The Neuromancer Flatline - 5 Things Learned from Worlds 2012

If anyone is wondering what your faithful discoursee has been up to over the last few weeks, it's been surviving unemployment and playing far more Netrunner than I should have to get ready for Worlds. Though my weeks of preparation only netted me 12th place (Thanks to two of the lessons below), I've learned several things that I feel should be passed onto everyone.

I played a Haas-Bioroid/Criminal pair, like much of the tournament's top end did. Hands down, they are the most efficient Identities in the Core Set and are natural counters to one another, making them a great pair for Tournament Play. I did have the fortunate luck to get to play against all 7 Factions throughout the day. Here's the quick summary:

Round 1: vs. Haas-Bioroid/Criminal (0-20, 0 Prestige)
Round 2: vs. Weyland/Shaper (15-12, 4 Prestige)
Round 3: vs. Haas-Bioroid/Criminal (14-16, 2 Prestige)
Round 4: vs. Jinteki/Anarch (20-12, 6 Prestige)
Round 5: vs. NBN/Anarch (20-4, 6 Prestige)
Final Score: 18 Prestige

Though sadly, I didn't get around to writing down everything that happened, the lasting lessons that will influence my play of the game from here on out are recoreded and will matter more in the future to me than decklists.

1. The Netrunner Creed
Runner and Corporation both run on a baseline need of Credits, and The Netrunner Creed is the baseline principles of the game:

"Credits are Everything. Run Early. Install Often"

I found myself in several situations throughout the tournament where I volated the first tenant as the Corporation, picking actions that produced immediately useless defense over picking up the Credits needed to rez the defenses that I already had. This never ended well. In general, it allowed the Runner to steal easily as he laughed at my paltry 1 credit.

I discovered through trial and error in testing that 4-6 Credits make a Runner nervous. At 10+ they tend to stare at you and draw a lot. This is the same as when you play as the Runner, and without a significant amound of ICE already rezzed on a server, its' a little nerve racking to run. More on this later.

In general, it is overall better to spend actions building Credits as the Corporation to "pass" rather than drawing to get something good, as it changes the perceived value of the ICE that is in front of you.

On the Runner side though, Drawing is a mite more effective as it increases your options and the amount of information that the Corporation does not know about how/when you are planning to run. Credits are still what you come back to for runs, so what you're drawing had better help you get the money to go.

As to the second part, Install Early. Run Often, I can offer up the blundering 0-20 I took first round. To set the scene for you, I drew a newbie round one who quote "Just wanted to get a sweet playmat" and had been playing for a little over a week.

I, For whatever reason, decided that I shouldn't stick my Heimdal I'd been holding onto in front of my HQ.

On my last turn, where he had 4 points to my 0, I had just seen him go to grab a Corroder on only I decide that in my three card hand consisting of Heimdal 1.0, Priority Requisition and Archived Memories, that installing Heimdal 1.0 in front of the Enigma on the remote server was a fantastic idea, rather than installing it in front of HQ. I would have had enough credits in this situation to Rez Heimdal if I had put it in front of the HQ Wall of Static. Fantastic, right?

I put it in front of some Unrezzed ICE on the Remote server, and then couldn't rez a thing. If I'd done the right thing, I would have had a much different day, as he would have run face first into a Heimdall for the second time that day.

2. Overwriting Programs and Trashing ICE is Good
If you missed this in the Rulebook, and being that it's a bit of an aside, we won't hold it against you, the Install action for both sides actually looks a little like this:

1.) Uninstall target ICE/Program
2.) Install ICE/Program

Meaning that when your piece of ICE hits 1 Strength from the Anarchist Parasite or you want to change the three Code Gate in-a-row defense on your main Agenda server, you can trash the ICE, slide the remaining ICE back, then reinstall a new piece of ICE in the outermost position.

For the Runner, this is what keeps you from sauntering over your 4MU limit. It's not a hyper technical rule, but this is the proper order for resolving the action.

One of the more entertaining moments was watching a player rotate a Cell Portal to the back and rezzing Archer, Tollbooth Archer through an Acelerated Beta Test, which created a 20c obstacle course for the Runner that could be repeated at will.

3. Your Apartment WILL Blow Up (And You Probably Brought it on Yourself)
For anyone wondering, right down to the final 4 there were Scorched Earths everywhere. Tag n' Bag was alive and well, and it is still effective. Going forward into Genesis, we'll likely see little change in the power of this card, especially with the emphasis on Trace in the set.

What then, is the Runner to do with the knowledge that the cheap carpet under his feet is about to go up in a blaze of rig-destructing glory at any second?

The best piece of advice I've ever recieved was from Damon Stone, one of FFG's LCG designers. During the Icebreaker, every time someone would complain, he would tell them, "Well, you brought it on yourself".

The key to living through Scorched Earth is simple: Plan Ahead. You're most likely to see it pop up in Weyland Consortium and NBN decks, so when running against them, keep your hand at 4 or 5 at all costs. If you have the influence, or are criminal, include a Crash Space or two. Not only can it make removing the first tag every turn free, it's also able to block three of the four incoming meat damage from Scorched Earth. Quite effective for 2c.

If you aren't planning ahead, or you get caught by Breaking News or Posted Bounty, then you are sadly out of luck. It does happen, and you can't do much about these. Hopefully, Genesis will bring more solutions to the card, but leave the threat there.

4. Your Runner and Corporation are Linked
Though this is probably a topic for a full article, your Runner and Corporation are linked during tournament play. Chances are, someone has lamented, "Well, I'm a better Corp than Runner" or "I like being Runner better than Corp". This has a major effect on Tournament games, as the way that you win or lose the first game has a rediculously large impact on how the second half plays out.
The main reason for this is that the player who goes first, picks what side they play first. (For those interested in Star Wars, pay attention, this same logic will apply to the Light/Dark pair.) If you pick your strong side, you have a better chance of getting the all-important 0 onto your opponent, which makes your life easier the second game, as scoring even 1 Agenda Point results in your securing the all-important Match Points. Being forced to play your weaker side first makes the opposite true. You may get 0'd, making your entire existance a pain during your stronger game. In response, learn both, and identify your player-based weaknesses on each side and learn to cover them with your strengths.

As a note, Strength of Schedule is the first tie breaker in Netrunner tournaments. According to the tournament document, this is determined by all opponent's total Prestige points scored during the tournament, so don't fret if you lose one game in a match, Match Points allow you to mitigate the penalty for fumbling an early game, plus the Strength of Schedule bonus.

5. Your Balls. Use Them (Responsibly).
The final thing learned from Worlds 2012 was that your balls should be used (responsibly). Timidity is a killer in Netrunner, allowing the Runner free reign of your Servers or the Corporation to build up even further insurmountable defenses. Forcing your opponent to act and burn their all important credits can lead to openings. However, use your courage wisely.

Again referencing my first round, I lost the runner game on my first turn by running head first into a Project Junebug, literally after thinking "Oh, there's no possible way that's a Junebug..." Yeah. It was. No ICE in front of it, two advancement tokens, it was far too tempting and my brain exploded out of the back of my head for my efforts.

On the other hand, Round 4 let me capitalize on a Corporation's unwillingness to install and threaten. With 22 credits, I was afraid of him rezzing every dirty trick Jinteki packs, however, he kept throwing ICE away, and didn't bluff, eventually building a hand of 5 agendas. Even if he had just installed to make it look like something was there, the game would have gone far better for him, becuase he could have started sapping my credits away slowly by making every single run cost more and more.

So, be brave, my friends. The Corporation can misrepresent. The Runner can disregard their common sense, all in the pursuit of keeping the other from completing their goals. Keep running, and keep bluffing.

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Going forward, The Neuromancer Flatline will cover the skill and competitive end of Netrunner, looking at common problems and plays during Netrunner games from both sides. We would love to hear your suggestions for article series, deck articles and other concepts within the Netrunner world.

The Neuromancer Flatline welcomes your comments, suggestions and counterpoints in the comments below. Neuromancer Flatline is headed by Jayke "Nerdcore" Wells, who has been playing games at the competitive level for twelve years and waited far too long for Netrunner to come back.