When you think of sentries, especially high-investment ones, you think of monstrous pieces of ICE that could end games alone given the right situation. Each faction has or has had a sentry that is to be feared given the corp has enough credits to rez it: Archer, Janus 1.0, and especially the new Anansi. However, NBN has only had...Flare? Thoth? Both of which are only good if the trace is successful which means they can be 1) paid through or 2) broken with high-link.

Enter Hydra.

While the beast doesn’t end games alone, with the right support, it can be absolutely devastating. If all of Hydra’s subs fire (with the help of cards like Data Raven, Bandwidth, Eavesdrop, or the new Acme Consulting ID) you can guarantee Snare! on a stick. Unlike the ambush though, you’re paying a net of 1 credit more for an ETR sub.

Let’s say the runner does have their killer out though, is that 10 credit investment worth it?

• Mongoose will need 7 credits to break 2 subs and 8 to break all subs

• Na'Not'K (assuming an average 2/3 ICE remote) will need 9/6 credits respectively

• MKUltra will need 9 credits to break 2 subs and 12 to break all subs

• Freshly printed Ika will need 8 credits pre-hosting or 6 credits otherwise

With almost every common killer requiring a minimum of 6 credits, Hydra is excellent as a big, taxing ICE and can really be considered as an alternative in decks that would normally run Tollbooth, Data Ward, etc. It also raises a big middle finger to Hunting Grounds which has generally been the bane of so many amazing NBN ICE like the two just mentioned.

However, every NBN player should ask themselves two questions before including Hydra in their deck:

1) Am I regularly able to afford the 10 credit rez cost? You’ll still need to pay the initial 10 even if you might get refunded.

2) Is a high-cost sentry, whose only punishment against runners being a tag and an unsuccessful run, worth it to my gameplan?

If you answered Yes to both questions, consider a x1 or x2 Hydra in your deck and drink up on those delicious runner tears.

I probably run this card on Jnet more often than most people, and I'd just like to note one thing that the previous review overlooks. Hydra only costs 10 when it doesn't fire. Otherwise its net cost is only 5 because the second sub immediately pays you back half the cost (obviously you still need the full price on hand for the rez). This makes Hydra a surpisingly viable option as a midgame rez for an averagely rich deck. You can go broke to rez it and it will immediately pay you back enough cash to play a Hedge Fund. Meanwhile, clearing their tag costs the runner a click they might otherwise have used to capitalise on your low funds. All this means that as long as you're sure the runner is going to bounce off it, Hydra can be favourably compared to mid value ice, whether it's stoppers like Mestnichestvo or tax-walls like Funhouse. You could even argue it's preferable to Tollbooth, in certain lights, if you squint a bit.

In the case the runner can break it, the subs are irrelevant, so all you need to know is the numbers. In this case it's still not bad if you can afford it (only one strength less than Týr and without the uniqueness or alternate breaking option). This is an occasionally handy but - in my mind - secondary use. Combined with the analysis above, you might think of Hydra as a very good medium-cost ice that becomes a slightly-below-the-curve high-cost ice once the runner can break it - whether you've rezzed it by that point or not.

All this means that in its optimum use-case it's a very code gate-like sentry (note all the comparisons above are code gates). It doesn't do the runner really dangerous damage when it hits, but it creates a big economic tempo swing. You get: a big ETR ice for the price of a middle-sized ice. They get: a tag. In its less-than-optimum use case it's just some big numbers.