Much Ado About Worlds 2020

Today we have tons of information for you regarding the upcoming 2020 World Championship! We hope you’ll all join us there for a fantastic weekend of Netrunner!

The World Championship will be occurring entirely online over 9, 10, and 11 October 2020. As with the 2020 Continental Championships, play will occur via Jinteki.net and communication via the Project NISEI Discord server. The schedule is below:

Day 1A: Friday 9 October 2020

This is the ideal day for players in North and South America.

  • Check in – 10:30am PDT (UTC -7) (1:30am Saturday AWST)
  • Player Meeting – 11:20am
  • Round 1- 11:30am

Day 1B: Saturday 10 October 2020

This day’s schedule is better suited for those in Europe and Africa.

  • Check In – 10:30am CEST (UTC +2) (4:30pm AWST)
  • Player Meeting – 11:20am
  • Round 1 – 11:30am

We have arranged the time zones for all three days to best suit the majority of attendees. We recognize that these times will not be ideal for everyone, but we encourage players to prepare for playing in these time zones just as they would for an in-person event. Check-in times for both Day 1A and Day 1B are also noted in AWST to help those in Asia-Pacific decide which day better suits their schedule.

Each day of Swiss will be up to seven 65-minute rounds, with a 45-minute break between rounds 4 and 5. We expect each Swiss to take about 9 hours, so plan accordingly. Just like previous virtual events, you will need to check-in via the Project NISEI Discord server before the event begins, and remember to check this periodically as we will use it for all official communication over the weekend.

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the link below. You will also need to fill out the registration form which will include your decklist. Be aware that once you submit a decklist it cannot be changed, so please be careful. You may also indicate your preference for Day 1A or Day 1B (or both). We will do our best to honor everyone’s preference while still maintaining balance in the number of players each day. If you have no preference, we will assign you to whichever day has fewer players.

The registration form can be found here, but it does not open until 18 September to give players time to adjust to the new Standard ban list. If you are able to purchase your ticket and complete your registration before 6 October, please do so, as last-minute registrations put a strain on our admin team and may lead to confusion. Don’t worry – we’ll send you a reminder email on or around the 18th containing the link.

Day 2: Sunday 11 October 2020

  • Check in – 11:00am UTC
  • Tiebreaker round – 12pm UTC
  • Cut starts 12:50pm UTC

The final day is the culmination of the event with a single tiebreaker round (if required) followed by a cut to top 16. We estimate any players with 11 or more wins during Day 1 will qualify for Day 2 and those with 10 wins may qualify for a Tiebreaker round to make the cut. An announcement at the end of Day 1B will clarify who has qualified and those players will also be notified individually. 

At the conclusion of the double elimination rounds, NISEI will host a short Prize Ceremony with the top players on the official stream. There’s a secret prize for Top 4, and we will announce exactly what they have won at this time!

Side Events

Also running all day Sunday are side events—Standard, Core Experience, Eternal, and Draft. These events have no scheduled start and end times and will be run on a first-come, first-serve basis. Side events will not be covered on the official stream—but we encourage streamers who want to cover these events to reach out to us at info@nullsignal.games! Entrance for these events are included in your main event ticket, and there is no limit to how many you can join. Sign-up sheets and further information will be posted in the Project NISEI Discord on Sunday, with them firing periodically when enough people show interest.

For more information about each format, please see this page.

Afterparties/Socializing

Most people agree that the best part of large Netrunner events is the socializing—going out to the restaurant or the bar with your friends, or even hanging out back at the hotel. Don’t worry—not all is lost in 2020! Every day at the conclusion of the main event, NISEI and others will be hosting virtual afterparties! Some of these will include fun activities like Jackbox party games and Netrunner trivia via Kahoot. There will be plenty of separate rooms to join based on your preferences. If you are interested in hosting your own virtual happy hour or afterparty or helping with an official one, please reach out to us at info@nullsignal.games! At the end of each day we’ll provide a list of events that you can join to “see” your friends, or make new ones!


Editor’s Note: The System Update IDs offered as prizes that are not in a current Standard-legal set (Steve Cambridge and Ayla “Bios” Rahim) are not Standard-legal until System Update 2021 releases. They are also not legal for this event. Likewise, Ken “Express” Tenma, which is offered as a prize for the Core Experience side events, is not legal in Core Experience until System Update 2021 releases.


Prizes – Main Event

An arrangement of prizes for the Worlds 2020 main event.
QualificationPrize
0 points (participation)Border Control (Akira J. Mitchell)
Career Fair (Olie Boldador)
6 points (2 wins)Logic Bomb (Elizaveta Sokolova)
12 points (4 wins)Zer0 (Elizaveta Sokolova)
18 points (6 wins)Project Atlas (Kira L. Nguyen)
24 points (8 wins)Bio Vault (Jack Reeves)
30 points (10 wins)Liberated Account (Kira L. Nguyen)
Top HalfFaction dice
Top 32System Update Runner playmat (Benjamin Giletti)
Top 16Plastic System Update IDs (Benjamain Giletti):
Steve Cambridge: Master Grifter
Ayla “Bios” Rahim: Simulant Specialist
Quetzal: Free Spirit
Top 83× each of foil versions of the non-ID cards above
Top 4Secret prize to be announced on-stream during the Prize Ceremony
ChampionOne-of-a-kind playmat featuring upcoming card art by David Lei; title of “NISEI World Champion 2020”; and the chance to work with NISEI Design and Development teams to create your own card for printing in a future NISEI product

Prizes – Standard Side Events

The prizes for the Worlds 2020 Standard Side Events
QualificationPrize
ParticipationHostile Takeover (Akira J. Mitchell & Matt Burton)
Top 2Project Vitruvius (Krembler)

Prizes – Core Experience Side Events

The prizes for the Worlds 2020 Core Experience Side Events
QualificationPrize
ParticipationInside Job (Benjamin Giletti)
Top 2Set of System Update IDs (Benjamin Giletti):
Ken “Express” Tenma: Disappeared Clone
Rielle “Kit” Peddler: Transhuman
Reina Roja: Freedom Fighter

Prizes – Eternal Side Events

The prizes for the Worlds 2020 Eternal Side Events
QualificationPrize
ParticipationSanSan City Grid (Nedliv Audiovisuell)
Top 2Indexing (Krembler)

Prizes – Draft Side Events

The prizes for the Worlds 2020 Draft Side Events
QualificationPrize
Participation3× Full-bleed Slot Machine (Krembler)
Top 23× Full-bleed Stargate (Iain Fairclough)

As with the Continental Championships, we will order prizes after the event has concluded. This will allow us to order exact quantities – fewer leftover prizes means less overhead for us and cheaper tickets for you! As such, we have lowered the ticket price to only $35 US.

We’ll “see” you all there – and if the stars align, in Toronto in 2021. Until then—

Always be running!

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