Organizing Your First Netrunner Event: What You Need to Know

Ever wanted to host your own Netrunner game night? Here's Kenny Suzuki's advice to help you get up and (Net)running as smoothly as possible!

Kenny Suzuki
March 2, 2026

Having recently been planning to host my very first Netrunner event in a decade, it felt like a good opportunity to highlight the steps, tools, and links I used to put it all together. For experienced Tournament Organizers (or TOs), these may all be obvious, but for new TOs looking to get their feet wet, I do hope it serves as a handy reference.

Netrunner, now under the hands of Null Signal Games, has always relied on its community to keep the game fresh and alive. Perennial events play a huge part in keeping metas active, while driving innovation as a way to field new decks to either showcase some sick new mechanic, or just to test the most tuned lists in a field in a more laidback setting.

Table of Contents

Securing the Venue

Whimsy Game Café, the local Netrunner venue.

This should be a given. Host the event at your local game café, game store, pub, or wherever you gather and play Netrunner. Make sure the date is booked for the event to prevent scheduling conflicts.

Gather Prizes

Null Signal Games frequently releases Game Night Kits (GNK) which anyone can purchase. These kits are meant to be simple prize support by local organizers and there are no restrictions on how to use or distribute the contents.

*A Game Night Kit. Image credit: Null Signal Games.*

That said, the higher-tier kits must be used in their respective tournament type.

The community also has several alternate art packs which may be acquired as prize support. ManintheMoon, the head honcho of the huge Showdown events, releases a variety of alt art cards as supplemental prizes. Netrunner alt arts can also be sourced from MakePlayingCards.

*Alternate art cards by the author. Image credit: Kenny Suzuki*

Of course, you can also make your own alt arts to give away! Ams has a comprehensive file to get you started on making your own alt arts.

Remember: GNKs don’t have to be used for tournaments. You can just ask people to show up, play games, and distribute goodies afterwards. You can also set up some kind of bounty or achievement system. JuniperTheory has even released an achievement system for the Vantage Point set, which anyone is free to use.

Promote the Event

Design your own poster through an image manipulation program; this can be done for free using apps such as GIMP. If there are artsy folks in your meta, they might also take up the task. This was the poster I made for our recent event:

*A poster by the author. Image credit: Kenny Suzuki*

Optionally, organizers can make a listing on Always Be Running, a website which serves as an event directory and archive. Some players enjoy collecting badges or building up their profiles, so this is an added extra which takes little effort.

Post these in your local group. Invite your friends; yes, even those who have yet to play Netrunner! Additionally, you can promote the event on Green Level Clearance (GLC), the landing spot for most Netrunner players. There might be people willing to travel or will be in town during your event.

Final Preparations

Prepare your Cobra page, which is where players register and is the tournament software used to facilitate the tournament. It allows TOs to pair, report match results, organize a cut, and displays standings automatically.

Aesop’s Tables is the backup tournament software, in case Cobra goes down.

It would be wise to join the “TOs of Netrunner” Discord for any rules questions that can’t be answered on the spot, or for any tricky rulings that come up during the tournament. Posting your events on GLC will also automatically crosspost the events here. You also don’t have to be the judge for the event: TOs and Judges are two completely different roles, and may often but not necessarily overlap. Someone more experienced than you, rules-wise, may take you up on the offer.

D-Day

The only thing left is to show up early, manage registrations and registration fees, and run the tournament. Good luck!

You might want to prepare the following materials, just in case: extra blank cards or paper cutouts and markers to create judge proxies, a copy of the comprehensive rules and run timings as a reference (these can be stored safely on your phone), and a device to facilitate Cobra pairings and signups (which can also be your phone!).

A kitchen timer might come in handy since your phone might already be working overtime with rulings, match reports, and other administrative concerns on the day.

Finally, treat the café and LGS staff right; a tiny treat might even make their day! Which includes this: don’t forget to clean as you go.

Don’t be paralyzed about messing up or skipping some steps; done is better than perfect. Run your own events. Organize your own community! Efficiency is not the goal here. Good luck!

With Netrunner set Vantage Point imminent at the time of writing, we shared some card image spoilers from the set in our guide to brewing with the new cards, alongside our deck building tips. For more information on the current incarnation of Netrunner, check out the Null Signal Games website here.

If you want a guide on how to get into Netrunner, check here. Looking for another accessible card game? Check out Witches’ Revel, an expandable card game designed by a Netrunner player!

Kenny Suzuki

Kenny (they/them) is a non-binary card game enjoyer of Philippine and Japanese descent. A two-time A Game of Thrones: The Living Card Game National Champion, they started playing Magic: The Gathering during the Zendikar Block and eventually switched to harder stuff, like Legacy and Modern. When not asleep, they are probably compulsively building new decks, working on their design brand, thrifting for pretty clothes, bringing their kpop photocards everywhere, touching grass, or playing Netrunner.

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