1.3 Scoring windows
Keeping points safe
An important concept in Netrunner is the idea of a scoring window: a window of opportunity where the Runner is so behind that the Corp is able to install, advance and score an agenda without risking it being accessed.
Fast advancing doesn’t require a scoring window, because the agenda doesn’t sit in a scoring remote at all during the Runner’s turn, so there is no way for the Runner to get to it. However, all the other main ways to score agendas (never-advance, IA, IAA) require agendas to be on the board for a turn, and are vulnerable to a successful run stealing them.
Trying to score an agenda can be a good play at many points during the game – however, a scoring window is a moment in which meaningful interaction on part of the Runner is impossible or unlikely, and often the best time to try and score. A scoring window can sometimes span multiple turns, if the Runner is far behind, but usually doesn’t last long since a good player will attempt to close the gap as fast as possible.
Scoring windows can arise because of a variety of factors:
- Lack of credits. The Runner simply doesn’t have the money to get through your defenses (usually represented by ice). This is the most basic type of scoring window, and probably what most players think of when reminded of the concept.
- Gear-checking. There is some ice with an “end the run” subroutine protecting the remote, and the Runner doesn’t have an icebreaker or another card that could allow them to go past it. Notably, this is much more likely to happen in the early game, before the Runner gets to see many of their cards.
- Threats. The Runner could get through the ice and upgrades defending the server, but it would be best for them if they didn’t do it, because of the implication. They may get covered in tags by the ice protecting the server, and know that you have tag punishment, or they may get hit by multiple copies of Punitive Counterstrike, which will kill them. An important difference between this type of scoring window and others is that it also allows the Runner to make a mistake and die or get set back by a lot, which, if the threat is set up correctly, is an even better outcome than scoring the agenda.
Uncertainty
Scoring windows are rarely 100% certain. The Runner has hidden information, consisting of the cards in their hand, and can always draw to look for something that could potentially turn an unassailable remote into an easy steal. However, there are cases where the Runner has zero credits, no cards in hand, and no icebreakers on the board: this is the ideal state where you are almost always completely safe to score whatever you jam in the remote. In most other cases, you have to deal with uncertainty, and just use your best judgement and hope that things go right.
Of course, you have some uncertainty of your own to use to your advantage: you can always bluff having a scoring window that you don’t actually have, and get away with it if you’re convincing enough. You take advantage of the fact that your ice is unrezzed, and play as though it’s very taxing or it’s gear-checking a breaker that the Runner doesn’t have; you install an upgrade that isn’t defensive and doesn’t actually protect your agenda, but you play as though it did; you pretend to have some big operation in your hand that will inflict retribution upon the Runner if they get in and steal your points.
Sometimes, it’s worth putting in some work to create a scoring window when you don’t have one. Inducing a run that costs the Runner a lot of resources is the most obvious way to do it. For example, sometimes it is correct to push a less valuable agenda (say, a 1-pointer) into your scoring remote, and after the Runner depletes their credit pool to go and get it, install and advance the agenda that you actually wanted to score: a 3-pointer! Just make sure that you didn’t miscount anything and the Runner can’t actually comfortably get both.
Running and locking
What does all of this mean for the Runner? First of all, it means that getting to a position where you are able to crack the remote has a very noticeable effect on the way that the Corp plays. It’s easy to think of credits as something that you use to do things, but the less obvious truth is that your credit pool has an effect on the way the game plays out even as you don’t spend any of it. Rather than treating your credits as something you can use to get accesses on central servers, try to stay up on credits (and to actively find your breakers) so that the Corp doesn’t get a scoring window. If you manage to do this consistently, you have established a remote lock: a state where the Corp keeps being unable to safely push an agenda in the remote, and keeps drawing more and more agendas until HQ starts filling up with them, unless they have other ways to deal with it.
Also, you can try to use hidden information to your advantage to make the Corp think that they have a scoring window while that isn’t the case, and snipe an agenda this way. Sitting on something like 6-10 credits, and holding a Sure Gamble, an Overclock, and a Mayfly in your hand will allow you to get through a lot of apparently tough remotes and still have money to spare. When doing this, you are obfuscating your effective credit total, which is a great form of misdirection! Of course, while these bluffs can be useful, don’t stick to this position if it’s hindering your board development: just play your money and breakers at some point. But try using these tricks every once in a while, and observe the result.