Kingmaking

Kingmaking 4/2

Agenda: Research

When you score this agenda, draw up to 3 cards. You may add 1 agenda worth 1 or less agenda points from HQ to your score area.

“We are close, so close, to the endgame now, my friends. If we can convert just three more, the Automata Initiative is all but through the senate.”
—The Holo Man
Illustrated by Olie Boldador
Decklists with this card

Rebellion Without Rehearsal (rwr)

#113 • English
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  • Updated 2024-05-26

    Can the Corp choose to draw 0 cards after scoring Kingmaking?

    Yes. “Up to 3” means the Corp can draw 0, 1, 2, or 3 cards.

Reviews

This isn’t a review, I’m just wondering if anyone else thinks that ‘1 or less agenda points’ doesn’t sound quite right and it would be better for this card to say ‘1 or fewer’? I think the reason I may be thinking that is because people tend to use fewer when referring to a plural (points in this case).

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)
15

yeah, I think either "one or fewer agenda points" or "one agenda point or less" sounds a little better, but "one or less agenda points" doesn't even sound bad to me to be honest (because of how colloquially interchangeable "less" and "fewer" are).

—

I have always said that 4/2 agendas need to be incredibly strong to see play. And I think Kingmaking might just be up there. If you build your deck correctly, this is essentially a 4/3 but without giving the runner a big boost like Improved Protein Source or the downside of being unable to fast advance it with something like Vladisibirsk City Grid as with Vulnerability Audit.

Ofcourse there is a downside to it, which is that you might not have a 1-pointer in hand at the time of scoring. But then again, between your mandatory draw and the 3 cards this draws, your chances of seeing one are pretty high. And worst case scenario, it still draws you 3 cards, which is probably an upside (unless you draw into a ton of non-1-point agendas).

So yeah, great agenda that will probably see play in specific NBN decks.

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)
1965

Kingmaking (👑) is a “DIY 4/3” if you're holding onto (or draw into) an X/1, as well as drawing up to 3 cards itself.

“Low-Worth” agendas include:

See v<2 t:Agenda f:NBN|neutral z:standard .

Design:

  • Like Regenesis, it “free-scores” an agenda when you score it (which I love). This encourages its own specific agenda-suites: Regenesis wants 5/3’s, esp. which have Archives-relevant text; and Kingmaking wants 3/1’s, esp. which have (non-when you score & non-hosted agenda counter-based) abilities.
  • Even if you didn't care about the extra agenda point or any abilities (like False Lead), it still “removes” one agenda in your hand from the game, which is a (petit) anti-flood effect on its multi-draw.

Note:

  • While it won't trigger Superconducting Hub’s conditional (on-score) ability, it does still enable its static (in-score-area) ability. For example, in @koga’s “Teeth Azmari”.
  • IMO, the text would read a little better as worth 1 agenda point or less / worth 1 or fewer agenda points.

A kingmaker scenario in a game of three or more players is an endgame situation where a player who is unable to win has the capacity to determine which player among others will win.

en.wikipedia.org

(Rebellion Without Rehearsal era)
209