I rated all the cards. I’ll comment on specific cards in a follow-up article based on demand. For now, I’ll indicate changes to my ratings over time in this article with ->. Rough meanings (There was a lot of demand for this. All ratings are + or – 1. I only entertain questions about disagreements of 2 or more.) 10 – Totally game-warping card. Ubiquitous and immensely powerful. 9 – Very strong auto-include. Generally best-in-slot. 8 – Top-tier card. Doesn’t define your strategy, but still one of your core cards. 7 – Solid card. Very often correct to run. 6 – Good card, but limited applicati ..read more

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but it’s time for a Netrunner Reboot Project Update! Some background for those who are new The Netrunner Reboot Project is an attempt to go back and rebalance the Android: Netrunner card pool using hindsight and an expert understanding of the game. Starting with the original core set, we have made (almost entirely numerical) adjustments to many cards in order to craft a game that has a huge variety of viable strategies, and excellent side and faction balance. You can learn more about the project generally on our website. A Project Update The Reboot car ..read more

I’ve never enjoyed tournaments. If you only know me through my impact on competitive Netrunner, this might surprise you. There are things about competitive events that I enjoy (clearly, or else I would not attend), but overall I probably find the experience less enjoyable than maybe any other competitive player. I’ve been stewing for a very long time about why this is. Eventually my brainstorming got less personal as I started to notice commonalities in complaints that people had about tournament play. I was encouraged by some other players to write these thoughts down and put them up for disc ..read more

About 3 months ago I announced The Netrunner Reboot Project (Read that background info here: https://runthenet.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/the-netrunner-reboot-project/). This post is an update as to where we currently stand, what’s coming up, and why you should give it a try! You’re going to want to stick around. The best stuff is at the end… I’ll be discussing: Technical infrastructure Balance patches/Format update The ‘Jumpstart’ game-mode. Technical Infrastructure Since May, our online implementation of The Reboot Project has improved by leaps and bounds. Our card images have been upgraded ..read more

After playing in my 1st World Championship and doing quite well, I was feeling very burnt out on Netrunner. I couldn’t really figure out why. I didn’t love the worlds meta, but it was fun enough that I still enjoyed most of my games. I eventually started to realize that rotation had removed a lot of what drew me to Netrunner in the first place and that I’ve always enjoyed. I understood that it was necessary, one glance at the decks people make in various community eternal formats can tell you why that is, but I still missed the classics: Clone Chip Parasite Desperado Security Testing Hit ..read more

A lot of Netrunner players are torn about the status of the game’s card pool and how it should be handled: “Should there be rotation and how should it work?” “Should there be a Netrunner 2.0 reboot?” “How should bans and restrictions be handled?” “Which cards should be reprinted?” …and many more. Everyone seems to have their own unique set of opinions on these topics, with their own reasons and motivations. There is, however, one sentiment that I see held in common by many players: That many of the cards from the game’s early days are fun and have value, but could have been executed better giv ..read more

(This is a sequel to: This article) At long last, the public’s cries have been answered. What follows is the long-awaited article and decklist for my 7th Teaching and Learning deck. While you are here, please check out Fighting_Walloon’s teaching league. This is an online league using only my Teaching and Learning decks. The league is very relaxed and welcoming to players of all skill levels (although if you are an expert you should use your best judgment before trying to hustle some newbies…). More information here: https://forum.stimhack.com/t/the-second-bigboy-teaching-league-starts-june-3 ..read more

Update for 4/30/2019: All of Downfall is legal except for 2 bans: Bukhgalter and Complete Image. Explained below. Update for 1/18/2020: All of Uprising is legal. Fast Break, Game Changer, Arella Salvatore, and Liza: Talking Thunder are Banned. Happy New Year! It’s been a while, but I’ve been working on this piece for quite some time. It’s the culmination of a great deal of thought and testing, and I really wanted to get it right. I specifically debated if I should address this one point before I begin, and I’ve decided that I must, if only briefly: Back in August (I think), I applied for a pos ..read more

For this article I thought I would try to talk through my thought process behind building what I believe to be quite a good deck. I feel the idea behind this deck was particularly inspired, and a discussion of how I landed on my exact choices could be interesting. Before I start, I should say that many of the ideas from this deck were inspired by my online games and discussions with a couple other players: Mason Hans (Eldermason) for his use of ELP alongside a multitude of HB assets. Sam Suied (SamRS) for several of the other synergies in the deck, particularly those surrounding Clone Suffrage ..read more

As everyone who reads my content should know, I am an unwavering proponent of Fair Netrunner. For those of you who have not yet figured out that Battle of Wits was satire, it should be clear that I only champion decks that I believe embrace just and true Netrunner as it ought to be played. I often scold people for playing with Personal Evolution shell game, Blackmail Spam, CI7, and other combos and gimmicks. It is my belief that the death of a game comes when players feel that to be competitive they must subvert one or more facet of the game’s core mechanics. There has been much debate in the ..read more