This is a draft format I’ve been cooking up that is based on a Magic: The Gathering draft format called Vintage Rotisserie.
#The Basics
- Number of Players: 8
- Starting Cards (For Each Player):
- Corporation:
- ID - The Shadow: Pulling the Strings
- 6 Priority Requisitions
- Runner:
- ID - The Masque: Cyber General
- 1 Pipeline
- 1 Aurora
- 1 Force of Nature
- Corporation:
- Draft Cards: 1 of every Android Netrunner Card
#The Draft
This format is different from other draft formats because players don’t have multiple packs to open and they don’t pick simultaneously. Instead, this format is played with just one “pack”, if you can call it that. This single pack has one copy every Netrunner card, minus identities, that has ever been released.
To do this draft, each player in the draft will be randomly placed into spots numbered one through eight. The player in spot number one will pick any single Runner card and and any single Corporation card to add to his pool. After the player in spot number picks, the players in spots two to eight will, in order, pick one Runner card and one Corporation card, provided that the cards have not already been picked. Once spot eight has made her Runner and Corporation picks, she makes another Runner and Corporation pick.After this second pick by the player in spot eight, each other player will their second Runner and Corporation pick in reverse order until spot one has done so. Then the process begins again starting with spots one’s 3rd picks until each player has made 40 Runner and 40 Corporation Picks.
In summary the pick order is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 … until you hit 40 Picks, at each pick you pick one Runner and one Corporation card and no card can be picked more than once
To run this draft, you could layout all the cards for this draft out on a table (or two) and have the players physically make their picks. This way certain has a wow factor to it, but at the same time it can make it hard to keep track of what cards have been taken already. The easier way to go about this to set up a Google-Doc for all the players to enter in their picks and that way players can search the document to see if a pick has already been made.
After the draft is complete you can run this as you would otherwise run a draft with a round-robin, swiss, or elimination brackets.
#The Rotisserie Advantange
The there are four big things I wanted to point out that makes Singleton Rotisserie different than other draft formats in the play. First, it is more interactive, with each player seeing all pick made by all the other players a bit of mind games, signaling, and risk goes into each pick. Second, the strategy is different, going in to the draft you’ll know exactly what card are going to be available and the only question mark is what the other players will pick.Third, this format will push the power level a bit higher than a draft by simple matter including all the cards and leaving so much freedom on the picks. Lastly it does require curating that a cube does cards that don’t quite do it simply aren’t picked.
On the other hand there are two big downsides to this format. One is the increased complexity of having to consider almost every card on each pick, this format isn’t for newer players. And the other big issue is how long it can take, drafting 640 cards two by two can take awhile, that’s 320 picks and if each pick averaged a minute it would take 5 hours. The time problem can be offset by doing it over the internet before the actual tournament but any way you slice it will be a time commitment.
#Closing Thoughts
I think this format can be interesting twist on Netrunner drafting. Let me know you have an thoughts on this variant or if you play it yourself. I’m also interested in putting this together as an OCTGN tournament so let me know if there is any interest there!