This quote from Sun-Tzu intrigued me; it's less obvious than some of his other maxims. Though it may be obvious to you, let's just define our terms:

I believe Sun-Tzu means that apparent confusion is a good thing...to set the enemy off guard, to draw him in, to lead him to believe he has victory within his grasp if only he will Charge! He is also saying that apparent cowardice is a good thing...presumably against the day when you suddenly make a bold, unexpected move that requires great courage...something your opponent felt you were incapable of. And finally, he means that apparent weakness is useful, for what I expect are obvious reasons similar to 'apparent confusion.'

But what he is really saying is that in order to be able to present "apparent" confusion, cowardice, weakness, you must possess the opposite qualities: you must be organized, brave, and strong. I agree with this; it minds me of a poker maxim about bluffing early in the game (and deliberately getting caught if need be) to lead people to believe you are "a bluffer." For the rest of the night, you can bet big on all your good hands, and someone will always chase you. However, this strategy goes down the toilet if you continue bluffing all night, because you've already established that you're a bluffer and you'll always be called. So in poker, apparent Recklessness is a product of Discipline.

How does this relate to Netrunner?

I believe that in Netrunner, especially as the corp (you have the advantage of face down cards) apparent foolishness is the product of craft, and that apparent helplessness is the product of strength. Here are a few ways you can pull this off... Please note that I am primarily a Sealed Event player, and that some of these ideas are far too dangerous to attempt in a Constructed
Event.

Helplessness=Strength

You have no ice on HQ on the first turn! Or if you do have ice, you cannot rez it. Have you ever deliberately failed to rez ice? Or failed to place ice even when you had it? If not, consider the tactic. An iceless HQ in sealed is an invitation to run that is hard for a runner to resist. If you have no agenda in hand, why ice HQ? Why not draw runner actions to let him get a look at your cards? The harm/benefit ratio is usually in your favor unless you've a handful of trashable nodes. Let him get a look at cards you want him to know you have. You can save agenda by him seeing a Trojan Horse...even if you have no meat
damage in hand (or in your deck, for that matter). And if your opponent is really clever and gets a look at a small piece of ice that you have the bits to rez...he's going to wonder why you didn't install it and rez it! What have you got up your sleeve? He may suspect a trap and stop running HQ long enough for you bring through an agenda or place some trashable node. And once he gets the idea that you bluff about such things...your traps will have that much more punch to them.

You can also hold off rezzing a piece of ice if doing so will be to your advantage, and not doing so will not harm you. This is especially true of HQ; I've seen players who do the same thing with R&D but this often seems to backfire: remember, your apparent helplessness must be the product of strength. You cannot pretend to be vulnerable when you actually are!

Failing to rez ice can lead the runner to believe that said piece of ice must be something more wicked. Suppose, for example, that he runs Icepick Willie when you have 5 bits. She has a sentry breaker and bits to use it. Why rez Willie if you're protecting a position of strength (e.g. a node that can't be trashed or an agenda-less hand)? Why not wait. Collect bits. Sigh with relief when you hit 9 (Zombie, anyone?) This way, when you fall below 9 bits later on, the runner will plunge ahead even without enough bits to break Willie, because she *knows* that it's something more expensive. When she hits Willie and you trash her sentry breaker, you can lock up the game. Your helplessness was in your hidden strength.

Foolishness=Craft

Here you must make apparently dumb plays...plays your opponent feels tempted to point out to you because they are so obviously errors; most likely plays he decides not to point out to you, because -- hey, after all, you are the opponent.

The one that springs to mind most readily is advancing a node behind a piece of ice that the runner can break, or that you seriously suspect the runner can break. The runner, knowing you know he can break the ice, wonders why you would do such a foolish thing. Very few runners can resist running the node, because they want to believe that you are foolish, that you've made an error. And, of course, once they find traps behind all such plays, you're primed to no longer put traps behind such plays. Another maxim here is that apparent randomness is the product of planning. You have to be aware of what "sort of player" your opponent thinks you are, and take advantage of that as much as possible.

The Runner

How does the runner take advantage of this maxim? How can you, as runner, present a false front to your opponent? Well, it's not as easy because you have far fewer face-down cards, but you can try it using cards in hand and play style.

Your cards in hand are your bluff potential. It's a common practice to, having drawn your codegate breaker (finally), leave it in hand and spring it on an "unsuspecting" corp. One action to install, one to get bits, one to run, with one left over for taking care of tags and such. When I first started playing Netrunner, this worked all the time. Now, though, I feel players are a little more savvy to this tactic. Holding your breakers in hand becomes an invitation to meat damage and the discard loss of those breakers. It essentially means you cannot run until you run with that breaker, for fear of losing it. And a runner who does not run is a runner who does not win.

So now I think you're better off installing those breakers. The "face down" cards in your hand can be other key cards or, more interestingly, backup breakers. Don't discard the second wallbreaker you draw so quickly. Keep it. Run recklessly against possible sentries even when you have no sentry breaker. So the installed wallbreaker gets trashed...install the new one as a surprise move next turn! Your apparentl recklessness is a product of conservatism.

As a side note, bluffing prowess is a must (apparent inability to conceal one's emotions MUST be a product of good acting talent). If you have a breaker to get through a type of ice but you choose not to run this turn against a fort, waiting to see perhaps if the corp advances it next turn before you commit to the action, don't sit there and ponder the run for minutes before drawing bits. Instead, quickly and smoothly draw four cards. It's what you would do if you were desperately seeking a breaker...and if you get money cards in the draw you have concealed bits as well. Even if you get no money, the corp is now convinced you don't have the breaker you need. They might even slow-advance a node they could have fast-advanced, hoping to conserve the fast advancement for later. Or they might trash the trap they're now convinced you couldn't run even if you wanted, and install a real agenda.

Tournaments

One point: most of these maxims apply best to an opponent who can be "educated" as to your play style. In a tournament situation, you may face someone who you've only met one time and will never meet again. You have to be prepared to educate them as to your play style (I am reckless, disorganized, weak, and random) as quickly and efficiently as possible without killing
yourself in the process.

All things in balance.

Regards,
Doug Kaufman
"Rabbi Small"