This is quite easily the best console in the game. It's sheer utility and hefty returns make buying that third core set an absolute necessity for top tier players who are using it.

Of all the factions, Criminal has the most interesting and unique consoles. Doppelgänger laughs in the face of Jinteki: Replicating Perfection, and makes for a decent Notoriety/Quest Completed deck. Logos can drastically change the game, and synergizes quite nicely with Leela's ability. Box-E not only gives you extra memory, but it'll mess with the Corp's math for scorching. And then there's Blackguard. Such a useful console if you can shell out the money for it.

There's only one problem with these consoles: you have to build your deck around them. Or in the case of Box-E, there has to be a good reason you aren't playing Desperado. This card you can slip into any deck, in or out of faction, and more often than not, it'll be a good fit. Personally, I've only really played it in my competitive Andy deck, but I've seen it pretty much everywhere. That's 6 to 9 influence people are spending on card, and with good reason. At 3 to install, the returns are always at least double the cost, if not more. Plus, just having that extra, click-free credit to spend during access is ridiculous useful for when you need to make runs early. The Corp may think you can't get into their remote and steal the game-winning NAPD Contract, but then you break through every thing, and go from 3 to 4 credits to secure the win.

Any other criminal console is going to telegraph your gameplan, which might seem insignificant, but can affect the Corp's early game decisions; for instance, if I see a Doppelgänger hit the table, I'm going to be putting a taxing ice on archives as soon as I can. But all you can tell from a player using Desperado is that they want to win.

I don't really know if you've actually played hardcore Astrobiotics or general NEH shenanigans, but AstroScript, in my opinion, is the single most overpowered card in the game.

By itself, yes, it's not as good as other agendas in terms of ability on its own. But when you take into account the cards that NBN has at its disposal in faction, it becomes more than a little ridiculous.

For one thing, there's the "Astrotrain." Score just one of these, and you're set for scoring the second two. Once you've scored the third one, all you need is to Fast Track for Breaking News and you've won the game. This definitely relies on card draws (getting the right ice to keep them out of the first server, having the right agendas, etc) but considering how much draw power NBN also has in faction (Jackson Howard, Anonymous Tip, Near-Earth Hub: Broadcast Center's ability) it's not so far-fetched to imagine this happening.

When facing an NBN deck, my strategy is usually to run aggressive and early. The problem with this is that if I'm facing a Psycho-Midseasons or Tag & Bag, I'm going to pay dearly for those early runs because they'll probably leave me broke, while the corp is gonna bounce back pretty fast due to the cheap rez cost of the ICE they're gonna play. With Sweeps Week requiring only 1 credit to play, you don't even need to splash Beanstalk Royalties. Just go for Green Level Clearance or Blue Level Clearance and get some MORE draw power.

In an ideal meta, PSF and Ares would do some real damage. But 2/4 agendas simply aren't suited for Fast Advanced (which is still dominating the meta), unless you're talking about something taxing like NAPD Contract. And if you have to score it, SanSan City Grid and your handy astro token will get the job done.

If they ever come out with a ban/limited list for Netrunner, I want this to be the first card on it. Limit it to 2, maybe even 1, per deck. Then we might see some more interesting NBN agendas being played like Market Research and Character Assassination. Until then, the Astrotrain will keep on chugging.