In the Shadowrun: Crossfire adventure deck-building game, the Decker is all about data. We hack into terminals to bypass security and search the Matrix for that crucial piece of intel. Unlike a Street Samurai and their ability to protect your back in a fight, the Mage with their arcane wisdom, and the Face who seems to always have “a guy” for anything, I’m the true master of information and technology. You want the latest tune before it’s released? I’m your man! I’m also the guy to get you through the door, disarm the security systems, and retrieve the megacorps’ most prized information.
The Decker’s role color is green and the green cards are all about fun combos. Get the right set of cards in hand and you can do some crazy damage. Some of those combos are easy and basic, such as Icon Grab.
Play Icon Grab with another Hacking card and you get 2 damage out of the card instead of one. Plus that second damage gives you a choice of colors, which can be critical for knocking out pesky obstacles in your way.
The next card, Retrieval Agent, is also fun to combo with.
Using the Retrieval Agent card allows you to bring back Hacking cards you used in previous turns. Remember that cards played this turn don’t go into the discard until later, barring effects that have discard a card as part of their cost, such as Pair Programming.
Pair Programming lets you play with the other runner’s discards. And to combo it with Retrieval Agent, discard a Hacking card to use Pair Programming on an expensive card, and then play Retrieval Agent to put the card you discarded back into your hand.
What was that? You want to play with your own discard pile? For that we have Jacked In.
When you play Jacked In, it just does its damage. But once it’s in your discard, you can get it back by discarding another card from your hand. This is a great way to upgrade the damage from a basic card, or a good option if you only have a red card in hand and you need to do additional green damage. Because Jacked In can provide a constant source of green damage, it’s very popular with non-Deckers that want to interact with the Matrix. Don’t expect to use Jacked In more than once a turn, however, because after you play it you’ll have to wait until the end of your turn for it to be in the discard.
Next we have Backdoor.
Played normally, it does a hefty 2G damage. But play it on another runner’s turn and you get the assist ability instead. Played that way, you can cancel the ability text on any obstacle and deal G damage. It’s perfect for neutralizing obstacles that can heal or that place restrictions on your team.
Finally we have my favorite Hacking card—Hack the World.
You get to reach into the Black Market and play something for free! On top of that, you get 2GG damage as well. The card gives you the ultimate flexibility since you can usually get exactly the card you need for any given situation.
Well, we’re back. Look’s like no one else has shown up yet, so I think it’s time to dig into some ramen!
-Conan E. Chamberlain