Panacea Snowball

What could possibly be nefarious about a medical breakthrough that will help humanity in it's long struggle against parasites? Well what if it it's all hype but doesn't really work, or it's side effects are worse than the ailment it purports to cure? Yes, Jinteki would like to ride wave after wave of hype & soaring stock earnings on an otherwise worthless or potentially dangerous treatments so long as "independent study" fees to certain GFDA officials keep flowing the strategy should keep Jinteki in the black for another generation. Medical Breakthrough is a 4/2 agenda that helps make the next instance a 3/2 agenda and then the final only a 2/2 agenda. They hype will do it's work for Jinteki regarless of whether it is stolen and leaked to the public by the runner or advanced by Jinteki themselves.

Combos

Self-Ramping:: Medical Breakthrough is an agenda designed specifically to combo well with itself, each instance once scored (even if scored by the runner) makes the next 1-2 instances even easier to score

Fast Advance: There are dozens of ways to fast-advance instances of Medical Breakthrough, Tennin Institute: The Secrets Within is an example of an ID that help a fair bit here forcing the runner to be more aggressive perhaps even pushing the runner into traps he or she would rather avoid. Did I mention traps? If the runner is not taking the bait on Project Junebug then Trick of Light allows the corp to re-purpose those other-wise wasted advancements. Getting the runner to run into Space Camp perhaps even while sitting in archives can help the corp get instances of Medical Breakthrough advanced even faster.

That final point: Going all in on a Medical Breakthrough strategy, perhaps some 1 point agendas like Clone Retirement, House of Knives, Genetic Resequencing, might fit the bill to provide that final point!

Show me the money: All that agenda advancing can get rather expensive a critical part of any effective corporate strategy is to maintain some cash in reserve for rezing ice springing traps (Snare! anyone?) etc. Recurring income from Mental Health Clinic or PAD Campaign and so on can go a long way towards assisting a fast-advance strategy.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pros

Steal-me depending on game-state Medical Breakthrough may actually be an agenda the corp wants to be stolen, or at very least in many cases the pain of having it be stolen is lessened by the fact that now the next two instances will be 1 advancement cheaper to score

Efficient 2 Points: Considering the total cost to score three copies of Medical Breakthrough it will cost the corp 3 to install, 9 & 9 to advance, this puts it on par with Braintrust, Merger, Philotic Entanglement at a ratio of 2 & 1 /1 agenda point. (Note: 5/3 agendas are .4 more efficient but obviously harder to score and higher risk when stolen)

Cons

2 Points is still 2 points: Losing one Medical Breakthrough may not end the game if it is stolen early, however a lucky Legwork or The Maker's Eye for example could make any previously freely given-away 2 point agendas a very bad gamble in hindsight.

Summary

Fast-advance decks can be fun and Medical Breakthrough is a very viable tool for Jinteki players. So if profit is more important than humanity's greater good this agenda may be just what your looking for. Don't look just to Jinteki, this agenda is alive and well in the world outside of Android Netrunner too.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Live from Broadcast Square!

Been a misbehaving corporation? It's a lot easier to redirect the public eye when your company is responsible for broadcasting the news! What's better than getting rid of bad publicity? Avoiding it in the first place perhaps? Broadcast Square is an asset that allows the corp to possibly avoid bad publicity, which in turn may allow the corp to misbehave even more!

Combos

Nasty Ice: Checkpoint, Muckraker, Grim, Fenris, Shinobi & Swarm are all examples of ice that add bad publicity as part of their cost, having Broadcast Square installed could take the sting out of rezzing these cards.

Evil Agendas: Some agendas such as Hostile Takeover, Geothermal Fracking, Posted Bounty, Project Ares, potentially cause bad publicity to hit when scored, similarly other agendas like Clone Retirement or Vulcan Coverup put bad publicity on the corp if the runner steals it before scoring. Finally NAPD Contract is harder to score with every instance of bad publicity, in each case an installed & rezzed instance of Broadcast Square could help here by potentially avoiding adding any new bad publicity.

Other Illicit Stuff: Additionally Broadcast Square can make it easier to make use of assets usch as Reality Threedee by possibly allowing the corp to avoid taking on bad publicity. Failing a trace with Hellion Alpha Test, or the fun little operation: Invasion of Privacy

Bad Penny: With perhaps 3 copies of Broadcast Square at 5 cost to trash, having some recuring options like Jackson Howard, Interns, Archived Memories etc could make it very taxing for the runner to keep taking it down. (say 15 + 5 additional for however many times it is recurred)

Trace Boosters: Because of Broadcast Square's reliance on traces, any card that boosts the corps base trace amount has some synergy. Rutherford Grid, Net Police, Primary Transmission Dish, the Identity NBN: Making News fits here and even ChiLo City Grid & Surveillance Sweep for example put their own spin on helping with traces.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pros

Trash-resistant: At 5, Broadcast Square should give most runners pause before trashing.

Reputation: Broadcast Square is very useful in it's ability to potentially keep many instances of bad publicity hitting the corp, opening up many other potential side benefits for the corporation while denying mitigating benefits to the runner.

Cheap Avoiding even 1 bad publicity could likely deny the runner a significant econ boost for the duration of the game certainly justifying it's small 2 cost.

Surprise: As an asset, Broadcast Square can be kept unrezzed and in many circumstances rezzed during the paid ability stage, say during a run to be able to confer it's benefits before rezing ice or other actions.

Cons

Risk Unlike some bad publicity removal methods available to the corp, Broadcast Square relies on being installed, rezzed and finally a trace-3 that gives the runner some ability to control the situation and perhaps deny the corp the ability to utilize it.

Tight Econ: If money is tight for the corp even rezing Broadcast Square for 2 may be too costly and come at the expense of actually getting to use it's ability or rez ice etc.

In the Crosshairs: Runners may decide to target Broadcast Square forcing the corp to invest ice at s and perhaps even into protecting it possibly to the detriment of other priorities.

Summary

I like Broadcast Square, it's influence of 3 makes it much less popular for other decks, perhaps 2 influence would have made trade-off decisions to weigh more in it's favor. Still for decks that seem to push the limits with bad publicity Broadcast Square is one of several decent options worth considering.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Brain-Taxing Busywork

With the runner's grip at times representing mental capacity in Android Netrunner, Gyri Labyrinth represents an instance of low-cost ice that potentially taxes the runner's brain for a turn. Kind of a fun way of thinking of this cards effect whenever it hits the table.

Combos

Catch 22: Combined with Valley Grid (perhaps on a scoring server) with 1-3 copies of Gyri Labyrinth represents a no-win situation for the runner who is faced with paying to break the on Gyri Labyrinth and still get 1 temporary hand-size reduction from Valley Grid (for each instance of Gyri Labyrinth broken) or take 2 card hand-size reduction for each instance of Gyri Labyrinth by letting the subroutines fire, either way may represent difficult choices for the runner.

Kill the runner: Much of the synergy Gyri Labyrinth's -2 hand-size goes along with additional ways of damaging the runner and hopefully cause a flatline event. Usually this represents a two-stage approach. 1st Stage is reducing the runner's grip during the run, the 2nd stage involves finishing the runner off usually during the Corp's turn after the runner has gone through his or her discard phase. Stage 1 "The Setup": Cybernetics Division: Humanity Upgraded is an example of an ID that could work here, putting the runner 1/5 of the way there from turn 1. Ryon Knight or really any other brain-damage inducing method could really work well here. Marcus Batty could allow the corp to fire a on Gyri Labyrinth, similarly rezzing a Chairman Hiro (probably on a different server) could add yet more downward pressure on the runner's grip. Stage Two "Follow-up" after forcing the runner to discard down to a dangerous level, the corp should now be in excellent position to finish the runner off... if the corp has the cards to do so. Jinteki Biotech: Life Imagined' s Brewery 2 net-damage might be enough. Punitive Counterstrike if say for example the runner stole a Priority Requisition for 3 meat damage may be enough, 2-3 copies of Neural EMP may work as well. Tag-based damage from sources like Scorched Earth or perhaps Private Security Force etc may be a bit trickier but still worth considering, of course the trick is getting tags on the runner, tag inducing methods like SEA Source are pretty common place, alternatively adding Data Raven, Hunter, Snare! to Stage 1 etc may do the trick too.

(Did I miss something obvious, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pros

Preping for the kill Similar to inducing 2 brain-damage for a turn, Gyri Labyrinth in combo with other any number of finishing cards can be lethal, causing second-guessing for the runner.

Cheap: At only 2 to rez, Gyri Labyrinth a very accessible component to many kill-decks.

Cons

Easy: At only 2 strength, most decoders can make easy work of Gyri Labyrinth

Compensation: Cards such as Public Sympathy can represent a fairly simply way to throw off a Gyri Labyrinth-based strategy

Summary

Gyri Labyrinth fits well with HB's plethora of brain-damage inducing strategies. At two influence cost, Weyland and Jinteki can certainly make decent use as well. Most decks using Gyri Labyrinth also make use of Valley Grid to make sure it's hand-size limitation actually lands on the runner one way or another which of course adds to influence costs. For corps playing with kill-deck strategies in particular Gyri Labyrinth is worth at least a passing glance.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Just Random Numbers!

Alongside their flagship product Dyson Mem Chip, Dyson also produced a lesser-known Fractal Generator which can still be commonly found at many pawnshops servicing the hacker trade. Though famously panned by John Masanori, Dyson Fractal Generator can be a key piece of hardware for hackers who focus more on stealth to overcome barriers rather than brute-force.

Combos

for Fracters: The most obvious combo with Dyson Fractal Generator is the Fracter BlacKat which gets the biggest performance boost when sourcing from stealth cards such as Dyson Fractal Generator. Obviously any of the 10 out of the 11 other Fracter programs get more economical to use each turn as well with used in combo with Dyson Fractal Generator. (Spike is the 1 Fracter than cannot combo with Dyson Fractal Generator). (Sage maybe the most notable here of the other Fracters because it can do double duty being able to tackle Code-Gate ice as well)

More Stealth : Like Silencer for killers (which can interact with Sentry ice) and Lockpick for decoders (which can interact with Code-Gate ice) 3 copies of Dyson Fractal Generator can provide up to 3 stealth, if the entire rig is stealth based, perhaps more flexible sources of stealth credit from Cloak or Ghost Runner could be helpful as well.

Artist's Touch: Got your Fracter out, and on Dyson Fractal Generator but rezzed ice doesn't say Barrier on it? Paintbrush might be worth using a on to change the color to your liking. Tinkering is another viable alternative here.

(Did I miss an obvious combo, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pros

Economy: 1 on Dyson Fractal Generator can make a significant difference turn after turn.

Stealth: While stealth-dependent ice-breakers tend to be efficient & powerful, the limited number of stealth sources make each available source an important line to consider tapping into, Dyson Fractal Generator is one of only 5 possible sources each with their own unique bent.

Cheap: At only 1 to install Dyson Fractal Generator pays for itself after being used only once. In other-wise cash-strapped Anarch decks this is certainly meaningful.

Hardware: Unlike Cloak (a program) or Ghost Runner (a resource), as hardware, Dyson Fractal Generator is much safer from being trashed and doesn't use any

Cons

Limited: Like Silencer and Lockpick, Dyson Fractal Generator can only be used in combination with a smaller subset of ice-breakers

Costly Influence: at 3 influence cost this chip can be very difficult to splash outside of Anarch, particularly if also combined with BlacKat.

Summary

Similar to Dyson Mem Chip, backed up by the Dyson name, Dyson Fractal Generator is dependable, it gets the job done most importantly by further adding to a stealth-based economy. Sadly influence cost for stealth-based decks means compromises must be made in other areas to compensate, ultimately giving a touch of truth to John Masanori's attempted misdirect.

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.

Take one for the Team

When the public is out for blood, throwing them some meat can go a long way towards taking the pressure off. Sometimes a company can do more to serve the greater good by asking on of it's team members to fall on his or her own sword (figuratively, though the artwork on this card suggests otherwise) rather than sticking around, Restoring Face brings this practice to Android Netrunner

Combos

Clean out your desk: There are currently 22 sysops, clones or executives that Restoring Face can interact with to remove up to 2 bad publicity. Elizabeth Mills probably represents the strongest synergy basically bringing the total bad publicity removed up to 3, recur her with Archived Memories, Jackson Howard etc for even more.

Clear up bad publicity from ice: Checkpoint, Fenris, Grim, Muckraker, Shinobi, Swarm, all are powerful ice which unfortunately are semi-self defeating in that they confer bad-publicity which the runner in turn can use to better navigate ice for the remainder of the game unless cleared off in some way.

Clear up bad publicity from agendas: Geothermal Fracking, Hostile Takeover, Posted Bounty, Profiteering, Project Ares, Vulcan Coverup all have the negative side effect of inducing bad publicity, Restoring Face could be decent compliment to any of these.

Bad publicity from assets: Reality Threedee is an example of an asset that unfortunately confers a bad publicity when rezzed.

Clear up bad publicity from operations: Hellion Alpha Test and Invasion of Privacy both add bad publicity, perhaps with bad publicity removal options like Restoring Face these operations could be even more viable in decks which otherwise can't handle so much bad publicity

Clear up bad publicity from ID: bad publicity from GRNDL: Power Unleashed may be mitigated by bad publicity removal options such as Restoring Face

Easier to score: Stacking up bad publicity makes NAPD Contract harder to score clearing them out of the way with Restoring Face might be advisable before putting NAPD Contract down to score

Completely flush resources : With the prevalence of Data Leak Reversal for example Restoring Face can be used to clear off bad publicity ahead of using The All-Seeing I to completly wipe the board of all the runners resources, which unless the runner had 3+ bad publicity on the corp this would be unpreventable.

(Did I miss an obvious combo, I'd appreciate any comments that can help improve this review)

Pro

Efficient Double Duty: Clearing 2 bad publicity in addition to trashing an upgrade or asset that is no longer pulling it's weight helps the corp by providing a bonus to an activity that was going to happen anyway.

Counter Runner Mischief: There are several cards Runners can use to induce bad publicity such as Valencia Estevez: The Angel of Cayambe who's ability can be completely countered once Restoring Face removes her bad publicity. Activist Support, Investigative Journalism, Leverage, Tallie Perrault. Futhermore the following runner cards provide a distinct incentive for the corp to remove bad publicity: Blackmail, Investigative Journalism, Itinerant Protesters, Tallie Perrault

Economical: At 0, a sysop, executive or clone merely need to be installed, not even rezzed in order to combo with Restoring Face.

Con

Co-dependent: Restoring Face is useless when played independently.

Costly: Trashing an installed & rezzed sysop, executive or clone may represent significant lost of sunk cost and possibly drag on momentum depending on ability that will no longer be conferred by the trashed card.

Summary

Restoring Face's thematic flavor alone is noteworthy, any deck that focuses on removing bad publicity would do well to consider it alongside (or in combo with) Witness Tampering, Elizabeth Mills & Exposé among other options available in the meta. So, hey the company was needing to downsize anyway right?

--It just saddens me when I see cards with no reviews. If you appreciated this review, please give a heart and I'll be encouraged to write more.