Card Analysis - Humanity's Shadow

We have gone two-thirds of the way through the Genesis cycle now.  We have expanded the themes of all the major factions, and hinted at new themes.  For now, we move into the second-to-last pack, Humanity's Shadow, and see what more there is to this cycle.

Surge

This is pretty significant.  Almost all virus programs get counters placed on them, either when they are installed or when certain conditions are met.  With this, you could get 2 additional counters on one of your viruses.  So a Crypsis could break two additional pieces of ice.  Or you could access two more cards from R&D if you use this with a Medium.  The biggest issue is that you have to have placed at least one virus counter on a program to use this, but there are some ways to do that outside of the normal methods.

Pair cards: most viruses, Incubator, Virus Breeding Ground

Xanadu

This is quite interesting.  It is unique, which means only one copy can be in play at a time, but that one extra credit can start adding up if the corporation is dependent on a lot of ice.  Cheap ice becomes less cheap and expensive ice becomes more expensive.  This could significantly throw off the corporation's math on what they are able to defend if you install this just before you make a run.

Trivia: The flavor text comes from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, "Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment."  Xanadu is the poem is in reference to Shangdu, China, which was the capital of Kubla Khai's empire during the Yuan dynasty.

Pair cards: Forged Activation Orders, Crescentus, Social Engineering

Andromeda: Dispossessed Ristie

And finally, the first new Criminal identity.  Andromeda does not have an ability that is useful throughout the entire game, but instead starts the game with 9 cards.  This means that you have many more options in your first turn, and you can get through your deck quicker, if that is your objective.  Plus, she starts with a base link strength of 1, so you do not need to spend as much on traces.  A fairly solid identity if you need to jump start your game.

Pair cards: anything

Networking

Not frequently used, but it does have some potential.  You can use this to remove a tag for free, but spending 1 credit returns this to your hand.  So you could essentially cut the cost to remove each tag in half.  Of course, this presumes you expect the corporation to tag you.  But if you are running cards that force you to tag yourself, this could be a decent way to remove those tags at a cheaper price.

Trivia: This card is a reprint.  From the Netrunner CCG, we have Open-Ended® Mileage Program, which does the exact same thing as Networking, up to being able to return it to your hand for a credit.

Pair cards: Account Siphon, Vamp, Code Siphon, Maya

HQ Interface

Accessing additional cards is almost always a good thing.  Each copy of this means you access 1 more card from HQ.  Unlike Nerve Agent, the additional access is mandatory, so you might end up flatlining yourself if your opponent decided to hold traps in their hand.  Otherwise, being able to access extra cards means you have more knowledge about what your opponent can do.

Trivia: Also a reprint.  The Netrunner CCG has a card named HQ Interface, with stats pretty much the same as this card.

Pair cards: Demolition Run, Modded, Inside Man

Pheromones

If you know that you will be making a lot of runs on HQ, here is a way to help offset the cost of doing so.  Each time you make a successful run on HQ, you place a virus counter on this card.  Each virus counter on this card adds a recurring credit to this card that can only be used during runs on HQ.  So the more you run on HQ, the more you could get out of this card.  Just watch out for when the corporation decides to purge viruses.  Also, you may have to wait until the start of your next turn for the new credits, as that is when recurring credits are replaced.  Although, the FAQ say that recurring credits are replaced up to the current value, so if you have credits on this before the corp purges, it looks like you keep them.

Pair cards: Surge, Hivemind

Quality Time

A bigger version of Diesel, this card lets you draw 5 cards.  Unlike Diesel, you have to pay 3 credits to play this card.  So you may be wondering why you would need so many cards at once.  Well, there are decks geared around holding onto a lot of cards at once.  Also, this can be a decent way to rebuild your hand if you took a lot of damage or played out a lot of cards.  Plus, there is the fact that this card only costs 1 influence instead of the 2 you need for Diesel, so if you need card draw but are tight on influence, this could be a decent choice.

Trivia: Another reprint here.  From Netrunner CCG, we have the card Bodyweight™ Synthetic Blood, which has the exact same effect, but costs 2 credits to play.

Pair cards: Public Sympathy, Freelance Coding Contract, Prepaid VoicePAD, Beach Party, Faust

Replicator

Okay, this is intriguing.  Having this installed means you can take copies of hardware that you install from your deck.  Sure, it means you can install another copy faster, but the added bonus is you are thinning cards out of your deck, making it more likely you will draw into other cards you need or want.  If your deck is really hardware intensive, having 2 or 3 copies of this could be quite beneficial.

Trivia: Possibly a callback to Android: Infiltration.  One of the item cards in that game is Replicator, which allows you to search through the discard pile and take an item of your choice into your hand.  It even uses the same art.

Pair cards: all hardware, Inside Man, Bazaar

Creeper

A sentry breaker that is also a killer.  It seems fairly solid, although it is moderately expensive to install.  The bigger drawback is the 2 credit cost to break a subroutine, which can add up as many sentries have 2 or more subroutines.  Of course, if you need space in your rig for other programs and can easily get the link up, this might not be too bad.

Pair cards: link strength, e3 Feedback Implants, Security Chip

Kraken

Not frequently played, mainly because of the requirement.  You must have stolen an agenda on the same turn in order to play this, so you have to know there is an agenda and that you can get to it.  Playing this could take out a large piece of ice, but you only get to choose which server it is from.  The corporation will be choosing which piece of ice to trash.  Still, if they are piling up expensive ice on one server, this could be a cheap way to knock one out.

Pair cards: Inside Job, Infiltration, Prepaid VoicePAD

Kati Jones

A very excellent form of economy, if you are willing to put time in.  For each turn, you can either put 3 credits onto this card, or you can take all the credits off of it.  So ideally you want to build up a lot of credits before you need them, say for making a run or installing a lot of cards.  The big drawback is the card being unique means you can only have one copy in play at a time, but by keeping this safe, you can have a fairly stable form of burst economy.

Trivia: Yep, another reprint here.  The original Netrunner CCG card was called Broker, except it cost 3 credits to install and was not unique, so you could have had multiple Brokers installed at the same time.

Pair cards: Hostage, Fall Guy, Calling in Favors, Off-Campus Apartment

Eve Campaign

Like Adonis Campaign, this has the potential to pay out a lot of money to the corporation.  However, the money from Eve Campaign comes in much slower.  At only 2 credits per turn, it will be 3 turns before this pays for itself, making the default profit 11 credits.  The upside is that the 5 credit trash cost may keep the runner from trashing this, especially since you are not getting a lot of credits from it each turn.

Pair cards: Breaker Bay Grid, Ad Blitz, Mumba Temple

Rework

Sort of a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, you can put an agenda or other card you do not want the runner to see back into the deck.  On the other hand, this signals to the runner that you may have just removed something important from your hand, meaning they can focus more on attacking R&D.  Plus, this takes up deck space.  It could be seen as a way to extend the game, meaning you could get more turns by running this, but other cards could potentially end the game in your favor sooner.

Pair cards: anything

Whirlpool

An interesting concept.  Because this is a trap, it means that the runner will need an AI in order to break this.  Of course, you will want to place this so that it forces the runner into a trap, which means placing it in front of an ice that can end the run is a poor idea, since they could let that subroutine go off and evade your trap.  Still, there are possibilities that could be used with this.

Pair cards: Project Junebug, Snare!

Hokusai Grid

This is interesting.  Having this card means that the runner will take damage on a successful run.  Pair that with other sources of damage and you can flatline a runner who is not cautious enough, or you could force them to overdraw for little to no effect.  With a trash cost of 4, you may get several uses out of this, as you will typically want this on your scoring server or possibly R&D or HQ.

Pair cards: Jinteki: Personal Evolution, Project Junebug, Snare!, Fetal AI

Data Hound

In theory, this could be interesting.  It is cheap to rez, but has low strength and the one subroutine is dependent on a trace.  But if that trace is successful, you get to look at a number of cards off the top of the runners deck equal to the amount by which you one the trace.  You can then trash one of them and rearrange the rest in any order.  So you could get rid of something important to the runner and bury other good cards deeper in their deck.  The problem is that once they have their killer up, this becomes very irrelevant.

Trivia: Sort of a callback to Emergency Shutdown, as the artwork from that card is very similar to this card, which is likely because artist Adam S. Doyle did the art for both cards.

Pair cards: NBN: Making News, Primary Transmission Dish, Improved Tracers

Bernice Mai

Free to rez and a modest cost to trash.  This could be a decent way to land a tag on the runner.  Of course, they have to make a successful run on the server she is installed in, and you have to make a successful trace.  Still, it is a somewhat high trace to start with, so unless the runner has gone high link or has a lot more cash than you, you may have a good chance of landing that trace.

Pair cards: NBN: Making News, Primary Transmission Dish, Recruiting Trip

Salvage

Completing the trinity with Woodcutter and Tyrant, we have Salvage.  Very cheap to rez, this card gains a subroutine that could give the runner a tag for every advancement token on it.  The drawback is the low strength, meaning that most decoders will be breaking this for 1 credit per subroutine, and Yog.0 breaks it for free.  Worse, it dies immediately to Parasite, meaning any money you spent advancing this is lost.  Still, it is a Wayland card in faction that can tag the runner, so if you absolutely need another way to try and give them a lot of tags, maybe this is worth considering.

Trivia: The flavor text is a reference to The Wizard of Oz, with Dorothy remarking to Toto, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Pair cards: Amazon Industrial Zone, Primary Transmission Dish, Improved Tracers, Dedication Ceremony

Simone Diego

At 4 credits to rez, this is one of the more expensive Sysops yet.  But she has two recurring credits that can be used to advance cards in or protecting the server she is in.  So if you place her in your scoring server, you could install an agenda and then advance it using the credits on Simone.  That frees up credits in your pool for the defense of your scoring server or your other server.  Plus, if the ice on the server can be advanced, you can use the credits on Simone to boost them.

Pair cars: Recruiting Trip, Breaker Bay Grid

Foxfire

Not frequently used, mostly because it is very situational.  Because it can only destroy virtual resources or link subtype cards, if the runner is not playing any of those, this becomes a dead card.  But if they are dependent on one of those, you might take it out easily, as this card starts with a very high trace strength.

Trivia: As the flavor text implies, Foxfire is sort of an anagram for Firefox, a popular web browser.

Pair cards: NBN: Making News, Primary Transmission Dish

And that is all for Humanity's Shadow.  Next time, we finish off the Genesis cycle with Future Proof.