I believe it is time to revisit this largely ignored piece of ice in the post-rotation, revised core, banned/restricted (post Eli 1.0) era. The basic premise is a piece of ice with a good rez to strength ratio, but the drawback of not forcing a specific breaker type. As such, it will not be universally useful, but 3 rez, 4 str, end the run ice provides enough value that we should consider situations where it might be useful. Some pros and cons:

Cons:

• Can be broken by almost any breaker

Pros:

• Great strength to rez ratio

• End the run sub

• Neutral, no influence cost

So in what sort of situation do the pros outweigh the single, major, con? The answer is when you want to build taxing servers. On its own, Rainbow is not something you should rely on to keep the runner out. But many glacier decks rely on taxing the runner and beating them with eventual economic advantage. So how does Rainbow stack up in such a deck? Pretty well actually. The reason being that it will cost 3 credits for the vast majority of commonly played breakers to break. So while the runner doesn't need to find a specific breaker to get through, none of the ones he or she is likely to use will be able to break it for less than its rez cost, which is a great feature in a piece of taxing ice. A few examples of break costs:

NORMAL BREAKERS:

Gordian Blade: 3

Paperclip: 3

Black Orchestra: 3

Mongoose: 5

Abagnale: 3

Shrike: 4

Yusef: 2 tokens

Inversificator: 3

Mimic: Needs str reduction

Refractor: 1 + 1 stealth

Switchblade: 2 stealth

Eater: 3

Cyber Cypher: 1 (pretty weak to this one)

Disposable Breakers: requires 4 collective str (probably easy to achieve in a deck that uses them)

WEIRD BREAKERS:

Lady: 1 + 1 Counter

D4v1d: No dice!

Aumakua: 1 (but must be at 4 counters)

Femme Fatale: 1 to bypass (but no one is going to Femme Rainbow)

Chameleon: Needs a str boost to break (or str reduction)

IDs:

Quetzel: Okay fine, you got me. Cool hair, by the way!

All told, that is a great taxing ability against a large portion of the likely field. It fills a similar role to rotated all-star Eli 1.0: cheap, taxing ice that you could rush out behind if you're feeling frisky, but that won't stop the runner for long if they just want a single access. Ice isn't there to be a self-contained solution; it exists as part of a larger strategy. And if that strategy involves taxing the runner, then Rainbow is worth a look.

As much as I would like to love Rainbow, it remains disappointing.

Theoretically, it's a 3 credits taxer against many popular breakers. It has a hard "end-the-run" subroutine so, contrary to Eli 1.0, you cannot be siphoned (or legworked, or whatever) through it without a breaker. That said, any breaker will do the job, including the ultra cheap Faerie. So, that's not a decisive advantage.

Rainbow has many annoying weaknesses:

• Due to its numerous subtypes, you cannot really try to score an agenda behind it.
• Yogsucker breaks it for 0 credit (and 1 token).
• Cyber-Cypher breaks it for 1 credit.
• Gordian Blade breaks it for 1 credit if a big code gate is protecting the same server.
• Atman @ 4 breaks it for 1 credit.

With all these weaknesses, in many cases, Rainbow is just an inferior Eli.

Nevertheless, it's still good protecting a remote server with an asset where it has a chance to tax the Runner for 3 credits.

Lately, Rainbow has appeared as a possible protection against Forked, Spooned, and Knifed.

Most breakers will spend 3 credits to break this. So for a 3-cost rez price, I say that's worth it. I don't know why it took me so long to notice this one. If you are running a deck that wants to have cheap and taxing ice and you are tight on influence, this is a great one to throw in.

Rainbow can be broken by any Icebreaker in the game except for Mimic, Yog.0, D4v1d (technically not an icebreaker) or Grappling Hook (also technically not an icebreaker).

Mimic and Yog.0 can easily get through Rainbow with the help of their friends Datasucker and Net-Ready Eyes.

I suppose Gingerbread, Deus X and Sharpshooter also count but they will often be accompanised by Panchatantra.

Quetzal: Free Spirit can walk right through (once per turn). Depending on the positioning Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman might be quite happy too.

With a weaknesses like this Rainbow would need some major upsides or strengths to warrant inclusion in anyone's deck.

1. 3 to rez for a Str 4 'hard' End the run.
2. As the outmost piece of Ice on a server it will 'take the bullet' from Forked, Knifed or Spooned, protecting your better ice from destruction.
3. Str 4 also means it either takes 3/4 turns or a number of Datasucker counters to trash with Parasite.
4. Against decks using an AI breaker like Eater or Faust it is no weaker than a Bastion.
5. Zero influence.

So we can say that Rainbow is kind of 'strong' against Ice Destruction and okay against AI breakers. But if you don't like Ice destruction you've got Architect and Lotus Field. If you don't like AI breakers you could use Swordsman, Turing or Wraparound.

Does it combo with anything?

1. Superior Cyberwalls counts it as a barrier
2. Encrypted Portals counts it as a code gate
3. Unorthodox Predictions makes it unbreakable for a turn

Not an impressive selection in terms of combos either.

The only circumstances where Rainbow will outperform other ice is if your local meta is full of Anarchists who use AI breakers and ice destruction but don't have a lot of Mimic/Yog.0/Datasucker. If this is the case, go ahead and make them taste the Rainbow. Otherwise it's hard to have much pride in this piece of Ice.