Remarkable is, thats its a Decoder AND a fracter, so you can break two types of ICE.
I think this Breaker works well with Ekomind powered by Origami, Theophilius Bagbiter or other ways to expand your handsize.

With enough cards in hand Sage will break big barriers -which are popular atm thanks to Blue Sun: Powering the Future- like outermost Curtain Wall for 6 (with E3 Feedback Implantats for 4).

Alternatively you can boost up your MU by in-faction and/or neutral Mem-Chips or you host it on a Dinosaurus, which gives you effectivly +4 Str (2 from Dino and 2 from not using the MU).

Till now there are only a few big Code Gates in Meta (Str 5 Tollbooth and Viktor 2.0, or has anybody seen Cell Portal lately?), but in future as we know from actual spoilers there will be some more which likely will be found:

OC 17 Checkpoint CodeGate Str 7
OC 18 Orion CodeGate-Barrier-Sentry Str 8
OC 20 Wormhole CodeGate Str. 7
SanSan 57 Little Engine CodeGate Str 7

Also things like Patch (OC 21) or the existing Encrypted Portals + Superior Cyberwalls can boost target ICE too.

This Breaker has potential, but the problem is, that it needs other cards to work well. On its own, with no other programs installed and standard mem, its only Str 2. Installing the missing Killer costs you at least another 1 Str unless you use Cloud-Based ones, which need a further setup for their own, or host the killer on Omni-Drive.

A good combination (when its installed) could be Chaos Theory: Wünderkind, Dinosaurus, 2 Dyson Mem Chip and Creeper combined with e3 Feedback Implants giving you a 7 Str Decoder/Fracter and a killer mostly in-faction.

I wish this card didn't exist :-)

Then I could stop trying to make overcomplicated and hideously cumbersome machines with too many expensive moving parts abusing the anarch Caissa and Virus only memory units... and do something that might actually work instead.

But I can't stop trying to think of ways to make this work out. And failing.

So I'm not sure if it's just me, but the way that I see this card seems to be completely the opposite to every deck I've seen this card put into. I don't think this card is one that you build a deck around to get it to strength 10. To me, this card screams early aggression, keeping the corp from scoring early behind cheap gearcheck ice while you build your rig. The fact that it counts as 2 of your breakers gives it solid speed and lets you through most of the corp's cheap ice, and as the game goes on, it gets obsoleted by your other breakers (becoming weak in the process).

I think this card is bonkers in multiple ways and they are not all positive.

When it comes to deck space efficiency this card is great. It is 2x, 2 breakers rolled into one. As a shaper that is pretty cost efficient. Gordian Blade cost 4 and you can import Corroder which costs 2.

Of course everybody can see that. It is the simple fact that it is hard to make it work in terms of strength and break cost.

This is were MemStrips come in. This is the only card that provides Sage a 1 per strength (permanent!) boost. The extra bonus is the fact that you don't need a setup order in order to make it work. Cards like Dinosaurus, Ekomind, Origami etc are all really cool ideas, but really depend on you drawing it in the right order. That is why they don't work IMO.

Now lets bring Sage to terms with the ICE he has to deal with. First off, Sage will almost always be run in Chaos Theory as her ability compliments Sage. Throw it down as your first program and you have a fixed S3 decoder/fracter. Perfectly fine as early game icebreaker. Every MemStrips you provide will give it +3 strength. So with 1 card you can bring it to S5 (presuming you've installed a killer), etc etc.

The 2nd big point most people don't like about this card with the fact you need 2 to break a subroutine. This is expensive and also make Sage a horrible card against low strength ice. Paying 2 for a Quandary is just stupid. Often e3 Feedback Implants don't help either as these ICE have only one subroutine. It is against high strength ICE that makes this card good, because you don't need to pay for the strength boost every time. Paying 2 for firewall is just hilarious. So basically it's a trade off.

The last thing (and also the biggest problem for me) was the tempo. Needing additional cards to make Sage work better costs tempo (draw, instal, credits etc). Therefor I think this card works best in a stimshop deck. Personal Workshop helps make things cheaper and banks the things you need while you continue to irritate the corp. Then, when you need it, you Stimhack the best juicy server you can find and just throw down everything you need.

For the curious, some googling shows that the text at the bottom is "...and you cannot step twice into the same stream." This is the end of a quote from Plato's Cratylus, the beginning of which is "All things move and nothing remains still..."

Does anyone know the context of the quote?

Wikipedia page of greek phrases, see #27

This card works great with Şifr. If the Sage is the only program taking up memory it will have 4 STR and also be able to break even stronger ice if we use Şifr's abilty.

Not the best card, but I thought that it was worth pointing out the synergy. Maybe a deck could be built around it when Adept from Terminal Directive also comes out.