(Cleaver is banned.)

Rising Tide (🌊) becomes a 1[$] Corroder, having base strength 2 once you've trashed your 2nd copy.

Synergies:

• Temporary Fracters: Like Propeller. Especially self-trashing ones (like a new Spike or Demara would be). Since they end up in the heap anyways.

• “Auxiliary” Fracters: Like Banner. Since it can be your 3rd Fracter, by complementing a pair of Rising Tides.

• Multi-type Fracters: Like Penrose or Lobisomem. Both are Decoder - Fracter’s, that primarily break codegates (thus filling the “decoder deckslot”), and only secondarily break barriers.

• Anarch self-mill/self-burn/sacrifice: Like Lago Paranoá Shelter and Tsakhia "Bankhar" Gantulga.

• Any novel “Utility” Icebreakers: Like Interface → Whenever a barrier subroutine resolves, gain 1[$]..

See s:fracter z:standard .

Within Elevation (as a core set), Tide:

• nudges newer players towards multiple copies of icebreakers. Which lets them get past Barriers sooner, keeps them from getting locked out by a Destroyer, and so on.
• has an explicit deckbuilding incentive. The 101 is just "sleeve up more fracters", and the 102 is "or cards that get those fracters into the heap".

NB. You can “expend” a second copy by over-installing the first (even if you have unused memory). CF. [click], 1[$], Trash this program from your grip: Place a “+1 strength” counter on an installed “Rising Tide” program.

When installing a program, the Runner may first trash any number of programs already installed. They must do so if installing the new program would exceed their memory limit.

— Rule 8.5.6.c. (thanks @zhansonic)

It's the retrain of Archer! As a result, we have a direct comparison of how strong this card is (but the tl;dr is Archer is good and so is Biawak).

First off, being rezzable without forfeiting an agenda or choosing to for the same 4c rez cost is already a huge boon; it's a strong tempo loss but being forced to respect a Weyland with big money due to this card's devastating facecheck regardless of whether you think they're willing to surrender points is excellent. Of course, this is probably the best ICE to rez from an Eminent Domain score or a SAM on a Tucana (DON'T do this if you have more than 11c+install cost after; you'll be forced to rez the card for full price or by forfeiting by Tucana). The biggest mark against this rez cost is that you can no longer scoop your Biawak for 3c tutors in Ob.

And let's talk about that facecheck, it trades the 4th gain 2c subroutine (quite useful if you were bankrupting yourself on rezzing Archer) and second program trash subs for being able to trash a Resource (plenty of strong hits eg Bankhar) or functionally having 3 ETRs to Archer's one. The facecheck has less potential to shoot two breakers and win the game on the spot, but targeting Resources means it can set the Runner back in the early to midgame more often where they might only have 1 program and a Resource or something, so this isn't a bad trade.

Looking at the break, 6str matches Archer and does well into common breakers like Echelon, Carmen, and Revolver, but you can still blow it up with Devil Charm + Crew. The one lower subroutine often went unbroken on Archer to save Revolver bullets or some other resource e.g money, so the ICE isn't making you money past its rez like Archer did and it taxes one less on Physarum Entangler. On the other hand, common ICE cheating solutions like Boomerang and Botulus have a MUCH harder time getting all the way through this ICE due to the multiple ETRs, which cannot be undervalued.

As a result, my conclusion is that Biawak is mostly actually an upgrade. It's less likely to win the game if the Runner is reckless on facecheck and probably worse for Ob specifically, but the added resilience to ICE cheating, being rezzable without forfeiting and subroutines more relevant in the early game are incredibly useful. This slimy little komodo dragon (that is not at all little) will be eating plenty of runners. And I see Moth is sending more members of NSG to their net demise.

This card pairs well with GAMEDRAGON™ Pro, allowing you to ensure that stacked pieces of ice will share a subtype. Now the boosted strength being carried over will likely be more useful!

On the downside, you still have to watch out for cards like Hammer which demand a specific type of breaker in their text.

A near print of Egret which I always thought was a cool card but I didn't see other people playing it. Perhaps to reflect that fact this card is both cheaper (1 credit instead of 2) and doesn't have the restriction of having to be installed on a rezzed piece of ice - meaning you could use to face check when you have a single breaker installed. Of those changes I feel like the lifting the rezzed restriction is a bigger deal. Writing this just prior to the release of Elevation so I've not actually played with it yet but seems like a cool card, both for early game face checking and also as a tool for dealing with a tricky bit of ice so you can use your best/most efficient breaker

Shred (🎸) “pseudo-breaks” any single EtR-effect:

• a defensive Upgrade trigger: Manegarm Skunkworks, Anoetic Void, ¿or Hyoubu Precog Manifold?.
• an off-server usage: like LEO Construction or B-1001.
• a non-subroutine ICE ability: like M.I.C. (saving a click), or Funhouse (saving a tag).
• and a Barrier/ICE subroutine (esp. gearchecks): Tatu-Bola, Ablative Barrier, Ping, Descent, Flyswatter), etc, as well as an ∞ strength Tree Line; but not a Kessleroid).

In particular, it converts a single ↳ End the run. subroutine into ↳ End the run unless the Corp reveals and trashes 1 card from HQ at random. (at the worst-ish). CF. Lucky Charm.

For example, Shred can:

• “melt past” a singular gearcheck;
• unless the Corp suffers “1 HQ damage”;
• while still triggering Phoenix (since the EtR-sub was not broken, yet the ICE was passed);
• thus forcing the Corp to suffer “1 HQ sabotage” anyways; CF. The Corp trashes (1 card at random or) 1 card of their choice from HQ.

Like Light the Fire!, Shred “attacks” (requires) larger server-roots (X is the number of cards in the root of the attacked server.), which makes it implicitly (but not necessarily) a Run a remote server. event.

For example:

• If the Corp is defending an agenda alongside Skunk–Void, they must Trash 3 cards from HQ at random..
• If the Runner has two clicks or five credits to spare (for the Skunk), the Corp must (have and) trash 5 cards from hand. Even a six-card PD couldn't retrigger Void (IIUC).

Flavor-wise, besides obviously “shredding” headquarters into archives, the flavor-text puns on “The Medium is the Message” . Some punk music can literally be about (IE. “the message”) volume/venue (IE. “the medium”).

PS. What if Shred had a Fracter subtype for Rising Tide? Because it can “frac through” any single-sub Barrier (even a high-strength Tree Line), like a “red Inside Job”.

Once Rising Tide was spoiled, I made a cycle of custom Run - Fracter|Killer|Decoder cards like:

[$2] Shred!
Event: Run - Fracter
[anarch 2/5]
Run any server.
The first time the Corp would end that run, prevent the run from ending unless the Corp takes 1 bad publicity.
If a barrier ability would end that run, instead prevent that run from ending.
(Subroutines are abilities. The Corp cannot take bad publicity to end the run this way.)

However (since Events are self-trashing), the problem is that you could just spam Shreds to “place 3 strength counters” on a Rising Tide. Some solutions would be: a one-per-namesake limi; a binary (non-scaling) check for non-icebreaker fracters; an option (for the Corp) to RFG the event; or so on.