Hello runners and corp bosses,

I think I want to buy Android Netrunner and play it with a friend, but I have a problem: I'm an "expansions guy". Therefore I want to buy at least one card pack with the core set, but because I don't play the game yet I have no idea what the different cycles are/on what they focus and where to start. It'd be really cool if you could tell me which cycles/packs (excluding deluxe expansions, I'm not yet into that) I should get, what they do, and why you think they're cool.

Thanks, hack/ICE on,

YariSamurai

Genesis: generalized, more of a "Core Set completion" cycle. Rotating soon.

Spin: focused around bad publicity, corporate messaging, and reputation. Still fairly middling mechanically. Rotating soon.

Lunar: focused around the Beanstalk and the colonies on Luna.

SanSan: focused around the various regions on the west coast of North America

Mumbad: focused around the regions, developments, and politics of India.

Flashpoint: focused around the impacts of a severe server outage at a major financial corporation and the economic/political/social upheaval which followed.

Red Sand: focused around the clans, locales, and major undertakings on Mars.

the Deluxe sets aren't built around story or setting themes, with the exception of Terminal Directive, which is forthcoming. Honestly that one is explicitly designed as a second purchase for a new player, so you could do worse than explore the variations possible within the core set, pick up a Deluxe set or two depending on which factions you like, and then pick up Terminal Directive in a month or two.

To elaborate on what I said earlier, the Deluxe sets shouldn't be looked at as intimidating--you get 52-55 cards by title for $30, basically the cost of two data packs. Two data packs get you 40 cards by title, and it's quite common for various synergistic cards to be sprinkled throughout all six packs of each cycle--so if you were to get a single pack, it's not guaranteed that all the cards in them would be immediate upgrades to Core Set decks, whereas the Deluxes are a bit more self-contained.

0k, thanks.

Well if you are worried about rotations go with the big boxes since they are supposed to be the permanent core set. But as a rule of thumb stick to plastic expansion packs since the blue and white ones are going to be rotating out soon. Are we going to come up with an alternative format or are we just going to call it legacy and be done with it?

I discussed this with Grimwalker on another forum post. He suggested just one core. But would it be more fun and fair to try out the different factions with a more consistent deck pool to choose from, hence two cores?

that would be a fine way to go as well.