Maintenance Access (🥷) is an “Event-ified Sneakdoor Beta”! It:

• gives you an HQ-Success, not just HQ-Breach (unlike Virtuoso, Eru Ayase-Pessoa, or Beatriz Friere Gonzalez). You will trigger a Maglectric Rapid or PAN-Weave, help enable Jeitinho, and so on.

• replaces with a “Re-Approach” (would approach Archives … change the attacked server to HQ and approach HQ), like Sneakdoor’s “Re-Declare” (would be declared successful … change the attacked server to HQ). The run will still get declared successful on HQ, not Archives (and will also triggers any defensive upgrades, FWIW).

• is a Double. To Deep Dive by running Archives twice (and R&D once), you'll need an extra click (from Sable and/or Swift). BTW, if you installed a Sneakdoor or Slipstream on the turn you use it, then it became a “pseudo–Event: Run - Double” anyways.

• is an Event (not a Program), which taxes “−1 Hand-Size, −0 Memory-Limit”. Unlike SB’s −2[mu] (which taxed both).

Design

Pinhole Threading is the “horizontal” complement to “vertical” bypass/derez/rez-tax effects (like Inside Jobs, Windows of Opportunity, or Tread Lightly’s).

“Passing-Horizontally” cards can:

• “distort” (non-derogatory) ice-placement differently, such as: the Corp icing Archives to protect HQ against MA (and not just double-/triple-icing HQ to protect against Inside Job, Bankhar, etc).

• “reify” dynamic play-patterns, such as: run HQ (force ice rez there, maybe even jacking out afterwards), then run remote (if ice here would be unrezzible). That is, if NSG printed a “Central→Remote Redirect”, like:

  • Run a central server. When you would approach that server, instead change the attacked server to a remote server (if able) and approach it. (passes ice)
  • Run a central server. If that run would be declared successful, change the attacked server to a remote server for the remainder of that run. (passes upgrades too)

However, Runner-side server-redirection rarely gets printed, so I've been wanting more for years (especially as Criminal events). Below was my custom card (designed once I realized Sneakdoor was rotating). It was also a Double, but because of the extra value (multiaccess, draw), not to avoid Deep Dive (since mine wasn't play tested, theirs was LOL). And it let you hit R&D as well as HQ, so that Criminals could attack R&D (like for Zahya and WAKE Implant), the way Shapers can pressure HQ (like with Burner).

Sneakdoor Heist
[$1] Event: Run - Double
[criminal 3/5]
As an additional cost to play this event, spend [click].
Run Archives.
If that run would be declared successful, change the attacked server to HQ or R&D for the remainder of that run.
When you breach the attacked server, access 1 additional card.

Synergies

HQ-Succeeding/Breaching triggers/checks (non-Event):

• Maglectric Rapid (derez anything anywhere)
• Lucky Charm?
• WAKE Implant (to charge for R&D)
• Detente?
• Jeitinho (or Deep Dive, with extra clicks)
• PAN-Weave (drain a credit) + Info Bounty (if HQ is marked) + Zahya

HQ-Multiaccess:

• Docklands Pass
• Cupellation
• The Twinning, Manuel Lattes de Moura?, etc
• Mercury (especially with uniced Archives)
• Virtuoso?

See x:hq t!event d:r

“Run-Events-matter”:

• MuslihaT (draws it).
• Swift (reimburses the Double 's click-loss).
• Sang Kancil? (irrelevant, unless Archives is Code-Gate’d)

NBT is like a “yellowshifted Bacterial Programming”.

For example, after the Runner steals it (with five-ish cards in hand and just two credits in pool), you can: click it to draw 4 (shuffling away an agenda), play Your Digital Life (netting+$7), then play a kicked Oppo Research (the stolen 5/3 turning on both the Threat 3 and the “Reprisal”).

The agenda-counter templating increases the flexibility (and simplifies the timing) of:

• When this agenda is scored or stolen, draw 4 cards, then shuffle any number of cards from HQ into R&D.

Early Elevation: This is looking to be one of the strongest cards in the set, despite not even being part of "spoiler season".

Obviously it's a slightly cheaper Hedge Fund split over two turns with the downside of being pseudo-Priority (though you can play it with things like Humanoid Resources or Subcontract as long as it's your first click.)

Hedge Fund is pretty good and most corps run it, so this card makes money.

More interesting is the interaction with cards like Nebula Talent Management: Making Stars and Plutus, where the click gain turns this into a viable fast-advance tool. It's even a unique action for MirrorMorph: Endless Iteration, which might help that often-experimental identity out.

There's some counterplay: Cupellation can take this hostage for a time, and Heliamphora is a particularly big threat; however Cupellation tends to have better things to do and Heliamphora has not been very good for its life so far. Transfer of Wealth is also particularly good due to the adjusted priority clause.

Overall, I'd expect this to show up heavily at this year's World Championship.

Hantu (👻) is a semi-Fixed-Strength (and semi-Limited-Usage) breaker: halfway between disposability (like Propeller) and high-base-strength (like Buzzsaw).

For example, it can interface with Ansel 1.0 twice, or Biawak once. After which, you must spend Leech counters, have charged it with Cookbook, or so on.

(I don't know about the power-level, but I do love the design.)

Hantu is a ghost/spirit in Malay/Indonesian. (False cognate with "haunt"!)

Hantu (Wikipedia)

I've been having a lot of fun, and a lot of success, with this ID. Comparisons to Weyland Consortium: Building a Better World are fairly apt, as you get more value when you make money, but crucially, this comes in the form of cards, not more money. Despite being a shadowy organization that works "at a distance," Zwicky moves fast, and it needs to. As soon as you've made a bit of money, jamming agendas behind Maskirovka and Descent is the way to go. This puts pressure on the runner to find their tools while you naturally draw into yours just by playing the game. Since you're playing many transactions, Plutus gets you even more value out of them and lets you do some cool click laundering with Red Level Clearance, Greasing the Palm, and Petty Cash, allowing you to FA your Off the Books and Above the Law towards a win. Since you're going fast, Threat cards come online faster, specifically Measured Response. The longer MR is on the more likely it is for the runner to slip up on money or cards, letting you blow them up. Slash and Burn Agriculture deserves special mention as it allows you to add to your score area (by FAing) and your opponent's if you let it get stolen -- why would you do this? If you let your opponent get to four you can rez all your Biawaks and Plutus without worrying about turning off MR.

The Zwicky Group: Invisible Hands will never reach the incredible credit highs as BABW but I like it quite a bit more because it allows you to actually do something with your money instead of just jacking up Punitive Counterstrike traces or whatever.