For its entire existence, Jinteki, more than any other faction, has been the Corp most thematically associated with trickery, misdirection and deception. However, I’ve always felt like the cards most associated with this theme were just a little too… direct for my taste. Sure, it’s fun to flatline the Runner with an unexpected Urtica Cipher or to bounce them from your remote with a surprise bid of two on Hyoubu Precog Manifold, but at times they can feel like they’re more about giving the Runner inscrutable choices than deceit. I’ve always wanted a card where the Runner feels like they’ve been had when it fires. They could have prevented this so easily, if they had only seen what Jinteki was planning.
In Midnight Sun, now we have one.
Regenesis
Jinteki Agenda: Research
Advancement Requirement: 3 – Agenda Points: 1
When you score this agenda, if no Corp cards have been added to Archives this turn, you may reveal 1 facedown agenda in Archives and add it to your score area.
“Esteemed guests, by the end of this demonstration you will see that extinction is now only a temporary state of affairs.”
—Vientiane Keeling
Illustrated by Anthony Hutchings
Now, I don’t think I need to tell anyone here that when this fires the effect is strong. If you score Regenesis with a facedown Send a Message in Archives, that’s 4 points for the cost of a 3/1 agenda! But on the other hand, at face value, this should be so easy for the Runner to prevent. All they need to do is avoid leaving face-down cards in Archives and Regenesis becomes a blank 3/1. To keep that from happening, we’ll need to do two things: Disincentivize the Runner from checking Archives, and get cards into Archives without arousing their suspicion.
Disincentivizing Archives runs shouldn’t be too hard. After all, the server is usually pretty low-value. Still, if we just leave it wide open, the Runner will use cards like Dirty Laundry and Pennyshaver to gain value while also keeping us honest. Now, of course we could defend it with any old ice in our repertoire, but it sure would be nice if we had a specialist—like, perhaps, Bathynomus, which was previewed on Reddit last week!
Now that’s a nasty subroutine, which is normally kept in check by its abysmal 1 strength. Bukhgalter, for instance, actually earns 1 for breaking this at its printed strength. While protecting Archives, however, Bathynomus’s +3 strength turns it into a monster, taxing even the best killers.
Now that defending Archives is out of the way, we just need some good ways to avoid telegraphing our intent to the Runner. Several already released options, such as Hansei Review and Anemone, can help with this, but my last preview card could also be helpful:
Moon Pool
Jinteki Asset: Facility
Rez Cost: 3 – Trash Cost: 3 – Influence: 3
Remove this asset from the game: Trash up to 2 cards from HQ. Reveal up to 2 facedown cards in Archives and shuffle them into R&D. For each agenda revealed this way, you may place 1 advancement counter on an installed card.
Designed by the Borealis Playtesters
Illustrated by Olie Boldador
Fast advance, hand management and sneaky tricks all in one small package. The base case for Moon Pool is obviously quite good—clean out your hand and score a 3-advancement agenda—but it can do even more than that. If you manage to sneak this asset onto the board along with Regenesis, you can dump an agenda into Archives at the end of the Runner’s turn, when they no longer have clicks left to check Archives! Dump a 5/3, reveal it when you score Regenesis, and voilà: 4 points just for scoring a 3/1! Just be careful, and remember that trashing any card on your turn (including playing an operation!) will deactivate Regenesis, so you must use this on the Runner’s turn to have the desired effect.
With new tools that synergize with each other, as well as building upon faction mechanics that have been introduced in earlier sets, Midnight Sun brings a breath of fresh air into Jinteki. We hope this will lead to brand new archetypes emerging, bringing more variety and competitive success to the faction!
Midnight Sun will be released on July 22, 2022, as physical cards via NISEI’s print partners and pay-what-you want files for downloading and printing at home!
