Having only played a handful of games, I'm still trying to gauge how many of my wins/losses were due to luck and how many were due to skill. From what I can tell in my limited play, luck seems to be a big factor, even with the different mitigation effects available through cards and abilities. But I don't want to assume since I'm still a n00b to this game. For those of you who have played more than the five games I've played, how do you feel about this? I'm honestly considering just keeping this a casual game between friends and only play in tournaments for Netrunner.

I'm finding that the luck really is focused on the deck (and drawn card order) more than the dice. I was initially pessimistic about the game because of the dice, but after playing several games with the starter and some moderately-complete constructed decks I'm pretty convinced that compared to most other card games there is more an emphasis on (little-r) resource/action management (very much like Netrunner) rather than raw card advantage (like Magic). This gives the secondary random element (dice) some influence, but it's also specifically managing the chances of that die that you're rerolling or modifying.

Every game I've won has been through sheer skill, although I've lost a few due to my opponent's luck.

As mege said, the game relies more on managing your own pools of cards and dice than it does on luck. It's nice when that 3 Melee Damage comes up, but you should also have at least one way of guaranteeing that it will come up when you need it. Focus, and cards like Use The Force, go a long way to mitigating the luck factor. Same goes for your deck draw at the start. If you desperately need something early to win then you're at luck's mercy, but if you've built a few paths of victory into your deck, then it's just a matter of shifting strategies when you see your opening hand. Finally, mitigating your opponent's luck is crucial. Their Launch Bay pulled on the first turn isn't going to do them anything if you keep their hand empty, and those big hits for Cost 1 are useless if you disrupt their resources. Careful application of cards such as Flank, Disturbance In The Force, and Scramble, also help to upset your opponent's card and dice management.

Keep playing, you'll get there. It takes about dozen games before you start to see these patterns instinctively. Once you master your own pool, master disrupting your opponent's pool, and get a really great deck built, you'll come to find that luck is maybe 10% of the game. It's nice to get lucky, but not necessary to victory.

All of my wins were completely due to skill. All of my losses are because dice hate me.

Managing luck is an aspect of skill. Any game with a random element is going to have an inherent aspect of luck, and there will be situations where you can't do anything about it - bad draws, players getting a god roll and the opponent not being able to counter it etc. But over a series of games, I don't think luck is going to be any more of a determining factor than most other similar card/dice games.

Pure skill when I win, bad luck when I lose. Its a tried and true gaming cata that's held through the years.

/sarcasmoff

Deck construction efforts into 'Probability Manipulation' will payoff more than rando dice inclusion. But we all knew that...right?

There will frequently be tension points in your games over rolls that will determine if you win or lose the game. However, the game is much more about the skill it took to get you to that point. This will be less apparent as you are starting out the game, but as you grow in experience so will your feeling that you are in control of your own Destiny. This is the essence of what makes games like this so awesome.

The player who played the better game wins more often than not, but there is just enough randomness to make the game delightfully tense.

Edit: To correct missed opportunity for a pun.

The game uses dice. Luck is a guaranteed factor. As long as it's not as rng-driven as hearthstone we should be good.

Luck is a good thing, games with no luck are soulless and are just no fun once you figure out the tactic/spreadsheet.

Unlike other card games the recursion here is such that you could in 6 rounds see every card in your deck, so the luck of drawing key cards isn't there as it would be in draw one and play one games.

Beyond that see Verschs' comment.

Luck is a good thing, games with no luck are soulless and are just no fun once you figure out the tactic/spreadsheet.

Except, you know, like Chess, which can be argued that it can be no fun if playing someone that completely outclasses you (like me versus pretty much anyone).

While I wasn't specifically thinking of chess, you could be right chess, go and one or two other games may well be fair and fun even with the lack of luck.

I wonder though if we are looking at the exception to the rule rather than not.

I think ppl who feel its luck based is because they are solely thinking of the dice aspect. Which while yes dice has luck to it, building your deck and choosing your characters to get certain types of dice are key.

I also think that the players mentality needs to be, play the dice you rolled, not the dice you wanted to roll. If you got shields and resources yet you wanted damage, don't use a card to reroll (unless there is a character you can kill with only one or two health left.), gain those shields and resources. Even if you did reroll into the damage you think you wanted, those shields and resources could of been better for you.

I don't know if any of that makes sense, but hey that's what I thought of when I read the topic.