Root Cause - Test Run

Root Cause is a series of bi-weekly Android: Netrunner articles about deck building, strategy and tactical decision, for new and mid-level Anarch players. It was named in honor of Sam "Root" Groves, the character from the CBS' Person of Interest show. Only one more week for season 3!!!

We're getting a whole new archetype in a few months: the Caissa one. Maybe we'll use Sahasrara, maybe we'll use Personal Workshop, maybe we'll use none of them, as we have no idea on what's coming in the Spin Cycle (except for Opening Moves). Time to try your new ideas, right?

The problem is that most people don't know how to test their ideas. I know it sounds weird, but it is true. Testing and developing a completelly new concept is complicated. Even practing and getting familiar with an already known strategy/archetype is not as obvious a process as it sounds like. Of course, if you wait enough time, eventually you'll have reports about championship winners using a Caissa deck, then you can just copy their decks. But what if you want to try a stealth based Anarch deck, for instance? What if Anarch gets new mechanics after the Spin Cycle? What if you're not an Android: Netrunner and clicked the link by mistake? If you want to be good at any game, you must learn how to study the game and not be dependent on the others.

Step one: Focus

The most important thing here is your mindset. Forget the Timmy/Johnny/Spike crap, I'm talking about not being a scrub. The difference between a scrub and a real player is that a scrub creates his own rules about how the game should be played, and blames the other players for not following those rules. A classic example would be that friend of yours who thinks that "Scorched Earth is ***", like flatlining the Runner was supposed to be immoral somehow. The big issue with scrubs is that 99,9% of them have the worst belief that a player can have: the belief that playing the game will eventually make them good. That's the biggest lie ever in the world of games.

A scrub will end a match and say "crap! let's play again!". A player will take a breath and think about why he or she lost, and do his or her best not to make the same mistake again. A scrub won't remember that match after half an hour. You don't improve your game by osmosis - I'm sorry, that's how life is. Ok, I think I'm starting to make too much drama now... but you got the point, right?

But before we move to the second step, I want to make sure people didn't misunderstand me. There's nothing wrong about playing the game casually. I'm N-O-T saying that you're a "noob!!!1!11" because you don't care about Android: Netrunner 24/7 like I do. People have different priorities, some people are not as geeky as I am, and that's fine. What I'm telling you is to pay attention to your beliefs about the game that came out of nowhere, like "only noobs play Fast Advance decks!" or "if you play Android: Netrunner more often than I do, you're a basement dwelling loser!". There's no such thing as "honor" in Android: Netrunner. The only thing you have to follow is the rules in the rulebook - any other rule you made up only holds you back.

Step two: Research

Read as much as you can about what you're trying to do. Even terrible players have some random sparks of geniality, so don't ignore anything. A common mistake made during the research part is to limit yourself about things that are exactly equal to your idea. For example, let's say you want to build a stealth based deck using Exile: Streethawk. Does that mean you should not read that thread with 15 pages discussing how to make a good stealth based Mac deck? Of course you should read it! (in case you're wondering, Mac is the official nickname for Kate McCaffrey ).

And don't forget about the local players while doing your research. Sometimes, when you have an uncommon idea (like using Salvage in a Jinteki deck, for example), it is natural to be wary of asking for opinions, because you don't want people telling you that you're stupid while looking in your eyes. But a lot of players are actually very friendly when it comes to teaching or discussing strategies to new players, so don't be afraid to talk to people about your ideas for new decks or improvements for the already known ones.

Step three: Find a group

I honestly believe that making a team is one of the most important things you can do to step up your game, because your teammates are not just some nice guys you know and play with, they are people that are actively looking for your flaws (and the flaws in your new decks) to give you feedback, because they expect you to do the same for them. Your test sessions will be more productive and faster if done this way.

Sadly, having a group requires a lot more discipline than most people are willing to dedicate to a hobby. In short, a good team is formed by players that passed the step one, which is the hardest for most people. But don't worry, I won't make the speech again. All I can do is to wish you luck on that.

Step four: Test it! (finally…)

This is the moment you were waiting for, right? Testing your own ideas is the best part of having good ideas, but probably the worst one when your ideas are not that good. I’m not gonna lie to you, there’s no way to prevent the frustration of something not working. But, at least, you can minimize the chances of a false positive - it is better to fail during the tests rather than fail in a championship.

In order to have reliable results, you must test it reliably. Don’t play one match, “hey, I won, my deck pwns!” and that’s it. At least, make sure you played a “first to 30 match points” set against each faction before brainstorming and changing your deck, and leave a paper and a pen (or a laptop) close to you to take notes of everything you think it might be important. In a perfect world, I’d recommend you to play 10~15 matches against each faction and/or top deck type in a training section, but time would be an issue for everyone that is not a professional player.

Any suggestions?

As you might have realized, this was supposed to be an Anarch article, and I didn't say anything particularly useful for Anarch players. So, just for you not to say that this shouldn't be a Root Cause article, I’ll list a few things that I think you should test during the Spin Cycle:

- Data Leak Reverse + John Masanori;
- Deep Red + Personal Workshop;
- Frame Job + Notoriety;
- Nerve Agent + Raymond Flint;
- Pawn + Freelance Coding Contract;
- Queen’s Gambit + Exploratory Romp (99% chance this will suck);
- Reina Roja + Borrowed Satellite + Underworld Contact + Wyldside (probably will suck too).

Nothing that you couldn’t think about, I know, but the spoilers we have until don’t help either. Opening Moves still on the boat, and I'm not really optimist about it getting here soon. I hope I’m wrong and we’ll have it before my next article. But let’s look at the bright side: you have more time to try your ideas! Good luck with your tests, and don’t forget to share your results.

João “Hraklea” Almeida is a brazilian amateur card game player. Started with Magic: the Gathering and currently playing only Android: Netrunner, because he's too busy nerdraging about all the bugs in the PS3 version of Diablo III.