How it wins
- By turn 3 you want two bodies on the table - say Ruthless Lowlife and Corpo Security - and a 1-2 cost Gear on whichever one can attack. Nineteen of the 40 cards cost 2 or less, so that board usually shows up.
- You pull ahead on the turn a Unit first swings at 10 power and takes two Gigs instead of one. Goro Takemura: Losing His Way is the cheapest route once all your Legends are revealed and Saburo Arasaka: Stubborn Patriarch adds his +1; MaxTac AV with one Gear or Minotaur with Saburo face-up also get there.
- The game closes with Sandevistan on your best attacker: it hits on your turn, untaps when the turn ends, and keeps collecting Gigs while your rival has no easy way to attack a ready Unit.
Strengths
- The curve is front-loaded - 14 cards cost exactly 2 and only two cost 7 - so a hand that does nothing for two turns is rare.
- Goro Takemura: Hands Unclean is the Legend you can actually put on the board: Go Solo brings him in ready, with 7 power and Blocker. As an ARASAKA Unit he then benefits from the other two Legends, getting Saburo's attack bonus and drawing you a card through Yorinobu.
- With 11 Gears in 40 cards, almost every Unit you play has something to wear by the next turn.
- Chrome Fang protects your best Gigs: until your next turn, a rival Unit can't steal any of your Gigs worth more than its own power.
Weaknesses
- A rival who attacks into your board knows exactly how the fight ends, because none of your 40 cards is Quick.
- If you trail on Street Cred and no d20 sits among your Gigs, nothing in the deck can defeat a Unit outside combat - Minotaur and Over the Edge are the only four removal cards.
- Six of your 20 Units never steal a Gig: three Corpo Security that can't attack and three Ruthless Lowlife that may only attack Units.
- Stacked Gear is fragile - one removal on a geared Unit can cost three cards.
Key cards
- Goro Takemura: Losing His Way
- Gives you a two-Gig attacker for 4 Eddies, as long as you spent the early turns revealing Legends.
- Arasaka Emergency Radioport
- Speeds up that reveal: whenever its Unit is spent you may look at a face-down Legend and Call it for free, and all three of yours qualify.
- Sandevistan
- Lets one Unit be your attacker and your defender in the same round.
- Minotaur
- Your one big swing that also clears the road, defeating a Unit with power 5 or less on entry while you lead on Street Cred.
- Corporate Surveillance
- Lets a 2-cost Program decide where the rival's defence is: their best Blocker costing 4 or less is spent, and your attackers - Ruthless Lowlife included - go straight at it or past it.
- Mantis Blades
- For 1 Eddie, makes Swordwise Huscle a card-drawing attacker, since Huscle draws on attack at 5+ power.
First turns
Keep: Keep a hand like Ruthless Lowlife, Corpo Security and Mantis Blades, whatever the rest is.
Mulligan: Mulligan a hand like Minotaur, MaxTac AV, Chrome Fang and Shattered Memories with no 2-cost Unit.
- A typical start sells Over the Edge for Corpo Security on turn 1, adds Ruthless Lowlife carrying Mantis Blades on turn 2, and Calls a Legend on both turns.
- Around turn 4, Goro: Losing His Way joins with every Legend revealed while Corporate Surveillance spends whatever would block him; the 5- and 7-cost Units follow, and each of their attacks is planned around reaching 10.
Common mistakes
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Mistake: Your Street Cred trails by a few points and you cast Minotaur anyway, as the biggest card in hand.
Better: Play MaxTac AV first and swap your lowest Gig for their highest. Minotaur comes down a turn later with the lead and takes a Unit with power 5 or less along with it.
-
Mistake: You pay an Eddie to Call a Legend, then attack with the Unit wearing Arasaka Emergency Radioport.
Better: Attack first. The Radioport offers a free Call as soon as that Unit is spent, and the Eddie you kept pays for Mantis Blades after combat.
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Mistake: Sandevistan goes on Corpo Security because it is your safest Unit.
Better: Equip it to Goro: Losing His Way. He swings for 12 with every Legend up (4, +5, +1 from Saburo, +2 from Sandevistan itself), stands up again when your turn ends, and can't be attacked while he is ready.
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Mistake: You cast Shattered Memories holding four cards while your rival holds two.
Better: Spend your hand on Units and Gear first and cast it with one or two cards left, so the refill favours you; if the discarded total matches one of your Gigs, you draw two more.
Matchups
| Against | Result | How it plays |
|---|---|---|
| The Heist (Mercs) | Even | The Heist wants to win your fights on your own turn with Floor It and Reboot Optics, then slip MT0D12 Flathead past your Blockers. Your lever is size, plus Minotaur, whose removal their low Street Cred practically switches on. |
| Johnny / Panam / Viktor | Hard | They want a faster Gear race, with Johnny Silverhand: Never Stop Fighting beating your CORPO Units (Corpo Security, Field Operator, Goro) for repeat attacks. Never block Johnny with those; race with geared Units and keep your best one ready with Sandevistan. |
| Kerry / River / V | Hard | They want to stall behind MaxTac Suppression Team - which also stops Goro: Hands Unclean's Go Solo attack - and win late with Cyberpsychosis or Placide: Voodoo Sentinel. Take your Gigs before that turn comes. |
| Smasher / Dum Dum / V | Hard | They want to clear your small Units with Bonnie and Clyde and out-race you. With a Street Cred lead, Minotaur answers small Blockers such as Augmented Negotiators. |
| Jackie / Johnny / V | Hard | They want to spend or kill your mostly small early Units and chain attacks with Wraith Marauders, while their Johnny beats your CORPO Units (Corpo Security, Field Operator, Goro). Block Wraith Marauders before it steals and keep your key Unit ready with Sandevistan. |
| Alt / Judy / V | Even | They want to freeze one big Unit with Chrome Reverie and remove it with Unlikely Bond. Spread your Gear - Maman Brigitte: Spirit of Death can't target any equipped Unit. |
| Hanako / Jackie / Judy | Hard | They want a long game of card draw and bottom-decking. Win inside four turns; Minotaur works against their low Street Cred, but time doesn't. |