Card of the Day

Written by Foolkiller

Jenny, and her friends Dr. Dreff and Olivia Salazar, specialize in putting ICE where the Runner isn't expecting it. Jenny serves another purpose as well, allowing the Corp to install ICE "backwards" on any fort she is in.

Jenny Jett (J.J.) is a tempting card on first read. The concept of dropping a Liche in front of a busted Runner is like candy for a Corporation. Unfortunately, Jenny's good, but she's not that good. The ICE she throws up in front of the Runner is being approached, not encountered. Thus, the Runner can still pull the plug and drop out. Boo! Hiss!

That being the case, one may wonder what other purpose J.J. serves. This is simple. Instead of being disappointed in J.J.'s lack of killing power, use it for what it IS good at. It forces the Runner to make extra preparations before running a fort known to contain J.J., and if J.J. is still a surprise it will usually catch the runner unprepared. Since ambushing the Runner will not work, stick with the simple stuff like Code Gates or Walls.

Another nice feature of J.J. is that if you keep the Runner out the first time, you can use it again the next time the Runner goes after the fort. This keeps the Runner on edge as long as your bit pool and hand size are sufficiently large. Since they won't know what you might pop out, they must run blind.

J.J. does enable a new level of bluffing as well. If you only draw a handful of Canis Major and Ball and Chain on turn 1, you can still lay them down as bluffs safe in the knowledge that J.J. will allow you to toughen the forts later. This can actually lead to some successful ambushes if used with due care. If the Runner hits a fort with just Fatal Attractor guarding it, chances are they won't break it. Then use J.J. to pop up something they can't break and watch 'em get zapped. Same works with Data Darts, Bolter Cluster and Shock.r, but with no damage. Of course New Blood can accomplish the shuffling of ICE better than J.J. and with more freedom, but it is a one shot shuffle with no surprise component.

If you really want to try and get fancy, put a Jack Attack on a fort with J.J. when you have 15 bits and a Liche in your hand (or 18 bits and Colonel Failure), then use J.J. This will actually nail the Runner 9 times out of 10 if they don't have the money or the breakers to deal with it. Then you have a nice fort, with J.J. still installed, where you can probably put an agenda or two before the runner is able to deal with it.

Some really good trick ICE to use with J.J. include Minotaur behind a bunch of Gates and Walls, Mastermind behind anything, Bug Zapper behind a bunch of Canis Majors, or Dog Pile behind a bunch of Data Darts or Hunting Pack behind a handful of Hunters.

The advantage to using Jenny over her friends is that J.J. installs the ICE permanently. Dreff gives you a one shot, and Olivia just lets you "flash" ICE at the Runner. Dreff has the very powerful ability to make the Runner ENCOUNTER a piece of ICE on the inside, but then the ICE must be trashed (often worth it). Dreff is an Awesome compliment to decks with J.J. as the Runner will not know if they will encounter ICE that they will approach or encounter! Then you can choose to block the runner with a gate or set them up with a bunch of apparently harmless ICE, which the runner ignores, only to get flatlined by a strength 9 Mastermind!

J.J. can be a great card, especially when used in conjunction with Dr. Dreff, but it is not perfect. Play it with caution and it can really help. Relying on it could prove disastarous, so choose your ICE wisely when using J.J. J.J. is also best used in numbers so that you can rely on it making an appearance, which is unfortunate because it is a rare card.