Interview with Byron Bailey

by Jens Kreutzer

Byron Bailey, Netrunner World Champion 1999, was kind enough to answer a few questions I emailed to him. In this interview, he talks about himself, the World Championship, Netrunner Classic, and more.

Please tell our readers something about yourself.

Byron: I'm a 24-year-old, single, self-employed Web designer and CGI programmer. I'm working on improving my C++ and Java skills to feel more confident about seeking employment as a full-time programmer. I have strong interests in music, mathematics, and computer programming.

How did it come about that you started playing Netrunner? What initially fascinated you about it?

Byron: Eric Kennedy and I used to play Magic occasionally. I was a regular in the Sealed/Draft Magic tournaments. I shied away from Constructed, though, as the time investment to build and test a deck is steep. We didn't start playing Netrunner until the game had been out about five to six months (when starters where cheap). At first, we weren't impressed too much with the game; it felt very luck-oriented (e. g., Runners' random chance of hitting agendas). Some of the concepts of the game were very exciting though: the idea that both players are trying to obtain special cards (agendas) in the Corp's deck, and just the fact that it was an asymmetrical game. Unfortunately, we missed the rule about ice installation costs, so, as you can imagine, Corp forts became extremely deep. Eric and I only had a double starter and a few boosters each and we didn't know anyone else who played, so we traded with each other. One night Eric was excited about this card he had called "Broker"; he explained to me how you could build up bits on it and then take them off all at once - he wouldn't trade it, of course.

Netrunner seemed more appealing to me once I started thinking of accessing cards in terms of statistics: i. e., if you access 18 to 20 of the Corp's cards, you have a good chance of winning. Seeing the larger pool of cards and realizing that the Runner had cards like Mouse and Tech Lover to save bits helped increase my interest, too. We heard about a Sealed Netrunner tournament at the WotC Game Center and thought it would be fun. Eric won the tourney (including one game where he advanced a Project Babylon 15 times!). At this tourney we met Robert Kleemann. We talked to Robert after the tournament. He thought it would be a good idea to form a weekly play group. So he took down the e-mails of the local players there. For about the next two years the three of us, Jennifer, and a few less regular players met once a week and had tournaments monthly. The Game Center regulations about allowing casual game players in there on weekdays changed Feb. '99, so we haven't been meeting once a week anymore, but we still have monthly tournaments. My favorite aspect of NR is how the Sealed-Deck game plays subtly for many turns with both players trying to get an insight into what their opponent is planning. The Corp attempts to get the Runner to tip his/her hand to see what 'breakers and surprise cards he/she is holding. The Runner makes token runs, paying close attention to how the Corp reacts and any cards he or she may access. Then, in a single turn, the Corp throws down an agenda and boom!, the next four actions the Runner takes become critical to the outcome of the game.

Would you have thought beforehand that you had a chance to snatch the title of World Champion '99?

Byron: I just saw it as an opportunity to meet and play new players. It was a great experience. To meet people from the other side of the globe and find out they have the same love and respect for this game is a good feeling. It's amazing how much work Lukas put into it to make this happen.

What decks did you play in the Finals Constructed tourney? Did you change decks between rounds, or did you use the same decks in all three rounds?

Byron: I thought it was Limited Constructed in the first round, so I played a TagMe/Priority Wreck/Sync Attack Runner stack and an ASD/Corp War Corp deck. After that I played Psycho Tycho and Precision Bribery, with minor changes made to both between rounds 2 and 3.

Any comments on what it takes to win with these decks?

Byron: It takes very little to win with them. They have a low demand on runtime skills. Unfortunately, they're probably the best decks. Unlimited Constructed is a poor format. I don't even own enough Time to Collects to make a Precision Bribery deck.

Was there any concern on your side as to whether playing "cheesy" (whatever this means) decks in the World Championship was to be avoided? Or is this issue moot, since it is only important to win, not how this is achieved?

Byron: If I had known that my first two opponents were not going to play degenerate decks, I wouldn't have played those decks. I didn't choose them because I wanted to win with them, but because I didn't want to be hopelessly crushed by someone else playing degenerate decks. It's difficult to determine what the game breaking ("cheesy") decks are; the Nasty Code Gate deck would be called degenerate by some players, while others would say it was an interesting deck. Obviously, the decks David Bartholow and I played would classify as broken.

Would you recommend that next year's WD be held under the new "Restricted" format?

Byron: Definitely! Or maybe a more experimental format.

On to the Sealed matches in the Finals round: Do you recall any interesting, spectacular happenings, or remarkably good or bad luck during your games?

Byron: In the last round vs. Philip Harvey I had a hand size of 0 and 6 agenda points. Philip installed and advanced a card behind an unrezzed piece of ice. He had 10 bits in his pool and I was 1 bit shy of being able to break one sub of a strength-5 Sentry (with Raptor, I think). So the plan was to draw two cards, gain a bit and run on the fort. That way if it was Code Corpse, I could take the 2 brain damage and score the final agenda before the end-of-turn -2 hand size killed me. The first card I drew was Loan from Chiba, making the decision simple.

Do you have any favorite strategy/tactics maxims that you find useful in Sealed play?

Byron: Well, my Runner game kept evolving until it is what it is today (and hopefully will keep improving). It's gone through about three major changes since I started playing. The best strategy is one of constant growth and change. If after every game you ask yourself why you won or lost and look at what you could have done differently, your game should start to improve. If your answer to why you lost is "I didn't draw my [card]" or "s/he had a [card]", you're not looking deep enough, and your game won't improve as quickly. I don't subscribe to the "three stages" view of the game that many NR players have talked about. My biggest complaint is about people who feel that you need to have a lot of bitgaining cards to have success as the Runner ("Broker syndrome"). When a Runner says, "I didn't draw any bitgaining cards", what they're really saying is "I drew too many cards". For the Corp, understanding fortress architecture is important, and being able to determine when the Runner is a threat is the key.

Did you feel that U. S. and European players had a different style of playing NR during the Finals? Since they normally don't have a chance to play against one another, a difference in bluffing behavior, risk calculation, or the like, might not be too surprising. What, if any, were your observations?

Byron: I only played against four different players during WD. Ocke is from Kiel, Germany; Pip's from England, so they probably don't get a chance to play each other much, either. Scott and David are both from Colorado (U. S.), which geographically is a long way from me, so I don't have much experience with them. Scott Dickie was the only player I'd played before, and we only played half a game after a tournament. If I remember correctly, most of my opponents were pretty persistent against R&D as Runner (in Sealed), which is different from my play style.

Do you have a favorite NR card?

Byron: I sing the praises of Asp everywhere I go. It's one of the most undervalued ice cards.

The number one hot topic at the time are of course the new cards from the Classic expansion. Are there any comments you would like to make?

Byron: We all owe Jennifer much thanks for standing up for Netrunner players at WotC. If it weren't for her, we probably would not have had this expansion. We had about 26 players at our prerelease; many of them didn't know that there was any sort of NR group in the Seattle area (the prerelease was much better advertised than most other tournaments). The night before the tournament I felt like it was Christmas Eve and I was 7 years old. Oh, and to see the NR-L the next Monday with 51 posts. Wow!

Hmm (chuckle), the bit about Christmas Eve - that's just how I felt, too. Now, in what ways will NR Classic probably influence the Constructed environment? Any educated guesses?

Byron: Rent-I-Con will see lots of play. I think I'm going to build a Puzzle deck.

Are you satisfied with what the new expansion finally turned out to be like?

Byron: The new art is beautiful. I like the new hidden resources, but (for Sealed) with only two of them, they're not very "hidden". I don't feel we can complain about it after years of no support. The name of the set is misleading for new players. It has a different feel for Sealed deck. With four boosters and 32 cards of a 52 cards set, players get many doubles (I'm not saying it's bad, just different). Almost every common is strong enough to play for Sealed, so players have a similar selection of cards. Also the rares are more like uncommons, so I don't see any card from the set being difficult to obtain.

If WotC were to publish another expansion for NR after NR Classic, when would be the earliest time you'd like to see it published?

Byron: Classic was published as the most interesting and powerful cards from Silent Impact. So the remaining cards from SI would not make a good expansion. If WotC was to make another expansion, they would have to do R&D work first. Unless the Netrunner player base increases, I don't think there will be one. Hopefully Classic will help bring old players back to the game. One expansion a year would be pretty nice.

Yes, I agree. About one expansion a year is what players can healthily handle, not more. Thank you very much for the interview, Byron, and have a good Christmas and safe New Year, everybody.