Hi! I recently bought the core set and am loving playing as the corp. I do have a few questions, as I am confused on some aspects.

1. How to manage credits? The first two times I played, this was my biggest issue. I'd spend all my cash on rezzing ICE, advancing agendas, or buying upgrades (COUGH COUGH SAN SAN CITY GRID COUGH COUGH) and then I was left with no credits and the runner was easily getting through my ICE. Melange mining corp was helping but it was awfully inefficiant as I'd just waste turns getting money while the runner was actually doing something worthwhile.

2.Tags, and how to use them properly. I was super excited to play as NBN as I was intrigued by the concept of tagging. Then whenver I actually got through his link..... I didnt have enough money to trash his stuff. The runner was just taking on tags and then just making runs. I was dumbfounded. How do I use tags properly? Am I missing something?

Welcome to the game!

It seems like for the moment you're playing out of the Core Set, so the first thing I'll say is that the core set doesn't have easy answers to all your questions. They're hard questions and especially with #1, is a central aspect of the game.

So in general, the game has three phases: early, middle, and late. Early game, advantage runner. The Corp may not have had a chance to fortify everywhere and may have agendas they can't yet both protect and score. Mid game: advantage Corp. there's more ice out, you've got some credits under your belt, you can look for scoring windows. Late game: advantage runner. While there may be more ice on the board, the runner has had a chance to set up significant answers to the corp's game.

There's no simple answer to your questions. One thing to realize about the game is that tempo is very important, and opportunities can be decisive but fleeting. That SanSan City Grid? Once it's rezzed, you can score a 3/2 agenda from your hand in a single turn. It forces the runner to go trash it, spending money when he'd rather be trying to Win instead of just Not Lose.

Some ice is binary: either it's on or off--it dissuades runs when on, but once the runner has the solution it's of minimal importance (Enigma, Ice Wall, Neural Katana)

Some ice is analog: it's taxing no matter what. (Heimdall, Wall ot Thorns, TOLLBOOTH.) Use cheap, binary ice to score aggressively before they get their breakers out. Put Analog ice on centrals, anywhere the runner will need to repeatedly go. Use traps and assets to waste the runner's time and money. Throw tags on them that they have to spend time removing lest they take a Scorched Earth to the face.

What to do with tags? Punish them with cards that require tags. Private Security Force, Closed Accounts, the almighty Scorched Earth.

Good luck!