The big Boy Cube - 2022 version - Runner Side

This is our version, updated for the 2022 cards, of the infamous thebiboy's draft cube. What changed and why is discussed at the end. All credit for this format, 80% of the card choices and 80% of this notes are - of course - to thebigboy

What you Need:

• Enough cards from the draft starter (listed below) for all the drafters.
• 2-3 copies of some select Identities:
  • HB: Asa Group: Security Through Vigilance or MirrorMorph: Endless Iteration
  • Jinteki: Jinteki: Replicating Perfection or Pālanā Foods: Sustainable Growth
  • NBN: GameNET: Where Dreams are Real or Near-Earth Hub: Broadcast Center
  • Weyland: Weyland Consortium: Built to Last or Blue Sun: Powering the Future
  • Anarch: René "Loup" Arcemont: Party Animal or Alice Merchant: Clan Agitator
  • Criminal: Az McCaffrey: Mechanical Prodigy or Zahya Sadeghi: Versatile Smuggler
  • Shaper: Rielle "Kit" Peddler: Transhuman or Akiko Nisei: Head Case
• 2 Really Big stacks of cards (lists in the links below)
  • Corp
  • Runner

The Rules

Every player gets a draft starter; the starters are modified from the original to have a more "contemporary" feel to the draft.

• Corp draft starters:
  • 3x Hedge Fund
  • 3x Spin Doctor
  • Unlimited Send a Message
• Runner draft starters:
  • 3x Sure Gamble
  • 3x Smartware Distributor
  • 1x Mayfly

Draft Phase

• Divide the corp cards into card types (agendas, asset+upgrade, operations and ICE), and make 5 packs of 10 cards each; draft them.
  • Every pack is: 2 agendas, 2 assets+upgrade, 2 operations, 3 ice + 1 random
• Divide the runner cards into card types (Event, Hardware, Resource, Icebreakers and Programs), and make 5 packs of 10 or 9 (if 6 players) cards each; draft them.
  • Every pack is: 3 events, 1 hardware, 2 resources, 1 Icebreaker, 1 Program + 1-2 random (prioritizing the Icebreaker, I would distribute them all first if 6 players)

Deckbuilding Phase

• Build a legal corp deck and a legal runner deck (minimum deck-size 45) with unlimited influence. Players can include as many or as few cards from their draft starter as they like.
• Count the influence that your deck has from each faction. Agendas count as 1 influence per point they are worth (For example: Project Atlas is a 2 influence Weyland card for the purposes of this count)
• Select an ID from the faction from which you have the most influence (in the case of a tie, you choose your faction from between the tied factions)
• Adjust the deck minimum card size with the selected ID (we introduced 40 cards-minimum ID for the corp, 40 and 50 cards-minimum ID for the runner, you have to respect the minimum size for those ID AND have the propter influence majority)

Cards choices

We feel like the original list had few issues. We of course tried it, had quite fun with it, but because the draft day was organized with a new player we want to "modernize" the feel and "streamlined" some of the mechanics.

• Too few fracters. The 2020 list had 8 Fracters (2 of which were limited use) vs 12 Decoders and 15 Killers. Our list has 12 fracters, 12 decoders and 15 killers
• Too many older "power cards", too few "pseudo-newer-version-of-the-old-power-cards". For example 3 Account Siphon, 1 Diversion of Funds. I'm no draft expert, but tends to be the other way around.
• We got rid of a few possibly NPE Cards:
  • No Current. Also, why of all the current, was Scarcity of Resources there?
  • More or less, no banned cards. No Sensie Actors Union, no Estelle Moon, no Friends in High Places, no Şifr, no Magnum Opus or no Bloo Moose
• We "modernize" some (not 100%) of the cards; out Keyhole in Stargate, out Medium in Conduit, out SEA Source in Public Trail etc.
• We streamlined the way to tag / kill the runner (with the exception of 1x Scorched Earth). You want to tag the runner? Option A HHN, Option B Public Trail; want to bag after the tag? 2x BOOM! or 2x High-Profile Target is the kill option, 2x Exchange of Information or 2x Closed Accounts and 1x Psychographics are the non-lethal way. Also 3x Punitive Counterstrike is the other way to kill
• Too much 3/2 Agendas. We worry that the runner will easily lose to a rush strategy and we made the 3/2 rare, with the 4/2 being the norm. The corp has to telegraph the majority of the agenda to win, and this would give the runner a chance to react.
• No (in our opinion anyway) NPE id from the original list. No PE, No Gagarin, definitely not CI. No MaxX because in the draft is too risky anyway
• Big YES for strange/unused id! Alice, Akiko.

After the playtest / little 3-turn swiss we feel that the cube is quite well balanced, but we drafter all 300 cards for the runner (just to have all the icebreaker in the mix) so 5x10 card packs for the runner also. Maybe we could cut Kit from the ids, she's the "old reliable" if you choose shaper. I personally choose Akiko that went 2-1 but Kit was the easiest (and strongest) choice.

I hope you have as much fun as us, all feedback appreciated.

Link to the original bigboy cubes on meteor:

Original Version (2018):

• Corp
• Runner

Gen 2020 Version:

• Corp
• Runner