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.