GameNET: Where Dreams are Real

GameNET: Where Dreams are Real

Identity: Division
Deck size: 45 • Influence: 17

Whenever a Corp card ability causes the Runner to spend or lose at least 1[credit] during a run, gain 1[credit].

Your Favorite Distraction.
Illustrated by Alejandro T. Castellanos
Decklists with this card

Uprising (ur)

#113 • English
Startup Card Pool
Standard Card Pool
Standard Ban List (show history)
Printings
Uprising
Rulings
  • Updated 2022-10-22

    NISEI Uprising Release Notes [NISEI Rules Team]

    Can an ability meet GameNET's trigger condition if it tries to make the Runner spend or lose credits, but the Runner doesn't have any credits to spend or lose?

    No. The Runner must actually lose or spend at least 1 for the Corp to be able to trigger GameNET. For simplicity, we'll assume the Runner is able to spend at least 1 for the rest of these GameNET questions.

    Does the "pay credits" option on abilities like one of Fairchild 1.0's subroutines meet GameNET's trigger condition?

    Yes. The payment is made because of the resolving ability. There is no difference between "paying credits" and "spending credits".

    How many times can the Corp trigger GameNET after resolving the second ability on Cayambe Grid?

    Only once. The total cost is calculated and paid as a whole. The Runner does not make a separate 2 payment for each piece of ice counted.

    Does paying the cost on F2P or Negotiator meet GameNET's trigger condition?

    Yes. The Runner is able to pay the cost of an ability because of that ability, and these abilities appear on Corp cards.

    Can GameNET meet its trigger condition from a trace resolving?

    Yes. As long as the trace attempt is initiated by a Corp card ability, if the Runner spends at least 1 to increase their link strength, the Corp can trigger GameNET once after the result of the trace attempt is determined. Runner card abilities like No One Home that force the Corp to initiate a trace can never meet GameNET's trigger condition.

    Can GameNET meet its trigger condition from a Psi game resolving?

    Yes. If the Runner secretly spends 1 or 2, GameNET will become pending after the secretly spent credits are revealed.

    Does an ability like Reduced Service that creates an additional cost to run meet GameNET's trigger condition?

    No. Any additional costs to run are paid before the run begins.

    Does the additional cost from Midway Station Grid meet GameNET's trigger condition?

    No. Midway Station Grid creates an additional cost to use icebreaker abilities. Since icebreakers are Runner cards, any costs of their abilities are paid because of a Runner card ability, not a Corp card ability.

    Does the additional cost from Bellona meet GameNET's trigger condition?

    Yes. There is not normally a cost to steal an agenda, so the Runner is paying a cost because of a Corp card ability.

    If the Runner steals Bellona with 2 advancement counters on it while NAPD Cordon is active, how many different costs do they pay? How many times can the Corp trigger GameNET?

    The Corp can trigger GameNET only once. The Runner pays an additional cost of 8 due to NAPD Cordon and an additional cost of 5 due to Bellona, but the Runner pays both costs simultaneously for a total of 13. Since the total cost to steal Bellona is paid all at once, Corp card abilities caused the Runner to spend credits only 1 time.

    Does GameNET meet its trigger condition if the Runner is forced to trash Mumbad Virtual Tour?

    No. The Runner's opportunity to trash an accessed card is presented by the game rules, not a Corp card ability. Mumbad Virtual Tour's ability does not create an occurrence of the Runner spending or losing credits, but only constrains the Runner's options when resolving the normal steps of accessing a card.

Reviews

For anyone who thinks GameNET is a bit underpowered, slot Shipment from Tennin in. GameNET's strength isn't in it's infinite economy, it's in its ability to be paid for something that's going to happen anyway. So you want to make sure that something happens as quickly and as frequently as possible. Glacier isn't the way to go with GameNET and its 17 influence, Fast Advance is.

As much as I gush about MCA Austerity Policy, it's too slow for GameNET and doesn't force enough runs. CalTest and BassC are both out for the same reasons. You don't want to create a single target that turns off the Corp's FA, you want to threaten from as many avenues as possible. You want Operations since those can't be trashed normally and force the Runner to check HQ, R&D, and remote for agenda. Remastered Edition is worth a mention for being an agenda that advances the train. FA works because GameNET gets paid while the Runner works to stop the FA train, eliminating one of the biggest weaknesses of FA. The fact that GameNET's ICE suite makes repeated runs especially painful is just icing on the cake.

The main go-to's then are the above mentioned Tennin and Biotic Labor with Tennin being the clear instaslot. Trick of Light works if you can tolerate the added steps and so does Audacity if you think a deck is robust enough for it. Maybe slot in some recursion for the long haul as well.

All in all, I'd argue that GameNET is not only NBN's best FA ID but one of Netrunner's best FA ID's, period. Agree or disagree, glhf mtbmw.

(Uprising era)
138

Now I wanna try out that deck list

I have been playing a fair bit of GameNet recently and I have to say that I've fallen in love with it. It's a very versatile ID, which means that the runner never quite knows what to expect. I have been playing a "fast glacier", with as many taxing ice as possible to cripple the runner while I fill up on credits. Endless EULA is particularly fun, giving you six credits if they decide to pay to break, although the reintroduction of Parasite with Salvaged Memories is a bit of a bummer for it. I run Remastered Edition, Project Beale and Bellona as agendas, which synergize very well with the ID. Tollbooth is a must as well. Even Pop-up Window gives you two creds for zero rez when they let it fire!

You could probably pull up a nice kill deck with it, getting paid for traces firing during runs, or even something spammy with Pop-up Window or Datapike protecting your assets.

Some reviewers say that this ID isn't great because the runner controls the trigger and you won't gain cash if they don't run. That may be true, but it might be because of your ID if they don't run. And if they don't run, scoring a Remastered or a Bellona quickly will remind them they should.

(Salvaged Memories era)
199

GameNET looks at first glance to be very powerful.

"Hey look, it's a 'whenever'! It's always the 'whenever's that are the broken cards!"

Sadly, there's a bit more to this.

ICE is often bemoaned for either never firing or not doing enough, and that's for a good reason: the runner has the choice to let subroutines fire or to pay credits to break the ICE. These "punisher" effects that let your opponent choose what happens always play much less powerfully than they appear on paper — remember, when evaluating cards, you shouldn't look solely at the best case scenario: you need to consider the average case and the worst case too.

GameNET falls down because when the ID fires is almost entirely dependent on the runner. They choose when to run, they choose when to let subs fire, they choose when they spend credits on traces. Would you want your economy tied to the actions of your opponent?

Let's also look at it from a different angle: economy is most effective early in the game when you want to be setting up: you need money to install ICE, to rez ICE, to advance agendas, to play Hard-Hitting News. When does GameNET come into play? When your Gold Farmers and Turnpikes are already rezzed. GameNET starts raking in the money when you can force the runner to run through your servers over and over... but how did you get to that point? How did you get the money to rez the ice and to score enough agendas to force the runner's hand?

The answer is that you were Azmari EdTech instead.

Maybe GameNET would be less underwhelming if it had been released a few years down the road. As it is, the shadow of the slightly-too-pushed Azmari will loom over GameNET for most of its Standard-legal lifespan.

(Uprising era)
513

I agree that Azmari can make a lot of money over the course of the game. This ID makes the runner play differently. I have noticed that runners are way more cautious when running through ice like Slot Machine, Turnpike, and Gold Farmer because of the money you get. Servers start having a lot more weight and in NBN that is sort of strange. Azmari forces the runner to consider whether they will play a type of card but after that they don’t care if they run through your servers as long as they can get in.

Whoops hit post a little early. I don’t think this ID is dead you just can’t play it the same way you play Azmari. Don’t rely on the ID money but use it to position to defend multiple servers. If they run through a server they give you enough money to Rez the rest of your ice. Early glory runs with Link runners also give you extra cash because they want to just pay through the cheap trace for one coin.

Out of curiosity,. would you be willing to take another look now that Azmari is banned?