Patch was a sleeper card on release, and one I almost never see played. But, I think like fine wine, its status has only improved with time, and it's one card that has definitely grown on me. What I love about it is its flexibility, and that it grants the corp unparalleled counterplay. Let's look at some popular runner cards to figure out why.

• The most obvious is Atman. On more than a few occasions, I've seen runners drop a lot of to get a big Atman capable of breaking my 7+ strength pieces of ice. Frequently combined with Net-Ready Eyes, it can give runners extreme efficiency, allowing them to perform multiple runs on a server with giant ice like Curtain Wall. Patch foils—or at least puts a wrench in—their plan. Short of reinstalling Atman (and paying even more credits on the next install), their only hope is boosting beyond what NRE alone can provide, e.g. with The Personal Touch or The Helpful AI.
• Gordian Blade, or similar ice that keeps its strength bonus throughout the run. Stacking ice, at least of the same type (or even different, if facing Paintbrush, Rielle "Kit" Peddler, etc.), does almost nothing to slow the runner. They just need to boost to the strength of the strongest piece of ice encountered for the whole run, and then pay typically only 1 per . This lets you boost the biggest piece of ice, taxing them 2 per run. Sure, it's not as much as Tollbooth, but it costs a hell of a lot less to get the same effect.
• Yog.0/Mimic, or any other fixed-strength breaker. This is where the real jackpot lies. You almost always see some really big buffs, or several different debuffs used in conjunction with these, and Patch flies right in the face of what those are trying to accomplish. Making a runner drop an additional two sucker tokens per run is huge, and it can lock runners out entirely in some cases, like the case of a boosted Yog.0 vs Lotus Field.
• Finally, I have to mention Parasite specifically. Though not very popular, it is sometimes played without support from the strength-lowering Datasucker, e.g. with a Blackmailing Valencia. In these cases, Parasite is always played on my most costly to rez/break ice, which is usually Archer or similar. In these cases, it's a huge deal to have +2 strength on that ice, as it buys you two more turns before you need to purge virus counters (assuming you want to save the ice), and during these longer time windows, who knows what can happen; maybe the runner will bump into your Cyberdex Virus Suite, saving you a massive , or effectively a whole turn (aside from the mandatory draw).

So why isn't this in every single deck? Well, there's a catch—it's in Weyland, and it costs 2 influence. Weyland, the one corp with an undisputed monopoly on advanceable-for-strength ice, gets a card to, shockingly, do the equivalent of just that on other ice, albeit in a more limited fashion. Sadly, at two influence, it's really hard to justify exporting this into other factions. That said, I like to do just the reverse—import ice from other factions into my Weyland deck, and then drop Patch on them.

Should you use this in faction? Yes, or at least, I do, and it's now a staple in my Weyland decks. Out of faction, it's a tougher sell. But, I still drop it in a deck when I've got faction to burn, usually Jinteki, where a few strength on a single piece of ice can be the difference between victory and defeat. So try it out, and remember to watch the runner's play like a hawk to get the maximum effect from Patch. Don't drop it prematurely either; it usually serves you best when played in a reactive capacity.

Chairman Hiro seems weak in comparison to the other five influence executives. "It belongs in a brain damage deck," they said, "and that means HB, and this costs 5 influence." And while I tend to agree, do not despair—I'm convinced Jinteki can use it, in extremely specific cases where it can actually win the game. The key is to use it where it can flatline the runner, which means combining it with Valley Grid, ideally in a white tree deck with Ancestral Imager, Whirlpool, or Labyrinthine Servers.

The idea goes like this:

• Runner runs some central server, and is unable to jack out or it is undesirable.
• There is a Valley Grid on the server, which is hopefully rezzed at the start of the run as a surprise.
• Runner has to run through a lot of ice without any "End the run" subroutines in sight. Ideally some net damage ice with high damage per subroutine. Things like Neural Katana are good choices; things like Komainu are not, as the runner can just leave one sub unbroken and take only a single damage to not trigger Valley Grid. Things where there is hardly any penalty for not breaking subs, like Pup, should definitely not be used.
• If the runner broke all subs on four or five pieces of ice, they're down to a maximum of fewer than 2 cards in their hand, barring things like Public Sympathy.
• Wait til the runner ends their turn, and, assuming they haven't trashed found and trashed your CH, you rez it before their turn ends. With a negative hand size, they're flatlined and lose.

Now let's address the problems with this. It takes a massive amount of setup to pull off such an insane combo. Things like Architect, Minelayer, and even Dedicated Technician Team can help you get a lot of ice on a single server. Cards like Akitaro Watanabe, Amazon Industrial Zone, and Executive Boot Camp can help you get it rezzed as well. But is it worth it to go through all this effort just to pull off some crazy combo with CH?

Yes, but the answer is far more complicated than can be summed up in a single word. The fact is, anyone playing white tree knows that most runners avoid remotes unless they have exactly one, or sometimes two, advancement tokens on it. Greater tokens than that, and they usually risk being flatlined by Project Junebug. No tokens at all is usually an indication of an extremely annoying Snare! or similar. HQ is frequently loaded with the same, as is often the case with archives. So, R&D invariably gets hit hard, and that is where I see, on occasion, six or more pieces of ice protecting that single central server.

Enter Gordian Blade. Stacking that ice looks like little more than a joke—and the joke is on the corp. This is where Valley Grid is invaluable, but only if you pick your ice with extreme care. Done right though, this can completely lock out a runner without Public Sympathy or its kin, or a method of trashing ice, from getting in. This requires a LOT of ice that must have all subs broken though, and most runners aren't scared of going down to a max hand size of 0 for the end of a single turn, if it means they can get multi-access with a Medium or R&D Interface.

It's in these cases where CH is the icing on the cake. It augments something you're doing anyway in RP—making a big ol' stack of ice on R&D, only now you need less pieces to get the runner within range of obliteration. But that's not even the best part, as it doesn't even have to be in your deck to do its job! Okay, I'll be honest, this will never shift the meta as hugely as JH, Clot, or Film Critic. But it's still out there, and runners should be aware of it. Corps can even put tokens on it with Mushin No Shin to mask its presence. And if they rez it at the right time, it's going to be game over for whatever unfortunate runner happens to be on the other side of the table. If this wall of text hasn't convinced you, maybe my wall of ice (and I don't mean Ice Wall) will...

Ice Wall is one of my favorite pieces of ice. It has a rare quality among ice, in that it can be just as valuable unrezzed as rezzed in the right deck. How? Play it in a space ice deck, drop 3 tokens on it, and all of a sudden it looks like a Wormhole, Nebula, or Asteroid Belt. I've even dropped 5 tokens on it, and fooled my opponent into thinking it was my Orion. All that stopping power on a piece of ice that pulls double-duty as an early turn gear check.

Of course, being advanceable makes for some very interesting combos—such as with Builder, Constellation Protocol, Firmware Updates, or Satellite Grid—as well as counterplay. Runner has an Atman equal to your wall? Drop a token on it. They have a Net-Ready Eyes in play too? Just move a token away with Constellation Protocol next turn, or rez your Satellite Grid during the run. Additional tokens on IW often pay dividends over the course of a game, especially if your opponent is relying on Corroder.

Or maybe you want to get your Orion up after IW is no longer cutting it. Move your tokens there with CP, then rez it either during a run or beforehand with Executive Boot Camp. When done, move the tokens back—and if playing Blue Sun: Powering the Future, return the Orion to your hand for a massive profit of 15.

But the real shenanigans happen when this is combined with Builder or Hollywood Renovation. IW can get big—REALLY big. I've seen IWs at over 10 strength on rare occasions, teaching runners that while they can sneak through with their Corroder a couple times, Builder is the real problem, and it's out of reach of Yog.0 without a usable Datasucker or Net-Ready Eyes/The Personal Touch/Dinosaurus. You can also play Commercialization in these situations and laugh all the way to the bank.

The final trick I love to pull with IW is to move tokens from it to agendas or ambush assets via Trick of Light. This puts a lot of agendas in range of fast advance, while putting your initial tokens on difficult to trash ice. A Spooning Rielle or Knifed are about the only ways to reliably shut it down.

Lastly, I'd love to compare to its closest big brother, Fire Wall. Many people ask, "Why play IW over FW, when it takes a lot more s to get IW up to FW's strength?" Well, there are a few things wrong with this logic. First, it assumes you are advancing IW by clicking for it, which is only one of many ways to get its strength up. Builder will often get it up to at least 3 strength, Matrix Analyzer can save you the , and Space Camp can even drop tokens on it in a pinch. Second, and often more important, is it's rez cost is only 1. If you have 6, and get Account Siphoned, this can still be rezzed (while FW cannot), and can still be quite formidable with a few tokens on it.

Vigil doesn't look that great on paper. Conditional drawing that lets the corp flip the switch? Who is going to let that happen? Well, more than a few, actually. In a recent game vs Industrial Genomics: Growing Solutions, this turned the corp's ability into a liability. IGGS wants to overdraw with Jackson Howard, drop those Shock!s face-down into archives, and up the trash cost. "Fine," says Vigil, "I'll be laughing all the way to the bank."

One card at the beginning of a few—or often, many—turns, might not sound like much. But if you'd otherwise be clicking to draw, it's huge. Compare it to WyldCakes:

• WC takes two cards to be fully set up, Vigil is just a single card.
• WC invariably falls apart for a tagged runner, while Vigil's big enemy is probably only Taurus.
• WC takes a whopping 6 and to set up, while Vigil is a measily 2 and a !
• Out of faction, WC is a minimum of 5 influence (though I've never seen it played outside of Anarch). Vigil is only 2.
• Even if the corp avoids triggering Vigil, it has still done a job by reducing their hand size, making Nerve Agent a whole lot more potent with fewer counters on it.

Yes, WC has advantages over Vigil too, such as being non-conditional, drawing twice as many, and comboing with things like Gene Conditioning Shoppe and some other genetic. But who says they have to be mutually exclusive? Use Vigil to bootstrap WyldCakes, and draw three cards at the start of your turn without spending any clicks—only, unlike MaxX, you get to keep them in your grip if you want, or choose what gets funneled into your heap. Invite Paige to the party, and you'll mill through your own stack before MaxX leaves her Day Job.

And if the corp wises up, and stays below maximum hand size, it's still a great effect. Of course, a few corps laugh at it, such as Cerebral Imaging: Infinite Frontiers, or one with Cybernetics Court or Research Station, but those are few and far between. The added pressure of keeping a lower hand size might just cause them to play that agenda with a little less defense, or drop it into archives prematurely, which can by itself wipe Jackson Howard if they've got no defense on archives. In short, I love everything about this card.

I used to think this card wasn't very good. Used to. Then I tried it out, taking care to put it in a deck with some support from Paige Piper. Its obvious drawback is that it has to be played early, warranting several copies, while at the same time being unique. And boy, did it shine, in some ways that I definitely didn't predict it would.

Fetal AI suddenly became free for the taking (as long as you have at least 2 in your pool). NAPD Contract was still not free, but a net charge of 2 is a lot less than 4. Predictive Algorithm got you down? Human First has your back. Basically, it counters exactly what the corp is trying to do—score agendas. How? To score agendas, they want to keep the runner poor, and this gives them a boost right when they score.

Then there's the flip side. You make a run—it costs you a lot of creds, but you finally got that Priority Requisition—only to realize you're now broke. Human First doesn't let that happen. Things get especially scary considering this is in Anarch, with some excellent multiple access tools that, barring a match against Haarpsichord Studios, lets you not only steal a bunch of agendas, but also keep up the momentum with credit rain that can rival Desperado. Did someone say Demolition Run?

That said, I have to disagree with tiedyedvortex, as I think this is probably not going to see use outside of Anarch. The faction for several copies of it is steep, and there's almost always other things you'd like to drop your faction on. Even in Anarch, it can be tough to fit in a deck without Paige, unless you're playing MaxX. But if you've got a spot for it, it's a lovely surprise to the corp, and it often nets you credits right at the most critical points.