How it wins
- On turn 3 you have Valentino Guerrera and Meredith Stout: Stone Cold Corpo down - Meredith as a 5-power Blocker, three copies of each - with Corporate Surveillance or Bonnie and Clyde in hand.
- The lead turn is the first time Wraith Marauders steals: you pick the Gig whose value matches a spent Unit's power, that Unit readies, and it attacks again.
- The end comes with Johnny Silverhand: Never Stop Fighting and Yorinobu Arasaka: Steel Dragon: Johnny wins a fight and untaps, Yorinobu brings a free Unit, and one turn can take three or more Gigs.
Strengths
- Defenders rarely last: Corporate Surveillance spends a Blocker costing 4 or less, while Over the Edge and Bonnie and Clyde defeat Units outright - two copies of each.
- Five Blocker cards (Meredith Stout, Riot Shield) make racing you risky, and Riot Shield also makes a rival's Go Solo cost 2 more.
- With more Street Cred than the rival, Valentino can even attack ready Blockers.
- Synapse Burnout is a 1-Eddie Quick pump worth up to +3 power in a fight once all three Legends are face-up.
Weaknesses
- If your first attacks are blocked, the hand empties fast, because every draw card needs something first: a value-pair for Peace Offering, a won fight for Satori: Sword of Saburo, an 8+ Gig for Industrial Assembly.
- Twelve of the 18 different cards are two-ofs, so the same list plays out differently from game to game.
- Wraith Marauders has to steal before it readies anyone, so a rival with two or three ready Blockers can end your turn after one attack.
Key cards
- Wraith Marauders
- Turns one stolen Gig into another attack, because you choose the Gig and the Unit with matching power readies.
- Johnny Silverhand: Never Stop Fighting
- Turns any spent CORPO Unit, or anything with 7 power or less, into a free extra attack for himself.
- Corporate Surveillance
- Gives Wraith Marauders and Johnny their first target by spending a Blocker that costs 4 or less.
- Meredith Stout: Stone Cold Corpo
- Your cheap wall, which also refunds a trash card whenever a rival adjusts or swaps your Gigs.
- Yorinobu Arasaka: Steel Dragon
- Two bodies for 7 Eddies: the free one, any Unit costing 4 or less from hand or trash, may fight a spent rival Unit the turn it lands.
- Jackie Welles: Mama's Favorite
- One-time insurance: for 1 Eddie she dies in place of Wraith Marauders or Johnny, then leaves the game.
First turns
Keep: Keep a hand like Meredith Stout, Valentino Guerrera, Corporate Surveillance and Mantis Blades.
Mulligan: Mulligan a hand like Steel Dragon, Johnny, Gunpoint Diplomacy and Over the Edge with no Unit at 4 or less.
- On the draw with Meredith Stout, Valentino Guerrera, Corporate Surveillance, Mantis Blades, Gunpoint Diplomacy and Industrial Assembly: turn 1 sells Gunpoint Diplomacy, and that Eddie plus two face-down Legends put Valentino on the table.
- Turn 2: sell the card you drew, then two Eddies and all three Legends pay for Meredith Stout and for Mantis Blades on Valentino. Valentino attacks at 6, so your rival loses a Gig and finds a 5-power Blocker standing behind it.
- Turn 3: Corporate Surveillance spends their cheapest Blocker, Valentino takes another Gig, Meredith stays home, and the last Eddie Calls a Legend. Industrial Assembly waits for the turn Johnny or Pepe Najarro lands.
Common mistakes
-
Mistake: Wraith Marauders attacks first, before any of your other Units is spent.
Better: Send Valentino at the Gigs first. Once he is spent, Wraith Marauders steals a Gig showing his power (4, or 6 with Mantis Blades) and Valentino gets up for a second attack.
-
Mistake: You cast Gunpoint Diplomacy on Johnny while your Street Cred trails.
Better: Cast Industrial Assembly first and lift a Gig by up to 4 to pass them. Gunpoint then gives Johnny both +3 power and the right to attack a ready Unit, instead of whichever one your rival picks.
-
Mistake: Pepe Najarro attacks with no value-pair among your Gigs.
Better: Cast Peace Offering first and copy one Gig's value onto another: it draws a card, and Pepe's attack then readies two Legends you spent earlier - 2 more Eddies for the rest of the turn.
-
Mistake: Johnny: Never Stop Fighting lands and waits for next turn.
Better: On a turn with 8 Eddies (fewer with Gigs at 8+), spend Johnny: Rocking Renegade as well: the new Johnny gets +2, fights a spent rival Unit at once, and readies after the win, out of reach of their attacks.
Matchups
| Against | Result | How it plays |
|---|---|---|
| Embracing Power (Arasaka) | Favourable | Arasaka wants to grow small Units with Gear. Bonnie and Clyde and Corporate Surveillance handle most of them, Corpo Security included, and Johnny wins any fight against their CORPO Units (Corpo Security, Field Operator, Goro). |
| The Heist (Mercs) | Even | The Heist wants to break your chains with Blockers and Floor It, and MT0D12 Flathead slips past Meredith while their Street Cred is lower. Your lever is removal they lack: Bonnie and Clyde handles Evelyn Parker and Secondhand Bombus. |
| Johnny / Panam / Viktor | Even | They want to win fights with stacked Gear, and their Johnny beats your CORPO Meredith and Yorinobu - so don't block him with those. Clear their small Blockers with Bonnie and Clyde and Corporate Surveillance and race. |
| Kerry / River / V | Even | Corporate Surveillance reaches Augmented Negotiators (cost 3) but not the 5-cost Lizzy Wizzy: Delicate Weapon, so Bonnie and Clyde goes on Lizzy (2 power); MaxTac Suppression Team meanwhile stops your fresh Units attacking, even with Johnny Silverhand: Rocking Renegade. |
| Smasher / Dum Dum / V | Even | They want the same race with the same Bonnie and Clyde, which kills Valentino but not Meredith. Johnny wins fights against their CORPO Units. |
| Alt / Judy / V | Favourable | They need time and two Programs for Maman Brigitte: Spirit of Death. Win with the first wave before Chrome Reverie and Unlikely Bond are online. |
| Hanako / Jackie / Judy | Even | Every Hanako swap on your Gigs gives you a trash card back through Meredith Stout, which stretches your first wave; if that wave still falls short, their card advantage wins. |