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"I pulled no bit-gainer cards, no Bodyweight or Jack 'n' Joe, and was even forced to include Codeslinger as a sentry breaker!" Such statements are often heard after sealed-deck tourneys, expressing a certain dissatisfaction with the random aspect of the format. Even though it is the general consensus that Netrunner plays excellently right out of the starter box, getting flatlined in a sealed match by a Corp player who got both Schlaghund and I Got A Rock (plus the trace cards to use them) does seem a bit harsh. This happened to me once, by the way. A constructed tourney, on the other hand, tends to scare off lots of players who think that they haven't got enough cards to be competitive which is, unfortunately, not altogether wrong.
In 1998, the TRC is organizing the first Netrunner World Championships. At last we can find out whose deckbuilding and playing skills are fit for World Domination! During Gridlock Weekend II, Feb. 27 to March 1, qualifier tourneys will be held all over the world. The top Runners and Corps will be invited to the championship tournament, World Domination, to be held via Internet Relay Chat (IRC), beginning on April 1.
In light of the problems mentioned above, the big question was finding a format that would be equally fair to each and every participant, eliminating the advantages of "card lords" as well as the luck of the draw in sealed-deck play. Therefore, TRC people came up with a completely new format, which could be labeled "limited-pool constructed." In December 1997, an election was held via the Internet. Using a ballot form, players posted their suggestions for a card pool that would be the basis for each participant's tourney deck. Certain limitations on card type and rarity ensured a healthy mix, and in the end, only six rare cards ended up on the list. Considering that there are 180 cards total (90 for each side), and that each card may only be included once in any deck ("Highlander" format), players should have no great difficulty in constructing almost any style of tourney deck they fancy. Having addressed the issue of the format, the TRC faced another difficulty: How will a Runner based in the Eurotheater face off against a Corp that's based in Sydney City Grid? What about a US hacker versus Arasaka in Japan? The only feasible solution was obvious, actually: Do the Long-Distance-Link stuff via the Net. So this is what you have to do to become the 1998 Netrunner World Champion: Get the list of cards that are allowed for the tourney; build yourself two decks for the tourney using only the listed cards, and each card only once; keep your eyes open for the Gridlock II tourney nearest the place where you live (a list of tourneys is also available at the TRC website); go to the tourney and play. If you're among the top finishers, you might just make it to World Domination. This depends on how many players are competing in your Gridlock II tourney the more players there are, the more will advance to the next round. Perhaps only the first, possibly as many as the top three players. For the Finals, the TRC will coordinate IRC access for the competitors and arrange times convenient to the individual opponents. Further details are to be announced. But one thing is certain, the prizes for the winner will be everything but shabby, not to mention the bragging rights for the world's Top Runner!
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