After some experience playing both with and against this card, my conclusion is: it isn't as good as it looks, which is a bit concerning given that (at least to me) it only looked decently good rather than amazing.

The three main ways in which a piece of ICE can have a good effect are stopping power, taxing power, and the facecheck. But Mycoweb doesn't seem to do particularly well in any of those dimensions.

Let's look at the facecheck first. Jinteki generally only wants to spend 8 on rezzing one piece of ICE in the early game if it does enough damage to the Runner in the process to make up for the cost of the rez. Spending 8 is quite the tempo hit, potentially taking a couple of turns to recover from – but that's forgiveable if you land a hit on the Runner that also takes a couple of turns to recover from. In this case, though, an early-game rez of Mycoweb frequently does nothing at all: in the early game you normally need to install all the ICE you draw (meaning that it doesn't end up in Archives), if you spent 8 on a rez then you won't be able to rez anything else impactful even with the 2 discount, and you're unlikely to have another spiky sentry or code gate rezzed to copy a subroutine from. Some Runner decks opposite will keep the "period of time where rezzing Mycoweb is useless" around well into the mid-game; in one game I played as a Runner, the opponent rezzed a Mycoweb when I already had a decoder installed (hoping that I would pay the costs to break it), I judged that the subroutines would do less damage than the break cost and let them fire, and the Corp realised that none of the subroutines actually did anything useful in the gamestate at the time and had to let me past.

In the very late game, the facecheck would theoretically be more impactful, if you could get the subroutines to fire – maybe by that point in time you have a lot of highly-damaging subroutines to copy, and Archives might be loaded with ICE (especially if the opponent is trashing it). But at that stage of the game, the facecheck doesn't matter so much because the opponent will almost certainly have a way past the ICE anyway (especially because ICE installed late tends to be on the outside of a server, the most vulnerable location).

What about stopping power? If someone is trying to make the critical game-winning run through a Mycoweb, they can usually get through by matching 5 strength and breaking two subroutines (the last two). Mycoweb is in a weird spot where it has a lot of subroutines, but they rely a lot on synergy in order to work, e.g. the first two subroutines usually have no immediate impact other than setting up the last two subroutines (although they are helpful for future runs). In one of my games, I was trying to steal the last required agenda point from R&D with low credits and dubious breakers, and couldn't afford to break all the subroutines – so I just broke half the subroutines, and still got in. In the early game, the stopping power is even worse – you can't use a Mycoweb to stop a steal unless you have a run-ending sentry or code gate rezzed already, or rezzable from the play area or Archives, and you won't be able to afford both the ICE to copy and the Mycoweb. As such, the stopping power is somewhere between "somewhat porous" (late-game) and "this doesn't matter at all" (early-game). One way you can try to patch up this weakness is to play ICE like Anemone that make the first two subroutines relevant even on a last desperate run; but this is only a tax of 1–2 more, so the synergy probably isn't worth it unless your deck wants to play Anemone anyway.

I was initially expecting the taxing element to be the best part of Mycoweb, and it is, but it still isn't as good as I'd like. The basic issue is that the normal approach to taxing ICE is to put it on a server that the opponent's deck wants to run repeatedly (e.g. R&D against certain Shapers) in order to limit the number of runs that they can make there (via forcing them to spend more money, and thus more time repairing their economy between each run). In order to get value for that, you want to have your taxing ICE rezzed early – otherwise the opponent will get most of their value runs in the early game and just switch server once you've spent effort in fortifying the server they were originally attacking. But Mycoweb isn't useful for taxing until you're already set up with additional ICE to copy, or appropriate ICE in Archives, so it only taxes through a small proportion of the game – and that mostly negates the purpose of taxing the opponent, because the number of runs you're stopping is low in absolute terms and thus the amount of damage you're doing to their gameplan doesn't justify Mycoweb's 8 rez cost. The actual amount taxed is also smaller than it looks: decoders are generally more efficient at breaking things than fracters or killers, the opponent can know or guess that some of the subroutines might be irrelevant and not break it, and the opponent may consider face-tanking the subroutines in certain gamestates (often the best you can do with the last two subroutines is 3ish net damage, which most runners are capable of tanking if they don't have to do it too often).

I'm not yet sure whether Mycoweb's status is "playable as a 1-of in most decks which synergise with them, because it's decent in the late-game", "playable only in decks which synergise with it particularly well", or "never worth it regardless of deck" – I don't have enough experience with or against it to work out in which of those categories it falls. But I don't think it's a staple, and your deck would need to fit it particularly well to consider playing it at 3 copies.

Lie Low (🛏️) either saves 3[$] on removing 2 tags, or saves [click][click] on drawing 4 cards.

For example:

  • After getting Oppo Research’d, you can fully-clear all 4 tags from just 5[$], saving credits (fooling the Corp too). Which you couldn't do by just Sure Gambling first (since you'd one click short).
  • For draw, you don't need to expensively over-install TCAs. (Or have splashed 3×Diesel (6inf/15), or even included Blueberry!™ Diesel.)

One of the top economy cards for any deck with excess memory, Cezve is an extremely efficient card for supplying runners with a seemingly bottomless well of credits, as long as they're using them in runs. While Anarchs get to boast Fermenter and its extreme burst econ and Shapers enjoy combos with Simulchip and Coalescence, Cezve requires no input or setup once it's out, and it will be the edge many runners need to win the game. The Corp has no comparable option, with Mahkota Langit Grid being limited to a single server, the Corp has to rely on their advantage of a larger pile of raw credits to overcome a Runner with a pile of these. With enough at once, running servers becomes sufficiently free that nothing is safe without a stack of high strength pieces of ice, and can often provide enough currency to squeeze into that final run on R&D.

On the other hand, this leaves runners that rely too much on Cezve's econ out to dry when the Corp prioritizes its remote servers or provides other reasons not to run centrals. A clever runner will use Cezve to cover its bases when the Corp is blockading the centrals, while keeping the rest of their econ up to eventually tackle remote servers.

For some shapers, this is a useful 3x import even if the influence cost is high at 9. Anarch's may have more trouble justifying this as import, their rigs tend to not be as beefy on memory. Criminal's themselves will get this for free, but it depends on how much they need those credits in the middle of a run. The recently printed Barry “Baz” Wong: Tri-Maf Veteran loves this card.

Overall, a strong card if the runner can pressure the Corp's centrals, and sometimes that's just enough to find an opening.

IP Enforcement “unsteals” an agenda, like a “kinder Exchange of Information”, crossed with an “inverted Psychographics”. (But into a server, not safely into your score-area.)

For example, if they have 3 tags and stole a 3/2 (like Tomorrowʼs Headline), you can remove 2 tags to IA the stolen agenda, then AA to score it out. Which costs a total of 4[$], [click][click][click], Remove 2 tags., IE. (specialized to X=2):

[$2] Operation
Play this operation only if the Runner has at least 3 tags.
As an additional cost to play this operation, remove 2 tags.

Install 1 agenda with printed agenda point value exactly 2 from the Runner’s score area.
Place 1 advancement counter on that agenda.

Same with 2 tags for any 3/1 (like Oracle Thinktank), and 1 tag for any 2/1 (like Post-Truth Dividend). NB.: both Headline and Thinktank have a Tag-on-Steal (When this agenda is stolen, give the Runner 1 tag.).


Design:

  • Its multitag-punishment is tag-removal (IE. As an additional cost to play this operation, remove X tags.), not just tag-gating (IE. Play this operation only if the Runner has at least X tags.).

  • It will install the agenda (not add it to your score area or add it to HQ), which means you still have to score it out. (NB. This also means that The Holo Man can triple-advance it! Because you have not installed any cards from HQ this turn.) As the Runner, if you've stolen an X/Y and floated Y tags (or 1+Y tags), your risk is bounded. You won't lose your 5/3 at 1 tag (unlike EoI); and even if you went Tag-Me, you might steal the 5/3 right back (unlike EoI).

  • It's a powerful operation that's trashable, but with an exorbitant trash-cost (of -5[$], which is as high as Bellona’s “steal-cost”). BTW, Win-Cons with thematically-related trash-costs could be fun too, like a printed -$[2] but As an additional cost to trash this operation, take 1 tag. [EDIT: like Public Access Plaza!]

  • It's a non-HB 5/5 inf card. (But only NBN decks want this effect anyways, no? Unlike Big Deal).

AFAICT, you'll primarily be unstealing 3/2’s or 4/2’s (which can be fast-advanced, and are worthwhile). For example, Shipment from Vladisibirsk’ing a IP Enforce’d Next Big Thing would need 5 tags. Will it make sense for a 2/1 to get opportunistically unstolen? IDK.*


Flavor:

  • The art shows a “you've been served” home invasion. Flanked by bodyguards, a lawyer is handing over the holographic subpoena (with marquee’ing “LAWSUIT”).
  • To take back their stolen intellectual property, NBN sics the state on some hacker (knowing exactly who they are and where they live). Maybe an Anarch is sharing the trade secrets for the manufacture of a pandemic vaccine, or as revenge for an infection; maybe a Shaper is geeking out on those secrets, editing the mRNA vaccine process to g-mod themselves; maybe a Criminal is just holding onto those secrets, to extort a “blackmail pension”.

Bling (💎) “quickdraws” whenever you creditlessly install. For example:

  • Gachapon can double-trigger Bling, by installing a ≤2[$]-drop (and costing 0[$] itself).
  • Topan can trigger Bling each turn, it being their Console.

Design:

  • It has “turn-length momentum”. Thus, its unbounded Whenever you … trigger (vs. a bounded The first time each turn you …) has a safety-valve. Even if you trigger it four times in a turn, you might only get one benefit. CF. a “complementary” effect like Whenever you …, look at the top card of your stack. If it has printed install or play cost 0[$], you may reveal it and add it to your grip..
  • At best, it can draw every installation (including the hosted cards). At worst, it just mills you every installation.
  • as if they were in your grip: The hosted cards can be cheapened by Topan.
  • trash all hosted cards: If you've “quickdrawn” a Steelskin Scarring or Strike Fund, then you can clicklessly “play” them at EoT (which add them to the bottom of your stack wouldn't trigger). In particular, because it tastes Steelskin when your discard phase ends (not action phase), you can pass the turn with a seven-card hand.
  • install a card without spending credits: It doesn't trigger off Paladin Poemu (not reading from your pool), which I like; it (not reading from your grip) does still trigger off heap-installs like The Price or set-aside-installs like Gachapon.

Synergies:

See o:0 t:resource|program|hardware d:r z:standard b:active and x:paying|reduc|lower|ignor x:credit|cost s!console d:r z:standard b:active .