This will always be my favorite bad card, because we knew it was bad back in the Core Set days, and all through the years - no matter how much the game changes - it just keeps being bad.

God bless you, Cortez Chip!

A great support card for econ pressure decks. Not very good alone, but strong synergy with other Criminal cards.

Combo (ICE manipulation)

FAO - Pay the extra 2, or lose the ICE entirely.

Shutdown - Interestingly, Cortez Chip lasts until the end of the turn. I maximized this effect with shutdown by making the Corp rez the Cortez ICE twice.

Synergy

Siphon - Hit the Corp's credit pool harder in one run.

Inside Job - Gets you in the server when you need it most.

High-Stakes Job - SHOW ME THE $$$$.

This seems pretty playable out of Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord plus Tech Trader - based decks. It powers up Technical Writers, and be trashed at any time as long as there is some ice (it doesn't say "choose an unrezzed piece of ice") for an emergency draw + credits from whatever traders you have out.

If you're going full jank, this can also be instant-installed in bulk with Replicator and Bazaar.

This goes well with expose, which takes the guesswork out of it (target a specific piece of ICE you know the corp can just barely afford to rez, rather than firing blindly and praying). With the right exposition and timing, it could net you a slew of R&D accesses that the corp thought they could keep out out of with their single piece of big beefy ICE.

The problem is, expose just isn't that strong OR that common and will often want to be aimed at things installed in remotes rather than ICE. Combined with the fact that you have to GET the expose effects AND expose an ICE that the corp can just barely afford to rez AND the corp needs to have WANTED to almost bankrupt themselves in order to rez the ICE, this will often end up just being a two credit drain. Which probably isn't worth the deckslot + click + card. And without knowing what ICE you're aiming at, this is just downright terrible.

...or, is it? Would you play a card that said "The corp loses two credits or doesn't rez target ICE this turn, draw a card"? If so, then one Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord would like a word with you. Trash cards in-faction for Criminal are surprisingly thin on the ground, and the zero cost of this one makes it a neat little gadget for Armand to use for deck thinning plus a small benefit. If you WANT a smaller Armand deck, this is absolutely worth looking into, particularly since in a pinch it can be trashed on the corp's turn to save you from a flatline.