Android: Netrunner Full Review

[Changling Bob]

I haven't tried draft, no. It seems mad expensive to play given everything else about the game. I sort of want to make a cube, but you need to build a corp cube and a runner cube to make it make sense, and I suspect you need to more-than-triple some cards, which makes it pricy to start up.

What do you not like about where constructed is going? Upstalk seems to be about to shake it up, and also I think we're getting to the point int he games lifecycle where you can't put all the good cards in your deck any more. I think this means the more combo (and fast advance is just a different form of combo) your deck is, the more fragile it ends up being to the more different things different decks can be running.

Also, I think I now understand building runner decks, and what I said about Yog/corroder/mimic isn't true, what you actually need the influence for is corroder, still the best barrier breaker in most circumstances. I've built a central only Silhouette deck that still runs one-of corroder instead of the central only fracter because it's just more efficient (at some break points). On the other hand, inti is good as a wraparound counter if you're using primarily AI breakers.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

What do you not like about where constructed is going? Upstalk seems to be about to shake it up, and also I think we're getting to the point int he games lifecycle where you can't put all the good cards in your deck any more. I think this means the more combo (and fast advance is just a different form of combo) your deck is, the more fragile it ends up being to the more different things different decks can be running.

The thing I had found most interesting about the game was that the key to it was the interaction with the opponent and things seemed to be turning (Begining of Spin Cycle) to where decks were primarily worrying about maximizing their own efficiency/synergies/combos and not really caring about the what the opponent did.

Perhaps my perception was wrong. Perhaps I took the review and strategy articles too seriously and should have just played more. Perhaps it was just a temporary thing that I could have waited out as the card pool expanded and corrected.

Or maybe I'm old and didn't have the time, energy or desire to seriously delve into a competitive constructed metagame and made up a excuse to make me feel better about not playing more seriously. I have no idea. But, at least I won't end up being a scrub, playing like crap and complaining that everyone is else playing wrong just because I actually suck/don't really like the game.

 

[Changling Bob]

I think at the beginning of spin, or rather, after C&C, enough stuff existed that you could start formulating decks that did A Thing, rather than 45 card good stuff decks, even if the 45 card good stuff decks had a bunch of synergy. With C&C, reliable Yog.0saurus Kit decks became a thing, you could do Single Darwin Kate, on the corp side, Cerebral Imaging created a gameplan deck (make money, fast advance like a maniac), and I'm sure there's other things (I started just after Second Thoughts I think, so I'm not super up on the meta before that).

Like I said, I think the pendulum's now swinging just far enough the other direction now. I've got a Single Darwin Kate deck, except actually it runs a femme, an inti and two sharpshooters, because there's enough stuff that people actually run to stop AI breakers. You can actually build an all-in on decoders Kit deck now, except that there's stuff that it can't break if you do, so its making a choice. CI decks are very strong in the meta at the moment, but probably only because of the bizarre fetish everyone has with account siphon, which, while strong, doesn't need to be this game defining card everyone clamours about it being.

Plus, even through all of that, way more of netrunner is in the playing of the game than the deckbuilding. Sure I can make a sweet deck, or netdeck a great list, but if I sequence poorly in game, I'm going to lose with it, no matter how good it is. I was playing a friend the other week and I'm fairly certain I lost because I spent two turns digging for a decoder (playing Kit, yo) instead of playing an Opus in my hand to get mad credits. I didn't need credits, I needed a decoder, but future me needed credits more than current me needed a breaker and I was too slow to break through his ice after a few more turns. This didn't become apparent until I was pretty broke a bunch of turns later just as I lost. Game is tricksy.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

CI flatline combo is hilarious.

Also I put together a Netrunner cube, hopefully I can actually get people to play it.

 

[Changling Bob]

CI flatline combo is hilarious.

Tell me your secrets.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

Tell me your secrets.

I don't have a current list. Essentially make a bunch of money, draw a bunch of cards then do some combination of SEA into double Scorch with Biotics + Archived Memories/Reclamation Order and such.

edit
http://netrunner.meteor.com/decks/pptkoAea2bwBQNEaK/ is a recent list.

 

[Changling Bob]

That looks dope, although I'd swap in fenris for grim in that specific list to tag some early brain damage to make the kill later easier.

The biggest problem I have with scorch decks is that everyone runs plascrete and basically no one runs chakana/source/donut, but everyone complains about fast advance and scorch is fine because we've got plascrete. Sure the latter cost influence, but that's the game, right?

 

[MCMcEmcee]

You can kill through Plascrete in the CI deck. The hard part is tagging them if they don't run, but then you can just play the FA game.

 

[Changling Bob]

If they don't run, you're already winning.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

If they don't run, you're already winning.

Unless the reason they aren't running is because they are Opus-ing for the most money.

 

[Changling Bob]

Money doesn't win games, agendas win games. Also getting shot wins games, or rather, loses games.

Also that's partly why I run Jinteki, or decks that are Jinteki-like, because there's only so much you can do with $40 when you have to make sure you don't faceplant a komainu, shi.kyu, snare, edge of world, etc

 

[James Stevenson]

I finally tried Android: Netrunner the other day. It's just like Khans! You just run your shit into morphs constantly! I can't yet say if it's a good or bad game, because I only played two games. I don't have a feel for the pace yet, so everything I do feels pretty arbitrary. In magic I know how important each turn is and how much pressure I'm under not to fall behind. In Netrunner I haven't learnt this yet so it seems like we both just do random stuff and suddenly either I win or randomly lose. I suppose many games are like that at the beginning. Netrunner's got quite a learning curve, I must say. Pretty complicated. I like Dixit.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

Netrunner is great. It gets better when both people have a clear idea of how the game should progress, since a big part of the game is managing information