Looking for a challenge? NISEI 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 NISEI 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 NISEI 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 NISEI 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.
Our latest set, Midnight Sun, becomes legal for competitive-tier Standard format tournaments on August 5, 2022. This triggers the rotation of Order and Chaos and the Mumbad Cycle from the format. The latest version of the Standard Ban List, 22.08, comes into effect on the same day.
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. In general, the cardpool for Startup consists of:
- System Gateway and the most recent System Update set
- The most recent complete NISEI narrative cycle
- All sets in the current incomplete NISEI 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.
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.
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 last 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.
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.