Card of the Day

Written by Foolkiller

Redecorator is a card with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it usually needs a little help to fully realize that potential. With some forethought and preparation, this card can really work well for the Runner.

If you are using Redecorator, generally means that you are using a traditional breaker suite (one for gates, one for sentries, etc...). Along those lines, that means that you will need three of your starting 4 MU for breakers, barring unusual circumstances (like Succubus). With only 1 MU remaining, we would probably want to put a Clown in there to help Redecorator out. If we are going to have a Clown anyway, it makes sense to use other cards which would benefit from having such a card in play. Japanese Water Torture and Skeleton Passkeys spring to mind as excellent companions. If you have stronger breakers in mind, you could use Lockjaw in that open slot just to help Redecorator out. Keep in mind that you will want lots of Lockjaws or a way to recycle one of them.

With all of those things considered, I would suggest that The Personal Touch is actually the best choice when using Redecorator. When you consider that it will cost you 3+ bits the first time you encounter a strength 4+ sentry, it makes sense to pay the extra 1 bit and gain a permanent boost to Redecorator. A few of these, and Redecorator becomes a very effective sentry breaker.

On its own, Redecorator excells at breaking certain pieces of ice. The most obvious are the "Trash a Program" family (i.e., Banpei, Ice Pick Willie, D'Arc Knight, and Triggerman), though the bigger members of that family will cost you. Some other, less obvious ICE that withers in the face of Redecorator are Data Darts, Jack Attack, and all the small sentry ice of various other flavors.

The single piece of ICE that is most frustrating to users of Redecorator is Cinderella. Paying 10 bits to break a sentry with 1 routine is very annoying. Liche and Colonel Failure are no fun either, especially if you have not made Personal improvements to your software. For these reasons, a link, and Simulacrum are nice boosters for Redecorator while you are discovering what the Corp has up its sleeve.

Overall, Big Frackin' Gun is probably a better choice if you expect heavy Sentry opposition, but if you are prepared to make improvements, or you expect only nominal Sentry resistance, then Redecorate to your heart's content!