The Neuromancer Flatline - Tournament Scoring

Tournaments are downright bizzare for Netrunner. Aside from featuring some interesting rules and ways of determining places, it's also one of the most fluid and mobile structures in games now.

The Concept--Tournament Scoring

For anyone who is not familiar, tournament scoring in Netrunner is a 6 Prestige Point per round affair that looks to count Agenda Points to determine the winner of these points.

Winning a game scores you 10 Agenda Points and 2 Prestige Points. Losing a game scores you the total number of Agenda points
that you won during the game.

The final 2 Prestige are awarded based on total Agenda Points won, and are perhaps the most key to winning tournaments and placing well, because winning them is easily manipulated and allows for the setup of a truly tough game for your opponent.
Each round has the possible result range of 0/6-2/4-6/0 for each player, not including the awkward time rules.

Coin Flip

Obviously, winning games is good. However, you can't expect to smash every game, and that's where your preference of side comes in. Chances are, your assertion that you're a better corporation or runner is based on either you having played more games on that side, or have won more games on that side, which generally go hand in hand.

During Tournament play, the winner of the coin flip picks which side they play first. This can grant a significant advantage to a player because they can pick their stronger side, however, it is also the first bluffing opportunity in the match.

What the coin flip determines is who is setting the bar for the Match Points. The winner of the first game is going to only allow so many points, and in turn this means that the work is cut out for the other player during the second game. So, if you go first and win the first game, your Agenda points are at 10, against whatever the other player stole/scored.

This means that the player who won only has to beat the total number of Agenda Points that the other player has in order to win the Match Points, regardless of if the other player has won the second game, as they will never have a greater total, even with the win.

Standings

What this means in practice is that the tournaments are really about who is scoring their match points, and winning the second game, rather than who is winning the first. Its a bit odd, considering that again, just flat out winning your games is best, but in the actual world, winning the second game is more important, because that is where the match point is decided.

The reason for this long winded rant on the match point is simple. Winning every game isn't feasable. It's definitely possible, but it shouldn't be counted on. Let's assume that we're playing in a fairly small tournament, say, 8 players for four rounds, with no cut. After the third round, here's the standings:

1. John 14 (6-0, 6-0(12), 2-4(14))
2. Matt 12 (4-2, 4-2(8), 4-2(12))
3. Mark 12 (2-4, 6-0(8), 4-2(12))
4. Mike 10 (2-4, 2-4(4), 6-0(10))
5. Joe 10 (0-6, 4-2(4), 6-0(10))
6 .Tim 8 (4-2, 2-4(6), 2-4(8))
7. Larry 4 (4-2, 0-6(4), 0-6(4))
8. Luke 2 (2-4, 0-6(2), 0-6(2))

If you take a close look at Matt's record, he's taken all three round's match points, placing him in second place against Mark's far less consistent scoring. The importance of the match point is this smooth curve. If you can win it, you're going to, on average, do better in tournaments as it will consistently improve your standing throughout the tournament.

The other thing it does is what happened in Mark's situation, which is using the match point to make up for bad rounds. Basically, a Match Point allows you (though doesn't reccoment) a game loss at some point in the tournament, without affecting your standing terribly. Again, winning all of your games is the best plan, but if you're in a pinch, know that it can make up for an unlucky round.
With these standings, assume that Matt and John have just played. The deal here is to figure out what Matt needs to have happen in his next match against Mike (Who would be the match based on Prestige).

There are two outcomes that win Matt the tournament provided he takes the Match Point in the next round. The first is an 0-6 for John, sticking John's total at 14, and Matt's total at 16 or 18, depending on if he wins the second game. This is highly unlikely, but possible.

The second is the split for John. If John splits the match 2-4, and Matt takes his round at minimum 4-2, it comes down to Strength of Schedule. Strength of Schedule in Netrunner is figured based on the total Prestige earned by your opponents. Again, losing a game in Netrunner doesn't hurt as much as in other games, as this basically gives you a +2 Prestige bonus for the final Strength of Schedule, which could win you the match.

Matt could theoretically win based on Strength of Schedule, especially because he's already played and beaten John, which boosts his own. He, at minimum, would have an advantage going into Strength of Schedule, with a total of 6 to John's 4.
This brings up an odd point about tournament scoring in Netrunner. Though they boost you through the Rankings, 6-0 finishes do very little for you in terms of Strength of Schedule. If your day starts to get wonky, they've completely destroyed your Opponent's Prestige scoring, and in turn, your own Strength of Schedule. Again, if you're churning out 6-0's, you'll rarely have to worry about it, but if you're on the bottom end of a cut, say, in 8-10th place's tie, you may begin to sweat taking one or two of these if the rest of your day has been less than stellar.

That being said, taking an early 0-6 may not be as bad as it seems, though you'll be hard pressed to make up for it in straight standings later in the day, as you'll have to 6-0 or better at least 2 matches to make up for the loss.

Manipulating the Match Point

Your best bet, is as always, winning the full match, but, if you can't close out the game, focus on scoring just enough to secure the match point and riding the Strength of Schedule to your final victory. Your best strategy is to shoot for one game, and that its the first game with a wide margin of victory, say 7-3 or better.

The reason for this is that you will literally have to hit one Priority Requisition in order to close the gap and put pressure on the opponent to win. If you can stick your opponent at 1 or 2 during the first game, basically any successful score/steal action will give you the match point, and then it's all working for the complete victory from there.

That being said, know that you have full ability to manipulate where the match point falls, especially as the Corporation. Because of cards like Archer that require a forefited Agenda, you can modify where this point lies. By forefiting an Agenda, you can taunt your opponent into a run by sacrificing an Agenda to lower yourself out of Match Point range, and possibly bring them to a headlong and poorly planned run.

Going to Time and Unfinished Games

You are required during the preliminary rounds to play at a good pace, regardless of the complexity of the situation. However, if you find time running down, the timing rules can do interesting things to the game's scoring, resulting in bizzare scores for the round.

The time rules are as follows:

1) When time is called, both players have one full turn to win the game. If neither player achieves victory, then neither player wins the game, and they score Agenda Points as normal for determination of the Match Point. Unfinished Games score 1 Prestige Point.

2) If players have not started a game, defined as when the Corporation takes their mandatory draw at the start of their first turn, the game never happened, and nobody scores points or prestige for the game.

So, if you are a particularly slow player, or spent the last 65 minutes stumping your oppoent as much as they have you, you have several options as to what to do with the last turn.

If you have the game in the bag, and your opponent is highly unlikely to secure victory, you technically can pass the final turn to close out the game and, hopefully, take the match point with you. This can grant you a 5-1 in the best case scenario. (2 from the first game, 2 from the Match point, 1 from the unfinished second game.) At worst, this ends with a 1-1, with both players at the same number of Agenda points during the first game.

The next option is to go for broke and try and win in one shot. This obviously is more fun, and works best as the Runner taking the second overtime turn and running with all four actions with little consequence from Tags. This can pay off, especially if you hit a high point value Agenda or two.

The Take Away

The best strategy is to aim for the 4-2 matches, and if you can eke out the 6-0 against an opponent who is on fire, do it. If not, then hold tight and close them out. Keep an eye on your time, and remember to set up to be the one with the absolute last turn whenever possible.

Finally, if you're pressed, remember that it's OK to get blown out of the water, and regroup to take the remaining rounds, especially if its early on in the tournament. You can, and will survive it.