Borealis is coming.
Or, more specifically, the Borealis Cycle is coming. Earlier this year, we announced our next cycle, the Borealis Cycle, set in the thawing Arctic. Since then, you’ve been waiting extremely patiently for new cards.
We’ll have a bigger update on the Borealis Cycle in the first few weeks of the new year. But while there’s still a bit to go before the first set in the cycle is in your hands, we heard your requests for previews, and we’re happy to end 2021 and welcome 2022 by pulling a couple scoops from the deep freezer.
We’d like to announce the Midnight Sun Booster Pack.
Years ago, just prior to Worlds 2019, we released the Uprising Booster Pack, a collection of seven cards from the upcoming set selected to give the meta a shakeup and offer a taste of the cards to come. That booster went over quite well, so we’ve decided to run it back again this year!
The Midnight Sun Booster Pack is a collection of seven cards, one from each faction, from the first set of the Borealis Cycle. These cards will be available on Jinteki.net and as print-and-play files, completely free of charge. We are also looking at options to make these cards available via our print-on-demand partners as well, and will update you as we have more info on that. Currently, the plan is to have the pack available in the first quarter of 2022, hopefully February.
Why Midnight Sun? Well, when we initially announced the Borealis Cycle, we said the first set would also be named Borealis. After some further consideration, however, we decided it was clearer to give the set its own unique name. The first set of the Borealis Cycle is now called Midnight Sun.
The seven cards in the Midnight Sun Booster Pack were chosen to provide a fun injection into both the Standard and Startup formats, while also giving you a small glimpse into what you can expect in the Borealis Cycle. You’ll have to wait a little longer for all seven cards, but we’re happy to share one of them with you today:
Deep Dive
Shaper Event
Cost: 2 – Influence: 5
Play only if you made a successful run on HQ, R&D, and Archives this turn.
The Corp must set aside the top 8 cards of R&D faceup. Access 1 of those cards. You may spend to access another 1 of those cards. Then, the Corp shuffles the set-aside cards into R&D.
Quite the card, eh? Here’s a few words from our Lead Designer June Cuervo, on the design of the card and how it came to be:
Shapers’ theme in Borealis is going big. In keeping with their history of deep digs on R&D with cards like Conduit and Indexing, Deep Dive delivers on a strong R&D-based win condition for Shaper. Expect a way of gaining a click for the maximum payoff in the form of some shiny new cybernetic hardware.
NISEI Lead Designer June Cuervo
There will be a bigger article from the Production team with information on the Borealis Cycle as a whole coming in the next few weeks. For now, we hope Deep Dive and the tantalizing prospect of the Midnight Sun Booster Pack help you start your 2022 with a little extra joy.
Editor’s note, Feb. 17, 2022: Added the full card image and corrected the influence value to 5.
