So yeah I guess you guys have already read a dozen reviews about this ID. So I have no intention of repeating all the brain damage, hand size, etc. stuff that others have captioned in detail before me, I want to give my very specific 2 cents to this card.

I think a 40/15 ID is meant to be played aggressive. Self-Destruct Chips is an easy to score agenda (being an HB 3 pointer) which has such a good synergy with CD. So the basic idea is to be FAST on this one. Well fortunately there is a pretty nice ICE setup that is very strong early game, especially in a 40 card deck: GRAILS!

Since you have the 15 influence you can spend 9 on grails, 3 on Jackson and you still have 3 more influence left to spend. Does HB need to splash econ? Nope. Do you need to splash ICE to support 9 grails, 3 Eli 1.0, Turing and/or Architect? Probably not. So here is what we splash: 2x Research Station and a "mandatory" Crisium Grid. Research Station supports grail tactics, negates the ID's drawback.

So what do we do? Fast score at least 1 Self-Destruct Chips to have the runner down -2 hand size ASAP and prepare to kill with a double Merlin. The runner can run into any of the 3 ICE types and be hit by 4 net damage. Unless he has all 3 breakers out grail ice will always be a threat! And we even have Corporate Troubleshooter to get that one ICE up in strength so we can hit that 2x2 net damage!

Enjoy!

From all the currents in this game this one is my favorite and earned a sweet spot in my heart. First of all it comes at 0 cost, which is always awesome if you just want to remove the runners current.

Let us focus on the real deal, this card is a powerhouse in terms of economy! Of course you won't play it in a no remote glacier deck. Fortunately there are many awesome assets and upgrades available. Obviously Gagarin Deep Space: Expanding the Horizon will benefit the most from this card. Have this on the board with Gagarisn ability and a Pop-up Window to "protect" your remote. Now you can place any asset or upgrade behind it and be done. The runner has to pay 1 for Gagarins ability, 1 for pop up while you get 2 back. One run will make 4 creds difference. Drop the pop-up for less important remotes. A simple PAD Campaign will cost the runner 5 to trahs while you gain 1.

This card has a 2 influence cost, which is well deserved, with 1 influence it would be overpowered. While you can argue that influence is too valuable to spend 4 on 2 copies of paywall, some decks should reconsider this. A Near-Earth Hub: Broadcast Center or Jinteki: Replicating Perfection, or even an Haas-Bioroid: Engineering the Future could squeeze this in and profit from its constant income. Also Paywall can heavily discourage the runner from running on your assets.

I had games when a single paywall gave me 10+ credits!

What a perfectly designed card! For me this is love at first sight.

You rez it for 4 and either get 2 back or you tax the runner right away for 4, since he surely doesn't want to loose a program. Basically this card pays for itself on the first use. To make sure it is not overpowered they made it's strength 3, so it stays within Mimic range. This makes this card balanced, but still very useful.

Now let us go a step further and take a look at decks that might profit from this. Gagarin Deep Space: Expanding the Horizon comes to my mind right away. Use this to protect your important remotes like The Root or a splashed SanSan City Grid, Daily Business Show or Marked Accounts. Together with Paywall Implementation it will make the runner think twice before running on it. And we all know who brutal a permanent The Root can be.

I would also consider to splash this card into NBN decks, since they lack good sentries. An NBN deck has so many assets the runner should trash making this ice's taxing even more painful especially when combined with NAPD Contract and Red Herrings.

Overall we look at a wonderful addition to Weyland Ice with this well balanced card.

I never really liked this card when it got released. It first got my attention when my local playgroup started to use it with Blue Sun: Powering the Future. Blue sun was the hype card around here and of course I had to try my own version. I included The Root in it. I didn't like it. All the time I used it the wrong way...

The Root really shines if you playing with several remote servers, including already expensive to trash cards like SanSan City Grid, PAD Campaign, Marked Accounts or even Adonis Campaign.

I think it harmonizes best with Gagarin Deep Space: Expanding the Horizon. I also can imagine to splash this card in HB decks though.

The most beautiful combinations you can make with this card: 1. Rez it at the end of the runners turn. Use it to rez SanSan City Grid for 3. In your turn use the recurring creds to score an Project Atlas or Superior Cyberwalls for free. This means you got 5 creds back already and still have 1 cred on it for the runners next turn. If he chooses to run for it you can use that 1 remaining credit to rez an ice protecting it. The runner will have to pay for breaking that ice, pay 1 to access it and trash it for 4. So the runner just lost 6-7 creds and a click for the run. You basically lost nothing and the SanSan is still in game. If the runner goes for SanSan instead and doesn't trash The Root you will get another 3 creds/turn. Brutal. 2. Use it to rez your economy assets like PAD Campaign or Adonis Campaign. 3. Protect yourself against Account Siphon by spending 6 on rezing it and use the 3 creds to rez Crisium Grid. The runner won't have money to trash both. 4. Use the creds to advance Fire Wall or Ice Wall to insanity and score big money with Commercialization.

There is just so much potential in this card! A must in all Gagarin decks, and highly recommended in asset heavy decks. Use it to rez Dedicated Response Team for example...