Has anyone else considered an alternate format for NetRunner tournaments? Currently a match is comprised of two games with both players playing Corp and Runner. This results in games often going to time and doesn't seem optimal.

Can anyone think of issues that might arise from going to a chess style format where players are simply assigned to play Corp and Runner like they're assigned to play black and white?

Any other thoughts on a format that wouldn't create a situation where games will regularly be incomplete?

mdc273 said:

Hopefully, practice will make the games go faster. Your black and white idea is nice, but corp and runner are way more different than that (it's like the players don't have the same set of pieces)

There's a lot of problems with a tournament where you don't play both sides. Many players consider one side or the other to be stronger, or consider themselves or their deck stronger on one side than the other. How would you determine who gets to play which side?

The OP mentioned chess. In chess tournaments, the pairing system is designed so that players get black and white in a balanced manner (never the same color 3 times in a row and the strict alternance is broken as few times as possible). I assume the OP means to use that system.

Edit : just to clarify, my suggestion is to still use the standard FFG official rules, but pull in this Chess Black / White system to balance out some inequities in the choice of who plays what first.

Here's a variant on this idea :

I think most players will go into a tournament feeling better about one of their decks than the other. Although it is supposed to be a random determination who makes the choice of what to play first, I think this is not really good. Let's say there are 4 rounds of Swiss, and I have some bad luck and my opponent wins the coin toss at the start of each match. This is a 1 in 16 chance, and so it will on average happen to 1 person in a 16 player tournament (and correspondingly, odds are that one player will win every coin toss for first pick in a 16 player tournament). Again, not so good.

Another edit : part of why I think this matters is that I expect many matches will not conclude in the allotted time, based on my experience so far playing casual games. And so, if you think the second game will likely time out, you want to play your stronger, faster deck first. If, it turns out that time-outs are uncommon, then all of this is not so important.

So, what I've been thinking to do is to use a Chess system randomizing and blocking of Black and White (initial assignment is random, then when possible, you alternate between black and white, and the system tries to avoid repeats as much as possible). I think Challonge! and other bracket software can assign Black/White according to standard Chess rules.

Now, there are two ways to do the translation from Black/White into Runner/Corp :

• White gets first choice of which deck to play, or
• The TO arbitrarily decides that, say, White plays Corp first and Black plays Runner first

I honestly think the second way to go is the best, but the official FFG rules would arguably allow the first approach but definitely not the second. Here are the relevant words from the FFG official tournament rules :

For the first game of a match, the players must decide who will play Corporation and who will play Runner by using a random method (such as a die
roll or coin flip). The winner of this random method chooses which side to play.

Well if you're looking at a different format, then the official rules pretty much go out the window.

Personally I like the current format, playing both decks against each opponent. Games will get quicker as players get more experience.

ChaosChild said:

Agreed. There is nothing wrong with the official system. I like the fact you play as both corp and runner against the same opponent.

Playing as both Corp and Runner in a single match is, IMO, the best way to go. That being said, finishing both games including shuffling, resetting the board, and reasonable decision-making time is extremely unlikely within the given time limit. I'd suggest 75-90 min rounds.

If players agree who plays what to start, do that.

Otherwise flip a coin.