In a meta where Corps are fast, taxing, and unforgiving, a Runner's Clicks have never been valued so highly. With identities like Replicating Perfection and NEH forcing you to spend your Clicks carefully, it always feels like there is a million things you want to do, but only so much time to do it. I'm incredibly excited for Hayley to make her official debut, and I think she's the first Shaper that can give Kate a clear run for her money.

Let's look at how the ability works. When you install a card, you can install another one without spending the Click, as long as it's the same type (Resource, Program, Hardware). Right away, this tells me two things: One, you'll be getting rid of cards in your hand at an alarming rate and two, you'll need to make sure you have the money to support playing two cards at once. So reliable and constant draw power is a must, as well as money.

Here are a few interesting synergies and options. Professional Contacts seems like a solid choice; you get support your economy and draw at the same time. The only problem is, it'll slow you down quite a bit, and if Hayley's ability focuses on setting up fast, Pro Co seems like two steps forward, one step back. Another interesting resource is Personal Workshop, which will give Hayley the option of delaying her ability. Have something in hand you want to install, but want to make sure her ability triggers? Well, pop it on PW for now, since her ability won't trigger until the card is actually installed.

This also opens up a new facet of her ability; triggering it on the Corp's turn. PW, Clone Chip, and Self-modifying Code all allow her to use paid windows to get the most out of her ability. This can be used to quickly set up a RIG between your turn and the Corp's turn, given you have the cards in hand and the money to support it. You also have the option to trigger these abilities during a run, which could be deadly in a Parasite, Datasucker deck. This allows you to keep the Parasite hidden in your hand instead of in the trash with a Clone Chip in-play.

A very silly synergy (that I'm still toying around with) is Replicator. Let's say you have Replicator out. From my understanding, you would be able to 1) Install an Akamatsu Mem Chip, 2) Search your deck for a second Mem Chip, 3) Install that second Mem Chip, and 4) Search your deck for the third Mem Chip ALL at the cost of a single Click! Just because of that synergy, a Replicator, Prepaid VoicePAD, Comet deck with Event based economy just gets my brain all fuzzy and warm. There might be too many gears in the machine, but that'll require further testing.

And speaking of Comet, I'm still on the fence about it. The 4 cost is quite great, but it could end up paying off dearly in terms of clickless Event economy and clickless Run events. I feel it's worth mentioning since the console is obviously built for Hayley (mirrors her ability, comes out in the same data pack...she's on the friggin artwork). But it seems like something that might slow her down a ways when she's meant to go fast.

Other cards to keep in mind with her ability: Underworld Contact and Dyson Mem Chip with Replicator. The Supplier though it may not be as useful as PW. I'd also look into Borrowed Satellite, since Hayley will be needing that hand-size.

As for card draw, Diesel has some fun synergy with Comet, (draw 3 cards, if one is an event, play it for no Click) and is a solid, money saving card in general. I'd say Quality Time is a little too expensive for Hayley. You'll want to play your cards in the same turn, so spending 3 credits plus the cost of two more installed cards adds up fast. Pro Co keeps coming back to mind so you can just draw as you need it. There's also Astrolabe, though it's unsafe to rely on it. I'd say Diesel/Comet or Pro Co are solid choices.

Money is where I'm indecisive. Magnum Opus is great in conjunction with PW. Prepaid VoicePAD with Comet could make for some amazing econ, but again, there are a lot of cogs turning. Or do you go Clickless econ with Daily Casts and Underworld/Link, but give up a lot of speed in the process? I think my favorite part about Hayley is that all of these options are solid and can make use of her ability in different ways.

So the question burning in everyones' minds; is she better than Kate? I guess I'd give your standard non-answer and say that they're too different to compare. Kate's ability is far more direct of a pay-off. Is it better to save a Click or save a Credit? The obvious answer is that saving a Click is far better, however, you might not be able to trigger Hayley's ability more than 4-5 times a game, where Kate can easily save you upwards of 10 credits. Hayley also has the downside of going down to unsafe handsizes against Weyland or Jinteki, meaning you may not always want to trigger her ability. Overall, I'd say Kate is pretty objectively strong, where Hayley very much depends on the matchup and your draw.

It's always interesting to see a new Shaper identity, as they always allow for some interesting builds. I think Hayley opens up the doors for a lot of interesting plays that have yet to be discovered and I hope we can figure them out.

Aesop's pet robot? This card is a weird one.

Pros:

• It's Hardware. I hate Programs clogging up MU and Resources can be fragile.
• It's cheap to install
• 1 Influence
• It's versatile. You might just begin your turn with a handful of crap. And just maybe you're in a position to give up an installed card to get some more options. Maybe an Imp or a D4VID that's out of counters is better used to grab a card than sit on the table. Also being able to remove a tag is nice and could come in handy.
• Nice synergy with Activist Support. Beginning of your turn, Corp takes Bad Pub, you get to trash Activist Support with Chop Bot AND remove the Tag you received. Pretty snazzy. I can see the combo working in a Valencia deck.

Cons:

• Cost efficiency? Is trashing a card worth the 2 credits and a Click you save removing a tag, or the single Click you save drawing a card? In some situations, yes. In others...meh.
• Usefulness is limited. This will only work in a deck where you don't mind trashing your own RIG. And if you're running a Noise deck, you'd probably rather have the 3 bucks from Aesop's than a single card.
• Only going to work in combo decks.

Overall, it's fine. It seems fun and I think there will be some cute combos with Bad Pub decks, but other than that, it definitely won't fit in many places.

I'm very glad this card exists, but I still don't know if it will ever make the cut in any of my virus decks.

For one thing, Grimoire (which is an auto-include in your virus deck), already gives you +2 MU. And assuming you aren't using any beefy programs like Keyhole or Morningstar, maxing out your RIG with 6 viruses is quite rare, even for the most extravagant Noise decks. Parasites will cycle in and out and Caches (along with many other programs) will be traded to Aesop. Very rarely have I ever found myself with 6 virus programs out and wishing I had more room on my RIG.

Also, considering Progenitor and Djinn are other ways to reduce MU, I don't see Memstrips being necessary. Now, if you wanted to leave Djinn and Progenitor behind, then yes, maybe Memstrips would be worth it.

Vigil might be nice in Valencia when combined with Itinerant Protesters, but I think it's safe to say this console could find home as a nice Card Draw engine in many Anarch decks.

This console serves as an insanely nice answer to Jackson Howard's draw power. How many games have you played against Corps where they Jackson'd a few times during their turn, and then discarded cards safely, knowing they were protected. Anytime a Corp player discards cards, that means they're at their max hand size. This is especially common against NEH decks and Scorch decks that try and dig for their key cards.

While Vigil has the most obvious synergy with Valencia, I believe it can be a nice option to combat Grimoire if you're not running any virus programs.

Virgo is an extremely nice tagging option in an NBN Tag deck. An investment of 7 will guarantee the tag, though in Making News, that investment drops to 5, making that identity a better candidate for this ICE. If the runner happens to run into it while broke, a small investment on the Corp side can turn this encounter into a double tag.

The 5 Strength is incredibly nice, meaning Virgo remains a great taxing option even after it's rezzed, in the same vain as Grim. The best part is, in Making News, the trace is always a threat. Even if the Corp is sitting on 1 credit, the Runner does not want to run through the trace, since a tag is guaranteed with Trace 5.

The biggest question, does this overtake Data Raven as far as tagging Sentries go?

The answer: They're both entirely different and serve different purposes (surprisingly enough). For an aggressive tagging system, Virgo does the job much better than Data Raven, the reason being that the Runner can always opt to jack out of Data Raven and wait until they have the breaker/money to run it again as safely as possible. If they're surprised with a Virgo, they'll need to suffer at least one (if not two) tags before the run is over.

Data Raven, however, serves as a great run deterrent. If you want the runner to jack out or stop running for a short bit, Data Raven will keep them out. It also doesn't need to rely on a credit investment or a subroutine in order to tag. Data Raven tags on the encounter, meaning even if the Runner has that sentry breaker out, they're not getting through without taking a tag. Double Data Ravens on a server can be extremely punishing. Also, getting a Power Counter on Data Raven gives the Corp a ridiculous amount of power.

Overall, Virgo is a very neat tagging option that sets itself apart from Data Raven and manages to offer an alternative tagging system.