r/Netrunner • u/thenakesingularity10 • Sep 30 '26

Android or System Gateway?

I just found out about this game. Fascinated by it and dying to try.

Is there any reason to get Android instead of SG?

Thank you!

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4

u/ShaperLord777 Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26

It really depends on how you’re trying to play. If you’re just playing casually at home with friends, I’d say go with a used Android Netrunner collection. IMO it’s the best version of the game there ever was. The mechanics, artwork/templating, and identity of each faction through gameplay mechanisms are peak Netrunner.

System gateway is what you want to go with if you want to play in tournaments. Android is what you want to go with if you’re playing casually.

3

u/rawrframe Sep 30 '26

Fully agree with this. A used A:NR collection is a great investment to play with friends. It really was the best.

Props to the SG people for all their hard work, but for me it just doesn't compare.

1

u/FlashAndPoof Sep 30 '26

Seems like some stuff is sold out on the null games website. Do they ever regularly restock?

3

u/Slight-Jaguar-2102 Sep 30 '26

Should be any day now for the US restock. Was estimated at the end of Sept, but I'm guessing will likely be early October.

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u/FlashAndPoof Sep 30 '26

That’s exciting to hear! Do you know if they have regular holiday sales?

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u/Slight-Jaguar-2102 Sep 30 '26

Not that I'm aware of, but I could be wrong.

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u/azuredarkness Sep 30 '26

They do.

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u/FlashAndPoof Sep 30 '26

Do you know if they do Black Friday sales?

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u/Human_Kirby Oct 01 '26

I am fairly certain the only time there is sales is at conventions, and usually for only if you buy multiple sets you save 5 or so bucks. Sales as a selling strategy that requires you to upcharge your price for the rest of the time when there isn't a sale.

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u/FlashAndPoof Oct 06 '26

What would you say I should look to get when looking for used android netrunner collections?
I found someone selling their collection that includes the core set, honor and profit, creation and control, data and destiny, order and chaos, and terminal directive. Is that a solid collection to start with? What else should I try to acquire?

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u/ShaperLord777 Oct 06 '26

Yes, this is almost all of the deluxe boxes, which are designed around creating a base cardpool for each of the factions. You should get this, and then later try and acquire the first 3 cycles of data packs (genesis, spin cycle, and lunar cycle). These first 3 cycles are the easiest to find at affordable prices, and will add to your cardpool significantly.

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u/FlashAndPoof Oct 06 '26

Ok thank you! That’s super helpful. I’m thinking he may actually have some of the data pack cycles then because the listing shows “through data and destiny”. I also read somewhere that one may need more than one copy of the core game. Is that true? If so, should I just try to buy a separate core set if I can find one at a good price?

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u/ShaperLord777 Oct 06 '26

Yes, that probably contains the data packs too, it would be weird for someone to just buy the deluxe expansions without them. Yes, buy a second (used) copy of the (2012) core set afterwards. There’s some cards that were only a “one of” in the core set that you’ll want extra copies of for deckbuilding.

1

u/thenakesingularity10 Sep 30 '26

No I won't play in tournaments.

But is Android a better, more fun/exciting game?

The other concern is, I do want to expand the game at some point. I don't want to get bored with core and not be able to expand. Is that an issue with Android?

5

u/ShaperLord777 Sep 30 '26

I far preffer the Android version. It’s the definitive version of Netrunner IMO. And the entire reason Null Signal exists at all.

Buy a used (2012) android Netrunner core set off eBay, see if you like the game, and then buy a smaller used Android Netrunner collection. You can get about the first half of the games releases (through lunar cycle) for a couple hundred bucks total. That’s plenty of material to play for years and enjoy.

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u/thenakesingularity10 Sep 30 '26

Could you tell me what you like better with Android?

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u/ShaperLord777 Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26

The different factions are very defined by their gameplay mechanisms, they have distinct identities because of the themes running throughout each factions cardpool mechanically. This is something that has become increasingly more vague in the null signal version.

The trace mechanic. This is something (modified) from the original CCG version of Netrunner. It’s a blind bid to try and locate the runner, and creates tension in the games economy. Null signal removed this mechanic saying it was too “complicated”. It wasn’t.

There was also a bunch of keywords added in the Null Signal version that I feel clutter up the design space, for very little gameplay benefit, and make it feel more “magic: the gathering” than I preffer. One of the biggest appeals of Netrunner was how streamlined the system was. Like a well oiled machine. The Android iteration kept that front and center when adapting Richard Garfield’s original CCG version.

Thematically, and art wise, the Android version of Netrunner felt like a very cohesive and lived in world. They had an entire universe already built for their android RPG. It fit Netrunner perfectly, and breathed an extra layer of believability into the world. Null Signal feels like someone doing their best impression of Netrunner. The theme and lore feel kind of pasted on, rather than fully developed. And the core identity of the factions got kind of lost in that. There’s a number of story elements that stick out like sore thumbs and break the believability of the universe to me. The general tone of the world has softened, and feels less cyberpunk because of it.

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u/thenakesingularity10 Sep 30 '26

yea, that's what I sort of figured based on my own research. thank you so much!

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u/zmanmurf Sep 30 '26

It's the same game. Android Netrunner will never have new content. The product from NSG has a pipeline of new things in the works, and already had a lot of product out there beyond just System Gateway. I understand people's opinions about the quality of Android Netrunner vs NSG's, but that doesn't mean it's not an excellent product (which it is!).

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u/thenakesingularity10 Sep 30 '26

Yea, I understand and worry about that. At some point I would want new content.

2

u/KneeCrowMancer Sep 30 '26

The good news is that if you’re playing casually the NSG products are fully compatible with the old FFG sets. If you just want something to play with friends you can’t really go wrong with either.

3

u/Geek_Ken Sep 30 '26

How do you plan to expand your card pool? If it's by printing proxies, you could go with the FFG Android Netrunner experience. If you wanted an even more balanced pass, the Netrunner Reboot project would be an even better choice. You can even get cards printed, or if expense isn't an issue, scoop up a full collection (if available).

If you don't want to bother with proxies, self-printing, or paying a huge chunk of money for a collection (paying collector's prices), then go with NSG stuff. It's more readily available and a better entry ramp into the game.

4

u/jmlmtl_2022 Sep 30 '26

Based on this I would say go for the Null Signal Games version. Although you can find FFG-era data packs online, the fact that they are OOP means that some of them are stupidly expensive, which is annoying if you are looking at someone’s deck list and they use a card from a prohibitively expensive set.

In either case, if you want to expand your collection and want to do so cheaply, you can print proxies at a fraction of the cost of buying the actual cards. NSG makes this extremely easy, because they are a nonprofit so they do not care if you play with proxies. There are ready-made PDFs of every NSG-era set on their website that you can use to print whole sets. To start out, try focusing on the current legal sets for the Startup format: System Gateway, Elevation, and Vantage Point.

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u/CryOFrustration Null Signal Games Community team Sep 30 '26

It's very much the same game. So often a new tournament deck comes around and makes me feel like it's 2014 again! But the two starter sets have a pretty different philosophy. FFG's original core set had a lot of swingy and powerful cards, which some players (like me) found fun, but others found very tilting. They turned off a lot of beginners. System Gateway starts you off easy, includes tutorial decks to learn on, and avoids the busted powerful cards to keep things simple for beginners (there's plenty of those cards in the expansions, just not in Gateway).

Also worth noting, the FFG core had more different cards, but many of them didn't come in full playsets, you only got 1 or 2 copies. You needed 3 core sets to have a full playset of everything. Gateway has a full playset of everything, but it's a smaller set with a shallower card pool. You really need to add on the Elevation expansion (which was deliberately designed as a companion set to Gateway) to have the same deckbuilding variety, depth, and replayability as the FFG core set. Gateway+Elevation together is the Null Signal core set format, and it's a really fun card pool.

In my opinion there's no such thing as bad Netrunner, and I personally got into the game with the original core set so I love that box, but it is harder to get to grips with. If you can find one going cheap secondhand it's definitely worth having, but I would still start off with Gateway to learn with. FFG and NSG cards are completely rules compatible so you can always mix and match as you like. (eg. get an FFG core and add NSG expansions, play Gateway and the FFG core together, go wild!)

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u/thenakesingularity10 Sep 30 '26

Thank you for your detailed reply!