All hail the new cards!

by Jens Kreutzer

The Finals of this year's World Domination are over, and as you can read in Lukas' report, we have a new Netrunner World Champion! However, it is not only Byron Bailey who has something to celebrate, but all players - the new Netrunner Classic expansion has arrived in time for Christmas, and on this side of the millenium! Not all Gridlock III tourney organizers got their cards in time for the Classic prerelease tourneys on Nov 12-14, but some made do with proxy cards, and everybody who was able to play had a splendid time.

Netrunner as a game has received an infusion of Bodyweight Synthetic Blood, as is shown by a remarkable tournament participation and a threefold increase of traffic on the Netrunner-l discussion list: Introducing interesting new game mechanics like sleepy ice and "double" cards, Classic is already being hotly discussed. Sealed-Deck winners like Self-Destruct, as well as the "fat Bartmoss" Rent-I-Con, will surely influence Netrunner strategies and tactics. Just how weighty (or silent) the impact of Classic is going to be will be shown in the first Constructed tournaments using the new expansion, which we all can look forward to.

Merry Christmas to everybody, and happy deck testing beneath the mistletoe!