I don't normally write hate reviews because there's a lot I love about this game, and there are a lot of good, interesting and fascinating cards, so it feels like a shame to focus on the negative, but here we go.

Strength shredding has always been a staple of the Anarch roster, from cards like Wyrm, Parasite, Datasucker and Ice Carver in the original core set to modern staples like Devil Charm, Leech and this card right here.

The underlying premise is solid, instead of pumping up icebreakers to match the ICE's strength, what if we bring the ICE's strength down to match the icebreakers? Thus all strength shredding is best paired with fixed-strength breakers like Mimic, Yog.0 and the spiritual successors to fixed-strength breakers released in the System Gateway: Cleaver and Buzzsaw which can technically pump but do so with extreme inefficiency while simultaneously breaking subroutines more efficiently than your average breaker. Thus incentives not having to pump with them.

The Corp/Runner dynamic here is solid. If the runner can get set up, make smart, measured runs, manage their virus counters well, and lock centrals, then they can efficiently get into almost anywhere with Datasucker/Leech counters. Suppose they can pin the corp down with pressure. In that case, it becomes difficult to purge virus counters making not only Datasucker/Parasite valuable but also causing the Corp to lose ICE to a Parasite/Chisel giving them even more cheap and reliable access.

Alternatively however, if the Corp can get set up, use their ICE intelligently, build an econ lead and have enough tempo to reliably purge Virus counters then the runner can get locked out, unable to generate counters from central runs and either unable to break ICE due to their fixed breakers or forced to do so at a heavy tax, especially against large and powerful ICE. Thus allowing the Corp to open up scoring windows by playing around this weakness.

There's a clear push and pull here, this combination of strength-shredding and fixed-strength/soft fixed-strength breakers make a beautiful duet, an elegant set of complementary gameplay mechanics where the potential value of your fixed-strength breakers is held in check by the need for strength shredding and the potential for the Corp to tax and lock the Runner out without them.

Even the sources of strength-shredding themselves are respectable, the aforementioned Leech generates Virus counters through central runs, something the Runner already wants to do and is blocked by ICEing centrals, something the Corp already wants to do, while simultaneously playing into the theme of "defend your Archives" that Anarchs often have going on. The counters are expended when used too, which means that from the Corps perspective, even if your ICE isn't directly taxing the runner credits, it's never the less taxing them on a finite and valuable resource. It's also always vulnerable to Virus purges (and by extension Mavirus should the corp decide it's worth it to do so.

Ice Carver is strong and universal but it's expensive to install and unique, limiting it's efficacy to only shredding a single strength, it takes your fixed strength breakers from effectively 3 to 4 strength tbut doesn't do anything against 5 or 6+ strength ICE and even for Cleaver and Buzzsaw, it helps, but super large pieces of ICE retain their ability to heavily tax the runner.

Devil Charm is incredibly strong but so emphatically "single-use" that it removes itself from the game, saving the runner in a pinch, but making it clear to the Corp that, Devil Charms are a finite resource in and of themselves.

Meanwhile, Chisel, the only other ICE destruction tool, is limited by time and setup, only being able to threaten a single piece of ICE at a time, and offering the Corp a window of opportunity to purge virus counters should they decide their ICE is important enough to save. Not only that but the runner must encounter the ICE regularly to shred and destroy it, requiring further investment of time and resources to break the ICE conventionally, repeatedly, before it can be destroyed (which arguably makes it more balanced than Parasite by comparison too). It's also vulnerable to cards like Magnet for example.

Even Arruaceiras Crew's strength shredding effect is relatively tame on its own, only reducing an ICE by 2 strength and only for a single turn is useful but limited and taking a tag is a hefty investment, though it also synergies with the whole Tag Me Anarch thing going on in the Liberation Cycle too. It can also only be used once per turn which further limits its applications and helps keep it in check.

The problem is the sheer ease with which Arrauceiras Crew can destroy ICE (especially in conjunction with Devil Charm) and perhaps more specifically, the lack of counterplay open to the Corp. They cannot purge it, they cannot Magnet it and super large pieces of ICE like Bran, Tyr, Cloud Eater, Seraph and Anansi go from being exactly the kind of super-large ICE which should terrify fixed-strength breakers to a liability for the Corp.

The bigger the ICE, the more value trashing it provides and in conjunction with Devil Charm, even 10-cost ICE can be permanently destroyed for 5 credits, which is a disgusting proposition. Even with heavy recursion from a faction like HB (Corporate Hospitality, Haas-Bioroid: Precision Design, Ansel 1.0, Drafter) or even with extra recursion tools like (Simulation Reset or Spin Doctor) the sheer loss of credits from the install and rez cost, not to mention the tempo hit and loss of server structure is brutal.

If all that wasn't bad enough this card doesn't even have the common decency to remove itself from the game when used like Devil Charm does, which means that it can be recurred by cards like Labor Rights, Katorga Breakout, Harmony AR Therapy and Ashen Epilogue. This means that even long after all three Devil Charms have been used, Arruaceiras Crew can be recurred and used to destroy even more pieces of ICE, the board never quite being truly safe from its looming threat.

This, in turn, all contributes to a swarm of Asset Spam, Rush, Fast Advance, Shell Game and Kill Decks on the Corps side (especially in the online meta-game), due to the sheer weakness and unreliability of ICE (and especially good quality ICE). Even if you enjoy this kind of meta, it's hard to deny that a card that not only invalidates but actively punishes a player for utilizing one of the Corporation's most ubiquitous defence tools is problematic for the game.

In fairness to this card, it is not the only culprit, cards like K2CP Turbine, Takobi, Boomerang and Botulus and the sheer amount of bypass introduced in this cycle (as well as the general state of econ) must all share in the blame for undercutting ICE's capability to tax, hurt and stop the runner but I hold a special hatred for a card like this that not only lets the runner break or bypass my ICE more efficiently but actively destroys my ICE and especially punishes me for playing some of the coolest cards in the game.

Whether this card gets banned soon or whether a new tech card is introduced in Dawn to offer some counterplay (like how Magnet can be used as a tech against Botulus and Chisel or Mavirus as a tech against Viruses) I hope that this meta does not drag on as it's difficult to enjoy a game I so dearly cherish.

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Adding a review as there isn't one at the time of writing.

Malandragem is another bypass card released in the Liberation Cycle, one of many such tools primarily designed for Mercury: Chrome Libertador, such as S-Dobrado, Alarm Clock, Laser Pointer or even Physarum Entangler. Though it's worth saying that Criminals have always had a penchant for disposable forms of bypass, Lustig, Demara and Abagnale all come to mind. While Inside Job originates from the Core Set itself and cards like Spear Phishing and Always Have a Backup Plan build off the same archetype.

Criminals are the kings of bypass. The only non-criminal bypass cards in the game's history are the one-off mini-faction cards Security Nexus and Logic Bomb, as well as the neutral run event Rigged Results. So it's not surprising that if Malandragem were to show up anywhere, it would be in Criminals. A very fitting addition to the line-up, both mechanically and thematically.

But just how good is this card, well, I figure the simplest and best comparison is probably Inside Job itself, much in the same way Sure Gamble is the classic gold standard of Econ that all other Econ cards must be compared to so too Inside Job is the classic and gold standard bypass card, originating in the Core Set, having been reprinted 3 times in the Revised Core Set, the System Core 2019 and the System Update 2021 this card is a staple by design and still sees regular play to this day.

Well, Inside Job offers you one bypass for a draw, a click to play and 2 credits while Malandrgem offers you a maximum of 2 bypasses for a draw, a click to install and 4 credits. Which averages each Malandragem bypass at about half a draw, half a click and two credits. If you account for the fact that Inside Job is a run event and by extension click compression while Malandragem needs you to spend two more clicks running to gain the full benefit (but at the same time those two runs were probably runs you wanted to make at some point anyway) then the two bypasses are roughly equivalent in value.

Malandragem is also a program that takes up precious MU, but since you'll probably dispose of it relatively quickly it shouldn't be a long-term intrusion either. Additionally, Criminals have some of the weakest recursion out of any Runner faction (Shapers have Harmony AR Therapy, Simulchip and Test Run, Anarchs have Retrieval Run and Katorga Breakout while Criminals are limited to the rather mediocre Rip Deal) so the distinction between trashing and removing Malandragem from the game is minor and we'll assume the Runner wants to use the Threat 4 Bypass if able to.

From here there are 3 different situations Bypass is useful in:

1. Early game aggression, as a way to get around gear check ICE, pressure the Corp, get some accesses and touch some cards nice and early before you find your breakers.
2. Late game efficiency, for a set price of around 2 credits and a non-fungible card you get to avoid one piece of ICE altogether, no matter its strength or subroutines, allowing you to avoid even the largest, scariest and most-taxing pieces of ICE for a convenient pre-set price (think Tyr, Bran, a late game Boto, or an advanced Logjam, Pharos or Colossus), something you could break conventionally but would cost you a substantial amount of credits, making it harder for you to run as often, something Criminals especially want to avoid due to their high speed, low to the ground econ.
3. Full break-less Crim, i.e. using Mercury: Chrome Libertador to get around ICE without technically breaking any subroutines to get her additional central accesses.

For the first one Malandragem does well as much of the early game gear check ICE the corp has the credits to rez are going to also have quite low strength, Thimblerig, Tatu-Bola, Border Control, Ping and Ablative Barrier are all weak gear checks that see common play that you can bypass for a single power counter and even against some mid-tier scarier ICE like Anemone, Unsmiling Tsarevna, Jaguarundi or Saisentan that bypass can still come in handy to prevent some damage.

Malandragem can't help against an early Bran or Tree Line though and only works against Gatekeeper after the first turn (by which point Gatekeeper has already done its job) which limits some of your early possibilities depending on the corps Faction and early econ. By contrast, Inside Job works against any single piece of ICE, regardless of strength and double stacking ICE, letting alone rezzing multiple pieces of ICE on one server in the first few turns is a risky move that can bankrupt the Corp if they're not careful and can leave other servers open to attack. While Malandragem can work early, it lacks the same universal consistency that Inside Job offers.

By contrast, in late-game board states, especially against Glacial, Malandragem is arguably favoured, with Spear Phishing rotated, a lot of Bypass comes from the outside in, not only Inside Job but also the aforementioned S-Dobrado and Alarm Clock, in this way, stacking big ICE on the inside of servers and following up with cheap ICE on the edge to eat the Bypass effects is a good idea but Malandragem can avoid this once you reach Threat 4, by allowing you to bypass anything, regardless of positioning.

In this situation Backstitching is arguably a better comparison, coming in a similar price point of 2 credits, on par with Inside Job, S-Dobrado and half a Malandragem it's very comparable and can also ignore positioning. To choose between them, consider the circumstances, Backstitching can only target central servers and even then you can't choose which central on any given turn, while Malandragem offers the more reliable option to choose and can target the scoring remote but requires Threat 4 before it can bypass anything over 3.

For Mercury, you want as much bypass as possible and some decks I see run Inside Job, S-Drobrado, Backstitching and Malandragem, though heuristically, Malandragem does seem to be the least common of the four at the time of writing.

The other limitation of Malandragem is more intangible, for a runner who starts the game with 5 credits, spending 4 of those on installing a Malandragem that may not fully pay itself off until Threat 4 is a heavy investment to leave just sitting around. It's a tempo hit, to put it simply, even if the breaks are roughly on par with Inside Job, having to invest the 4 credits upfront can be brutal for Criminals who might often prefer the speed and low price point of cards like Inside Job, S-Dobrado and Backstitching.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with Dawn arriving early next year as Inside Job itself rotates. Will another re-print/near print be issued to fill the hole, or will Criminals reappraise Malandragem with new eyes?

A somewhat tangential consideration I was theory crafting for a while was using Captain Padma Isbister: Intrepid Explorer and her associated "Charge" cards to continually refill Malandragem while using strength shredding effects like Ice Carver, Leech or Devil Charm to stretch the definition of "3-strength" and create a kind of ongoing bypass engine, rather than treating it as disposable. But it never really went anywhere due to influence and consistency problems, especially after the World Tree ban and it's just generally more efficient to use conventional breakers. But maybe someone else can cook up something interesting...

(Disclaimer: I am not Brazilian, nor do I live in Brazil, everything below is based on what I quickly found online, any clarification, corrections, context or additions from those more familiar with Brazilian culture would be much appreciated!)

Thematically, Malandragem is a Portuguese term that refers to the lifestyle of petty crime embraced by "malandros," which roughly translates to English as "bad boys," literally, mal- + -andro. Malandros like to live fast, dress well and shirk responsibilities in favour of easy living, often being synonymous with a rogue, scoundrel or hustler. They've become significant in Brazilian folklore as a kind of archetypal anti-hero who sheds society's expectations and lives as he pleases and has become significant in Brazilian literature, cinema and music, traditionally samba. If I had to extrapolate, I'd say that the Malandragem program outsmarts, outmaneuvers and cheats its way around the "petty challenges" of small ICE, but struggles with the responsibility of dealing with large powerful ICE. Why it gains the ability to bypass anything at Threat 4 is somewhat unclear, in American cinema, it's not uncommon for anti-heroes to avoid responsibility and do their own thing until a true problem comes along, when, at the final hour, they step up to the challenge and sacrifice themselves for a worthy cause, but I'm unsure how well this translates to the Brazilian conceptualisation of an anti-hero/malandro. It also seems Malandragem is related to the Brazilian concept of Jeitinho, which doesn't translate well into English but seems to refer to something akin to street-smarts, creativity or finding unconventional or perhaps even illicit means to achieve one's goals, being pragmatic, opportunistic and even cunning, to find your own way do something, so to speak, instead of just following the rules.

The art shows a Malandro shuffling a deck, though why is open to interpretation, is he engaging in gambling as a vice, is he preparing to pull a con to make a quick dollar or is he simply stacking the deck in his favour in a more abstract sense?

As a somewhat contemplative finish to this review, I can't help but wonder about the thematic dissonance between Mercury the character, her ability and the other cards in her set. She's a Liberator, her title says it plainly, a freed Bioroid who pursues the goals of bringing down the whole corrupt system, see The Powers That Be and Jeitinho and yet her faction, and the cards it contains, espouse a much less grand goal. Criminals are scrappy and sly and cunning and they use their tools to get in, get out and get paid, Malandragem suits them perfectly, I can easily imagine a world where this set included a Criminal identity who could be considered a Malandro, someone who gets in by bending the rules to his favour and simply outmaneuvering problems he doesn't want to have to deal with. Mercury honestly seems like she would be more at home in Anarch, as someone with a grand mission, someone disillusioned with the system, someone who wants to bring it all down, and someone who's willing to resort to murder to root out the corruption within the government. But she does not strike me as someone who lives their life by the principles of Malandragem, skirting responsibility in favour of an easy life.

TLDR: A cool card thematically that is very fitting for the Faction and the setting of the Cycle it was released in but struggles to find a place in Criminal decks due to the high up-front investment, tempo hit, conditionality around strength and need to wait for Threat 4 for the full power. Also very difficult to export because of the very high Influence cost.