Hello and welcome. This document is intended as a guide for folks who are attending a World Championship for the first time, or those who have been to a World Championship before but felt they weren’t prepared enough to fully enjoy the experience. 

This document does not assume you have been to a competitive event before, and will cover aspects of the World Championship beyond the main event. It will not cover lodging, food, or anything outside of the event itself. This document does not need to be read top to bottom. You can jump to the sections most relevant to you. Do use the “tabs and outlines” sidebar in Google Docs to easily see the sections and jump between them.

This document is NOT intended as a contract or code of conduct. Use this as a reference to help you get the most out of the event. If you follow nothing else, you must abide by the Null Signal Games Code of Conduct and section 2 “Player and Spectator Expectations” in the Null Signal Games Organized Play Policies.

What is Worlds?

The Netrunner World Championship, typically referred to as Worlds, is a weekend-long event that in many ways resembles a Netrunner-themed Convention. While it contains the event which determines the Netrunner World Champion, there are many folks who go simply to celebrate their favourite game and have a good time.

At Worlds, you will find folks from all parts of the world of every skill level from World champion to folks playing in their first sanctioned event. Everyone is welcome so long as they come prepared. What does it mean to be prepared? Well that’s what this document is for! 

Preparation

Checklist – What to Pack

Outside of the first handful of points, everything is technically optional. In the section below you’ll find explanations on why each item can help you stay at the top of your game throughout the weekend.

General

• A bag to carry all of the items below

Play material

• Decks (runner and corp) in new sleeves
• Tokens
• Playmat
• Extra sleeves
• Notepad/pen

Food

• Water bottle
• Snacks (granola bar, dried fruits, jerky or other not-so-sugary snack)

Quality of life

• Earplugs
• Hand sanitizer / mask(s)

Explanations of the checklist

Decks in new sleeves: Sleeves are used for more than just protecting your cards. Make sure your sleeves are using high quality sleeves that are not worn or marked. Having marked cards whether intentional or not is a violation of the organized play policies at the competitive level. Gamegenic Katana and Dragon Dual Matte are generally recommended brands. On the topic of sleeves, make sure they are unmarked and opaque enough such that you cannot see through them in any light.

Playmat: Not all play surfaces are created equally. Keep your sleeves unmarked, clean and easy to manipulate by bringing your own playmat. You can machine wash playmats on the delicate cycle and then air dry them after the event.

Extra sleeves: You never know when a sleeve will split or get marked. Make sure to bring spares!

Notepad/Pen: While outside notes are prohibited (though decklists are allowed, see 2.4.3 of the organized play policies), you are allowed to take notes DURING games. Use this to track what cards you’ve seen in remotes or in R&D, to count how many cards are in play, or whatever else you’re likely to forget and can help inform decisions while reducing mental load.

Water Bottle & Snacks: Make sure your stamina bar stays as close to maximum as possible throughout the day. Hydration plays a key role in stamina. Make sure to bring a water bottle that you can refill as you should ideally be drinking 2-3 litres of water each day. Stick to food that’s minimally processed and avoid junk food as much as possible.

Earplugs: Big tournaments can get quite loud. Earplugs can help reduce background noise, which can drain your energy over long periods of time.

Hand Sanitizer / Masks: if you’re prone to getting sick at conventions, you can use these to minimize your exposure to germs. If you’re wearing masks, bring enough to change every 4-6 hours (2-4 masks per day).

Preparing to play Competitive Netrunner

Decklists

At competitive level events, decklists are required. When playing in the main event of the World Championship, you will be expected to provide decklists upon registration by signing in to your NetrunnerDB account. From there you will be able to see your private decklists and select them. Only judges and tournament staff will have access to them.

Printed decklists are also an option if you cannot use NetrunnerDB for whatever reason (ordered by Type and then Alphabetical). There will be printed templates available to handwrite your decklist on if needed.

Practice

If you do not have readily available people to play with in person, you can practice online using Jinteki.Net. If you’re struggling to find a match or want to play something very specific, you can use the Green Level Clearance discord server to find games by posting in the “#find-online-games” channel.

How much should you practice? Matches are in-person and have a time limit of 40 minutes to play a single side (i.e. Runner or Corp, but not both). To keep up with this pace, you should be familiar with all of the effects on your cards and know the general play patterns for the deck. You do not need to know every matchup and every possible card your opponent might play.

Staying informed – social media

The best way to stay informed about the event is to be on the Worlds Discord server. You can mute every channel if you’d like but it’s advised to keep notifications turned on for the Announcements channel to stay up to date. Additionally, there is a Resources channel in which guides and other information is pinned.

Outside of the Worlds Discord server, some announcements do appear on the Null Signal Games blog, and there will typically be a landing page on the site specifically for Worlds. All that information will be duplicated in the Discord server’s announcements and resources channels.

Lastly, once you arrive at the event, your badge will have a QR code which will direct you to the aforementioned worlds landing page, so whenever you need to check anything you will be able to scan that code with your phone!

Rest, Nutrition and Hydration

While this may seem silly, playing card games for an entire weekend is incredibly draining and is almost an endurance test. Even if you’re not playing with maximum concentration, you need to keep up your stamina to ensure that you’re enjoying the event, as tiredness will impact your mood and mindset. Make sure to get as much rest as possible and do your best to eat as well as you can. It makes a huge difference in your energy levels and your ability to enjoy the weekend as a whole.

If you’re familiar with conventions: follow the 6-2-1 rule. 6-2-1 is the shorthand for at least six hours of sleep, two meals and one shower a day. For multi-day events or trips, this is the minimum to keep you fit for fight, clean and healthy.

Specific meal advice

Suggestions for items to eat during meals to keep your energy up: whole grains, fruits & vegetables, protein (lentils, tofu, chicken, eggs). For the competition weekend, try to keep a ratio of 50% carbs (beans, legumes, quinoa, rice, oats, etc), 25% protein and 25% fibres for your meals. Avoid fried, greasy and otherwise heavy foods when possible.

While it might be fun to celebrate with a drink, do be aware that alcohol slows down your metabolism for up to 72 hours after your last drink. That can have an impact on your energy for the weekend, especially when you’re 10 rounds and 11+ hours deep into playing Netrunner during the main event.

What is expected of me?

This section goes into detail about what is ideally expected of folks. and please do try to adhere to them but if you take away nothing else, this is the:

You are expected to know what your deck does. You are NOT expected to know what your opponent’s deck does.

What this entails is that you should know the effects of your cards and the general play patterns. Edge cases do happen and it’s perfectly fine to not know every single possible interaction, but you should be able to properly resolve the majority of cases.

If you’re stopping to read every third card in your deck and figure out how to use it, odds are you will be slowing down the game in a way that is not befitting of competitive play. In such a case your opponent might call a judge for slow play.

General Etiquette

You must abide by the Null Signal Games Code of Conduct and Section 2 of the Null Signal Games Organized Play Policies (“Player and Spectator Expectations”).Section 2 of the Organized Play Policies covers many topics from token organization, to calling judges, alt-art restrictions (also in Appendix 3), and sleeves. Some points will be reiterated below but it is highly recommended to read that section.

When in doubt, you can always call a judge or approach a judge or staff member privately.

Competitive Netrunner

Competitive level events at Netrunner are still aimed to be welcoming to all players. The largest change is that certain rare infractions move from something a judge tries to repair, into a game loss. Getting a game loss is not a big deal, most players, including World champions, have received game losses. The most common way this comes up is accidentally revealing more cards from your opponent than you should have been able to, such as accessing HQ or doing damage. The best way to avoid this is to never flip over the cards yourself, and instead just point at the cards and let your opponent do the manipulation, because if your opponent reveals their own cards it’s not an issue.

Competitive play is not an excuse for rudeness, or hostility, and if you end up encountering behaviour that makes you uncomfortable, please contact a judge, either immediately, or later when you feel safe.

All competitive events require decklists to be submitted upon registration. Make sure you have yours ready in advance. You can find more details in the Preparation section, specifically the Decklists subsection.

Going to time

When time is called, the active player (i.e. the person currently taking their turn) finishes their turn, and then their opponent gets one more turn. At the end of that turn, the player with the most agenda points wins. If both players have the same number of points, then it is a tie (1 point awarded to each player).

Proxies & Alt Arts

PRINTED proxies and alt arts are permitted. Handwritten proxies are not. Alt arts and proxies must abide by the guidelines outlined in section 2.3 and Appendix III of the Organized Play Policies. When in doubt, check with tournament staff.

Just call a judge!

Judges exist to make sure that everyone is playing the same game of Netrunner. This is crucial at competitive events where people travel from around the world to prove they’re the best. Judges are NOT there to punish players. Calling a judge should be seen as a request for clarification, not a confrontational or shameful action.

How do you call a judge? Raise your hand and yell “JUDGE!”, then keep your hand raised until a judge comes to you.

Commonly overlooked reasons to call a judge:

• Takebacks: Not all takebacks are equal. It is not the player’s responsibility to decide if one is allowed. Call a judge for all takebacks.
• Card Text / Decklists: While electronic devices and outside notes are not allowed, you can ask a judge for the text on a card or for your own decklist. Did you see Measured Response on R&D and forgot the conditions for it to be played? Did you forget how many copies of Unity are in your deck? Call a judge.
• Slow play: if you feel your opponent is taking an unreasonable amount of time, or you’re worried about the match not finishing during the allotted round time, call a judge.
• Transparent/marked sleeves: even if you do not suspect malice, if you can see the backs of the cards through your opponents sleeves it needs to be corrected.
• Discomfort: If your opponent is making you feel uncomfortable for any reason, be it aggressive language, inappropriate jokes, or other actions, call a judge. If you are uncomfortable with a public call, approach a judge privately later.

What can I expect on site?

This year, worlds will take place across multiple floors. 

There are gender neutral and disabled bathrooms on the ground floor. Information on fountains and water is TBD.

There is a singular lift and stairs to go between floors. If you have difficulty traversing floors, make sure to request fixed seating (see Special Accommodations) so that you stay on the main floor.

The exact locations of the Low Sensory Room and Artist Colony are to be determined. The front desk will be on the main floor and we are currently planning to have an HQ on every floor to minimize folks going between floors. Exact details can change on the day of the event.

Special Accommodations

Before we get into what you can do at the event, we need to mention what the event can do for you. If you need fixed seating for whatever reason, you can request it before the event begins by going to HQ and asking for it after registering. We are expecting to have all fixed seating on the ground floor.

Similarly, if you have sensory limitation or if you need assistance handling your cards, you can request an oracle. An oracle is an impartial assistant assigned to a player who will relay information or manipulate the board state as needed on your behalf.

Low Sensory Room

The low sensory room is a quiet room where the lights are dimmed. Talking and phone usage are prohibited. Do take advantage of this room if you need a quick break but don’t want to leave the event space.

Front Desk

The front desk is typically located just outside of the play space. The first thing you do upon arriving at the event space will be to present your proof of ticket purchase to the front desk to receive your lanyard and any related loot. You will need your lanyard to participate in any activities during the weekend (excluding the learn to play event).

If you do not want to appear in media coverage for the event, you can choose a red lanyard over a black one. This will signal to Null Signal Games to crop out your face if you appear in the foreground of any shots. This does not apply to quick pans or full room shots.

HQ

HQ is typically located at the front of the play space. It is where you turn in your match slips and get prizes. If you ever need to talk to event staff but are unsure where to go or who to approach, the folks over at HQ are there to help.

Masks and hand sanitizer

No one wants to get sick at an event, especially not one that many have travelled for and likely have vacation plans around it. If you forgot to bring your own or ran out of what you did bring, masks and hand sanitizer are available at HQ and the front desk. We encourage folks to wear and use them as needed to protect yourself and others. Also see Getting sick / general unwellness

Stay safe and do your part to make sure others stay safe as well.

Artist Colony

All weekend long, there is a shop where merch is sold on behalf of community artists. Null Signal Games only takes enough of a cut to cover taxes and payment processor fees and the rest goes directly to the artists. You can typically find alt-arts, acrylic IDs, tokens, keychains, and much more. Cash or credit are accepted.

Weekend Events

The World Championship (Saturday and Sunday)

If this is your first time, odds are you will have not experienced the ultimate Netrunner endurance test that is the Netrunner World Championship. You are in for eleven, 40 minute rounds of Single-Sided Swiss. That is to say, you will be playing 11 games of Netrunner with tournament software deciding which side you will be playing.

You should approach this day with incremental goals. Maybe you just want one win with each deck. Maybe you want 15 points to get a specific prize.

If this is your first competitive Netrunner event, make sure to read the following sections: Competitive Netrunner, Just call a Judge! and Special Accommodations

Standings & Match Reporting

Unless specified otherwise, the tournament will be run using Tournaments.NullSignal.Games (sometimes referred to as Cobra). The event will appear on the front page on the day of the event, but keep an eye out on the Discord server the night before for advance registration as well. You will need to check this page every round to know which table to play at and deck to play.

Match results can take one of two forms and will be communicated at the start of the event:

1. Paper slips: If paper slips are used, there will be pens at each table. At the start of each round, a staff member will hand out match slips. When you finish your game, you AND your opponent are expected to fill out the form with the match result, sign it and bring it to HQ
2. Self-reporting: If self-reporting is used, both you and your opponent will need to report the match result using Cobra

If there is ever an issue with match results or your standings, it is your responsibility to report the error to HQ as soon as possible. Mistakes must be detected and corrected before time has passed in the following round. Otherwise no correction can be made.

Side Events (Friday and Sunday)

Anything outside of the world championship is considered a side-event. Some side events are run by Null Signal Games, but the vast majority are not. Side events are typically a casual Netrunner event in any format, but you can find non-Netrunner activities as well. There is Netrunner trivia, a cosplay contest and even non-Netrunner board games. Everything counts and you will be awarded with side-event prizes just for participating in any of them.

All information about side events can be found in the side event Discord channels. If you want to run a side event, all you need to do is find a group to do whatever activity or format you want and approach staff at HQ.

Casual Netrunner at Worlds

Outside of the main event, pretty much all Netrunner activities at worlds are casual events. That means no decklist and significantly more relaxed judging.

Common casual side events include:

• Crown of Servers
  • This is a team event that typically takes place on Friday. During this event, teammates cannot have overlapping factions in their decks. Table talk is not only permitted but encouraged. Go ahead, ask your teammates if you should keep your starting hand, ask them if you should rez that ice, make jokes, have fun!

If you need to find a team, check out the find a team channel on the Worlds Discord server.

• Startup & Eternal
  • The officially curated formats get their own side events. They typically happen on Sunday

Non-Netrunner activities

Often, people bring other games to play outside of the main event. 

In addition, there is a cosplay contest on Friday! Come dressed as your favourite Netrunner-inspired-anything! As with all other side events, check the Worlds Discord for details.

Taking care of yourself

Overstimulation

Sometimes the event just feels too much or you just need a break. If you finish a round early, you can take advantage of the low sensory room (dimmed lights and silence) or go out for a walk. Additionally, you can drop one round and come back later if you need an extended break.

In case of doubt or discomfort

If you have doubts, discomforts, or concerns of any kind, you should approach tournament staff and they will do everything in their power to assist. They’re here to help.

Dropping from an event

Sometimes your stamina bar drops to critical levels. Sometimes you just don’t want to play any more and want to leave. That’s perfectly fine! If you don’t want to play any more please notify tournament staff. They will prize you out and mark you as dropped. Nearly all of the prizing is points or participation based so you don’t need to stay until the end for prizes. Alternatively, you can decide to un-drop after any number of rounds if you just need an extended break.

Getting sick / general unwellness

If for whatever reason you start feeling unwell during the weekend, please do not return to the event floor. Go back home or to your hotel room and rest. At the very minimum, wear a mask covering your face and nose to minimize the spread. Masks are readily available at the front desk/HQ. If you’re worried about not receiving prizes, do communicate over Discord with staff and we will make arrangements to make sure you get appropriately prized out so you’re not left out.