Hi, all. I just bought the core set and enjoying it a lot.

I was wondering if you would need to use an icebreaker with 'Break sentry subroutine' on a sentry Ice, or if it's possible to use an icebreaker without 'Break sentry subroutine' against the sentry ice by matching strength and take on the subroutines effects and continue on to the next piece of ice or the installed asset/agenda/ambush/etc. For example:

- Corp has Ichi 1.0 rezzed
- Runner uses Battering Ram against it (which breaks Barrier subroutines) and matches strength to Ichi 1.0
- Runner trashes 2 programs and gets traced since they can't break the Sentry subroutines with Battering Ram
- Continues the run to get to the installed card


Thanks!

You don't even need to match Strength - you just suck the effects of the subroutines. Ichi 1.0 does not say 'end the run' anywhere on the card, so when you've resolved the other effects, the run continues.

Edit: You don't even need a program installed. Icebreakers only matter IF YOU ARE BREAKING. You can (and often should) run without any programs installed. If you hit, let's say Hunter, you can either take the tag or beat the trace, but you don't end the run unless you jack out afterwards.

Great, thank you! That clears it up. I was under the impression that Strength and breaking subroutines were two different thresholds.

No problem, this trips a lot of people up when they first start playing

Yeah, you know how scary Ichi is when you're running without a rig? Really, really not. Click to break the trace subroutine, ignore the program trashing, and just keep going, because Ice doesn't end the run unless that's one of their subroutines.

Corrollary: you don't have to rez Ice if it's not to your advantage. A runner might pass an unrezzed Ichi, then after they've installed a Fracter or Decoder, then that's when you rez it--and if they've gotten sloppy and are running on their 3rd or 4th click, yahtzee.

(Sentries make better mid to late game Ice, to trash the programs that they've installed to get past the Barriers and Code Gates that more frequently ETR.)