So far, I’ve been playing this card out of Azmari EdTech: Shaping the Future and it is making me a lot of money. I also see potential synergy with Gagarin Deep Space: Expanding the Horizon using must-trash assets. Here are some popular cards that I love seeing on the Runner side and how much they might make you:
Cards to Profit off of:
Shaper:
Anarch:
Street Peddler / Imp (3-4)
Chop Bot 3000 / Scrubber (many)
Criminal:
Common Self-Trashing Resources:
Mini-factions:
Apocalypse/Prey/Heartbeat/Endless Hunger/Harbinger (Apex-many)
Independent Thinking/Neutralize All Threats (Adam-many)
Even popular corp cards like MCA Informant, the Fairchild suite, and Bulwark, which make the runner trash their own stuff, will help trigger Death and Taxes.
Weaknesses:
The runner can immediately play a current from hand or go on a deep dig for an agenda, leaving you with a 2 loss
The card ironically doesn’t tax the runner like Scarcity does so a runner in a losing position won’t be affected
Conversely, a corp in a losing position can’t use this card to recover and would much rather prefer a traditional burst econ card
Border-line dead draw if found in the late game after the runner is fully set up
I won’t argue that Death and Taxes is as universally good as Paywall Implementation – profiting off of the runner’s most fundamental win condition (successful runs) will always be a strong ability. However, Death and Taxes can be good given the right build. Using Jua, Threat Assessment, and Degree Mill to force the runner to re-install their cards and then profiting from the recycling using TechnoCo and Death and Taxes feels deliciously evil and I implore you to try it out yourself.