Design: Valentão is a “soft” illicit that drains credits before comparing credit pools.

• You can detag to skip the badpub (unlike “hard” illicit's).
• You'll end the run if, for example, you had $4 and they had $7 before the encounter, (because you'll reach $6 and they'll drop to $5). Which is like a “pseudo-trace-attempt” (cf. ↳ Trace [4]. If successful, end the run.).

Compare: Whitespace crossed with a Veritas (and a Muckraker).

Flavor: In Brazilian Portuguese, “valentão” seems to mean “bully”.

en.wiktionary.org

PS. A Jinteki Valentão could “drain” cards (like Vampyronassa does) before comparing hand sizes: ↳ Do 1 net damage. ↳ You may draw 1 card. ↳ If there are more cards in HQ than in the grip, end the run.

(EDIT) Piranhas has been printed in this (mini?)cycle, which is also a $5/6s/3↳ codegate, also with take 1 bad publicity or remove 1 tag illicit-ness, and that also ‘drains’ a value (from the Runner to the Corp) before comparing those values; but it's in NBN and it drains cards-in-hand.

Fun, illicit (meaning it generate bad pub) ice. Just like with Piranhas, if you do not want to get a bad pub, you can put Funhouse or Ping in front of it.

The interesting thing about this is the economic difference this ice generate. On facecheck, +2 for the corp make the ice functionally cost 3. But on top of this, it also drain the runner's credits, pushing the runner to break the ice. With a strength of 6, it resist Arruaceiras Crew fairly well.

Of course, this combine well with The Outfit: Family Owned and Operated, making the ice cost only 2.

Otherwise, it is a great ice for rush decks, because of its strength and price. The bad pub does not matter as much if you win before turn 10. In combination with other bad pub / illicit cards (like Hostile Takeover and Too Big to Fail), it allow the corp to reliably play Regulatory Capture.

At 3 influence, you need a good reason to play this out of faction. It might go well with some NBN decks that tag the runner, since those decks will allow you to either not generate bad pub, or drain the credits of the runner faster.

Name, art, card effect and quote combine seamlessly together. Beautiful!