Android Netrunner

[Blisstake]

I just want to know if this game is any good...

[Hedgehogman]

It's better than good, it's absolutely amazing. Probably the best designed and most balanced TCG I've ever played. And best of all, it's really cheap to get into. 30 bucks for the base set, and then each complete expansion is $15. No rares, no chase cards, no mythics, you get it all in one box.

 I desperately am looking for people to play with in my area, but alas, it hasn't caught on in St. Louis yet....

[Blisstake]

I guess its time to see if "someone" sells this in my state...

[TimMierz]

I've only played the original NetRunner, and it doesn't do a whole lot for me. The concept was great - asymmetric sides with different win conditions - but so much seemed to come down to pure guesswork (as opposed to strategic deduction). I don't know what the more recent version has changed, but I haven't sought it out.

[EmJayBee83]

It's better than good, it's absolutely amazing. Probably the best designed and most balanced TCG I've ever played.

Agreed. A:NR is currently the fifth highest-rated game on BGG and has been on The Hotness since its release in 2012. And the player base is fairly amazing; there are 10 or so active podcasts for A:NR.

And best of all, it's really cheap to get into. 30 bucks for the base set, and then each complete expansion is $15. No rares, no chase cards, no mythics, you get it all in one box.

I bought the complete set (2x core set, 1x all expansions) for JSB23 for his birthday last August, and it cost me ~$100.

I desperately am looking for people to play with in my area, but alas, it hasn't caught on in St. Louis yet....

If it's not too much of a hike, send JSB23 a pm. He's a student at Missouri S&T, and he plays.

[Lampy 2.0]

This is a card game I've been interested in playing ever since FFG announced they were bringing the game back. I already play two of the living card games from them, being Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, so starting collecting these shouldn't be too different for me.

I'm having a hard time getting a grasp of the rules, but I am getting there. This game isn't as hard for me to understand as the Star Wars CCG from Decipher and Middle Earth from Iron Crown were.

This game is also on OCTGN if anybody wants to play it.

[Prof Underwood]

This game is also on OCTGN if anybody wants to play it.

I wonder if someone could make a Redemption game on OCTGN?

[AJ]

No packs is kinda a bummer though since i really enjoy opening random pack and getting surprised with a UR hence why i supported the kickstarter thread.

[EmJayBee83]

No packs is kinda a bummer though since i really enjoy opening random pack and getting surprised with a UR hence why i supported the kickstarter thread.

The trade off is that everyone has all of the cards, so winning is more a matter of who is the best deck designer and game player (as opposed to who has the most money to buy cards).

This game is also on OCTGN if anybody wants to play it.

I wonder if someone could make a Redemption game on OCTGN?

Technically a person should be able to do that. (I know for a fact you can create a plugin for LackeyCCG that would give you multi-player, and booster draft capability pretty much out of the box.) The question is why anybody would want to go to the effort if RedemptionLive! has the blessing of the copyright holder?

[Blisstake]

More expensive than it should be, but its alaska...
40 bucks... they have one in stock, and they said they carry most of the expansions.

Ebay price:
47.60 bucks... USED

this is the core set though... shipping is crazy big. Plus the game shop i contacted is in Anchorage...Thinking of seeing if my mom can get a hold of this for less than 40 bucks, including shipping. (shes not in Alaska...)

[Blisstake]

News: same price down in washington... i thought it was supposed to be 30 bucks, on ebay, its 30 bucks without shipping...

[EmJayBee83]

The MSRP for the A:NR core is $39.95 and FLGS are (almost) always going to charge MSRP, so the shop you talked to was dealing you really straight. If you want to try online both Amazon and CoolStuffInc have the core for $27, but shipping to AK is going to bump that up.

With the exception of bulk purchases, I buy all of my games locally. Keeping my FLGS in business is of considerable value.

[Blisstake]

Wow, just checked the price from coolstuffinc for the whole set, and it definately seems cheaper from these guys, plus, free shipping for the whole set

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

Question. If you buy the core set is it enough for two people to play?

[browarod]

Question. If you buy the core set is it enough for two people to play?

Yes indeed! The core set comes with faction-specific cards for 4 Corporation factions and 3 Runner factions (think brigades from Redemption) as well as enough neutral-faction cards for each type (Corporation and Runner) to bring any of the faction decks up to legal size. What does this mean? Right out of the box you can have a legal Corporation and a legal Runner deck which is all you need for 2 people to play! You can mix and match the cards to create other legal decks as well once you get used to the game.

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

I love the asymmetrical game play. I have only got to play a few rounds with each side but it was a blast. How worth it are the expansions?

[EmJayBee83]

I love the asymmetrical game play. I have only got to play a few rounds with each side but it was a blast. How worth it are the expansions?

It depends.  If you are a casual player who just wants to pick up a pre-made deck to play every so often, the core set alone is going to be fine.

If you enjoy the deck building aspects or are going to play enough that you get to the point of being tired of "the same old decks." Then you want to branch out and pick some expansions.  (In the core and first cycle, runners were stronger than the corp.  If you find this occurring when you play, pick up a copy of Opening Moves as your first datapack.  Jackson Howard will quickly remedy this situation.)

Lastly, if you are really into deck building and/or want to play competitively you will need two copies of the core set (or three), and one each of every expansion. I can't think of one expansion that did not advance the game in some way.

The also have draft packs for NetRunner, but buying the expansions outright is going to be a better deal if what you really want are the cards.

[Red Dragon Thorn]

MJB,

How do tournaments work? Do you pick a faction and compare total wins at the end of the tournament, or are you expected to build decks for both sides and play a match?

[EmJayBee83]

You bring two decks--one Corp and one Runner. For the first few rounds you are playing Swiss seeded matches. You play two games (one corp/one runner) against your opponent. You get two points for a victory and one point for if you are leading at time out for the round.

After a few rounds of Swiss if there are enough players they will top cut.  A standard 30-40 player tournament is going to be 5 rounds of Swiss with a top cut of eight.  The top cut rounds used to be matches, but in the near future they are going to switch to individual games with double elimination. I believe the higher seeded player coming out of Swiss gets his/her choice of whether to run or corp.

[Late modification]
I should have mentioned that the Net Runner tournament scene is quite awesome. I've been to tournaments at 4 different locations, and the people are uniformly laid back and fun to hang with. My youngest (11 years old) has attended a couple of tourneys with me, and everyone has treated him kindly and been willing to give helpful suggestions and congratulate him when he plays well.

My experience is limited to the Minnesota scene, but the reports from other areas that I have heard/read are basically the same across the board.
[End Late Modification]

Super fun.

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

I know this is a necro but what packs would you suggest for starting deck building? I got bored due to lack of variety and stopped playing but I think a few packs for christmas may start the bug again.

[Prof Underwood]

I know this is a necro but what packs would you suggest for starting deck building? I got bored due to lack of variety and stopped playing but I think a few packs for christmas may start the bug again.

I just got into Android Netrunner in the last few months (due to working at FF).  I went ahead and got two starters and one of each expansion still available.

As I look at my current decks, I see a lot of the cards have the symbol that looks like a squiggly "H".  There are also a bunch of ones that look like the symbol for antenna signals (kinda like this: o))) except vertical).  My Weylen deck specifically has a log of cards with the symbol that looks like an 1940's microphone.

[EmJayBee83]

It depends on what you are looking for...

The holistic approach is to purchase expansions in the order that they originally shipped. This would let you experience how the meta shifted over time. It also makes it easier to discuss your collection with other players (e.g., "I have everything up through A Study in Static.")

A second approach would be to preferentially select packs that give you the most interesting options for building across the board. This will introduce you to a number of the archetypes and some moderately powerful decks.

The last approach would be to start with a couple of factions (one corp, one runner) that you are interested in a purchase packs to expand on those. You can pretty quickly become competitive this way at minimal cost.

I believe both reddit (specifically the Net Runner subreddit) and Shut Up and Sit Down have buying guides. Or you could post which approach you are interested in, and I could make some suggestions.

[LukeChips]

I was going to get into NR, but star wars lcg just looked way cooler, so I got that...

[browarod]

Anyone know if there's a way to play this game online? It seems like we have quite a few people that play the game so it might be fun to be able to play it with each other.

Does Lackey, or similar programs, have an A:NR plugin at all, or something like that?

I was going to get into NR, but star wars lcg just looked way cooler, so I got that...

I have the starter set for that on my Christmas list.

[LukeChips]

To be competitive, you have to have 2.

[EmJayBee83]

Anyone know if there's a way to play this game online? It seems like we have quite a few people that play the game so it might be fun to be able to play it with each other.

Does Lackey, or similar programs, have an A:NR plugin at all, or something like that?

Right now if you have a PC you can play A:NR online using Octagon (which is like Lackey on steroids). A complete guide to getting started can be found at http://www.tuism.com/octgn-netrunner-fool-proof-guide/. If you only have a Mac or a Linux box you are out of luck.

To be competitive, you have to have 2.

This is something to be aware of.  If you want to play at the Tier-1/Win Big Tournament level for any of the Fantasy Flight LCGs (Star Wars, A:NR, Conquest, etc.) you probably need to have 2 (possibly 3) copies of the core sets. That being said, the core set of A:NR comes with 7 starter decks (one for each of the 4 corporation and the 3 runner factions) and has a ton of play right out of the gate. You can play for a long time and get a great feel for whether the game is for you or not before you need to buy any additional cards.

[LukeChips]

You can play for a long time and get a great feel for whether the game is for you or not before you need to buy any additional cards.

Yea, I still don't have 2 core sets in SW lcg, but it's still really fun!

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

It depends on what you are looking for...

The holistic approach is to purchase expansions in the order that they originally shipped. This would let you experience how the meta shifted over time. It also makes it easier to discuss your collection with other players (e.g., "I have everything up through A Study in Static.")

A second approach would be to preferentially select packs that give you the most interesting options for building across the board. This will introduce you to a number of the archetypes and some moderately powerful decks.

The last approach would be to start with a couple of factions (one corp, one runner) that you are interested in a purchase packs to expand on those. You can pretty quickly become competitive this way at minimal cost.

I believe both reddit (specifically the Net Runner subreddit) and Shut Up and Sit Down have buying guides. Or you could post which approach you are interested in, and I could make some suggestions.

The second one is more my style, I enjoy shifting things up often to find my own style.

[LukeChips]

They made a 2nd edition!?!

[browarod]

I think he meant the second approach from MJB's post, lol. He prefers to preferentially select packs that give the most interesting options.

[LukeChips]

Oh, thanks. I must have go NR confused with game of thrones LCG, which is getting a 2nd edition...

[EmJayBee83]

Hey Josh...The packs you are going to want to pick up will be the ones with each corp's 3/2 agendas, some new ids, and some good utility cards. That said, I would probably go with (top three):

1) What Lies Ahead  3/2 for Jinteki and for Weyland.  New Anarch and HB ids. Ash (oh so awesome) and Plascrete Carapace (to keep you from getting Scorched).

2) Future Proof  3/2 for NBN. New NBN id, Eli (maybe the best ICE in the game), Indexing--super powerful runner event. New Angeles City Hall.  Mr. Li.

3) Cyber Exodus.  3/2 for HB. Chaos Theory (most excellent Shaper id). Pop-up window, Test Run, Personal Workshop.

Also worthy of consideration is Opening Moves, based almost solely on one card--Jackson Howard. There are some other good cards in that pack (e.g., Next Bronze), but J. How is the rock star. Without a doubt the best corp card printed to date.

Lastly, if you find you like playing Shaper, Creation & Control--the first big box--has a number of faction defining cards.

[ChristianSoldier]

Also worthy of consideration is Opening Moves, based almost solely on one card--Jackson Howard. There are some other good cards in that pack (e.g., Next Bronze), but J. How is the rock star. Without a doubt the best corp card printed to date.
[/quote

I prefer Director Haas, especially because I don't even use Jackson Howard (and if I'm remembering who he is, don't really want to either)

[EmJayBee83]

Also worthy of consideration is Opening Moves, based almost solely on one card--Jackson Howard. There are some other good cards in that pack (e.g., Next Bronze), but J. How is the rock star. Without a doubt the best corp card printed to date.

I prefer Director Haas, especially because I don't even use Jackson Howard (and if I'm remembering who he is, don't really want to either)

I think you might not be remembering who he is.  At the recent Worlds, only one Corp deck in the Top 16 did not run three copies (the maximum) of Jackson Howard, and that deck ran two copies. The card really is *that* good.

[ChristianSoldier]

Also worthy of consideration is Opening Moves, based almost solely on one card--Jackson Howard. There are some other good cards in that pack (e.g., Next Bronze), but J. How is the rock star. Without a doubt the best corp card printed to date.

I prefer Director Haas, especially because I don't even use Jackson Howard (and if I'm remembering who he is, don't really want to either)

I think you might not be remembering who he is.  At the recent Worlds, only one Corp deck in the Top 16 did not run three copies (the maximum) of Jackson Howard, and that deck ran two copies. The card really is *that* good.

I never said I play top decks. I never said how good he was, all I said was what I preferred. I essentially play this game with three other people and I doubt any of us are top level good. I don't really check up top decks or anything like that. I suppose I should have made that a little more clear.

[EmJayBee83]

I never said I play top decks. I never said how good he was, all I said was what I preferred. I essentially play this game with three other people and I doubt any of us are top level good. I don't really check up top decks or anything like that. I suppose I should have made that a little more clear.

Sorry, I thought you were responding directly to my claim that Jackson Howard was the best corp card to date.

[LukeChips]

Do expansions come out every month?

[Lampy 2.0]

Do expansions come out every month?

When FFG doesn't take their sweet time releasing expansions... *cough* STAR WARS: BETWEEN THE SHADOWS*cough* ...yes. Generally, since Netrunner is FFG's most popular LCG, they would put more effort into releasing cards.

[LukeChips]

I know, Between the shadows was supposed to come out MONTHS AGO!!!

[ChristianSoldier]

I never said I play top decks. I never said how good he was, all I said was what I preferred. I essentially play this game with three other people and I doubt any of us are top level good. I don't really check up top decks or anything like that. I suppose I should have made that a little more clear.

Sorry, I thought you were responding directly to my claim that Jackson Howard was the best corp card to date.

Also my knowledge of the game is far from complete, and I was mostly basing it on my particular deck rather than corp decks in general. I probably also underestimated his power. Of course I may have to try Jackson Howard out now that I know he is really strong, maybe I can even more consistently beat my friends.

[LukeChips]

Now I wish I got NR instead of Star wars LCG, more people play NR

[EmJayBee83]

Of course I may have to try Jackson Howard out now that I know he is really strong, maybe I can even more consistently beat my friends.

Need some cards? Jackson Howard will let you draw 2 for a click.

Have a Noise problem?  JH is the silencer.

Have you ever gotten agenda flooded? Install J. How and then pitch two or three agendas in your archives.

Has that nasty runner locked your R&D down tight?  Maybe a bit of Mr. Howard's shuffle magic is on order.

Seriously, in the original data cycle runners won 60-70% of all tournament-level games. After Opening Moves came out that dropped to around 50-55% due to one card.

[browarod]

So in a tournament structure for this game does each player bring a corp and a runner deck (or multiples of each faction) and then they get randomly assigned a role each match? Or do you pick a side and play that the whole time?

[EmJayBee83]

So in a tournament structure for this game does each player bring a corp and a runner deck (or multiples of each faction) and then they get randomly assigned a role each match? Or do you pick a side and play that the whole time?

Each player brings a corp and a runner deck. For the qualification rounds you play 65-minute Swiss rounds. Each round you play two games, one each as corp and runner. After the qualifiers you have a double elimination top-cut. Each player plays a single games against an opponent. The higher ranked player gets his choice of corp or runner, and after that you play the side you have played the fewest times.

[LukeChips]

That's just like star wars lcg!

[browarod]

That's just like star wars lcg!

Given they're made by the same company it makes sense that the tournament schemes would be similar.

[LukeChips]

Yea, but NR is cool because it has two different kinds of cards, corps an netrunners, with different functions.

[EmJayBee83]

Yea, but NR is cool because it has two different kinds of cards, corps an netrunners, with different functions.

The asymmetric play is indeed one of the best parts of the game. Even small things like having different names for items depending on whether you are corping or running (e.g., your deck is called your R&D when you corp and your stack when you are playing as runner) adds a ton of flavor to the game.