Hi Guys,
Thanks for the episode. I always love listening to your card analysis because it's not just rehashing the discussion from other sites. You guys are a refreshing oasis in the desert of netrunner groupthink. That's probably why you disparaged netdecking a bit at the end of the podcast.
I'm someone who loves deckbuilding, but I find myself netdecking more. This is because of the simple fact that I can't play competitively where I live so I treat netrunner like any other tabletop game (though I buy more expansions for it than any other game I play). What I mean is that when I pull out netrunner when I've got a pal over we decide then who will play corp or runner that night and we'll hop on netrunner db and find some decks to play with. When we first started, I tried to build decks for both of us, but that was a little silly because I knew both and my opponent would know neither. This netdecking thing lets us play with all sorts of stuff extemporaneously. If you think about netrunner as a fun game to pull out for an evening, netdecking is actually a wonderful thing to be able to do.
I think it also makes us better players to a degree. We'll usually play three or four games, maybe swapping decks, and we always discuss every game afterward. I understand that we won't develop the comfort to be competitively consistent with a given deck, but we have learned how to play all sorts of things. Being flexible is almost as valuable as being consistent, even for someone who is actually competitive. Think of the value of being in the shoes, however briefly, of many of your opponents at a tournament. Netdecking gives you that experience.
Now as soon as my buddy puts in the time to make a deck, I'll pull together something I've been tinkering with Until then, whenever we sit down to play we'll be netdecking any tournament-winning or off-the-wall deck we fancy.
In any case, that's my insight into netdecking. It seems a little cheap in theory, but maybe it can make you a more flexible player. Maybe try sitting down at some game night with a bunch of tournament winning decks and swap them around a bit as you go. I'm confident that you will learn some things about the game and have fun doing it.
Cheers,
thopol
