Greeting Digital Community,

After extensive badgering and harassment from a couple members of my local gaming group I am finally getting around to checking out Netrunner. Cyberpunk has always been pretty interesting and I love the asymmetrical set up of the game. Having played more TCGs than I can recall I am new to the format of Netrunner. As such I come before the collective experience of what has continually proven to be a great community in where I should start. There a great many cards to get, are all necessary to start off or would it behoove me to just get it done and do a large order?

The core set seems a given, though I have seen many talking about getting more than one. Additionally what are a good amount of data packs to start off with? Should I get a core set, play some games and then go from there? So many options…

Thank you in advance everyone for you input.

More to follow after the jump.

For reference, as of the time of this writing, there are 12 Data Packs (MSRP $14.99, 3x20 cards) and 2 Deluxe Expansions (MSRP $29.99, 3x55 cards). The Core Set is MRSP $39.99 and contains 252 cards.

It depends first and foremost on what your friends have. If you have any friends who are playing (or willing to play) with just the Core Set, then go for just the Core Set. The Core Set game is a perfectly worthwhile experience and a good overall example of whether you will enjoy the game. If you do enjoy the game, as an experienced *CG player, there's no reason to not simply buy all the expansions if you have the money for it. If you don't have the money to lay it all down at once, there are some Data Packs that constantly rise to the top of the recommendations list (What Lies Ahead, Humanity's Shadow, Future Proof, Opening Moves), and some that constantly sink to the bottom (A Study in Static). None are a wasted buy, but some are better buys than others because they empower more strategies than others.

Lastly, the deal with the Core Set. FFG claims (and I have no reason to disbelieve them) that they wanted to ensure a playable experience right out of the box, so the Core Set was designed to give you playable decks by slapping one Runner Faction's cards together with the Neutral Runner cards to create a functional Runner deck and vice versa for the Corp. As a result, not all cards in the Core Set are 3x. Thus, it is recommended that one eventually buy 3xCore Sets, though there are still people winning tournaments with only one Core Set, so don't sweat it if you can't afford them or can't get your hands on them.

Two core sets is the sweet spot. There are primarily two cards in the Core Set you may want 3x of: Desperado and SanSan City Grid. So if you run Criminal or NBN Fast Advance, you can consider a core set but the diminishing returns of a 3rd core set is remarkable. A second CS is a great investment, though.

Beyond that, we're actually getting to the point where the card pool is deep enough that maybe you don't need every pack right away. Use Netrunnerdb and Cardgamedb to shop around, print proxy cards, playtest decks, then go out and buy the packs you've identified as good buys.

What Lies Ahead, Cyber Exodus, and Opening Moves are good initial buys, and the two Deluxe boxes provide excellent versatility.

The reddit community has a really great summary of the data packs up to True Colors that includes what types of decks they best support and notable cards.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Netrunner/wiki/buyingguide