Netrunner (1996 Wizards of the Coast First Edition Starter): The CCG That Predicted the Internet

Richard Garfield designed Magic: The Gathering. It was the game that launched the collectible card game industry. His follow-up CCG project for Wizards of the Coast was Netrunner, released in 1996, and in many ways it is the more intellectually interesting design.

Netrunner is an asymmetric game, meaning the two players play fundamentally different games against each other. One player is the Corporation, running a multinational entity with corporate agendas, ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics), and a security apparatus designed to protect its servers. The other is the Runner, a cyberpunk hacker attempting to penetrate those servers and steal the Corporation's agenda cards before they can be scored.

The game is set in the Android universe, a near-future world drawn from cyberpunk fiction, and it plays like no other CCG because the two halves of the conflict have completely different card pools, mechanics, and win conditions.

Richard Garfield's Asymmetric Design

Garfield was interested in games where different players experience fundamentally different things. In Magic, both players use the same basic game rules. In Netrunner, the Corporation and Runner have different turn structures, different card types, and different win conditions.

Corporation side:

• Draws from a Corporation deck containing Agenda cards (points), ICE (defensive programs), Operations (actions), Upgrades, and Assets

• Wins by scoring 7 agenda points before the Runner accesses them

• Sets up servers (card arrangements) protected by ICE

• Uses the ice-advancing model where Corp cards are laid face-down in protected servers

Runner side:

• Draws from a Runner deck containing Programs (offensive tools), Hardware (equipment), Resources, and Events

• Wins by accessing and stealing 7 points worth of Agenda cards from Corp servers

• Makes runs (attack actions) on Corp servers, breaking ICE encountered

• Can win by forcing Corp to draw past their deck (flatline the Corp)

The design was considered radical at the time. It is still considered a masterpiece of asymmetric game design.

The Cyberpunk Setting

Netrunner is set in a world of megacorporations, human enhancements, and the internet of the near future. The card names and art predicted internet culture with uncomfortable accuracy. Cards reference concepts like Black ICE (now a real term for malicious security software), trace programs, viral attacks on corporate networks, and the cultural phenomenon of hackers operating outside corporate systems.

The flavor text on cards is often witty and thematically rich. The game captures a specific cyberpunk aesthetic that was current in 1996 (William Gibson's Neuromancer was a decade old; Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash was four years old) and has aged into a prescient description of actual internet security concerns.

First Edition Characteristics

The 1996 Wizards of the Coast Netrunner was sold in starter decks (runner-side or corporation-side) and booster packs.

Starter deck contents: The first edition starter contained 60 cards fixed to one faction (Runner or Corporation), providing a complete playable deck out of the box. The design was one of the first to acknowledge that asymmetric games might need separate entry points for each side.

Card backs: WotC-era Netrunner cards have a distinctive back design with a circuit board pattern. The back is faction-neutral (both Corp and Runner cards use the same back, allowing shuffling and concealment).

Card design: The 1996 art direction is distinctly cyberpunk and evocative. The art by a roster of illustrators ranged from atmospheric corporate imagery to gritty street-level hacker scenes.

Set size: The Netrunner base set contained 374 cards, divided between Corp and Runner factions.

Why Netrunner Was Discontinued

Netrunner was discontinued by Wizards in 1999, after only the base set and one expansion (Proteus). The game did not achieve the commercial success of Magic or Battletech and was dropped from WotC's portfolio.

The game found a dedicated following, but the fan base was small relative to the investment required to maintain the license and production.

In 2012, Fantasy Flight Games licensed the Netrunner setting from WotC and released Android: Netrunner as a Living Card Game (non-random distribution, fixed sets). This LCG ran until 2018 and introduced the game to a new generation of players, many of whom then sought out original WotC Netrunner cards.

Condition Grades and Values

| Condition | Description | Market Range | |---|---| | Sealed starter deck | Never opened | $80 - $200 | | Complete starter, NM | All cards NM, box good | $40 - $100 | | Complete starter, played | Cards played condition | $15 - $45 | | Single high-value cards (Near Mint) | Per-card prices vary | $5 - $50+ |

Notable high-value singles: Certain Corp and Runner cards from the 1996 set are sought by players who want to run original Netrunner (there is an active vintage play community). Cards enabling powerful deck archetypes command premiums.

The Garfield Legacy

Netrunner represents a different direction that CCG design could have gone. Instead of the increasingly complex symmetrical systems that dominated the post-Magic era, Netrunner offered a genuinely asymmetric experience where the two players were not just choosing different card pools but playing different games.

The Android: Netrunner revival proved the design had longevity. The original 1996 set is the founding document of a game that has never entirely gone away.

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