Card of the Day

Written by Foolkiller

Roving Submarine (RS) is an upgrade with many excellent combo partners. Any node which doesn't require advancement counters to function makes a perfect match for RS.

Certain Nodes (and some Agendas) make natural pairs for RS:

1. Department of Truth Enhancement (my favorite)

2. City Surveillance

3. Chicago Branch

4. Disinfectant, Inc. (thanks Dave)

5. Omniscience Foundation

6. Nevinyrral (or Remote Facility)

7. Political Overthrow

8. World Domination

Department of Truth Enhancement is one of the best sources of income available to the Corp. Of course, the Runner knows this and will trash it if possible. RS denies that opportunity and gives you a perfect bit engine for the rest of the game.

City Surveillance is always a pain in the Runner's neck. Make it untouchable and see how agravated they get!

Chicago Branch is an excellent tool for fast advancement with very reasonable use-costs. Another big bullseye for most Runners, and thus a great candidate for sending off to the North Sea. :)

Disinfectant has been a sleeper for some time now, but thanks to Demon-spawn Runners (like David Liu) with Viral Pipeline decks, this is a card to consider submerging somewhere safe.

Omniscience Foundation is real nice to have around while trying to get a bead on the Runner. Sinking it allows you to get those extra tags at every opportunity.

Nevinyrral and Remote Facility are great cards for RS. An extra action is golden in Netrunner, and the rez cost of these cards (not to mention the trash penalty of Nevinyrral) make them impractical in many cases. Stick 'em in a Sub and wait to see if they survive before rezzing them. If so, great. If not, no big loss.

Political Overthrow decks use only 3 agendas in most cases. If you are not ready to score one yet, sneak it into a Sub for safe keeping until you are ready to score it.

World Domination works the same way. Wait until you have the 36 bits required for 3 Project Consultants, then score it in one turn from the safety of the Sub.

Some less obvious Nodes to put in a Sub include:

1. TRAP!

2. Setup!

3. Pattel Antibody

4. Doppelganger Antibody

These ambush nodes are perfect for RS. The Runner, suspecting one of the juicy cards above, runs headlong into your ambush. If you are prepared with a Chance Observation or Data Sifters, plus some explosive devices, you can quickly end a Weefle's career!

RS is one of the ultimate bluff cards. The Runner can almost never resist the temptation to discover what it is that you want SO badly that you put it into a RS. For that reason, they will often run before it is safe to do so.

If you are serious about getting something into a RS, be prepared to get it into play very quickly, while the Runner is still off-balance and building up. Drop it behind a Filter/Shock.r combo early to prevent an Inside Job from robbing you secure little fort.

Later, try using Haunting Inquisition to buy you a turn to install the Sub and its contents in the open! The Runner won't be able to run again before its too late.

One combo that works very well on turn 1 is;

1. Install Dept. of Truth Enhancement

2. Install and rez RS

3. Install Filter

If the Runner can't get in on their first turn you've got money for the rest of the game at your fingertips. You have just enough bits to rez DTE just before your first action on turn two. Very cool!

Overall, Roving Submarine is an excellent card in almost every deck, making one of the best cards in the set.