If you play a Parasite card, do you actually put it on top of the hosting ice, or do you keep it in your rig and put a token on the hosting ice to signal it's hosting something?

Either is fine, but most people put the card directly on the ICE.

NOTE: Parasite is host ed , not host ing . As such it gets trashed along with the ICE if/when the ICE is trashed.

Feesh is correct, though I find Stroomschok's post to be grammatically correct.

I actually like to sometimes use chess pieces and identifiable tokens (Target Lock Tokens from X-Wing work well) because it can be easy to misjudge your MU in Parasite/Caissa-heavy builds when most of your rig is scattered across the opponent's board.

I actually like to sometimes use chess pieces and identifiable tokens (Target Lock Tokens from X-Wing work well) because it can be easy to misjudge your MU in Parasite/Caissa-heavy builds when most of your rig is scattered across the opponent's board.

I've been meaning to pick up some chess pieces myself for this very reason.

I've also seen some less conventional (but effective) methods of tracking MU, such as having MU tokens which you flip when you install, and flip back when you trash (and add more tokens if you install a console or Memchip).

I actually like to sometimes use chess pieces and identifiable tokens (Target Lock Tokens from X-Wing work well) because it can be easy to misjudge your MU in Parasite/Caissa-heavy builds when most of your rig is scattered across the opponent's board.

I've been meaning to pick up some chess pieces myself for this very reason.

I've also seen some less conventional (but effective) methods of tracking MU, such as having MU tokens which you flip when you install, and flip back when you trash (and add more tokens if you install a console or Memchip).

I like the idea of putting the MU tokens on the Programs themselves. I bought a travel chess set that has backgammon/checkers tokens but I haven't had much call for it.

Either is fine, but most people put the card directly on the ICE.

NOTE: Parasite is host ed , not host ing . As such it gets trashed along with the ICE if/when the ICE is trashed.

I just started playing so i'm a little fuzzy on how viruses work but I don't understand how it can be "either/or"; the card says that it has to be installed ON ice. If I could keep it on my rig that'd be great because it would free up a space in my hand. My friend and I have been playing it as something you only use once you attack ice.

Either/Or is just for aesthetic tastes. I know people who just put the parasite in their rig and them a place a colored or numbered token on it and a matching one of the ice.

It doesn't mean that it's actually in the rig in anyway. Parasite is always installed hosted on ice, it doesn't matter where you physically place it so long as it's clear which ICE it's hosted on.

Technically speaking, all the runner's installed cards are in their rig, no matter where they're hosted.

Either is fine, but most people put the card directly on the ICE.

NOTE: Parasite is host ed , not host ing . As such it gets trashed along with the ICE if/when the ICE is trashed.

I just started playing so i'm a little fuzzy on how viruses work but I don't understand how it can be "either/or"; the card says that it has to be installed ON ice. If I could keep it on my rig that'd be great because it would free up a space in my hand. My friend and I have been playing it as something you only use once you attack ice.

I think I see where your misunderstanding is coming from. You can -not- have a Parasite sit in your rig and move it to an ICE later on, it must be installed on a piece of ICE and unless I'm missing some weird corner-case it can't exist without being hosted on an ICE.

The topic's question was if you had to put the actual card onto the ICE hosting it or if you could put it next to your other programs and use a token to signal which ICE it's hosted on, the answer being both (and probably just about any other solution) are fine as long as both players agree on it and know what's going on.