Ysengrin, NISEI playtester: Hey Felix, it’s been a great spoiler season. But we’ve got quite the scoop to cap this season, the most exciting card type of all—neutral Corp economy cards!
Felix, NISEI playtester: (says something witty [allegedly -ed.])
YS: So let’s talk about the first of our cards: Regolith Mining License.
FE: Do you ever wonder how many credits you can mine from a Regolith?
YS: Constantly.
Regolith Mining License
Neutral Asset
Rez Cost: 2 – Trash Cost: 3 – Influence: 0
When you rez this asset, load 15 onto it. When it is empty, trash it.
: Take 3 from this asset.
“The economy of three worlds is sustained by He3 extraction from the lunar surface. The very fulcrum of power, the key to collective survival—auctioned to the highest bidder.” —The Catalyst
Illustrated by Benjamin Giletti
FE: Fifteen.
YS: Huh, I would have thought it would be more.
FE: You’re thinking of Monolith.
YS: Oh yeah.
FE: I suspect it’s due to the contract fees and stuff like insurance.
YS: Fair. Regoliths have really high premium rates.
FE: 15 is kind of a lot, though. In total, you spend six clicks for a net gain of 13 emptying the card—the 15 payout minus the 2 rez cost. That’s better than 2 per click.
YS: Can Corps really afford to spend six clicks just gaining credits though?
FE: I think some can, or, more accurately: some have to. Jinteki glacier doesn’t have any high value economy assets like Daily Quest, so I think this is a staple there if you want to save influence for stuff like Border Control. Maybe in some Weyland decks as well.
YS: I’m a bit more skeptical about whether we will see it in a lot of places, but it is nice to have some extra flexibility over Melange Mining Corp. It’s neat that you can click it twice and have made a credit over clicking for credits. Also a decent sink to dodge a Diversion of Funds, cause you’re denying them money, and doing it on an expensive asset to trash, even if you can’t protect it!
Also given all our discussion of morality this spoiler season, nice to see all corps have an equal opportunity to exploit this offworld resource.
FE: Did someone say Offworld?!
YS: Yes?
FE: Well, check out this card!
Offworld Office
Neutral Agenda: Expansion
Advancement Requirement: 4 – Agenda Points: 2 – Influence: 0
When you score this agenda, gain 7.
As the first lunar city, Heinlein was built on the dreams of a new frontier and boundless opportunity, but He3 mining is too lucrative for the corps to ever relinquish control.
Illustrated by Benjamin Giletti
YS: Power creep! NISEI is ruining Netrunner. Sound the alarm, Corporate War is now obsolete.
FE: Facts.
YS (grumbling): Back in my day, we played Corporate War and rolled them bones.
FE: The real comparison here is Cyberdex Sandbox right? Offworld Office gives you 3 more on score but without the purge. Scoring two of these is 14 versus Sandbox’s 12.
YS: That choice is a tricky one. I wonder, given Conduit, if Sandbox crowds you out. That said, I definitely ran Sandbox because it was the closest to tempo neutral. So if you have HB combo decks that can score 4/2s, I would definitely look at Offworld Office over Cyberdex Sandbox.
FE: I definitely think this beats out Corporate Sales Team on speed if anyone was running both.
YS: But for a grindy deck Corporate Sales Team does have a higher payout, so while it’s legal, it might still have a niche.
FE: I hope not. This seems more fun, and I want my credits now. Also, screw PAD Tap.
YS: Preach!
YS: Finally we got the last Corp economy card to look at. Everyone loved Priority Requisition. So much so that FFG made sure we got plenty of extra copies of it in all our draft packs.
FE: I thought the one people really liked was SSL Endorsement, given how many alt arts were made to compensate for the lack of stock.
YS: And then NISEI took away their toys with the 20.09 ban list. (Stares longingly at banned alt-arts.) So Design cooked up a nice replacement as Gateway #69: Send a Message.
Send a Message
Neutral Agenda: Security
Advancement Requirement: 5 – Agenda Points: 3 – Influence: 0
When this agenda is scored or stolen, you may rez 1 installed piece of ice, ignoring all costs.
It might be over, but we will get them next time.
Illustrated by David Lei
FE: (snicker)
YS: If you think about it, it’s really got all the goodness of SSL and Priority Requisition packed into one single card! It’ll definitely help you light your Pharos up.
FE: I like how it goes both ways!
But what if all your ICE was rezzed, wouldn’t that still feel bad? Or what if your only unrezzed ice was cheap?
YS: “Git gud”?
FE: Excellent point.
YS: Moving on, we’ve got another… oh, wait, nope that’s it. That’s all the neutral Corp econ.
FE: Wait I think you’re forgetting an essential piece of Corp econ!
YS: I am?
FE: Hedge Fund!
YS: Didn’t somebody else spoil that?
FE: Wait, did they? I thought we got neutral Corp economy! That was the whole reason I agreed to write this. I had a whole speech ready about how strong neutral economy like Rashida Jaheem is ruining Netrunner by making every Corp deck feel the same.
Hedge Fund
Neutral Operation: Transaction
Play Cost: 5 – Influence: 0
Gain 9
A financial instrument for diverting money from those outside to those inside.
Illustrated by Kira L. Nguyen
YS: Feel better now that you’ve said that?
FE: Yeah.
YS: You excited to get going into our new System Gateway meta?
FE: Very!
System Gateway and System Update 2021 will be released on or shortly after March 28, 2021, as physical cards via NISEI’s print-on-demand partners and pay-what-you want files for downloading and printing at home!
