Supported Formats

Looking for a challenge? Null Signal supports multiple formats for organized play, each with its own cardpool and ban list.

All formats follow the rules of play and errata outlined in the latest Netrunner Comprehensive Rules. New releases become legal at Casual events immediately and at Competitive events on the second Friday after their release. For example, if a new set were released on Monday the 1st of a given month, it would become legal on Friday the 12th. Rotation and new ban list releases will be given their own effective dates, announced at the same time.

Many Null Signal formats are affected by rotation, a process by which sets enter and exit a format’s cardpool. When new sets are added to a rotating cardpool, other sets, usually the oldest, become no longer legal. This keeps the cardpool fresh and at a manageable size.

Cards in the “removed” section may not be included in decks, used as identities, or chosen as extra cards (such as directive subtype cards in Adam decks). Only a single card from the “restricted” section may be included in a deck up to its maximum number of copies, used as an identity, or chosen as an extra card.

Standard

The flagship format of Netrunner Organized Play, Standard is frequently changing to keep the meta exciting and engaging for players of all levels. Most official Organized Play events will follow the Standard format. If a format is not specified, assume Standard, but contact your Tournament Organizer for clarity.

The Standard Ban List currently only removes cards; it does not presently contain restricted cards. This change was made in the June 2020 update to the list. Cards on the Ban List may not be included in your deck for Standard format tournaments. The latest ban list update is Standard Ban List 23.09 and it came into force for competitive-tier events on 22 September 2023. Changes from the previous ban list update (23.08) are detailed here.

Our latest set, The Automata Initiative, the first part of the Liberation Cycle, became legal for casual-tier events on July 31, 2023, and competitive-tier events on August 11, 2023. With the release of The Automata Initiative, Data and Destiny and the Flashpoint Cycle rotate out of the Standard card pool. This comes into effect on the same date as The Automata Initiative becomes legal for events.

Effective as of Friday, September 22, 2023. Changes from the previous ban list, 23.08, detailed here.

Corp

  • All cards with the “current” subtype
  • Archived Memories
  • Breached Dome
  • Cayambe Grid
  • Cyberdex Sandbox
  • Dr. Vientiane Keeling
  • Drago Ivanov
  • Engram Flush
  • Game Changer
  • Gold Farmer
  • High-Profile Target
  • Hired Help
  • Kakugo
  • Mass Commercialization
  • Mti Mwekundu: Life Improved
  • Nanisivik Grid
  • Obokata Protocol
  • Project Vacheron
  • Shipment from Tennin
  • Slot Machine
  • SSL Endorsement
  • Tithonium
  • Whampoa Reclamation

Runner

  • All cards with the “current” subtype
  • Bloo Moose
  • Bukhgalter
  • Clan Vengeance
  • Crowdfunding
  • DreamNet
  • Endurance
  • Kabonesa Wu: Netspace Thrillseeker
  • Liza Talking Thunder: Prominent Legislator
  • Mars for Martians
  • PAD Tap
  • Rezeki
  • Salvaged Vanadis Armory
  • Watch the World Burn

Startup

If you’re looking to get into organized play, Startup is the place to, well, start. It’s a limited-cardpool format, intended for new players taking their first steps into Organized Play as well as experienced players who want a slimmed-down deckbuilding challenge. The cardpool for Startup consists of:

  1. System Gateway and System Update 2021
  2. The most recent complete Null Signal narrative cycle
  3. All sets in the current incomplete Null Signal narrative cycle

The cardpool for Startup was expanded from its previous definition in July 2022, in preparation for Midnight Sun‘s release. You can read about that decision here.

As of January 19, 2024, a ban list was implemented for the Startup format. To read the reasoning behind this decision, see here. Cards on this ban list may not be included in your deck for any Organized Play event taking place in the Startup format. The list of banned cards follows below.

The release of Parhelion on December 6, 2022 triggered a rotation in the Startup format. The Ashes Cycle, consisting of Downfall and Uprising, left the Startup card pool. The following sets are now legal in Startup:

Effective as of January 19, 2024. For information about this ban list, see here.

Corp

  • Drago Ivanov

Runner

  • Endurance

Sunset

Sunset is a temporary non-competitive format intended to gather data about what the Standard metagame will look like after the large rotation triggered by Dawn. It follows the Standard ban list and card pool, but with additional bans. For detailed information on the format, see here.

Corp

  • All cards with the “current” subtype
  • Archived Memories
  • Attitude Adjustment
  • Bellona
  • Breached Dome
  • Cayambe Grid
  • Cyberdex Sandbox
  • Dr. Vientiane Keeling
  • Drago Ivanov
  • Drudge Work
  • Engram Flush
  • Game Changer
  • Gold Farmer
  • High-Profile Target
  • Hired Help
  • Kakugo
  • Mass Commercialization
  • Mti Mwekundu: Life Improved
  • Nanisivik Grid
  • NBN: Reality Plus
  • NGO Front
  • Obokata Protocol
  • Project Vacheron
  • Rashida Jaheem
  • Shipment from Tennin
  • Slot Machine
  • SSL Endorsement
  • Tithonium
  • Whampoa Reclamation

Runner

  • All cards with the “current” subtype
  • Bloo Moose
  • Boomerang
  • Bukhgalter
  • Clan Vengeance
  • Cleaver
  • Crowdfunding
  • Daily Casts
  • Dirty Laundry
  • DreamNet
  • Endurance
  • Kabonesa Wu: Netspace Thrillseeker
  • Liza Talking Thunder: Prominent Legislator
  • Mars for Martians
  • PAD Tap
  • Paladin Poemu
  • Rezeki
  • Salvaged Vanadis Armory
  • Self-Modifying Code
  • Tsakhia “Bankhar” Gantulga 
  • Watch the World Burn

Eternal

Eternal is not affected by rotation and has a far less restrictive list governing it. The largest and most complex format, it encompasses nearly the entirety of the printed card pool and only grows larger with time.

The Eternal Points List bans a small number of cards, and assigns a points value between 0 and 3 points to every card in the format. You have 7 points to spend during deckbuilding (these are not shared between your Corp and Runner decks – each deck can have up to 7 points spent on it). Spending the points cost of a card allows you to include up to a full playset of that card in your deck. Any card not included in the list below has a points cost of 0.

Effective beginning Friday, 8 December 2023. See here for details of this list.

Runner

7 points to spend (for up to a full playset of each)

Banned

  • Aghora
  • Sadyojata
  • Salvaged Vanadis Armory
  • Vamadeva
  • Watch the World Burn

3 Points

  • Account Siphon
  • Hyperdriver
  • Rumor Mill
  • Temüjin Contract

2 Points

  • Blackmail
  • Clan Vengeance
  • Crowdfunding
  • Data Leak Reversal
  • DDoS
  • Employee Strike
  • False Echo
  • Mars for Martians
  • Şifr

1 Point

  • Aaron Marrón
  • Aumakua
  • Bloo Moose
  • Counter Surveillance
  • Déjà Vu
  • Film Critic
  • Hacktivist Meeting
  • Snitch
  • Tech Trader
  • Zer0

Corp

7 points to spend (for up to a full playset of each)

Banned

  • Accelerated Diagnostics
  • Hired Help

3 Points

  • Estelle Moon
  • Jinteki: Potential Unleashed
  • Mumbad City Hall

2 Points

  • Bio-Ethics Association
  • Cerebral Imaging: Infinite Frontiers
  • Friends in High Places
  • Industrial Genomics: Growing Solutions
  • Jackson Howard
  • Museum of History
  • Ob Superheavy Logistics: Extract. Export. Excel.
  • Scarcity of Resources
  • Sensie Actors Union

1 Point

  • 24/7 News Cycle
  • Anoetic Void
  • Breaking News
  • Breached Dome
  • Caprice Nisei
  • Gaslight
  • Kakugo
  • Mti Mwekundu: Life Improved
  • Mutually Assured Destruction
  • Power Shutdown
  • Shock!
  • Spin Doctor
  • Sting!
  • Obokata Protocol
  • Project Vacheron
  • Violet Level Clearance
  • Wage Workers
  • Whampoa Reclamation

Random Access Memories

Random Access Memories is a special format with a a randomly determined card pool. The legal sets for each period are generated in a livestreamed draw. This is followed by a tournament, and the sets drawn are then the legal RAM card pool for the following period. Please see here for more info on how the card pool is generated.

The regularly-scheduled RAM tournaments are currently on hiatus, and the card pool generated for the latest tournament is provided for historical purposes. However, you can find tools with which to randomly generate your own card pool if you wish to run unofficial tournaments on this page, and you can visit this page to find a legality checker for your RAM decks.

Snapshot

This format is a “snapshot” of the meta at Magnum Opus 2018, the culmination of FFG Organized Play. It will see minimal changes unless strictly necessary.

Corp: Removed

  • 24/7 News Cycle
  • Cerebral Imaging: Infinite Frontiers
  • Clone Suffrage Movement
  • Estelle Moon
  • Friends in High Places
  • Museum of History
  • Sensie Actors Union

Corp: Restricted

  • Bio-Ethics Association
  • Brain Rewiring
  • Bryan Stinson
  • Global Food Initiative
  • Hunter Seeker
  • Jinteki: Potential Unleashed
  • Mother Goddess
  • Mumba Temple
  • Mumbad City Hall
  • Obokata Protocol
  • Skorpios Defense Systems: Persuasive Power
  • Surveyor
  • Violet Level Clearance
  • Whampoa Reclamation

Runner: Removed

  • Aaron Marrón
  • Bloo Moose
  • Faust
  • Hyperdriver
  • Mars for Martians
  • Salvaged Vanadis Armory
  • Şifr
  • Tapwrm
  • Temüjin Contract
  • Zer0

Runner: Restricted

  • Aesop’s Pawnshop
  • Employee Strike
  • Film Critic
  • Gang Sign
  • Inversificator
  • Levy AR Lab Access
  • Mad Dash
  • Magnum Opus

Other Formats

There are, of course, many other ways to play Netrunner! The Netrunner community is nothing if not passionate and creative, so be sure to check community hubs for unofficial formats or to share your own.