Originally published at: Teaching Netrunner: Part 1 - StimHack
Teaching Netrunner: Part 1 The first part of this article is to help experienced Android: Netrunner players teach new players how to play. In the second part, I will give my recommended learning decklists and more specific explanation. Your first goal should be to provoke interest in Netrunner and make sure that you’re teaching someone that wants to learn. It’s best to know your audience. An ex-Magic:The Gathering player might be interested in the card combos while a new player at a board game convention might find the theme compelling. Identify your audience’s interests before showing…
some good ideas here. I like the idea about letting them play corp first and using the generic terms.
It seems that the people that are most likely going to be interested in this either still play or are very familiar with magic; so instead of deck or R&D, I"ll say library. I’ll even consider calling out certain key differences that magic players might not realize they are expecting (timing being the big one here).
I love this article! Its exactly what I was looking for when I posted my initial thread about teaching decks!
In regards to terminology, I find a play-mat helps out considerably. Especially one that is drawn on with the labels for both runner and corp. It might look silly but you would be surprised how quick a new corp player picks up on server placement with lines to follow.
2 Likes
Brodee: The MtG audience for Netrunner is a big one, especially when you mention they have the same designer. You’re right that you want to emphasize the difference in timing between the two games; after playing MtG for so long, the stack seems natural. A good card to use to explain the lack of interrupts is Tinkering; you can explain that it’s not as good as it sounds because it can’t be used mid-run (even with Same Old Thing).
Nightmare: I’m glad you enjoyed the article as it was your post that provided the attention needed for me to write it. A playmat can be helpful, that’s a good point. Playmats are ideal, but most people, like myself, don’t have any. If the playmat is labeled, I would advise teaching the terminology right off the bat.
I will be publishing Part 2 within a couple weeks with decklists and recommendations.
This is the playmat I use. Its awesome for teaching and looks great too! I was actually told by the FFG Staff at Gencon that this mat was actually made illegally (due to the use of FFG’s artwork and the “Android” name) but I still use it as a tool to teach new players.