ATTENTION FILTHY, UNWASHED DATA THIEV--uh, Fellow Runners!

Feel free to talk about your favorite Runner faction or cards. None of the information you post here will in any way be collected, stored, and used against our kind by faceless megacorporations.

Personally I seesaw between Shaper and Criminal. Diesel is solid, of course, and Gordian Blade appears useful. I like that Shaper icebreakers seem to keep their strength for the entire run. I'm also fond of Inside Job, which is one of the few Criminal cards we've seen. Bypassing ice on the cheap is always a good thing… well, unless you walk into a Snare! or a Ghost Branch but I am SURE THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN SO DO NOT WORRY.

Any thoughts? Maybe you just like Noise's hair. That's cool too.

Actually, Noise is probably my first pick for a runner deck, just to couple his passive ability with viruses. There used to be a nice virus card called butcher boy, which generated bits for you every turn for every 2 virus counters you slap on the corp. I've always been appealed by the early threat runner decks, as the cost to repeatedly break late game IC can tip the game to the corps favor. I figure, the corp is usually the most exposed at the beginning of the game with 3 unprotected data forts. Hit early, and hit often.

To be honest, so far I am far, far more impressed with the caliber of corp cards. The most hope I've seen are the IC breakers which maintain their strength for the entire run.

Tough to say. We haven't many criminal or anarch cards. Between the two IDs, Noiz looks better IMO. Assuming the Anarch has a decent supply of viruses of course.

General strategy / play style:

Early game: run on R&D / HQ, score a few points. Force em to spend money defending the basics. Demo run I guess, to leave them with more assets than things to defend them with.

Mid game: Mill R&D. Corp will probably ICE archives, but you know what, that's one less ICE defending the agendas they want to advance.

End game: Gamewinning epic run on archives. Possibly use Inside Job to sneak past the first layer.

pwnguin said:

amen.

Gabriel Santiago is up on CardgameDB now.

I like him! He looks incredibly smug, for one. I suspect we'll see one or two "Make a run on HQ but access somewhere else instead" cards in the Criminal's repertoire.

"It wasn't me! It was the one-armed man!"

HyenaSpotz said:

I'm new to this game, so take everything I say with a pound of salt, but this guy seems pretty good. If you assume that you install something every 2 turns with Kate (would installing something every other turn be "normal"?) vs. running against HQ every turn, you're netting 1.5 credits with Gabriel. In other words, trading +1 link for 1.5 credit.

Now, if you are running Gabriel than your opponent will be more likely to protect HQ over another server, but then the opponent is opening up more elsewhere. Even if this makes Gabriel's bonus somewhat situational mid- or late-game, Kate's +1 link seems much more situational early game.

Ultimately, it seems like the real trade off is getting 2 credits somewhat reliably early with Gabriel and possibly no credits later vs. the equivalent of roughly 1 credit on average throughout the game with Kate (assuming you are traced once every 2 turns AND install something once every 2 turns). Does that make sense?

No worries, given the changes and the fact none of us have had a chance to play the new version yet, everything anyone says should be taken with a grain of salt.

Personally I put a high priority on protecting HQ anyway, since I don't like Runners mucking around with my options. True, R&D is stacked with them too, but I haven't drawn them yet so in a way they don't matter as much.

Gaining credits is definitely good, but I'm curious to see what cards will let Señor Santiago DO with those credits, and unfortunately we haven't seen much yet, though I suppose a few will be revealed a bit later this week when the Runner line-up hits the site.

On a side note: has anyone tried to play the old game recently? As in, the past two weeks? When I heard A:NR announced, I scooped up a starter deck and have been playing a bit. It was a lot of fun, but as more cards have been revealed, my play experience has felt… clunkier. Especially as the Runner. All these base link cards and frustratingly obtuse programs pale in comparison to the sleek, sexy array of hardware and software we've seen on display here.

The king is dead, long live the king?

HyenaSpotz said:

Here's hoping that one of my old favorites, Shredder Uplink Protocol , will still be available. It seems like an effective combo with Santiago, allowing him to run either of 2 servers and still trigger his ability.

Also, the mere existance of cards like that was a great tool for runners. In olden days,every corp player learned to protect their archive, or paid a heavy price - and eventually the corp ICEs the archive even when he isn't sure if the runner has the program, spreading the ICE a little thinner.

HyenaSpotz said:

I've played a few games with starters I still had. They're rather unfocused, not having the dupes a constructed deck would. So, yeah, they seem clunky.

hooliganj said:

Well, here's your new Shredder Uplink Protocol: Sneakdoor Beta .

And that card looks very interesting, as whilst it will take up memory, it removes the concern of needing a card in hand to make a run every turn. Early game it seems like it would put the pressure on the corp to focus on their Archives sooner then they would expect to.

Well, there's a few new cards dropped in the most recent article, and it's looking pretty awesome for Anarch.

In constructed play you'd probably want to mix in some better icebreakers, rather than inside job like I suggested earlier, as Stimhack is just as good if not better at the end game.

Stimhack… now we just need shell traders lol

"Do the 'Drine! "