Dedicated Response Team

Dedicated Response Team 2[credit]

Asset: Hostile
Trash: 3
Influence: 3

If the Runner is tagged, Dedicated Response Team gains "Whenever a successful run ends, do 2 meat damage."

They don't call them dedicated for nothing.
Illustrated by Reza Ilyasa
Decklists with this card

Future Proof (fp)

#118 • English
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Reviews

Thematically, this is THE quintessential Weyland card. Once you've pissed off the most powerful corporation on the planet, it's only a matter of minutes before they'll have a black ops team scaling the side of your high-rise to murder you.

Is it playable? Certainly, but it is a combo card that does nothing by itself - this murder squad needs a support team of tech nerds to tag their targets for them (much like Private Security Force). Its ability will not work if it's not rezzed, so once the runner is tagged and DRT is faceup, you can be sure at least one of those things is going to be addressed immediately. With the exception of a literal tag storm, you can't stop the runner from clearing their tags before they run.

The best way to get DRT to actually fire successfully is to tag the runner mid-run, when they can't untag themselves. Enter Step 4.3 of the run, your new best friend. A prompt that is often tacitly ignored, step 4.3 is a rez/paid ability window that occurs after the runner has decided to access the server itself (after any/all ICE), but before the run is considered "successful". If you rez a card in this window, the runner cannot jack out in response to it. Also remember that DRT's effect happens AFTER THE RUN IS OVER, so any tag they take during the access WILL activate DRT. Here are some suggestions:

  1. Snare! is by far the best combo card with DRT. If they hit it with DRT rezzed, they're immediately taking 3 net damage, 2 meat damage, and a tag. If this doesn't straight up flatline them, it will set them back tremendously (and probably make them run much more slowly and cautiously in future turns).
    • Unfortunately, you cannot rez DRT in response to them accessing the Snare - you have to do it in step 4.3 (or earlier). This is fine if you have Snare installed in a remote, but if it's in a central server (as it usually is), then rezzing DRT in preparation is kind of a crap shoot. Large multi-access cards may increase its viability here, especially Legwork and the infamous Gang Sign/HQ Interface combo.
  2. TGTBT gives a tag on access, so like Snare, if you know they're going to be hitting it, rez the DRT before access. Unlike Snare, TGTBT's tag will fire in archives, giving you a surprisingly rare non-Jinteki archives trap (and with a Jackson Howard down as well, you have a lot of flexibility with when to fire it).
  3. Data Raven is guaranteed to place a tag on the runner if they ever want to complete a run on the server it's protecting, making it an extremely reliable way to get mid-run tags off.

Plenty of other ICE have trace--->tag subroutines, but because there are so many ways around them, your mileage may vary. Some other notes:

  • When including it in your deck, the main considerations are probably:
    • Geeze that's a lot of influence. Can I fit it in anything other than Weyland IDs and Near-Earth Hub?
    • How effectively/consistently can I tag the runner (especially in the middle of a run)?
    • Can I actually protect it once it's installed? This could mean ICE, increased costs and penalties, or just making asset trashing unattractive/unsustainable for some other reason.
  • Argus Security: Protection Guaranteed's ability (if the runner chooses "tag") will trigger DRT, since the tag is taken when the agenda is stolen (which is before the run technically ends). Runners commonly opt for the tag instead of the meat damage, and just pay it off on their next . Now their choice is "Take 2 meat damage" or "Take 2 meat damage. And a tag." Yeah, Argus is fun.
  • Dedicated Response Team stacks. That means you can potentially "surprise" the runner with 6 meat damage (the 3 installed DRTs may not be a surprise, but the mid-run tag could be!)
  • If the runner is tagged and runs on DRT to trash it, the ability does not fire (because it gets trashed before the run is fully ended). The two other ones you have rezzed will work just fine, though.
  • Femme Fatale and Inside Job can bypass Data Raven without taking a tag. Fortunately for you, they cannot bypass two Data Ravens.
  • Pajama Lady, Photoshop, Porn Computer, and Motorcycle can all frustrate your mid-run tagging strategy.
(The Underway era)
Also City Hall, ruins it for two credits. —
DRT wouldn't fire off of Gang Sign since it's not a run. —
Awesome Review. DRT is definitely stronger post-D&D as well, with News Team more likely to give negative pts, Sync making tagstorm stronger, and Casting Call turning agendas into Fetal AI. —
There are many resources which can neuter DRT, but thankfully there's Corporate Town for that. Mix well with Argus and you have a recipe for destruction. —
Combos perfectly with Prisec. Runner takes a tag and point of meat on access, successful run ends, DRT swoops in for another two points of meat. Very punishing if you ask me. —

(Revised Core Set Perspective)

I have tried to make this card work time and time again in tagstorm NBN: Making News but I think it's safe to say NBN should stick to always watching rather than responding.

Dedicated Response Team is a thematically awesome card that goes along well with Weyland's strategy of kicking down doors, burning down buildings, and sending in the Cleaners afterwards. It's often compared to the remaining tag punishment cards in the RCS: Private Security Force, Closed Accounts, and Psychographics. Score a Cleaners quickly and this can really gain some massive firepower with 3 damage per successful run.

The problem is just that though; for DRT to fire, it requires the runner to make a successful run. Compared to the other 3 tag punishment cards above, each can be used immediately after landing a tag on the runner with a SEA Source. As such, these punishment cards can be used at the corp's discretion.

As an asset, DRT suffers from having to be on standby. It requires tag support in the form of cards that will tag mid-run - any other time and the runner will remove the tag on their turn. Currently, Weyland does not have the support cards necessary as Shadow's subs are often broken due to its low strength and Hunter is often overlooked compared to other Weyland sentries like Archer or Caduceus which both come with ETR subs.

This card might find a home in NBN decks with plenty of tag-friendly cards like Data Raven, TGTBT, or Ghost Branch if it weren't for its high influence cost of 3. An NBN player has to make a decision whether to include a few of these cards for consistent flatlines (as 1 DRT will very rarely secure the flatline alone) or save the influence altogether. Not to mention having to protect the DRTs constantly from being trashed by support cards like Scrubber or Imp or a rich runner in general.

All in all, I feel a simple change to this card could have made it more consistent for corps to use (Weyland or NBN): Adding a "This applies even during the run on which the runner trashes Dedicated Response Team." like Strongbox or Red Herrings. But perhaps that's asking for too much.

(Crimson Dust era)
You have to take into account that, with Decoy permanently gone and Aaron Marron removed, tags would now be much more of a pain to avoid or remove. DRT could from now on be seen not as a flatline dispenser, but as a setback device that, when used properly, can cause one hell of a dilemma - risk running with commandos on my back? Or spare hard-earned resources to remove the threat and possibly open a scoring window for Corp? —
Sure, Decoy is gone and tags are harder to avoid/remove mid-run but how does Weyland land the tags mid-run in the first place? In the RCS, there just isn't a lot for them. —
With tracer ICE, mostly. Data Raven, Shadow, Hunter. With Scorched Earth done, I suppose tags won't be so strictly avoided, to the point some people might even decide to float them. —
It is a bit of a gamble, but snare! is also a fine way to trigger DRT. TGTBT can also do an impression of Snare! in this scenario. Within weyland, you also have Mausolus, Colossus and K.P. Lynn. —
In perspective of Revised Core Set - Snare is number one for successful using DRT. 3 net damage and 2 meat damage (or even 3 if you have scored The Cleaners or even more meat damage when fires two or three rezzed DRT) means usually end of the game for runner. When not, Neural EMP can finish the job. Data Raven is another stable option for tagging runner in mid-run. —
K.P. Lynn is another favorite for tagging, as it fires when the Runner passes all the ICE on a server. Combined with Mr. Stone for an extra meat damage, DRT can seriously hit a Runner where it hurts. —
Prisec is one of the best ways to turn DRT on. —