Cyber Bureau is an undisputably wild ID. It's the first asymmetric multiplayer ID we've seen so far, it has about five regular IDs worth of abilities, and with its unlimited influence and access to every agenda in the game, building decks for this thing is one heck of a ride.

On paper it looks like it could build in a lot of ways, but I've found that fast-advance is the best way to build it, since you have twelve clicks of angry Runner that want to sneak into your house and kick over your sandcastle. The sooner you can score out and close the game, the better!

I've played two games with it so far, winning one and losing the other. Both were pretty close games! I believe there's a lot of really interesting gameplay to be found here.

Anyway, let's go over its assortment of abilities.

1: Basically Andy - draw an opening hand of ten cards.

This is huge, especially when coupled with a minimum deck size of 40 cards. You can clear out up to a quarter of your deck before you even take a turn! Your mulligans are legendary, too.

2: Better NEXT Design - install up to five cards, rez any number, reducing the total cost by up to 20.

Cyber Bureau's trademark ability, this lets you get set up really quick. I think ice is the main thing you want to install with this - it's hilariously easy to keep people out when you start the game with beefy ice on all of your servers. Stuff like Tollbooth and Anansi are ideal here. Keep in mind you can rez above 20, since you start with five credits!

Other cool stuff you can do is drop a 3/X agenda in an empty server, then score it on the first turn! With the help of Jeeves Model Bioroids, you can even score out a 4/X, or over-advance a Project Atlas, before the Runners even get to take a turn.

There are MANY possibilities with this ability. The way you play it out can make or break an earlygame!

3: Punitive Siphon - the first time a Runner runs each turn, steal credits equal to the agenda points in their score area.

Of all the abilities on this card, I think this one is the least powerful, even though it looks busted. In a lot of cases, the Runners can coordinate to have a single player steal your agendas, leaving the other two to run without fear.

The Runners get up to all sorts of horrible, nasty stuff against Cyber Bureau. It's very rude.

In cases where you can get it to fire, it's a very good source of funds, and an even better form of econ pressure.

4: Mega Mopus - : Gain 3.

Your best friend in this deck - the Runners can tax you out very very quickly if they gain ground somehow. Emergency Shutdown, Diversion of Funds, Corporate "Grant" and even stuff like Hijacked Router hurts you a lot, since you have three clicks to their twelve. Figuring out your econ plan is crucial in this deck, and Mega Mopus lets you care a little bit less about how you get that money. Clicking for 12 with Jeeves is a great feeling, too.

5: Anonymous Tip on a Stick - : Draw 3 cards.

You probably won't use this much, or shouldn't, since it can very quickly flood you. Clicking it once on a turn where you're low on cards can be really good. Otherwise, maybe there's some weird plays with Reuse or something? I feel like this has combo potential, but I'm not the player to figure it out.

So, with all of that at your disposal, it's... still kinda Runner-sided? You get punished real hard by any sort of cohesive plan. Even with the infamy system, which makes it so that only one Runner is "in play" at a time, you still have a lot to worry about. Twelve clicks is a lot of clicks to defend against!

Employee Strike turns off your tax power and your two super click abilities, which is very very saddening. Apocalypse can straight up undo your initial foundations, if they can find a way into each of your centrals. Since you're usually pretty top-heavy with ice, Emergency Shutdown or anything else that hurts your ice will really ruin your day.

Particularly against fast-advance, a cheeky well-timed Clot on the right turn can buy the Runners a whole extra round. Beth Kilrain-Chang is usually pretty good against you, firing for the + on any turn where you're moneyed up. Indexing is just endlessly sad - one Runner can do the reordering, while another runs and collects the goods.

Conclusion

I think the best way to play with Cyber Bureau is to throw three regular Runners at it. If the Runners specifically tech against you, you're screwed. Rather, if you're up against three decks that are just sort of doing their own thing, that's where you find the best gameplay.

As a Corp, you get to wield UNLIMITED POWER, with a deck beyond your wildest dreams. As Runners, you get to actually be friends with your fellow hacker-peers for once! The cooperation space is immensely deep, and I'm sure people will be exploring it for a long time to come, especially if more IDs like this ever get made.