and the like, this looks promising, if one of your friends you regularly play with loves Aumakua Crim then consider including this card to really mess with them, otherwise, there are probably better options for a standard Corp deck.

Ablative is the cat.

Adding a review as there isn't one at the time of writing.

Attini is an important reminder that ICE doesn't necessarily have to be about keeping the runner out (EtR) or about killing the runner (net damage). It's enough just for ICE to tax the runner and, in doing so, squeeze out their options elsewhere.

So, with that in mind, let's jump right in, assuming one has their preferred Decoder at hand, just how good is Atttini at taxing the runner? For the purposes of this initial analysis, we'll ignore the spend 2 credits, the damage, and the Threat effect and treat this as a generic 6 cost, 5 strength, 3 subroutine code gate.

• 3/7 credits for Euler (depending on whether the card has been played this turn) (2 to Install)
• 4 credits for Penrose (requires stealth credits) (2 to Install)
• 4/5/7 credits for Unity (depending on the number of installed Icebreakers) (3 to install)
• 6 credits for Gordian Blade (with extra upside against stacked Code Gates) (4 to Install)
• 3 credits for Hyperbaric (if fully pumped) (3 to Install + 8 to pump)
• 5 credits for Lobisomem (net a power token of course) (8 to Install)
• 2 credits for Umbrella (requires an attached Trojan) (3 to Install)

Outside of Shaper, the options are more limited and generally worse:

• 8 credits for Buzzsaw (4 to Install)
• 7 credits for Abaasy (with a minor upside for cycling cards) (2 to Install)
• 7 credits for Abagnale (or trash to bypass once) (4 to Install)
• 7 credits for Cat's Cradle (2 to Install)
• 5/7 credits for Shibboleth (gets worse after Threat 4) (1 to Install)

From what we can see, Attini breaks even against most Decoders after a single run (if you include the Decoder's Install Cost) and it's pure profit from then on for any subsequent runs. Not bad, but not amazing either.

The first and most legitimate criticism of this card is that it is a terrible gear check, as even if the runner has no Decoder installed, they can still break it for 6 credits (or tank the 3 net damage). In fact, if you're using a Decoder from outside of Shaper, chances are 6 credits is actually a discount.

If you're looking for a scary card to face-check, this just isn't it, there are far more terrifying cards in Jinteki, Saisentan being one of the first to come to mind. But, the two aren't really comparable, if you're face-checking Jinteki ICE without an installed Killer then quite frankly you've got much bigger problems than anything Attini can throw at you.

But it would be wrong to dismiss Attini just like that because Attini isn't trying to be Saisentan, it never claims to be Saisentan, it doesn't want to be Saisentan. You wouldn't dismiss a piece of Bioriod ICE just because the runner can click through its subroutines. Taxing the runner is an end in and of itself and since 1 click is generally accepted to be worth 2 credits, I think the value contrast of Attini to Bioroid ICE is very fair.

Once Threat 3 is reached, not much generally changes, if the runner still lacks a Decoder then Attini functionally becomes a 3 net damage ICE, which is still relatively poor for a 6-cost ICE (once again, contrast Saisentan) and is unlikely to kill on it's own. That being said, most runners still wouldn't want to tank 3 net damage to the face and assuming they have their breaker suit installed, all this means is that the non-shaper cards lose their small discount. One minor thing of note, as mentioned in the above rules clarification is that this effect also stops the runner from spending credits to use interrupt abilities to prevent the damage, (i.e. something like Caldera could not trigger) however, there are very few cards that function this way and even the ones that do exist see relatively little play in the meta at the time of writing. For this to have any effect Threat 3 would have to have been reached, the Runner must have something like a Caldera installed, but not a Decoder installed and then must attempt to run into a facedown Attini only to get shocked when they take 3 net damage, all of which just seems too niche to be meaningful. However, if future cards are released that offer a cheap and efficient way to prevent damage such that some new breakless runner strategies emerge this card could have some added usage, but obviously, this is purely speculative.

But how does it compare to other similar Code Gates? Well quite frankly, there aren't many. There are no other 6-cost Code Gates in Jinteki and the next cheapest card is Lotus Field, which costs 5, has 4 strength, ends the run and has a niche tech against Anarch strength shredding. Outside of Jinteki the closest comparison is M.I.C. another 6-cost Code Gate that has 3 subroutines but only 4 strength, M.I.C. has the added selling point of ending the run and can be trashed to attempt to end the run in a pinch, but against a runner with a Decoder set up and a click to spare it's ever so slightly worse than Attini. Meanwhile Valentão and Piranhas are off doing something very different with conditional end-the-run effects and bad publicity.

The closest comparison is probably Vampyronassa which costs 7 and has only 4 strength, making it slightly worse on the face of it. The only upside is that if Vampyronassa triggers you get 2 net damage, tax the runner 2 credits, gain 2 credits and can draw 1-2 cards. If we assume the runner triggered Attini in such a way that they took 2 net damage and paid to 2 to prevent the 3rd net damage then the two pieces of ICE are remarkably similar with only small econ upsides for the Corp from Vampyronasa. Once again, Vampyronassa is not an early gear check and when it comes to taxing a Runner with a full rig, a 4 strength 4 subroutines piece of ICE vs a 5 strength 3 subroutines piece of ICE is the same for many breakers, and similar for a couple of others. All in all, they're pretty similar and it will often come down to personal preference, Attini is 1 cheaper, but if you get even a single Vampyronasa trigger it will have a net cost of 5 due to the 2 credit "cash back." In certain Sisyphus Protocol glacier decks you may even be tempted to include both.

On the whole, this card isn't necessarily bad, but it's not a terrifying game-changer like Anansi or Cloud Eater. This card probably struggles to find a place in butcher-shop archetypes that need more consistent net damage and generally run a pretty lean budget. Similarly, Fast Advance wants cheap gear-check ICE to keep the runner out long enough to score and thus has little use for Attini. For 3 Influence I doubt this gets splashed into any other factions either. It's one home is probably Glacial Jinteki, who is willing to pay the upfront cost to rez and expects to reap the rewards over the course of many expensive runs. It has some nice synergy with Ivik too, by cheapening it's rez cost, if you don't want to look out of faction for your Barriers. Glacial A Teia: IP Recovery anyone?

Thematically, Attini refers to a tribe of ants who farm and cultivate fungi, essentially gathering leaves and other organic matter for the fungi to decompose and then feeding on the growing fungi, as the art beautifully represents. Attini can be found throughout the Americas and can form massive hives ranging from a few hundred to a few million individuals and live in huge subterranean nests. Personally, I think it would have been cool if this card leaned more into this theme, perhaps it could've cost a bit more but whenever certain conditions were met (perhaps on encounter, or when an encounter ends, or when a subroutine triggers or is broken for example) the card gains credits on it, which can then be spent to install or rez other pieces of ICE. This way the Attini could be used to collect "organic matter" from the runner to "grow the fungus" which can then be "fed" into other ICE, gradually growing the Corp's "nest" of threats. Just a thought, though obviously not the direction this card took.

TLDR: A pretty decent card all around, it has a cool theme with very fitting art that is quite at home in the cycle in which it was released. It has solid numbers and can work in Glacial Jinteki decks looking to tax the runner such as A Teia: IP Recovery which was also released in the same cycle but I'm not looking to splash this card into every Corp deck I can.

How come only one of the spectators gets a chair? What's up with that?

This is the second best ice that Jinteki got after Tatu-Bola (which give credits and get rids of trojans). The closest comparison for this ice is Bran 1.0. Both have 3 subs, and while Bran 1.0 start at 6. strenght, it can be clicked through, while Boto cannot be clicked but get its strength to 6 at threat 4 (late in the game).

This ice will stop many runs and it taxing to the runner to facecheck, with its initial 2 net damages. And outside of a boosted Cleaver, it will cost 3 credits to break, which is fairly taxing for the runner (just like Bran 1.0).

Now, after all those comparison to Bran 1.0 and considering both are the same price (2 influences and 6 credits), would it be splashed out of faction? If you are HB and want a strong barrier, then you could have Boto on top of Bran 1.0 in your deck (a fairly expensive proposition), but this compete with having Tatu-Bola for the same influence (and probably more benefits). If you are Weyland, you alread have good barrier in faction (Pharos is a good example). What is left is NBN, which have okay barriers but could benefit to have a strong barrier ice. If your NBN deck is all about damage, you would probably be better served with something like Anemone, for the same influence at half the credits price. If your NBN deck is a type of glacier, then Bran 1.0 will get you better results. All this to say that Boto will rarely be used out of faction.

With all that, Boto remain a great ice for Jinteki for most deck that want to stop a run.

The name, art and quote all join together in a coherent narrative, all of which are well done. Good design.