An Android: Netrunner Strategy Article by Guest Writer El-ad David Amir

“A parasite here. A parasite there. And time to watch the servers die.”
    –Noise

Android: Netrunner is a two-player Living Card Game® of high-stakes, cat-and-mouse cyberstruggles. One player assumes the role of an executive in one of the world’s largest megacorps, tasked with defending its most valuable business secrets against the other player, the Runner, a talented hacker who seeks to access and steal the secrets of the Corp’s agendas. Each agenda is worth a number of points, and the first player to score or steal seven agenda points wins the game.

Based on the classic Netrunner collectible card game by Richard Garfield, Android: Netrunner received a number of updates before it was brought into the world. One of those updates was the addition of factions within the Corp and Runner sides, as well as different identity cards for each of those factions. These factions add new layers of personality and impose restrictions upon deck-building that, ultimately, spur a greater degree of creativity and variety in deck design. Likewise, each faction’s identity cards present a unique array of abilities that offer variations upon the faction’s core strengths.

In today’s strategy article, guest writer El-ad David Amir explores the core strengths of one of these Runner factions, the Anarch faction, and he looks at the tactical diversity its identity cards offer as you explore your Anarch options.

No Rules

Runners in the world of Android: Netrunner all belong to one of three factions: Anarch, Criminal, or Shaper. When you build a deck, one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is which of the three to join. The game’s influence system allows a limited measure of flexibility, but it aslo ensures that each faction has its own character. Shapers are renowned for their efficiency and originality. Criminals are notorious for their events and daring acts of aggression.

Anarchs? Anarchs have no rules, dude. Chill out. Maybe burn the world while you’re at it. Make some sysop’s day miserable for bonus points.

Whereas both Shapers and Criminals are defined primarily by the motives that spur them forward, Anarchs are defined primarily by their opposition to the existing order. Anarchy, see? They don’t need to share some Runners code or moral impulse. They just need to rebel against the established order and break some rules. Maybe all the rules. At their most effective, Runners don’t just break the rules of society, they erode its very foundation.

Let’s start with the Anarch identities, which introduce different ways to force the Corp into situations where formerly safe decisions suddenly become risky. Leaving high trash-cost assets in the open is a recipe for disaster against Whizzard (What Lies Ahead, 1). Reina Roja (Mala Tempora, 41) makes it painful for the Corp to rez even its cheapest, early-game ice.

The latest newcomer to the Anarch faction, Quetzal (First Contact, 52), is an aggression powerhouse, potentially invalidating a third of the Corp’s ice. And when it faces Edward Kim (Order and Chaos, 28), one of three Anarchs from the upcoming Order and Chaos expansion, the Corp stands to lose any operations it doesn’t use; he can trash the first operation he accesses each turn. When there’s a red identity on the table, you know that something basic about the game is going to be slightly twisted.

The next rule to fly out the window is the resilience of certain cards. All Runners can steal agendas and pay to trash assets, but Anarchs can trash anything and everything they touch. The prime example for this pernicious ability is Parasite (Core Set, 12), a virus that slowly eats away at an ice’s strength, eventually devouring it. Whether the Corp relies on large, expensive ice to tax the Runner or sets up cheap barriers to block the Runner’s path, it is sure to woe the moment that Parasite hits the table. It’s not just Parasite, though. Wherever it goes, the faction leaves wanton destruction in its wake, blasting cards from the Corp’s hand with Imp (What Lies Ahead, 3), Hemorrhage (Fear and Loathing, 82), and Demolition Run (Core Set, 3). In fact, Anarchs can nuke a whole remote with a single Singularity (Double Time, 101). Such ruthless assaults can come from any angle. The Corp is never free from danger.

Finally, there is another, ultimate form of destruction. Anarchs are able to throw the Corp into disarray and win the game by completely burning down R&D, a strategy known as “decking.” If the Corp needs to draw a card and cannot, it loses the game. The perfect identity for this strategy is Noise (Core Set, 1), who can “mill” cards straight from R&D into archives just by installing viruses. Any virus will work, not just Anarch viruses, and this makes Cache (The Spaces Between, 37) a true treasure trove for the Hacker Extraordinaire. Another powerful card that supplements the milling strategy is Data Leak Reversal (Future Proof, 103), which translates clicks directly into milled cards. By transforming the battle field, Anarchs put the Corp on a very tight clock.

Use Your Influence

Unfortunately, all of this wonderful mayhem comes at a price, as Anarchs lack the discipline and organization of other Runner factions. They have neither the powerful tutoring that Shapers possess nor the various back channels that Criminals have developed, such as Inside Job (Core Set, 21) and Sneakdoor Beta (Core Set, 28). As a result, their influence is often dedicated to importing tools that address their lack of consistency.

Even Anarchs need icebreakers to run, and Special Order (Core Set, 22), Test Run (Cyber Exodus, 47), and Self-modifying Code (Creation and Control, 46) are three cards that can help Anarchs fetch the right program at the right time. Quality Time (Humanity’s Shadow, 87) and Express Delivery (Honor and Profit, 33) help them dig through their decks for gems, and Wyldside (Core Set, 16) is a welcome watering hole for any troublemaker.

To make the best out of the tools at hand, they might utilize Clone Chip (Creation and Control, 38) or Scavenge (Creation and Control, 34); losing two cards to Imp hurts, losing four or six is devastating. Anarchs’ many tricks are like pieces of a puzzle, and a with little help from the Shapers and Criminals, Anarchs can combine them to form a magnificent picture of sheer pandemonium.

What’s Your Core Processor?

What could serve as the core of a characteristic Anarch deck, then? There are all sorts of variations, but most of them are built from a few archetypal packages.

One option is to rely on Parasite as the central ice breaking tool. Because such a deck doesn’t rely on a sensitive suite of breakers, the Runner can afford “facechecking” pieces of ice by running them with nothing on the table. Once the Corp rezzes the ice, the Anarch then uses Parasite in conjunction with Datasucker (Core Set, 8) to blow them up:

Running Parasite as your key “breaker”? Try three Parasite plus three Datasucker, three Déja Vu (Core Set, 2), two Djinn (Core Set, 9), and two Crypsis (Core Set, 51).

Another idea is to go all gung-ho on Noise’s milling ability. Wyldside fuels your hand while Aesop’s Pawnshop (Core Set, 47) keeps the credits flowing. Once the Corp’s Archives accumulate a nice pile of face down cards, run it to find a treasure trove of agendas:

Noise aims for the “mill” with a heavy collection of viruses, including three Wyldside, three Aesop’s Pawnshop, three Cache, three Gorman Drip (Opening Moves, 5), three Datasucker, and three Lamprey (Upstalk, 14).

The popular “Anatomy of Anarchy” build adopts Account Siphon (Core Set, 18), the most powerful weapon in the Criminal arsenal, and turns the tags it generates into an advantage through Data Leak Reversal:

The “Anatomy of Anarchy” – three Account Siphon, three Same Old Thing (Creation and Control, 54), three Data Leak Reversal, three Joshua B. (Cyber Exodus, 42), and three Fall Guy (Double Time, 106).

Finally, Quetzal takes the faction in a new direction through her deceptively straightforward – and incredibly powerful – ability. With the following core, even if the Corp manages to find their code gates and sentries before you can send them to Archives with Keyhole (True Colors, 61), you still have an arsenal of AIs to get through key servers:

Quetzal can unlock Corp servers with a decidedly different set of cards: three Overmind (Honor and Profit, 53), three Knight (Mala Tempora, 43), three Pawn (Opening Moves, 2), three Deep Red (Mala Tempora, 42), three Scheherazade (Second Thoughts, 22), three Keyhole, and two e3 Feedback Implants (Trace Amount, 24).

There are endless options for the Runner to pursue in Android: Netrunner, but the key is that you never want to play by the Corp’s rules. Anarchs certainly don’t. They smash their way through the world using a big hammer and a generous serving of gasoline.

Thanks, El-ad!

As El-ad notes, Anarchs thrive on chaos, and they have a plethora of tools with which they can burn down anything the Corp takes the time to build. However, the cyberstruggles of Android: Netrunner require more than blunt force; they require timing, as well. We’ll see more about this in other faction overviews, and we’ll see more of what the Anarchs can bring to the table in our previews of the upcoming Order and Chaos deluxe expansion.

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