Downfall

It happened without warning, out of a clear evening sky. The neons of New Angeles were flickering to life, as an equatorial twilight sped across the city. Events progressed broken and disordered. A strobing light directly overhead, like a drive flame where no ship should be. A rain of carbon shards shattering windows and downing hoppers in Manta, molten and twisted into tortured forms. Cayambe rung with a bone-shaking vibration, as if someone had capriciously plucked a planet-sized guitar.

The world hangs by a narrow thread, made of dreams and faith and reinforced buckyweave. No one realises how narrow that connecting string is… until someone tries to cut it.

Downfall is the first set of the Ashes Cycle, Null Signal’s first original Netrunner expansion. It is compatible with Android: Netrunner and contains 65 brand new cards, including four new identities (two Runner and two Corp). It was designed to be both familiar to experienced Netrunner players and full of interesting possibilities.

Fast Facts

Ashes set icon
  • Release date: March 18, 2019 (original), February 18, 2024 (remastered)
  • Cycle: Part 1 of 2 in the Ashes Cycle
  • Size: full playsets of each of 65 new cards
  • Total cards: 187 cards
  • Set symbol: Damaged space elevator
  • NetrunnerDB set abbreviation: df

Get Downfall – Remastered Edition

Downfall – Remastered Edition is available as physical cards from our online store, print-on-demand partners, or as a pay-what-you-want print and play. Click the sections below to learn more about each option.

Important note about avoiding customs charges: We recommend that you consult MakePlayingCards’s Shipping Information page for details on customs charges. For EU orders in particular, MPC guarantee no customs charges on orders up to a value of $300 excluding shipping, but only if ordered via their Standard Shipping option! 


Note: Due to card back differences between our products, as well as due to different color matching between our different printing partners, these cards should be used in opaque sleeve

Pay what you’d like and print on your own printer! This file contains full-color art of card faces, with no bleed or card backs. Cut them out with scissors and put them in sleeves!

After downloading the files, if you’d like to say thanks, you can donate to NISEI either via PayPal or our Patreon.

Our shop can currently serve customers in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and all 27 countries in the European Union. We are gradually expanding to new regions (we hope to add the United Kingdom to this list soon), so please check back again if your country is not served.

Cards sold through our online shop are MPC 330gsm stock, or equivalent weight and quality from one of the other printers we work with, and come in a cardboard tuckbox. Prices include free shipping. All cards are shipped from within the region they serve, so they will not incur import charges or VAT.

Our shop also has a retailer portal, where games stores can place wholesale orders of our cards. Feel free to point your Friendly Local Games Store towards it!

(Note: if the store does not automatically redirect you to the correct localized version, you can select your country and currency from the drop-down menu at the foot of the page.)

This option provides Null Signal Games the most revenue, but shipping is expensive for customers outside the US. The cardstock is of a similar quality to Android: Netrunner cards.

This option is similarly priced to DriveThruCards and has affordable shipping for non-US customers. The cardstock is slightly thinner than classic Fantasy Flight Games cards. Discounts are available if ordering multiple packs.

We recommend you carefully review MakePlayingCards’s Shipping Information page for details on customs charges.

This option is slightly more expensive than the Standard option above. The premium price pays for a cardstock that is a bit thicker than other options. Discounts are available if ordering multiple packs. As with the Standard option, shipping is affordable for non-US customers.

We recommend you carefully review MakePlayingCards’s Shipping Information page for details on customs charges.

Our authorized resellers are longstanding community members who bulk-order stock from MakePlayingCards in order to provide cheaper products for players in their region. Their stock is identical to MakePlayingCards’ Standard quality.

For a more detailed review of purchase options, check out our Purchase Guide.

Rotation and Legality

Upon release, Downfall immediately became legal for Casual Tier events, such as GNKs and Store Championships. It became legal on March 29, 2019 for Competitive Tier events (Regional Championships and above).

Learn more about set legality in different formats on the Supported Formats page.

Downfall Frequently Asked Questions

No. The changes in the Remastered Editions of our sets are mostly cosmetic. The original editions of System GatewaySystem Update 2021, and the Ashes Cycle packs Downfall and Uprising remain valid and legal for all Organized Play formats that the sets are a part of. Although the old card back can be distinguished from the new one if not using fully-opaque sleeves, choosing a suitable good quality opaque sleeve makes it a non-issue, even in competitive play. See here for a guide to selecting the right sleeves.

While in some cases the rules text of the card has been updated or subtypes added, this does not invalidate the original cards. The definitive source for current rules text is always considered to be the Card Text Updates document rather than the physical card, so your original cards continue to be valid.

The most important changes are that the new card backs no longer have the word “NISEI” on them, the “Trojan” subtype has been added to programs hosted on ice, the term “brain damage” has been replaced with “core damage” on rules, inserts, and player aids, some minor flaws in the templates and art layout have been corrected, and minor corrections have been made to rules and flavour text. The rules text has also been updated to conform to our latest style guide and wording.

No. This is not an introductory set. If you are new to Netrunner, you should begin with System Gateway, our introductory product, and check out our Learn to Play guide.

The Ashes Cycle is Null Signal’s first full expansion for Netrunner. It contains two sets: Downfall and Uprising. As two halves of the cycle, Downfall and Uprising are built around the same creative themes and mechanics as one another.

You do not need Uprising to play with the cards in Downfall, nor vice-versa, although having both will unlock and empower particular synergies that may be lacking if you only have one or the other.

No. Null Signal cards use entirely original art assets, including the images on the back of the cards. When you play our Netrunner cards alongside Android: Netrunner cards, we recommend sleeving all your cards in opaque sleeves so that their backs are not visible.

If you are playing in competitive events, you must use opaque sleeves.

Downfall contains 65 original cards and zero reprints.

There are no plans at this time to do that.

More about Downfall

See Also