René Arcemont is not a mild-mannered journalist. He is not a wizened conspiracy theorist or a virus-spamming punk. Loup is here to engage the Corporation, torpedo all their cards away, and get paid for it.
The face of the Anarchs in System Gateway is René “Loup” Arcemont: Party Animal.
René “Loup” Arcemont: Party Animal
Anarch Identity: G-mod
Minimum deck size: 40 – Influence: 15
: 0 – : 4
The first time each turn you trash a card you are accessing, gain 1 and draw 1 card.
Run wyld.
Illustrated by Benjamin Giletti
Loup presents an interesting deckbuilding challenge. Not only is he a 40-card identity—a rarity in Anarch—but he also demands that you interact with the Corp. Unlike MaxX, Loup doesn’t trigger on his own. And unlike everyone’s favorite morally grey himbo Edward Kim, Loup doesn’t give you more ability to trash things. In an ideal world, you want to activate Loup every turn, and you’re not going to get there by just including any old Anarch cards. It takes a concerted effort. If you can do that, though, Loup becomes a powerhouse, giving you value for an action that is already winning you the game.
So how do you get there? Imp is the obvious card currently in Standard. Imp’s ability to circumvent trash costs means even if you access an operation or agenda, you can Imp it into the bin, activating Loup’s ability. As Limes showed at last year’s Worlds, Imp is really good at disrupting Corp plans. But Imp isn’t the only trick up Loup’s lack of sleeves. There are a few other ways to trash accessed cards, both ordinary—like paying the printed trash cost—and unorthodox, like By Any Means. One advantage to Loup’s small deck size is that he gets access to these tools faster than your corporate opposition will expect. And when you add the draw on top of Loup’s compact deck, if you can get the party started, Loup will get you all the way home.
But be on the lookout for party fouls. There are a few notable non-bos to be aware of, since Loup only gives you a benefit when you trash cards you’re accessing. Stargate does not trigger Loup’s ability because you do not access the card you trash. Similarly, Hippo trashing an ice won’t trigger the ID ability. But that doesn’t mean those cards don’t have a place in Loup! Run good cards in your decks.
In the new Standard, Loup’s console is one of the premier ways to trigger his ability. I personally think this console will be meta-defining, due to its utility against a wide range of archetypes. Loup and the console feed each other, propelling your momentum forward and hopefully helping you win the game before you run out of gas. But for more on that, you’ll have to wait until Community Week, when 2020 NISEI World Champion Limes previews Loup’s signature hardware.
A final thing to note about Loup: he is a 40-card ID. If you’re trying to do some kind of combo, or looking to get an untutorable card into play fast, the Party Animal might be your kind of flavor, as his small minimum deck size makes it easier to find the cards you need. Unlike Gnat, Anarchs’ other 40-card identity, Loup’s ID will only be triggered by interacting with the Corp. If you’re trying to spend several turns at home, installing cards for a big engine, you’re probably better suited to that particular child prodigy—not Loup.
If you want to get in there and blow up everything, Loup is your guy. Once you’ve got some support down, like Imp or his console, you’re ready to engage the Corp and disrupt their plans at warp speed. Now that’s a party.
System Gateway and System Update 2021 will be released on or shortly after March 28, 2021, as physical cards via NISEI’s print-on-demand partners and pay-what-you want files for downloading and printing at home!
