#randomspeculation

[soybeeftacos]

Where Is Core 2.0?

Okay, brief rant here, but I’m increasingly wondering if a surprise Core 2.0 release might be on the horizon, perhaps even at GenCon. Hear me out!

Since Free Mars streets this week, we are now TWO PACKS away from rotation hitting, with no news about the next cycle. Most know that rotation doesn’t come at the end of Red Sands, but upon the release of the first pack in the subsequent cycle. We still don’t know what that cycle will be, whether it was designed by Damon or by Boggs, and where in the production pipeline those cards currently are.

Now, Core 2.0 has been rumored for a long while – it’d be a revamp of the Netrunner Core, removing a bunch of cards (notably, several core IDs, including Kate, Noise, and EtF), and including a number of Genesis/Spin cards (notably IDs, such as Chaos Theory, Reina, and Stronger Together, among other cards). It was playtested – multiple playtesters have discussed that this does exist, and was being considered by FFG – but nothing official has been announced.

If the next cycle is delayed, what better to prepare us for rotation than a release of Core 2.0? Many players are waiting for rotation to reset the game, but wouldn’t Core 2.0 effectively do this? Let’s say the next cycle doesn’t appear until after Worlds 2017; if so, an effective ban of Kate, Noise, EtF, and all the other potential cards to be possibly removed from the core set (Yog? Parasite? Astro? Siphon?) could shake up the game in very interesting ways. Core 2.0, if rumors are to believed, would remove a number of Core 1.0 cards from the game, and if rotation is delayed, then this might provide us an interesting "soft rotation" to get us ready to play without several key cards we have relied upon for a while.

GenCon 2017 is about L5R for FFG, so this is likely not a priority for them. But, perhaps there is more news on the horizon for our favorite game? Just a thought!

[soybeeftacos]

Alt Art Speculation

It's Sunday, and one's thoughts naturally turn to that tradition of Sunday mornings... wondering what Android: Netrunner alt art promo cards might be on the way.

Last year, FFG released themely pairings of cards through its kits, something which I appreciated. Each kit had as a top prize the most popular core set breaker for each faction — Gordian Blade (a decoder) for Shaper, Femme Fatale (a killer) for Criminal, and Corroder (a fracter) for Anarch. Paired with these were low-strength ICE that could be broken with that breaker (so, respectively, Pop-Up Window, Swordsman, and Ice Wall). I liked that, and I wonder if FFG is doing something similar with the upcoming kits.

While not pairing the participation prize with the top card prize, it does seem that they might be following a pattern of IDs, with a Criminal (Leela) and, soon, a Shaper (Hayley). We'll be hitting rotation soonish, so it doesn't make much sense to release alt Andromedas and alt Whizzards (the only other Runner IDs from Core through Spin not yet alt-ed). Leela and Hayley are probably the most competitive Runner IDs of the past two cycles (not big boxes!), and so I suspect we'll be getting an Anarch next. But, which one?

Assuming that it's going to come from a cycle and not a big box (perhaps a false assumption), that leaves us with just Quetzal. And, while Quetzal is great fun, it's not particularly competitive and might not get a lot of play. If we consider Anarchs from Order & Chaos, it's doubtful we'll get Edward Kim, who no one plays. No, there's a clear competitive choice -- Valencia Estevez. But, we'll be soon getting a full bleed Valencia in the 2015 Worlds decks, so would they give us a different alt art and perhaps eat into potential sales for those decks?

So, does that mean we're going to get a MaxX alt in the next kit? I'm thinking it'll probably be MaxX, with a lesser chance it'll be Quetzal.

Also, we should be finding out soon what the participation prize is for Nationals, as US Nationals is only a few weeks away. I believe FFG's stated that it will be the same card prize as NA Championships and the European Championships, too. I'm currently planning on going to Origins for this, and have been wondering what we might be getting as a promo card for participating. Here are a few completely baseless theories on possible alt art cards:

• Near-Earth Hub alt art -- It's been forever (since, uh, core Weyland, maybe?) since we got an alt art Corp ID. What better choice than the most successful Corp ID that's never received an alt art? Given the official FFG tournament rules bar us from using homemade alt arts now, even for identities, there's a dearth of Corp alt IDs that they need to make up. Why not start with this?

• Adjusted Chronotype alt art -- This suggestion is entirely based on visuals. The Wyldcakes engine is still around, of course, and as I've pointed out in the past, it's sometimes a little odd in Noise to see the alt arts of Wyldside and Aesop's Pawnshop, but the standard art for Adjusted Chronotype. It's great art already, though, so why try to improve on it? I suppose they could really go to town with the breakfast theme.

• Rebirth alt art -- I got my copies of Political Operative before Democracy and Dogma was even out. If FFG is trying to promote new releases with their promos, then why not one of the most game-changing/quasi-sideboarding cards yet to be released? It'll be out next week, and so will certainly be seen at Nationals and the NA Championships. Plus, it's a card that is also a one-of in all decks, so only having one or two (you typically don't get a playset at Nationals) won't be much of a problem.

• An unreleased card -- At GenCon last year, we got the last two packs in the SanSan Cycle, as well as Data & Destiny. With Mumbad finishing up very quickly here, and Flashpoint just around the corner, it might be interesting to see an unreleased card (Georgia Emelyov? System Outage?) pop up. But, given that Origins is a good month and a half ahead of GenCon and Flashpoint's presumed early release, then this seems a bit unlikely. There are some players who (stupidly) think the early release of Data & Destiny "hurt the game" for months -- I don't understand this line of thinking at all, and wish there was more playfulness in how FFG released things early (like PolOp). This is clearly wishful thinking, however.

Any other ideas?