This article has been updated to clarify what cards will be legal starting October 1st, 2017.
Rotation for Android: Netrunner The Card Game begins October 1st, 2017.
As a result, we will soon witness a series of significant changes to the game's Organized Play—and especially to tournament play.
We expect rotation to provide the catalyst for a number of exciting developments in the Android: Netrunner metagame. And as you look to navigate these changes and developments, you can find several of your most important questions answered below.
As a Living Card Game®, Android: Netrunner features a card pool that grows with each new deluxe expansion, campaign expansion, and Data Pack. This ensures that the game is always dynamic, as the possibilities and metagame evolve with each new release. At some point, however, a card pool's growth works against the overall health of a game. It becomes unwieldy and serves as a barrier to both newer players and newer strategies.
Rotation is a policy that works against potential stagnation within a game's Organized Play. It dictates that as newer products are added to the legal card pool, older products are pushed out. For Android: Netrunner, this means that only five to seven cycles of Data Packs are legal at one time. When an eighth cycle would be added to the standard card pool, the two oldest cycles are rotated out of Standard Play.
You can learn more about rotation from the article, "A New Stage of Growth."
When we originally announced our intention to rotate older cycles of Data Packs out of the Android: Netrunner card pool, we stated that the plan was to introduce rotation in conjunction with the release of the first Data Pack from the game's eighth cycle.
At this point, there are seven complete cycles of Data Packs in Standard Play, and we have announced Sovereign Sight, the first Data Pack from the game's eighth cycle, the Kitara Cycle. We have also announced the upcoming release of the Revised Core Set. These products will soon shape the future growth of Android: Netrunner Standard Play, beginning shortly after the 2017 World Championships.
Because it is our intention that the World Championships highlight the game's future—as well as its greatest players—we are introducing rotation to the game on October 1st, ahead of the release of Sovereign Sight, so that World Championship participants will have ample time to demonstrate their full mastery of the game.
Over the course of one month, the introduction of rotation disrupts the existing metagame and challenges participants to engage in the full Android: Netrunner competitive experience, from metagame analysis and deckbuilding to iterative design, practice, and performance in the tournament setting.
NOTE: The Revised Core Set and Sovereign Sight Data Pack will not be released for Worlds 2017.
As of October 1st, the standard card pool for Android: Netrunner Organized Play and tournament play will consist of the cards included in the Revised Core Set (ADN49) and the following expansions:
- Creation and Control
- Honor and Profit
- Order and Chaos
- Data and Destiny
- Terminal Directive (player cards only)
- Lunar Cycle Data Packs
- SanSan Cycle Data Packs
- Mumbad Cycle Data Packs
- Flashpoint Cycle Data Packs
- Red Sand Cycle Data Packs
NOTE: The Revised Core Set and Sovereign Sight Data Pack will not be released for Worlds 2017.
When Sovereign Sight and the other packs from the Kitara Cycle release, they will be added to the standard card pool for Android: Netrunner Organized Play and tournament play.
NOTE: The Sovereign Sight Data Pack will not be released for Worlds 2017.
When the Revised Core Set is released, no new cards will be added to the card pool for all purposes related to Android: Netrunner Organized Play and tournament play. Prior to its release, players can use copies of the included cards found in the classic Core Set , Genesis Cycle, and Spin Cycle.
This means that some of the cards from the classic Core Set will rotate out of the standard card pool while some cards that were originally released in the Genesis Cycle and Spin Cycle will remain in the card pool with the Revised Core Set.
NOTE: The Revised Core Set will not be released for Worlds 2017.
There are no cards in the Revised Core Set that have not previously been introduced to the game in the classic Core Set or Genesis Cycle and Spin Cycle Data Packs. Accordingly, you will not need to purchase the Revised Core Set to play with its cards if you already acquired them with your classic Core Set or Data Packs.
Nonetheless, many of the cards from the classic Core Set will rotate out of the standard card pool, and many of its cards feature new art and appear in different quantities than they did in the classic Core Set and Data Packs.
You can find a complete list of all the cards from the Revised Core Set available as a
downloadable document
(pdf, 1.2 MB).
NOTE: The Revised Core Set will not be released for Worlds 2017.
As of October 1st, many of the cards from the Core Set and Genesis Cycle and Spin Cycle Data Packs will no longer be legal for standard format Organized Play events, including tournaments. This does not, however, mean that you cannot use them in casual games—just make sure you and your friends agree upon their use in your decks before you sit down to your games.
At the same time, many of the cards from the Genesis Cycle and Spin Cycle are scheduled to reappear in the Revised Core Set and will remain legal for Organized Play and tournament settings. If you have these cards, you will be able to include them in your Standard Play decks, even if you do not have the Revised Core Set.
You can find the full list of cards from the Revised Core Set
available for download
on the game's support section (pdf, 1.2 MB).
NOTE: The Revised Core Set will not be released for Worlds 2017.
Yes. A new Android: Netrunner The Card Game FAQ will go into effect on October 1st, along with rotation.
If you start your collection before the Revised Core Set is released, you will need at least one copy of the Core Set. If you start your collection after the Revised Core Set is released, the Revised Core Set will serve as your entry to the game.
The traditional advice, then, is to play with the Core Set long enough to gain an appreciation for the basics of the game, as well as the overarching themes of each faction.
From that point, you might wish to expand your collection with the Terminal Directive campaign expansion, which introduces an alternate style of play, along with new identities and cards for the Haas-Bioroid, Weyland Consortium, Criminal, and Shaper factions.
Another option is to pick up the deluxe expansions dedicated to your favorite factions. These larger expansions provide a great measure of coherence to the strategies they introduce and support.
Because the game's Data Packs are limited to sixty cards (three copies each of twenty cards) divided between the game's seven factions, they are typically less focused than Terminal Directive and the deluxe expansions. Players typically purchase Data Packs based upon the specific cards they introduce. You can view the contents of a Data Pack by scanning its QR code or by looking it up at CardGamedb.com.
