Cohort Guidance Program

Cohort Guidance Program

Design:

  • Multiply-Interactable: the Runner can interact with this card by running different servers (thus, in more ways than with most assets).

    1. run Archives: By flipping the discard-pile faceup, you turn off CGP’s Turn 1 facedown card in Archives faceup to … cost (except for a few fun fast-discard/-mill). Thus, there's an implicit Unless the Runner breached Archives last turn, … gate.
    2. run the agenda: Because it never-advances (being a BoT trigger like La Costa Grid), you can steal the telegraphed agenda beforehand (if you can breach the scoring remote, if you guessed right and they didn't bait you with Charlotte Caçador, or so on).
    3. run the asset (duh): Just pay its fair, 2[$] trash-cost.

  • Both Payoff and (Self-)Enabler:

    • By itself, you can trash cards facedown (1st turn) and use that card archived-facedown (2nd turn), including the one it trashed itself.
    • Or (using just mode #2) you can install an agenda, a CGP, and play Hansei Review, then score out a never-advanced 4/2 next turn (flipping the Hansei’d card after rezzing CGP).
    • Or (using just mode #1) you can trash an installable, then IAA Hybrid Release (installing the trashed card).

  • Both Econ and Threat: it can clicklessly earn two credits every turn while “rummaging” too, until it starts never-advancing agendas.

Notes:

  • It almost breaks even on-rez ("+$2, draw 1" minus "card to draw, click to install, $1 to rez, trash 1 to use"), but doesn't (which is healthy for drip-econ or other value-over-time assets, IMO).

  • This (as @Diogene said in their review) shines under identities:

  • Like Zer0, you can filter cards and earn credits each turn. But the in-faction synergies of Runner-Red are “Trigger-when-Discarded” and “Heap-matters”, while that of Corpo-Red is “Archived-Facedown-matters”.

  • Being non-unique, a second copy can (IIUC) flip the card just trashed by the first copy (but then you need three defensible remotes). (FWIW, I've never done that or seen it done, but I'm not a competitive player.) Also, being self-mill, you might need to reshuffle Archives (like with in-faction Longevity Serum, which can “heal” you for +3HP) if you've used the first mode too many times. (FWIW, I've never felt like I had to do that either.)

@tzeentchling:

I’m extremely fond of Cohort Guidance Program because it increases my draw speed and provides minor filtering from my hand of less useful cards, and if the runner doesn't bother to check Archives it's quite easy to get multiple advancements on a NA agenda.

(PS. I wish NSG released more earlier versions of cards! Even without extensive commentary like they did for Stegodon, which of course takes a lot of work to write on top of all the work that already went into it. There's a lot of knobs on this card that were all tuned well, both from the design and development perspective, yet the final version reads so cleanly while still being very deep.)

Idea: Other “CGP-like” assets that are, implicitly, temporarily-disablable (by breaching R&D, HQ, specific remotes) would be interesting too.

  • R&D: Look at the top of R&D with 1st mode, and maybe rearrange (or draw then peek) for value; Guess the top of R&D (or just flip it and check for an “interactable" card-type, IE. an agenda/asset/upgrade, being stealable/trashable) with 2nd mode, to place an advancement. The Runner can disable it by breaching R&D. (cf. Federal Fundraising.)

  • HQ: Reveal a stealable/trashable (agenda, asset, or upgrade) from HQ, to place an advancement. The Runner could disable it by breaching HQ and hitting enough stealables/trashables (maybe).

  • Remotes: Derez another/noncopy rezzed asset (that wasn't rezzed this turn, or an asset/upgrade in another server) at BoT. The Runner could disable it by touching enough remotes? (cf. Warm Reception.)

  • Detagging: Take 1 bad publicity to give 1 tag at EoT; Remove 1 tag to install & place 1 advancements at BoT. The Runner could disable it by detagging, as well as by trashing it (with the 1[$] “subsidy” for running/trashing from badpub). (cf. City Surveillance LOL.) (BTW, Repeated tagging or repeated derezzing can be toxic, and repeated deck-rearrangement can drag on every beginning-of-turn. These are all just zeroth drafts.)

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Kingmaking

Kingmaking

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 (like when stolen) 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”, a (44-card) deck which sleeved up 4 X/1’s for 3 Kingmaking’s.
  • 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

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Descent

Descent

Descent (🌀) can protect agendas both:

  • with its ↳ End the run. subroutine, and
  • with its Shuffle up to 2 agendas in HQ and/or Archives … expendability.

And (because it draws 1 but shuffles 2), you can still tuck away an agenda already in HQ even if you also draw another one. For example, tucking two The Basalt Spire’s or SDS Drone Deployment’s can be brutal; unlike the in-faction Drudge Work, it won't earn you six credits, but also won't take up a deck slot, and isn't rotating.

Like Tatu-Bola, it's a $2/1s/1↳ EtR (at 2/5-inf) that can reposition itself (& shrug off trojans) and/or gain “unbreakable” (non-subroutine) value. AFAICT, it's the last in NSG's cycle of “gearchecks with late-game” (tho the only Code Gate):

  • Ping (sg): has an On-Rez.
  • Ablative Barrier (tai): has a (Threat’d) On-Rez.
  • Tatu-Bola (tai): bounces to swap, for econ, and repositioning.
  • Descent (rwr): bounces to expend or reposition.

PS. @Sokka’s spoiled champ card Key Performance Indicators seems to be a “Weyland Level Clearance” that can tuck an HQ-agenda (while advancing / installing ice / earning credits), which could cannibalize Descent by also being a (more powerful) anti-flooding effect that's “multiple cards in a single slot”. Or maybe together, they'll provide enough in-faction (& incidental) flood-protection to save influence (& slots) on some Spin Doctor copies (as some 44-card decks, like BTL & PD, have done). Or maybe not, since—while Descent can tuck Archives-agendas too—they're both “action-speed”, not “window-speed” (lol) like Spin Doctor. IDK.

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Environmental Testing

Environmental Testing

Environmental Testing’s “install four programs/hardware” mini-game is kinda/sorta halfway between time-based econ (like Daily Casts) and clicked-based econ (like Telework Contract):

  • While you need clicks to install programs, you don't need to waste a click on just taking credits (same as good run-based econ).

  • While you only have about four clicks per turn, you can easily "cash out" quickly (like triple-clicking a Liberated Account).

Design:

  • It's econ that's non-generic (& non-neutral): You don't just “wait for credits” or “click for credits”, you build your deck around the two card-types it cares about, and you play your games to speedrun it or not. (Even if it were neutral/0inf, IDs can't just drag-n-drop it in for some extra econ.)

  • It counts up (not down) to be charge-able.

Synergies:

For example, with DZMZ+ET+Lily, installing a program a turn will save you $1, get you “$1.5” closer, and draw you 1 card (see “The Metric Octopus - 11th at Worlds 2023” ).

You can accelerate it easily, ET–I–I’ing one turn then I–I’ing the very next turn (as long as you already had them in grip, or could draw into them, or have been re-installing cards, or so on); though you will be spending credits (on installations) after having sunk three (into installing it itself). You can “compress” it too: install a SMC or Simulchip the same turn (as ET), but crack it on the Corp's turn (double-triggering a LilyPAD; then, on your next turn, install Muse–for–Coalescence*, popping ET (while setting up your rig at the same time).

PS. An ID like Hayley Kaplan, which triggers on either turns (Runner and Corp alike), could have popped ET by manually installing only a single program (on R-turn) and then cracking SMC (on C-turn).

As @dnddmdb says in their review, "one click for six credits is simply very strong".

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Nanuq

Nanuq

Nanuq (🐻‍❄️) is kinda like a “Current AI”.

Unlike other temporary icebreakers (Mayfly, Revolver, Propeller, etc) it's not recurrable/rechargeable, because it RFGs (not trashes) itself.

And unlike Runner currents (Rumor Mill) or single-turn icebreakers (Chameleon), it only helps you steal agendas during a single run.

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