hey, all, I'm a seasoned gamer and I've been compelled to jump into the LCG world and Netrunner's been on my radar since its announcement. Time to get off of my wallet on this one.

I'm going to buy 1 core set and 2-3 data packs for now, just to get my head around things. I'll have regular playdates with the game, and possibly will get a few locals to buy their own. Then we might see about competitive. We want to be quasi-competitive right out of the gate, though:

In addition to 1 core set, which 2 data packs should I buy for a start? We want to compete in a fun and friendly way, with nothing on the line other than bragging rights. But, more importantly, we want to see really smart interactions, fun cards, and maximize the fun. "Complex" is never too complex for us, either.

Any suggestions?

What Lies Ahead is a good all-around expansion, because it has a new agenda for each of the corps. I'd also recommend picking up Cyber Exodus, but it really depends upon which factions you want to play, though. You can get spoilers for all of the sets on CardGameDB.com.

You should get them all, unless you're after something specific, like cards for a particular faction. For example, Jinteki got a lot of support in Trace Amount.

If you get all, then I suggest you focus on the earlier ones first as their availability is more limited. Better to get them now while you can.

Nerdelemental said:

What Lies Ahead will get you the most bang for your buck, since it has Agendas for all the Corps. Other than that, it really depends on which cards you specifically want to use. Here's a list of the Expansion Identities and where they're located:

Anarch: Whizzard - What Lies Ahead

Criminal: Not out yet

Shaper: Chaos Theory - Cyber Exodus

HB: Stronger Together - What Lies Ahead

Jinteki: Replicating Perfection - Trace Amount

NBN: Not out yet

Weyland: Because We Built It - A Study In Static

I will second the recommendation for What Lies Ahead. The extra agendas are very important - not just because some add considerable power to their Corps (especially Project Atlas), but because they give the Corp real options in shaping the set of agendas they have in their decks. No more trying to get by with less-than-useful agendas - so Corps that don't focus on tagging the Runner can drop Private Security Force for a more relevant agenda, and so forth.

Other than that, just poke through the spoilers at CardGameDB and look for highly-rated cards, like Fetal AI for Jinteki or Emergency Shutdown for Criminal, and pick expansions that have the most useful cards for the strategies you're considering.

There are only four packs out ATM… get what lies ahead and the third data pack (the one with the shaper runner).

Trace Amount (#2) and A Study in Static (#4) have a neutral agenda each. But get them all while there are only a few.

lol.

Get them all. Got it.

I certainly intend to. The issue was more "which first for flexibility, challenge and fun," but you guys steered me well. Also wanted just two at first so i could figure out the game and then decide whether to get a second core set or ****** up the data packs. Honestly, I've got What Lies Ahead and will soon get some second data pack. I think , though it might counter some good advise, I'll pass on the second Core set until i get all of the released Data Packs. And it looks like something big is about to drop in the next month or two? I'll get that, too. Then, by Gencon, maybe a second core.

Thanks all, for advise. I wouldn't mind hearing more - if you're reading, I'm still listening to any advise you offer.

Edit: oh, and I think Trace Amount will be my second, going ONLY on the ratings of the cards in the set according to that Cardgamevault link doohickey, above. Not because I know Jack about what I'm talking about.

Don't worry about a second Core Set for now. Just build a Corp deck and a Runner deck and try them out. You'll quickly get a feel for which strategies you like, which cards are working well for you, which you can swap out, etc. Once you have a feel for the game, it should be easier to pick out which expansions you need.

But to be honest, so far the designers have been very good with adding value to the game. The fact that solid decks can be built out of just the Core Set alone is a credit to the designers, as is the fact that I feel like every expansion has had something of significance for all seven factions. Some of the other LCGs, I've picked up expansions where I've flipped through the cards and thought, "nope, nothing here", but that hasn't happened for me with Netrunner yet. So you really can't go wrong.