Clot

Clot 2[credit]

Program: Virus
Memory: 1 • Strength: -
Influence: 2

The Corp cannot score an agenda during the same turn they installed that agenda.

When the Corp purges virus counters, trash this program.

Surprising, how a single blocked datafeed brings the system to its knees.
Illustrated by Zoe Cohen
Decklists with this card

System Update 2021 (su21)

#5 • English
Startup Card Pool
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Rulings
  • Updated 2022-04-28

    When is the Runner’s last chance to use an ability like Simulchip to install Clot before the Corp can score an agenda?

    When the Corp places the last required advancement counter on an agenda during their turn, they will be the next player to receive priority, so they can score the agenda immediately. If the Runner wants to use Clot to prohibit the Corp from scoring, they must install it before the final advancement counter is placed on it. Note that sometimes more than one advancement counter can be placed at a time, such as with Trick of Light, so the Runner may have to install Clot when they think the Corp still needs two more advancement counters to account for such effects.

Reviews

Hello, I am high up on the board of NBN and I have here a press release I would like to read.

"NBN is very concerned about this new breed of virus that threatens our totally legitimate business. We have a solid reputation with our AstroScript Pilot Program and our solid history of being the first to Break News to citizens. This new virus on the hacking scene is a solid detriment to the running of our business and we will do everything in our power to stop it... We'll get back to you on that one. In the mean time, we are encouraging all NBN staff and users to install the Cyberdex Virus Suite should they believe they are at risk."

There will be no futher comment at this time, and I will be taking no questions.

Good day.

(The Valley era)

Just as Hades Shard alleviated my frustration with Jackson Howard, thereby dissolving my compulsion to smash any yellow-colored objects in my house and allowing me to get some sleep at night, Clot has come into my life to rain shit on tournament-obsessed fast advance nerds who should have never stopped playing Magic: the Gathering.

Has there ever been a better time to be an Anarch? Not since Self-modifying Code has one runner faction had it so great. Seriously. In the very first data pack since Order & Chaos flooded us with unfathomably fun and powerful cards, we get the one card in the game that actually forces SanSan-obsessed twinks to play Netrunner. I love this card so much that I have ordered 500 more packs of The Valley in the hopes of fashioning an orange tuxedo out Clot cards. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say this is the most vindicating moment of my entire life.

PROS:

  • Invalidates the most annoying Corp deck builds with the exception of Jinteki: Replicating Perfection.

  • Forces Corp to tell you when to run on HQ. Did they just purge virus counters? Guess who's probably holding an agenda or two.

  • Is a virus, thereby working in harmony with the best runner ID in the game.

CONS:

  • None. This card does nothing wrong.
(The Valley era)
150
Playing clot as a singleton in shaper also looks great. With SMC or clone chip, it can hide from its own downside, and be tutored up after biotic install adv adv, or after install adv on a sansan. Beware you cannot do it after the last token, as the corp "reacts" first to his own click. —
As an anarch player and hater of all things FA, I obviously love this card. I am worried, however, that the only thing that will change is that the FA decks will include the Cyberex virus-trashing card. —
@KitsuAeryn That is a very valid point. I don't worry about it too much as 1) virus purges aren't too devistating to my playing style and 2) most Noise decks run Clone Chip/Deja Vu anyway. —
He rages at "Magic: The Gathering Nerds" who use competitive yet degenerate strategies to play a game that doesn't end up feeling like Netrunner, yet HE plays Noise Solitaire. LOL. This made my day, you get a "like" :^) —
I don't play Noise solitaire. Full suite of breakers, run about every 0.75 turns. Yup. —
I will have to say that my initial impressions of Clot have been on the negative side - and this is coming from a player who has been a standing advocate of Anarch for a whole year, plays NBN but thinks Astro should be Limit 1 per deck, and cruises far past MTG in favor of VtES and A:NR. :) The need for this kind of a card is real, but it is not exaclty the best way to go with it. A FA NEH will laugh at the face of danger with Cyberdexes, and without a reliable tutor or splashed Clone Chips this might be just a waste of 2c. It's hard to find without tutors, should not be a three-of include, is dead against many other decks... Clot is strictly speaking not an Anarch card, but a Shaper card with an influence cost. :) Glad to see something not easily splashable in Criminal though. It's a card we needed, not deserved. A more reactive, universally playable card would've been better. Traffic Jam is in a better direction, as is The Source, but they are as clunky as Clot. Anyways, I hope time will prove me wrong, and until then there's nothing wrong in being excited about this card! —
Doesn't shipment from sansan pretty much negate clots ability? Install in new server, shipment, astro token, score.. —
Still can't score it! Clot says no. You can load it up with as many advancement tokens as you like, but you're not allowed to score it even if you meet the agenda's advancement requirement. It just sits there being sad. —

Please read Fentonizer review, it is just as good in 2021 as it was in 2015. I love it.

Here, I'm updating the review because it has been more than 5 years since the last one.

Clot is the card to stop fast advance deck. Note that it will not do a thing for Haas-Bioroid: Precision Design deck which make use of Seamless Launch.

But against corp which use tools like Remastered Edition, Biotic Labor, Focus Group, Trick of Light, Psychographics and SanSan City Grid, the "Clot Threat" is a show stopper.

Getting rid of Clot might be as simple as doing a purge, but a purge rob the corp of a turn (outside of using Cyberdex Virus Suite or Reverse Infection). Which, in itself, is already a heavy price ( are precious).

But when you combine this with Simulchip, you can bring it on the board as soon as you see the corp trying to score an agenda in fast advance mode. Which is why the corp should always ask the runner for an action when there is Simulchip on the board, before putting the last advancement.

Of note, you can also use Gachapon to do the same thing as Simulchip, but you'll be less sure of the result.

Clot gives you a fighting chance against fast advance corps. Otherwise, you might lose by turn 7, which is often too soon to get your rig working.

Because of the Simulchip combo, Clot is most often used in Shaper deck, which are usually slower to build their rig, thus needing that fighting chance against fast corp decks.

Great card, often essential in many competition. Evocative art and quote. Well designed.

(System Update 2021 era)
4224

What's not to like about this card?

It's a virus. Noise and Djinn loves viruses.

Yeah, the Corp can purge it, but judging on how well you read your opponent, you can use Clone Chip to install it again and stop the incoming fast advance.

(Order and Chaos era)
And if you're Noise, you can mill 'em while you do it. Love it, though it DOES incentivize the use of antiviral suites... —
Plus it's a good addition to a Professor deck —
oh man, f-ing clone chip! wow what insight there buddy! sick! in response to an install, advance, er hold it one sec. clone chip->Clot go! wow —