Amiga Format CD 8/amigaformatcd08.iso/screenplay/utilities/stccg/guides/cotd300.guide

Amigaguide Document | 1996-11-04 | 443KB | 8,490 lines

@Database COTD300.guide
@Author Ralf Schwate
@$VER: COTD300.guide 2.0 (02/11/96)
@Index "STCCG:stccg.guide/INDEX"
@Node MAIN "COTD300.guide"
@{"COTD" link "STCCG:cotd.guide/COTD"}
@{"Main" link "STCCG:stccg.guide/MAIN"}
@endnode
@Node COTD201 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/I.D.I.C."
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #201@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here we go again:
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 9, 619 points, Author: Jay ([e-mail])
    @{b}I.D.I.C.@{ub}
    Event, uncommon.
All ships with Male + Female + five different races aboard gain all
stats+1, all personnel aboard get CUNNING and INTEGRITY +1.
@{i}"The Diversity of the Federation is a source of pride and the basis for
the ancient principle of Vulcan philosophy."@{ui}
(Sorry, Jay, I could not resist renaming this one. The +1 instead of the
+3 was a typo, but the card got its ratings this way, so I had to keep
The first reaction from Q I got on this one was "Hey, we don't need
another Federation booster!" But is this right? I'd say no, and here's
why this card is not just a Fed booster:
First, there are lotsa non-aligned races. I counted 16: Angosian, Human,
Ktarian, Ferengi, Cardassian, Betazoid, Takaran, Dopterian, Tamarian,
Traveler, Vorgon, Cairn and the unnamed races of Amarie, Baran, Vekor and
Narik. And not just 16 races, but a large number of good cards here.
Roga Danar, Vekor and Dr. Reyga are among the best personnel in the entire
game and the Cardassians and Dathon are not too crappy either. Add to
this that you'll probably need Ral or Maques for Empathy in any Klingon
or Romulan deck, you can easily have four different non-aligned races in
play besides your red and green cards.
Let's on the other side take a quick look at my "Blue Lightning" deck,
which is pure Federation and uses the very best personnel the Feds and
non-aligneds can offer.
[...]
Personnel (14)
Data: Android
Geordi La Forge, Beverly Crusher, Montgomery Scott, Wesley Crusher,
Beverly Picard, Jean-Luc Picard, Rachel Garrett, Tasha Yar-Alternate: Humans
Worf: Klingon
Roga Danar: Angosian
Dr. Reyga: Ferengi
Vekor.
Lakanta: Traveler.
[...]
Just seven races and over 50% humans. And Lakanta, Reyga and Worf were
the most borderline inclusions in that deck, I was toying around with
Will Riker and another doctor (most likely Bev Crusher.) Which means I
sometimes sideboard them in and am down to five races with my
oh-so-strong Fed deck. And even if I can go with the listed ones, I still
need to draw more than 70% of my cards (on average) before I could make
any use of the I.D.I.C. bonus.
Now which deck types DO benefit most from I.D.I.C.? Easy: Cheap decks.
The common and uncommon non-aligneds are about the best personnel in
their rarities and Feds have to offer 12 races in commons and uncommons
(compared to just 6 in the rares almost all of which are repeated in
the cheaper cards). Klingons have 3 races in their cheap cards (There are
Fek'lhr and the Targ!), only the Romulans have nothing in common/uncommon
(but a Betazoid and a Human in the dual-affiliation rares!). So there
should be decks of any affiliation that can use this card. And
the effect? Good enough - it's a speed and protection card for any
mission-oriented deck, and especially if playing space missions the extra
attribute scores can come in handy. However a good use of this card
requires fairly large teams unless you use a deck specially built to have
only one member of every race you play (interesting premise!).
Favorite combo(s):
- I.D.I.C. plus Data/Wesley/Roga Danar/Vekor/Reyga.
  10 classifications (5 different), Integrity 32, Cunning 50, Strength 40,
  11 different skills, and that aboard a 10/9/10 Enterprise.
  Plus 6 space missions and 6 Senior Staff Meetings.
- Works as well with Sela + Rakal instead of Data + Wesley and the
  Decius at 11/10/9.
- Klingons can have the same fun replacing Data + Wes with Governor Worf
  and a Targ. Can't use the I.K.C. Fek'lhr, though :-(
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     I.D.I.C.
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Heather's rating:               6.9
Jack's rating:                  8.5
John's rating:                  8.0
Leto's rating:                  3.5
Q's rating:                     2.0
Ray's rating:                   4.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.19
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD202 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Repulsor Beam"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #202@{ub}
Hi, folks,
you want MORE ? Guess ya shall get it...
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 8, 630 points, Author: Mike ([e-mail])
    @{b}REPULSOR BEAM@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Use as an equipment card. While on any ship with tractor beams, nullifies
Birth of Junior, Dwarf Star Fragment, Gravitic Mine, Iconian Computer Weapon
and Tarellian Plague Ship. Automatically pushes Radioactive Garbage Scow
to adjacent mission location (Opponent's Choice).
@{i}"New device created by Wesley Crusher. Uses tractor beam technology to
create a force that is capable of pushing objects away instead of
attracting them."@{ui}
Whoops ? Wait a Sec! Dwarf Star Fragment ? As in
    @{b}DWARF STAR FRAGMENT@{ub}
    Dilemma, Space, uncommon
Ship destroyed at end of next turn unless Shields>20 OR ENGINEER +
Computer Skill x3 on board by then OR Stop ship + discard a shuttle and a
pilot (random selection) to divert fragment to nearest unsolved mission
on the shorter end of spaceline.
@{i}"While affected by Tsiolkovsky virus, the Enterprise was nearly destroyed
by a star fragment."@{ui}
Okay, now I cleared that one up. First the Dilemma. It is very strong and
really close to being unbalanced, but the one turn delay actually makes
some kind of escape possible for your crew unless there is neither an
outpost nor a planet in range of the ship. But I only included it for
completeness of the card that is at the heart of this article, the
Repulsor Beam.
The use of it as an equipment on a large ship seems justified and no big
problem if you consider it is an artifact so you will at least have
something out when you get it into play. The Dilemmas it nullifies are
all Space Dilemmas, so you have nothing to gain from the card if you play
all planet (except for the rare case your opponent pushes a garbage Scow
over to a planet location). So you need to play some space missions for
this card to work and those have to be missions you actually plan to
attempt and score from. One of the best environments for the Repulsor
would now be a six space mission deck with a Cryosatellite as you get the
full use of the Artifact once you have it.
Amongst the Dilemmas you get rid of are several really strong ones, Birth
of Junior, which can be debilitating, Tarellian Plague ship, which rids
you of at least one MEDICAL and is the base of many nasty @{i}"kill 'em all"@{ui}
combos, the Star Fragment and the big slowdown Radioactive Garbage Scow.
All four pose no more threats to you and I thus think the effect is
better than the one of Senior Staff Meeting. And it is reusable and might
even work several times during one mission (and it has less
requirements). So this nicely balances the extra effort you have to spend
first getting hold of the artifact.
A good safety card along the lines of the Shield enhancers and other
Circles of Protect... (sorry, wrong game :-) ), and really balanced. I
liked it a lot.
Favorite combo(s):
- Uh, I have one, but I'll hold that back until a later one of the
  Internet Expansion set as it involves another Dream Card not yet
  reviewed...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     REPULSOR BEAM
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                6.5
Heather's rating:               4.5
Jack's rating:                  5.5
John's rating:                  7.0
Leto's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     4.0
Ray's rating:                   7.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.40
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD203 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Negotiations"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #203@{ub}
Hi, folks,
The guy with the most submissions (especially the most late submissions)
has also made it. And not by number or by mercy but really by virtue of
that card.
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 7, 655 points, Author: Matt Kerrigan ([e-mail]).
    @{b}NEGOTIATIONS@{ub}
    Event, uncommon
Play on table. Allows personnel to serve on a ship of a different
affiliation if one Diplomacy each present from both affiliations.
@{i}"When a ship is transporting alien races they can often agree in
diplomatic conferences."@{ui}
An interesting variant on treaties with an advantage and a few
limitations. At first glance this is a three-way treaty card that
requires some Diplomacy to use. But this is only half of the truth. It is
true that you can use it to transport whatever diplomat from whatever
affiliation on any ship. As long as that ship is not non-aligned! Which
gets me to the most severe limitation of the card:
It only works on affiliated ships. Not on planets, not on outposts and
not on non-aligned ships. Which also means your away teams for solving
planet missions have to be single-affiliated. And you need lots of
Diplomacy. But there can still be good uses of the card.
1) Place all your outposts at one location or use a neutral outpost. From
there, play lots of non-aligned crew and affiliated support personnel
with Diplomacy. Now board a ship and solve whatever mission you choose
with your non-aligned skill providers and the Diplomats of the right
color. Nice way to sneak into opponent's missions.
2) Use the same outpost layout and play a Diplomatic conference
somewhere. Saves you a lot of transportation trouble and many VIP's have
Diplomacy anyway.
3) Play an all space mission Klingon attack deck with some support by
Federation mission specialists like Picard, Data, Wesley and Bev Crusher.
Just don't forget enough Diplomacy for both sides and remember that your
ships must be Klingon in order to be allowed to attack. Leave the
Enterprise at home for that deck!
4) Play a Fed mission deck with attack permission by using Klingon or
Romulan ships and at least one appropriate diplomat with Leadership on
each vessel. That guy can initiate an attack and your Federation crew
just happens to be there in case you come by a mission you want to solve.
But a big disadvantage of Negotiations compared to a treaty is that it
can be nixed by Kevin Uxbridge (treaty cards can only be nullified by
the Devil). And Kev is just that much more commonly played. And you might be
in big trouble restructuring your crews if you rely too heavily on ships
from a particular affiliation and your Negotiations is destroyed or does
not come up in the first place. Keep a non-aligned ship handy if you play
any of the mentioned strategies.
For a final rating, I'd rather play a treaty if I want to play two
affiliations at similar strength (nearly equal # of personnel), but a
Negotiations if I want to experiment with a three-color deck or just want
to add a sprinkle of one Affiliation to a mostly one-color deck.
Favorite combo(s):
- Negotiations + Major Rakal: She can stay Romulan even aboard a Fed
  ship, if you need her skills that way.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     NEGOTIATIONS
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Conner's rating:                5.0
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  6.0
John's rating:                  7.0
Leto's rating:                  5.0
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ray's rating:                   8.5
Tony's rating:                  6.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.55
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD204 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Prime Directive"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #204@{ub}
Hi, folks,
tension now starts mounting a little, as we proceed to
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 6, 678 points, Author: John ([e-mail])
    @{b}PRIME DIRECTIVE@{ub}
    Dilemma, planet, rare.
Cannot get past unless Jean-Luc Picard present OR Integrity<5x (number
of people in away team) OR Strength>7x (number of people in away team).
@{i}"Starfleet general order number one: Starfleet personnel and
spacecraft are prohibited from interfering with the normal development of
any society."@{ui}
Although not entirely thematically correct (Klingons and Romulans have no
such rule as the Prime Directive), this Dilemma has a nice
triple-affiliation touch as it actually has more or less a different
condition for each of the affiliations.
With their high Integrity and low Strength, Feds will have to resort to
the Picard solution or to redshirting it with a single crewmember who
meets the requirements (maybe Worf), but that crewmember will very likely
get lost in the next Dilemma.
The Klingons will also on the average have an Integrity score that is too
high for this Dilemma, but they also have high Strength and should be
able to beat the 7.0 average required to pass here.
Romulans on the other hand will have a hard time with the Strength
requirement (though remotely possible to have, if supported by some
non-aligned crew), but they should be able to pass the Integrity
constraint.
So much for the card alone. Now on to what nasty plots you can get out
with it. First, preceding this one by a Firestorm will make it totally
impossible to pass the Prime Directive unless you have Thermal Deflectors
or a Genetronic Replicator as everybody who could push your Integrity
average below five just got burned. The same thing works about as well
with Interphasic Plasma Creatures and Rascals to lower the average
Strength a little bit. And then, any decent opponent's Choice Dilemma
with a Strength requirement makes the Picard condition equally moot after
the Strength reducers. Chalnoth springs to my mind.
So here's the ultimate @{i}"No you don't do this mission"@{ui} combo:
Firestorm (eliminate any Integrity<5)
Rascals (get rid of some Strength)
Interphasic Plasma Creatures (even more Strength gone)
Chalnoth (I'd like to see a 44 Strength after the last two - Goodbye
  Jean-Luc!)
Prime Directive. Hmm. Picard is dead, my Strength average is around 3.2
  and Integrity hovers at about 6.8. No way out. But this one costs you
  five Dilemmas, so your opponent will probably seek out greener pastures
  anyway. And even if not, this combo has two weaknesses:
1) Genetronic Replicator. If anybody survives the Firestorm, they will
pass the Rascals and then have a full crew to attempt the rest which can
now be passed.
2) Full planet Scan. If I see it, I just redshirt with anyone who has
Integrity of five or better. He'll pass the first three, gets killed at
the fourth and I am free to pursue my Prime Directive workarounds at
nearly optimum crew choices.
Favorite combo(s):
- As told above. It just works too well as a complete blocker.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PRIME DIRECTIVE
Wesley's rating:                8.0*
Cole's rating:                  8.6
Conner's rating:                6.5
Heather's rating:               4.5
Jack's rating:                  5.8
John's rating:                  6.5
Leto's rating:                  7.4
Q's rating:                     8.5
Ray's rating:                   8.0
Tony's rating:                  6.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.03
* I rated play value higher than coolness, the fact that the Prime
Directive should only hinder Feds ditched the score by a few points...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD205 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Minuet"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #205@{ub}
Hi, folks,
it seems I goofed up the numbering yesterday and made it #206. So I still
owe you a #205, right? Let's fix that...
(Or didn't I goof and somebody played a Devidian Door on that article ?
;-) )
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 4, 700 points, Author: Ryan ([e-mail])
    @{b}MINUET@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon.
Discard all Bynar cards in play OR put anyone with the last name Riker in
stasis for three turns OR Nullifies Hologram Ruse OR for the next two
turns, treat all holograms as if they were real people.
@{i}"Minuet was a holographic recreation of a woman meant to keep Cmdr. Riker
occupied while the Bynars hijacked the U.S.S. Enterprise. Cmdr. Riker
thought she was amazingly real."@{ui}
I've never ever seen so many ORs on just one card :-)
And you know I like ORs, because they make a card interesting (the more
uses it has the more I can say about it).
So let's start this one at the top:
1) Discard all Bynar cards. Currently only Bynar Weapon Enhancements, but
there might one day be more. And even now, getting rid of all Bynars in a
Klingon attack deck at once is not a use of a card that can be ignored.
But this would be a more than limited use as it only counters one quite
specialized card. So let's see what we have next.
2) Disable any Riker for three turns. Or, in combination with Dead in
Bed, kill any Riker for the rest of the game. Hmm. The first one was
anti-Klingon, now we have an anti-Federation use. Complements nicely, if
my opponent is not playing the one, then maybe the other. Too bad it's
just Riker, I'd rather see Data or Picard (or Wesley) disabled, but it
would not fit the theme of this card...
3) Nullify Hologram Ruse. A Dilemma that is not too hard to get by if
you're Fed, but you might have some problem as a Klingon (low Cunning) or
Romulan (low Integrity) player. As a bonus use for a card, this is
acceptable, especially if you actually wanted to use it for one of the
first two and found your opponent is playing Romulan. And again, nice
theme fit (Future Imperfect!)
4) The thing with the Holos as real people. I love it. In a mixed
Space/Planet deck, solve the space missions with your Holos as Holos
(unkillable), then to do the planets, solidify them a bit and beam down.
Saves you the Holo-Projectors. Or, if your opponent always uses Holos as
reusable redshirts, throw a Minuet his way and he'll be in some problems
concerning the reuse of his expendables. And remember, this is an
Interrupt, so you can play it just after your opponent has beamed down
for maximum effect.
Four uses, of which one is really good (4) , two are fair (1/3) and the
final is pretty crappy (2) But a very flexible, thematically nicely
created and fun card. And I'll finish this article with a little quote
from Q: "Interesting ideas..."[the quote went on, but you have no
clearance to know the rest (draw your own conclusions)]
Favorite combo(s):
- Minuet + Dead in Bed: Kill the worst STTNG character... [donning
  flameproof vest]
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     MINUET
Wesley's rating:                6.0
Cole's rating:                  7.7
Conner's rating:                7.0
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  7.6
John's rating:                  7.0
Leto's rating:                  6.7
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Tony's rating:                  7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.00
Happy Easter, see you all again on Monday...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD206 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Transporter Malfunction"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #206@{ub}
Hi, folks,
on the long road to the top slot, one more did not make it:
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 5, 691 points, Author: Ray ([e-mail]).
    @{b}TRANSPORTER MALFUNCTION@{ub}
    Interrupt, rare.
Play during beaming. Unless Emergency Transporter Armbands used or
Pattern Enhancers present, one person killed (random selection). No
beaming to or from affected ship until 2 ENGINEER present on ship.
@{i}"Transporter travel is relatively safe but sometimes equipment
malfunctions leading to dangerous, often deadly situations."@{ui}
(He could have been 3rd, had he not rated his own card so low...)
This one has at least one effect I was waiting for, namely a means to
actually attack a personnel card with some kind of deadly disaster.
Although it only affects a random personnel and not a specific one, it at
least helps decks that rely more on countering and destruction than on
fast mission solving. And it especially counteracts those pesky
artifact-laden all planet Fed decks that normally beat every other deck
in a pinch.
Also, it promotes two near-useless cards (Pattern Enhancers and ETA) to
sensible defensive measures which also adds to the strategic element of
deck building as there is now one more way of striking.
But even more effective is the second part of the card, preventing any
transport to or from that ship unless there are two ENGINEERS aboard. The
usual away team approach is beam everybody down, don't care for two or
three extra points lost from a The Higher... the fewer, solve the mission
and beam back up. Now even if you have a Pattern enhancer and do not lose
anybody, the second half of the card effectively prevents any return to
the ship unless you can get back on with a shuttle or by docking it at an
outpost (which you likely will have to build first!). So those players
who always beam down with all cards will face a serious surprise. The
counter-card for this? The Leah Brahms Holo! She is a double ENGINEER,
unkillable and absolutely suited for this particular purpose.
Of course probably the best counter is an extra Amanda or two. But that
hurts your card management just as well. But it offers more flexibility
if you guess wrong about your opponent's deck style.
The net result is making the Super Team strategy a lot more risky and to
enhance those strategy elements that right now see little use, like using
shuttles, selecting away teams that are not just the entire crew and
using extra outposts (IMHO you need not beam to or from a ship docked at
an outpost, so you are safe in this situation).
And if your opponent does not choose to defend but play with lots of
extra personnel and two ships at every location? Well, go ahead and play
the malfunction, that'll teach her to ignore defense!
Final rating: A powerful card that has two nifty effects each of which
are including it in a deck, and the fact that it hinders the one most
successful tourney strategy (the one the five first of the '95 inofficial
German championship played) does not hurt its value for the game. And to
Q's notion that this one is too powerful: Yes, it is at least borderline.
But the fact that it counteracts the strategy that is the one that
dominates all tourney finals around here makes up for a lot. Cards like
this are the ones that make new strategies possible!
Favorite combo(s):
- Transporter Malfunction + Klingon Death Yell (if I already have 95
  points with a Klingon or Fed Bridge Crew deck). Kill my own Klingon for
  five free points! They'll never know what just defeated them... And if it
  works, it's WAY COOL!!!
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     TRANSPORTER MALFUNCTION
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                6.5
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  8.0
John's rating:                  7.5
Leto's rating:                  6.6
Q's rating:                     4.0
Ray's rating:                   5.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.91
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD207 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Space-Borne Lifeform"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #207@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now we get down to distributing the medals...
And the Bronze goes to:
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 3, 723 points, Author: Rydia ([e-mail])
    @{b}SPACE-BORNE LIFEFORM@{ub}
    Event, uncommon.
Play on any outpost. All players may beam personnel and equipment to and
from lifeform at any time, even while in motion. At the end of every
turn, moves a span of 20, reversing direction upon reaching the end of
the spaceline. (Not duplicatable).
@{i}"Encountered by the U.S.S. Enterprise in 2364, this huge creature can
survive in space un-aided, and maintain a breathable atmosphere within
itself. It seemed uninterested in crew members walking about within it."@{ui}
As Rydia called it: Spaceline Mass Transit. And in a very interesting
way, too. It is really very fast (Range 20 exceeds the FE by half!). So
the first place to put this would be any deck low on ships (or even
without any ships). But the catch is that you are not the only one to use
it, but your opponent can do exactly the same thing.
Let's first have a look at what you can do with it. You can use it to get
to any planet or to another ship very fast and reliably. You can also
attempt space missions from it, but you will have to calculate spans very
exactly to make sure that you wind up stopping there early enough to give
you any use as you cannot attempt a mission on the fly-by. But any space
mission attempt from the Lifeform is safe from all those "affect ship"
Dilemmas and "affect entire crew" Dilemmas (like Barclay's Disease or
Ktarian Game) will hurt your opponent's crew as well as yours. It might
even be worth beaming off all your personnel except one at an
intermediate location, attempt a space mission with known Dilemmas
beneath it from the lifeform and then retrieving your crew just to hurt
an opponent's crew present aboard the lifeform.
Using the card of course also encompasses a big risk. When the Lifeform
gets Uxbridged at any space location (or at a planet if you don't have
any Emergency Transporter Armbands in reserve), your crew will suddenly
find themselves deep-freezed and deprived of oxygen as they now do
free-float in space. So you are in for a nice poker game. Will she
Uxbridge the lifeform with a medium-size crew aboard to kill
them or will she try to pull a quick transportation later on when that
thing comes along the next time. You might now say "Moving that thing is
just one action, so I can safely use it for a quick hop...", but nope!
Between you beaming aboard and the lifeform starting its move there is
one timing window for a Kevin. And once it starts moving it will no
longer be at the location it started from. But if you hop on at
any intermediate and jump back off at another intermediate, you are
indeed safe. (Only beaming actions may interrupt the movement and Kevin
does not say you can use him during such an action).
I think that the risks and uses of this card balance each other very
nicely and thus the card is a worthy third for this expansion, though I
had probably made it rare as it is not duplicatable, but who am I to
judge...
The best deck you can use this in is a fast planet-oriented mission deck
with lots of defense, especially a few Q2's to provide counters to Kevin.
Oh, and to answer the Rules FAQ's for this one (all (c) Wesley):
- It can bypass Q-Nets if either side has 2 Diplomacy aboard , but not if
  both sides have one each.
- Gaps in normal Space will kill one crewmember. At random. (You'll have
  to shuffle them together or roll a die or something).
- It cannot be damaged by weapons or events that normally damage a ship.
- Players can mix affiliations aboard without a treaty, however they
  count as separate teams and cannot pool their STRENGTH to conduct away
  team battles. They can however exchange non-aligned personnel (but not
  after an attack is announced.)
- For purposes of Dilemma  resolution, things that affect a ship do not
  affect it, but things that affect a crew or "something aboard a ship" do.
- If the Dilemma calls for a selection, the card selected is taken from
  the crew attempting a mission. If it affects everybody, all crews have to
  check separately.
- You can ETA away from it if it is destroyed by Kevin, but you cannot
  use Escape Pods.
Favorite combo(s):
- Space-Borne Lifeform + Kevin Uxbridge. Wait until your opponent seizes
  the opportunity to take a ride and then nuke the thing yourself! You
  might just have to put an Ensign Chump or two aboard to make your
  opponent think you would never consider to ... WHAM!
- Space-Borne Lifeform + Any non-aligned expendable. If you think you
  know where your opponent wants to get off, just stop her by attacking and
  she might be in for a long ride across the Galaxy.
- Space-Borne Lifeform + several Borg ships. They won't hurt you when
  triggered, but your opponent is likely to have a few ships somewhere...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SPACE-BORNE LIFEFORM
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.6
Conner's rating:                7.0
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
John's rating:                  6.5
Leto's rating:                  7.7
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ray's rating:                   7.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.23
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD208 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Overwork"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #208@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now the pressing question resolves: Did the default entry I made beat all
the others (and not shed such a great light on this contest) or is it
somebody else... ?
Well, the 'Net won. Only a second place for this cute one:
Star Trek: Collectible Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank # 2, 799 points, Author: Wesley !
    @{b}OVERWORK@{ub}
    Interrupt, common (!)
You may take an extra turn after this one. All your personnel permanently
lose 2 STRENGTH. May not be used more than twice per game.
@{i}"In situations of crisis, personnel in all fleets often do an incredible
job, wearing themselves down to a point of permanently ruining their
health."@{ui}
The secret to successful play of this card is timing. If you use it too
early, you suffer a lot from the lost Strength, if you play it too late,
you'll not get enough benefit from getting an extra turn.
Your timing will also depend a lot on whether you intend to use one or
two of these cards.
Using just one keeps your loss at a tolerable rate, especially if you
compensate for the Strength drain by using a Weapon equipment. You can
easily afford to do so as you will get an extra card draw (for the extra
turn) and thus the weapon (Phaser or Disruptor) will not hurt your card
management and you still get a better net result than just from using a
Distortion of Space/Time continuum as you get to move all your ships and
get another card to play. Plus, if you have the Traveler out you still
have a net gain of one card drawn. But all personnel that is not in the
primary away team will still lose in this scenario.
Using two of this card will really hurt your Strength making you very
vulnerable to any kinds of Dilemmas and Away team attacks. The first one
can pretty much be played as if you had just one (though you might go for
it a turn or two earlier) and the second should really be reserved to
quickly completing a mission when the last Dilemma stopped you in your
tracks and you have no Strength requirement to pass.
But this is just the regular play. When everything goes desperate and
your opponent comes very close to winning you can risk pretty anything
and without another turn to try you'll definitely not solve any missions,
so just play the Overwork and hope there is no Strength requirement in
any Dilemma.
Note also that this card is an interrupt, so you can as well play it on
your opponent's turn, which won't change much in a two player game (you
could as well play it on your own, unless your opponent takes double
turns due to a Horga'hn) but could mean the difference between winning
and losing in a multi-player scenario when a failed attack or a newly
uncovered Borg ship suddenly puts the player to your right in a position
from which she can win on her next turn.
Other cool concepts for Overwork are
- a Klingon deck with a handful of Targs and a Traveler. 4 extra cards
for the two turns (with Traveler) could as well mean 4 Targs, so why not
take the extra opportunities to move characters and play cards? You
won't draw any net extra cards (as the Targs use up the four draws) but
you can play more of them (thus easing the effect of a long wait for your
Red Alert).
- A deck designed around high Integrity, Diplomats and Q. It just flies
and if you happen to have three outposts at a Diplomatic conference...
(In this deck you can play the Overworks as soon as you get them, you'll
never need Strength unless somebody attacks you at the outpost. Just make
sure you have enough seed cards to seed your Q last - otherwise you might
run into Outpost Raid).
- Anything based on Borg Ships and Bynars. You don't need the stats of
your crew to hit Borg ships or outposts, they just need to fly their
ships and you'll get those events out just that much faster.
The advantage of Overwork over the Horga'hn or Temporal Narcosis is that
you can just play it, without having to solve a mission or wait for any
prerequisite. If you find a way to overcome or avoid the side-effects of
the Strength penalty, you'll find that two extra turns can easily turn a
lost game into a victory, but you'll definitely have to take some
thoughts before just throwing it in your deck or your opponent will sees
a few Chalnoths and laugh away as your crew loses its best member and the
speed advantage (as they are now stopped).
Favorite combo(s):
- Overwork + Klingon K'Vorts plus Shield/Weapon enhancers + Borg ships.
  Why solve missions ? I'm fast enough without that...
- Overwork + Traveler. More cards!
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     OVERWORK
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0 (Quote: "Ouch!")
Jack's rating:                  7.5 (Quote: "Ouch!") (*)
Conner's rating:                6.0
Heather's rating:               6.5
John's rating:                  8.0
Leto's rating:                  7.9
Q's rating:                    10.0 <--- Now THAT's a rating ;-) !
Ray's rating:                   9.5
Tony's rating:                  8.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.99
(*) Which again proves that great minds do think alike :-)
And for those who now cry "Hey, he's rated himself so high - no wonder he
came in second!": It did not matter. I could have taken a 1.0 or a 10.0 -
it would always have been 2nd - the distances were comfortable to each
side...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD209 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Wesley Crusher: Alternate"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #209@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now it's the hour of truth...
And the winner is:
Star Trek Customizable Card Game
The Internet Expansion
Rank #1, 864 points, Author: Cole Bozman ([e-mail])
    @{b}WESLEY CRUSHER: ALTERNATE@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 8
    Strength 6
    SECURITY, Honor, ENGINEER, Leadership, Astrophysics, Computer Skill,
    AU Icon.
@{i}"In an alternate future, Wesley Crusher was the Chief Security Officer and
Tactical Officer aboard the USS-Enterprise."@{ui}
This was his secondary entry. His primary was yet another Spot card which I
rejected in favor of the other one and then he got this one into the contest
as the second choice and maybe a little because I am slightly biased towards
Wesley cards. And what happens next??? He wins! Grmph... (But that's life.)
Anyway, this card is well-modeled after one of the best STTNG episodes ever -
Parallels. In this episode, Wes Crusher turned up as a full Lieutenant and
Chief Security Officer. And all the skills he has on the card have actually
been seen in the episode, so no problem here. Also, the increased Integrity
and Strength reflect a Security Officer's training and thus make as much
sense as the rest.
The game value:
The SECURITY/ENGINEER combination is one of the rarest and best two-
classification combinations in the game. As both are immune to
Tsiolkovsky Infection, they are even better than Roga Danar's (whose
ENGINEER will suffer when drunk).
And Roga is of course the first card we should compare this one to. Here you
get Astrophysics and Honor, Roga has Biology and the command Star. Besides
this, Roga's Strength is much higher but Wes has the better Integrity. But
the thing that makes this card actually better than Roga is the Wesley bonus
that this one gets from Lakanta (11/12/10 - ouch!) and the fact that he
nullifies a Zaldan which Roga cannot do.
On the other hand, Wes is a Federation guy which means you cannot easily send
him out to reinforce your Klingon or Romulan troops.
And he's also a little more geared towards space missions where the lower
Strength and the missing Biology don't hurt that much but the Astrophysics
is a great asset out in the void. Also, he easily fits into a Cryosatellite
which helps you get started faster if you find an easy space mission to begin
with (like Study Plasma Streamer which his real world cousin can do - cool
combo, solving a mission with Wes to get out another Wes...)
The basic attributes are okay for a bridge crew guy (total 21 is about
average for the big blues) and he has no particular strengths or weaknesses.
And his total personnel playability score of 84 (see the list I published on
the webpage) makes him the 3rd best personnel card in the game after Data
(>110) and Geordi (86).
A good personnel card and a good translation of the episode. A just winner
because he found the fine balance needed for creating a powerful card everybody
would want to play with and not making a game-breaking "I win" card like
Data or the Horga'hn.
Favorite combo(s):
- Wes alternate + Tasha Alternate + Rakal + Future Enterprise + any AU. Four
  great upgraded cards at one place.
- Wes alternate + Lakanta (+ Cryosatellite): Where did these attributes come
  from?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     WESLEY CRUSHER: ALTERNATE
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Cole's rating:                  9.0
Conner's rating:                7.5
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  7.3 Quote: "Woof". Woof? My name's not Woof!!!
John's rating:                  7.5
Leto's rating:                  9.2
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ray's rating:                   9.0
Tony's rating:                  9.9
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.54
So that's it for this time around... The Internet Expansion part II will be
there for you around COTD 300 (or #250 if Decipher takes much more time
creating their next expansion), until then, have fun with your own cards
and remember to mail them to me. I'll open entries right now so you'll have
lots of time (and I'll have a much harder time selecting the stuff that makes
it in there).
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD210 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Jack Crusher"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #210@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now that we're back to normal stuff, I'll take a look at my late daddy:
    @{b}JACK CRUSHER@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare AU.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 8
    Strength 7
    OFFICER, Honor, Archaeology, Music, Leadership, Computer Skill,
    Command Star (*), AU Icon.
@{i}"Lt. Commander aboard U.S.S. Stargazer under best friend Jean-Luc Picard.
Husband of Beverly Crusher. Advised their son Wesley to seek his own
way."@{ui}
Another one of the AU bridge crew add-ons / replacements. This time we
have the Picard clone, sharing OFFICER, Honor, Archaeology, Music and
Leadership and replacing the Navigation with the similarly valuable
Computer Skill. The only thing we lose here is the Diplomacy x2 of our
good Captain.
(The other pairs:
Beverly Crusher         Beverly Picard
Tasha Yar               Tasha Yar Alternate
William Riker           Ian Andrew Troi
Data                    Rachel Garrett (somewhat)
Geordi LaForge          Montgomery Scott)
Which means you can actually assemble a near-bridge crew personnel stock
out of pure AU cards, IMHO this was maybe even intended to take some air
out of the secondary market prices for those cards and give less
fortunate (or less rich) players a shot at having about the same strength
cards as the rich kids with the entire bridge crew set. Wouldn't be the
worst of moves, collectors still have their big cards being rare and
players get access to very similar stuff a lot cheaper.
The often useful distinction within these card pairs that one is more
slated towards space mission and the others towards planets does not work
that well here, but there is a slight favoring of planets for Jack
Crusher (Computer Skill + 1 extra Strength) and space for Jean-Luc
(Navigation + Diplomacy x2 [Q-Net]).
Like our good Captain, Jack Crusher is more of a support card than a
primary. His skills are often part of a mission requirement but he cannot
do anything on his own and he does not really provide any useful
classifications for overcoming Dilemmas. However, he'll do really fine if
you play a Hunt for DNA program and in this role, his AU icon is of extra
value as you can seed him under a preparatory mission with which you can
avoid the hazards of a badly shuffled draw deck.
In total, he's nothing really spectacular but a decent support card for a
Federation deck, especially if you are low on bridge crew.
Favorite combo(s):
- Jack Crusher + Hunt for DNA program
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     JACK CRUSHER
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Conner's rating:                6.5
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
John's rating:                  7.0
Q's rating:                     7.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.3
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD211 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/The Charybdis"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #211@{ub}
Hi, folks,
after the second weekend of the month has taken its usual toll (yeah,
that monthly club meeting had to be organised), I am back for more.
More nasty cards that is. Like
    @{b}THE CHARYBDIS@{ub}
    Event, uncommon AU.
Plays on table. Artifacts at completed missions cannot be acquired until
Archaeology present. (If Charybdis destroyed, anyone present may acquire
artifact).
@{i}"This wreckage was quickly dated to 2033-2079 due to its 52-star American
flag, an example of the importance of such knowledge when dealing with
ancient artifacts."@{ui}
One of the cards that do not seem to favor a certain affiliation at first
glance, but then does through the back door.
Feds have some Archaeology in the rares, Picard, Jack Crusher and Richard
Galen are the decent ones here. No mention of this skill whatsoever in
the uncommons or commons.
Klingons have three uncommons and a common with Archaeology of which
Koroth and Nu'Daq are good enough to see some play.
Romulans have this skill in two commons, one of which is a Security guy
and the other is Galathon (not so great), but they both somewhat suck.
Only the Security, Taul, will probably get played as Romulans have no
uncommon or rare Security and there are no universal non-aligned Security
guys so they might have a lack of Security.
Three more Archaeology come from Non-aligned, Ocett (okay but not great),
Baran (Exobiology and Computer Skill - also okay) and Berlingoff
Rasmussen (not worth it, the special ability sux...)
So it seems that Romulans lose a lot from this, Federation only gets hurt
if the deck is not equipped with lots of Bridge crew (though a cheapo
Federation deck will suck against this card) and Klingons have some
decent choices to avoid this card (though the player will have to
consciously include Archaeology to make sure he'll get the skill in.) But
on the other hand, Romulans have the best chance to have Archaeology
"by accident" with their Taul.
Now on to the effect. Stopping a player from acquiring artifacts is more
than nasty. Especially as you can move in your own Archaeologist or use
Uxbrige in the right moment to steal the fruits of your opponent's hard
work. And as Archaeology is not that common in any affiliation, this has
a fair chance of striking home. But be careful! This one could hurt you
as well, as it is a global effect. So timing is once again an important
issue with this card. Use it if you have Archaeology (and a decent chance
to keep it through all the Dilemmas) or after acquiring your key artifact
or maybe at the very beginning if you play a slower deck. And always be
prepared to nix it yourself if the situation comes up that you have some
crew in the right places and your opponent has uncovered an artifact but
cannot take it. Beam down a crewman, play Uxbridge and run away with the
loot (you must do this on your turn as otherwise your opponent gets to
use personnel cards first).
Good against any artifact-heavy deck, great if you don't play artifacts
at all. And gives a new twist to timing.
Favorite combo(s):
- Charybdis + several Firestorms seeded under opponent's missions: Very
  many crew with Archaeology have Integrity <5.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THE CHARYBDIS
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Heather's rating:               7.5
Jack's rating:                  7.8
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ray's rating:                   ---
Tony's rating:                  9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.5
PS: (I don't like saying this but it is justified by current events)
I love STCCG. And I like helping people if I have time. And I also do
like engaging in some strategy discussion, especially as this often tells
me things I overlooked (I might be good but I'm not omniscient :-) ).
But I will no longer bother replying to mails filled with several insults
or estimates of my brain size that would have a pea seem big. I am also
not responsible if people do not know how to unsubscribe stccg-discussion
or if they can't cancel a forward they once set. And requests for reviews
(while always welcome) can be phrased differently than "Do thhe BEverly
Cruher crad." (Typoes about original). First this proves no good manners,
second taking so little time that 5 words contain 4 typoes does
not promise much interest and third, before you make requests, please
look up in the webpage, the card might already have been done. (I really
hate replying "Check #whatever, it's already there".)
Note that this does not target the majority of you whose comments I do
really enjoy but just the few who do think they either own COTD (be told:
you don't) or believe their mail gets better attention if every other
word is an insult (be told: it doesn't).
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD212 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Ian Andrew Troi"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #212@{ub}
Hi, folks,
after two days in sickbay, I am back on the bridge and ready for some
more STCCG action...
    @{b}IAN ANDREW TROI@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare AU.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 8
    Strength 6
    OFFICER, Diplomacy, Leadership, Music, Computer Skill,
    Command Star (*), AU Icon.
@{i}"Human husband of Lwaxana. Father of Deanna. Seen in Lwaxana's surreal
vision of home at Lake El'Nar, Betazed. Friend of Stephen Miller and
Reittan Grax."@{ui}
Ho-hum. Riker replacement. (at best). Seedable under a Cryosatellite, one
more Cunning and Computer Skill (that's his pluses over William), no
Navigation, and Honor and one less Strength (that's his minuses). None of
these seem incredibly important, only that like so often, one of the two
(here Ian Andrew) is more suited to planets (Computer skill for
impassable Doors and similar stuff as well as a few missions), while the
other is a little better equipped for space mission decks (our good
William T., Navigation is pretty useless on planets but used for a few
space Dilemmas).
And once again, like with Jack Crusher, unfortunately the AU guy is the
planet-slated one. So the Cryosatellite advantage gets somewhat nixed as
you cannot play a pure planet deck.
And for those who need more detail: a quick skill check.
OFFICER. Hmm. Basic. You almost never need it (except for Kurlan Naiskos)
but you also always have lots.
Diplomacy. Another blue Diplomat. Yawn. But a Diplomacy deck can benefit
from this card.
Leadership. Oh why do they always combine this with OFFICER and Command
stars. If the card had neither, this skill would actually be useful.
Music. Ressikan Flute and Risa Shore Leave. If you play the Flute: great,
if you use Risa, there are better-suited Musicians. And you didn't think
of a Wind Dancer with all those good Youths out there, did ya?
Computer Skill. Finally something good, though this one is also available
in better combinations. Bridge crew have an abundance of this.
Command Star: A neat bonus. A small one though.
AU Icon: Well, if you really want to play a Future Enterprise (and have
one)...
Final score: A cheapo replacement for a card (Riker) that is only a
cheapo replacement for something really good (Picard). But well, if you
don't have bridge crew, he's at least cheap.
Favorite combo(s):
- The entire Troi family in a Diplomacy/Empathy deck. Heck, you can even
  win with that.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     IAN ANDREW TROI
Wesley's rating:                4.5
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Conner's rating:                ---
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  7.6
John's rating:                  6.5
Q's rating:                     6.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.8
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD213 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/D'Tan"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #213@{ub}
Hi, folks,
before there is another request for more Rommies, I'll just jump in there
without further reminders:
    @{b}D'TAN@{ub}
    Personnel, Romulan, uncommon.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 6
    Strength 3
    CIVILIAN, Archaeology, Youth, Where present, Romulans without Treachery
    are INTEGRITY +1.
@{i}"Romulan boy. A bright and active member of Spock's underground. Once
showed Spock artifacts depicting the syllabic nucleus of the Vulcan
alphabet."@{ui}
D'Tan is just a must for any Romulan deck because of his nifty special
ability. Why? Romulans have one big problem, called Firestorm. Now they
could prevent the worst with a Genetronic Replicator - if they had any
MEDICAL crew that could survive the Dilemma. A quick check gives us
Takket (Integrity 4), Jera (Integrity 4 but Holo) and in the non-aligned
department Dr. Farek (Integrity 2) and Vekor (Integrity 2). So do
whatever you want, that Firestorm just kills off your crew - NOT! With
D'Tan our two Romulan doctors (who both do not have Treachery) get
Integrity +1 and live. And they are universal, so you can include several
of them just to be sure. And then the Replicator cares for the rest.
Result: Lots of living Romulans.
And besides: There is a handful of Romulans whom the +1 boost will help
to go from 4 to 5. Thei, Jaron, Tarus, Varel, Tomek and of course the two
MEDICALs all now live instead of dying. That's what I call a life
insurance.
And D'Tan's second plus is his CIVILIAN classification, finally giving
Romulans a chance at using that Kurlan Naiskos without non-aligned
support (which is not that great in the CIVILIAN corner anyway except for
Lakanta). Try Mirok, Takket, Sela, D'Tan, Tomalak and Jaron for a crew
that is firestorm-proof, Q-Net-immunized and capable of commanding that
30/27/24 Naiskos'ed Decius to wreak havoc throughout the Galaxy. Add a
Bynar Weapon Enhancement for extra fun and go hunting for Borg ships and
Federation Outposts. Or use a Captain's Log for good measure (i.e.
30/36/33. Ouch.)
The remaining skills are just a ho-hum. Archaeology might sometimes
(Charybdis) come in handy, but Youth is an abundant skill in Romulan
crews who have to go with several commons to supplement needed
classifications.
Anyway, a good fix for one of the prime Romulan weaknesses.
Favorite combo(s):
- The above crew + ship.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     D'TAN
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  5.8
Conner's rating:                6.5
Heather's rating:               7.5
Jack's rating:                  8.0
John's rating:                  6.5
Q's rating:                     6.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.0
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD214 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Neela Daren"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #214@{ub}
Hi, folks,
with this issue, some of you might notice a slight format change (But
most of you probably won't as it's pretty invisible). Until now, I used
tabs to space out the ratings table which did not work too well if your
tab spacing was not 8. Due to a request I changed this to spaces, but now
probably the lovers of proportional fonts will complain ;-) (Yeah, the
joys of ASCII...)
And you might also notice a content change as the harsh reality has
caught up to me in the form of nearly all good cards already having been
taken and no expansion in the near future, so I'll also jump back to the
basic set again and mix in some of those, in the hope of somehow making
it into QC before I run out of any even halfway decent cards...
Anyway, here is...
    @{b}NEELA DAREN@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 8
    Strength 5
    SCIENCE, Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography, Music, Staff Star (+).
@{i}Lt. Commander Neela Daren is a specialist in stellar cartography.
Accomplished pianist. Romantically involved with Captain Jean-Luc Picard."@{ui}
Now this finally is a space mission-slated card like none before. Near
useless on any planet but about the best thing to get when way out there
between the stars (at least among the types with the blue shirts). 6
calls for astrophysics in Fed-doable space missions and 3 uses for
that Stellar Cartography in space stand on the one side, on the other
side there's a lone Astrophysics in Restore Errant Moon and of course the
Music on Risa Shore Leave. 9-2.
So let's assume you are indeed playing space missions. Preferably like
about six of them. If you build your deck around Astrophysics (good start
anyway), we could add some Physics (let's use Geordi and while we're in
space anyway, how about Einstein), a sprinkle of Navigation and Youth
(did somebody call my name) and a lot of CUNNING. (like the characters
just mentioned). That does it for the mission-relevant skills. Now on to
something else. Like Classifications for Dilemmas. We'll need some
ENGINEERs (have that already), a Doctor (for lack of better alternatives:
Beverly Crusher), some SECURITY (Jenna D'Sora with backup Stellar
Cartography and a Worf), and another Diplomat (Picard will do).
Now wait... D'Sora, Daren, Picard? Do I see a pattern here? Let's throw
out that oh-so-rare Wesley card and use a common McKnight instead, Nav
and Youth are also on that card. And while we're at it, a Data and as we
only have 9 personnel yet, a Dr. Reyga and 4 more McKnights. WHAT???
Oh, did I forget to mention the Ressikan Flute so conveniently tucked
aside in the Cryosatellite?
And did I also forget to mention the 45 extra points you could get from
it? Oh, too bad.
And did I also forget to mention to put Jack Crusher and Ian Andrew Troi
into the satellite to increase that to 55? Sooooo sorry...
[And thus, a not-so-spectacular card has proved to become the core of an
entire deck, built around it to fit like a well-made suit. Now you can do
the same. Pick a personnel, do some evaluation and boom - instant deck.
Neela Daren deck in this case, as all of it revolves around Astrophysics,
Stellar Cartography and Music. And weren't these the things I had to talk
about in this article anyway ;-) ? ]
Favorite combo(s):
- Neela Daren + Ressikan Flute + Cryosatellite.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     Neela Daren
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                6.0
Data's rating:                  7.5 (*)
Hal's rating:                   6.0
Heather's rating:               8.5
Jack's rating:                  6.5
John's rating:                  7.0
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                6.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.95
(*) the oldtimers among you might still remember a rater named Data. This
one is not identical, related or befriended to the original one, just
happens to use the same name ;-)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@Endnode
@Node COTD215 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/U.S.S. Miranda"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #215@{ub}
Hi, folks,
how about a bad card for a change? And it's even Fed (just to prove that
the Feds have more bad cards than just Mot ;-) )
    @{b}U.S.S. MIRANDA@{ub}
    Range 6
    Weapons 5
    Shields 5
    Requires 0 Command (*), 1 Staff (+). Tractor Beam.
@{i}"Small ship calss from the late 23rd century. Named for a character in
Shakespeare's play, The Tempest."@{ui}
Okay, let's take a Runabout. Go to the Engineering department and get
yourself a tractor beam emitter. Heft it into the nearest spacedock where
you have your Runabout. Install it. True, your beautiful runabout will be
slowed a little by the great mass you just added, it will also be harder
to fly (ya see, those big masses don't turn at the push of the turn
button, they take some time). Once you're there, you christen your ship
'Miranda' or something similar and brag that you created a new ship
class.
You then take off, smiling inwardly as you finally found some application
for your staff ability and explore the Galaxy. That is, you explore one
Stellar System. You fly 3 weeks straight without encountering anything
interesting. You explore your second system. Uncover a Romulan Warbird.
Spend 5 weeks limping back to the nearest spacedock.
You swear revenge on those Romulans and go in pursuit of a defenseless
Science Vessel (6 weeks at those speeds). Fire a broadside just to
discover you did not even scratch the shields. You slowly get angry,
especially as the big brother of that ship just forced you to do another
10-week trip back to spacedock.
So now you seek greener pastures near the Klingon Border. Lucky you, you
find a Vor'Cha Cruiser in orbit around a desolate world. You think. Hmm,
how about Ship Seizure? "Would use my shiny tractor beam, and finally
get me a good ship..." You engage beams and pull. 20 Kilometers later,
the movements of the ship cause it to break out of the beam and fall into
the atmosphere, giving off a final but spectacular light effect. Well, at
least the Klingons won't use it anymore, either.
So you quit Starfleet and go bounty hunting. And fortune's light shines
on you. You discover a Scow full of rare but highly radioactive
substances worth at least 1 million bars of Latinum. You drag it to your
outpost. You beam down and go to the cashier's office when just at that
moment the scow explodes (you thought you saw a well-aimed phaser shot).
Your final hours are spent in agony.
(For those who didn't understand the story: It's awfully slow, has no
significant weapons, will just survive damage from a big ship and the
tractor beam might have some uses. But nonetheless it's a downgrade of
the Runabout.)
(And for those who want it even shorter: THIS CARD SUCKS. Period.)
Favorite combo(s):
- Nah. Not today, okay ?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     U.S.S. MIRANDA
Wesley's rating:                1.000000000001
Cole's rating:                  4.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  3.0
Hal's rating:                   5.0
Heather's rating:               7.5 (??????????????????)
Jack's rating:                  5.0
John's rating:                  4.0
Q's rating:                     4.0
Ranger's rating:                2.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 4.1500000000001
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD216 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Thought Fire"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #216@{ub}
Hi, folks,
you all know my mentor, the Traveler. And who of you wouldn't want to
take a little encounter with his abilities? Well, maybe a few less after
experiencing
    @{b}THOUGHT FIRE@{ub}
    Dilemma, Either, uncommon AU.
If The Traveler:Transcendence is affecting you, all crew members here
with (CUNNING + INTEGRITY) < 12 are killed unless Empathy present.
@{i}"In 2364, the Traveler took the U.S.S. Enterprise to a place where ideas
and reality intermix. In such a place, one's own thoughts can be deadly."@{ui}
A place where ideas and reality intermix, eh? Like the Internet? ;-)
But that's a different story. On to the review.
Let's for starters overlook the "if" and "unless" clauses and just go
with the basic concept. Instead of just requiring INTEGRITY <5 (as in
Firestorm) here a total of two scores must be less than 12. Seems a lot
harder to cope with (5.5 average instead of 4 still means death), but
I'll have to go over that doing some counting.
For Federation: 3 killed by Firestorm, 8 hit by Thought Fire.
Klingons:       8 killed by Firestorm,19 by Thought Fire.
Romulans:      19 dead from Firestorm,15 with Thought Fire.
Non-aligned:   14 Firestorm victims,  12 Thought Fire casualties.
------------------------------------------------------------------
               44                     54 = 23% net gain
So interestingly enough the prime Firestorm candidates are better off
when hit by this than with a Firestorm and those that escape a Firestorm
nearly unscathed now take some more hits. And it gets really bad for the
Klingons. Just they have no Empathy so they are even worse off. The
Romulans at least have Rakal and Fed Empaths are quite common. So this
might be the anti-Klingon variant of Firestorm (somehow logical if you
remember typical racial attributes:
 Feds have high Integrity, fair Cunning and lousy Strength.
 Klingons have high Strength, fair Integrity and low Cunning.
 And Rommies are high on Cunning, fair Strength and lousy Integrity).
So you hit those most who have a weakness (Cun) and cannot compensate for
it with a high (Int in this case) score.
The Empathy escape clause? Well, it steepens this curve some more but
benefits the non-aligneds a bit. And as I would estimate that about 1 in
4 away teams have Empathy, the net gain from above is eaten up.
And now for the prerequisite of having a Traveler in play. It is really
common to see this card as it is fairly strong and any deck can use more
cards in hand. The only deck that can go without one is a slow stalling
deck. Now this could do some leveling to the playfield. But it does miss
that goal as the really fast decks are either Fed (and thus don't have so
much to fear) or Klingon attack (not very likely to attempt a mission
early so they'll have more time after eradicating those pesky outposts).
But on the other hand you can use this card in space which also somewhat
cancels out the limitation as Planet missions are more commonly played
than space missions and games with The Traveler in play are more common
than those without.
So about a Firestorm. More or less. More less than more :-)
Favorite combo(s):
- Hologram Ruse + Thought Fire: Those with low Int or Cun will have to
  include every man and woman and then you'll get something to kill.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THOUGHT FIRE
Wesley's rating:                5.0
Cole's rating:                  2.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  5.0
Hal's rating:                   6.3
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  6.7
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     4.5
Ranger's rating:                7.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.55
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD217 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Wartime Conditions"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #217@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's a card most Federation players waited for since the initial
release:
    @{b}WARTIME CONDITIONS@{ub}
    Event, rare AU.
Plays on table only if a Federation ship is attacked by another ship.
While in play, the Federation may battle the attacking ship's affiliation
at will. AU Icon.
@{i}"In an alternate timeline caused by the events of Narendra III, the
Federation entered into war against the Klingon Empire. 40 billion lives
were lost."@{ui}
So we now get a card that allows the Federation to attack. With a twist,
as you can never be the first to strike. But at least you get to do
something. Now let's break this down depending on which affiliation you
are playing against:
Klingon: Against the standard Klingon Armada deck, you won't have much
fun with this card. Once the big bunch of K'Vort class ships attacks you,
you will probably not much longer have any ships or outposts you could
use to conduct any kind of battle as these decks, once they do get
rolling, usually only leave you one or two turns before you are so
radically eliminated you do not need any more cards whatsoever.
Against a Klingon mission deck with some sidetrip attacks against small
ships you might just get away with the threat value. Once you used it
your opponent will be a little more careful as he cannot afford to lose
many turns in battle before you outscore him.
Romulan: Most Romulan decks' ship complement consists of a few large
ships and almost nothing else. You get a decent chance to do some damage
once you've been attacked (which a Romulan player might often do even if
no damage is done as many Romulan decks are stalling decks.) Once you can
play the Wartime Conditions, it's about as with the Klingon mission deck
though you might have more trouble finding a vulnerable ship.
Federation: Not as impossible as it seems as you can use Incoming
Message: Attack Authorization to make a small ship attack your Enterprise
(and be blown to bits in the process) and you can then go around making
attacks whenever you see fit. As your opponent probably plays the same
ship classes a few Weapon/Shield enhancers and Captain's Logs will also
prove effective. The catch though is that it relies on your opponent
having Treachery, which will not be the case in most Bridge crew decks.
(My current deck has Treachery only from Etana Jol and it is a theme
deck with her included for thematic reasons, not for play reasons). So
against serious Fed decks this strategy will be ineffective, but if it
hits you're in great shape.
Primarily non-aligned: In this case, you have lost. You cannot strike
back as non-aligned does not count as an affiliation. Which is of course
the best defense against Wartime Conditions: Attacking with non-aligned
ships. This just nullifies the card.
Result: Not bad if you get to use it, but then it will just too often sit
in your hand and be completely unplayable.
Favorite combo(s):
- Wartime Conditions + Incoming Message: Attack Authorization. Can you
  say Maquis?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     WARTIME CONDITIONS
Wesley's rating:                3.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                6.5
Data's rating:                  6.8
Hal's rating:                   5.5
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  8.8
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ranger's rating:                6.5
Ray's rating:                   5.1
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.5
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD218 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Maques"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #218@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Okay then, I am back to some state of health (meaning the ability to sit
nearly straight and to focus both eyes on the same point of the monitor -
you can't imagine how much you get to miss these abilities ;-) )
I'll restart with something easy:
    @{b}MAQUES@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, uncommon AU.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 7
    Strength 4
    V.I.P., Empathy x 2, Diplomacy.<BR>
@{i}"Male leader of the Cairn, a telepathic species who had no concept of
spoken language until Federation contact was initiated by Lwaxana Troi in
2370."@{ui}
Really simple. One more Empath. But then, there aren't so many Empaths
anyway.
Devinoni Ral? Forget him - he's got Treachery instead of the second
Empathy and his INTEGRITY is so low, he'll get toasted in the next
Firestorm.
Deanna Troi? Now why should I play the more expensive card just to trade
my VIP for OFFICER get a Command Star in place of my 2nd Empathy? Even
the stats are the same and you can't use her for Klingons or Romulans.
Lwaxana? Without Diplomacy? And no better stats? Doh again.
Tam Elbrun. Maybe an alternative for those of you who play Federation and
have less Honor than Diplomacy. At least these are of comparable play
value (although Tam's stats just suck).
Rakal? Well, if you use her as Fed, you have a Deanna with VIP instead
of OFFICER, so even closer here. And if you take her along as Romulan,
you'd better have a Quash Conspiracy on the spaceline, otherwise you
should start looking for a better Romulan personnel card.
So, we might come close to saying "one of the best empaths." Which only
leaves the question "Do I need empaths?". Well, there are some
moderately efficient Empathy decks. Also some good Empathy / Diplomacy
decks. And for these you need empaths. Many of them. Which narrows your
choices.
If you are playing some other deck, there are a few nice cards that can
benefit from Empathy, but I don't think they are worth diluting a deck
built around a different theme. And the two things it can save you from
are Thought Fire and Cardassian Trap. And the latter can get nasty -
better than Armus and usable everywhere.  So maybe if you have room for a
life insurance card, you should take an empath or two even if they don't
contribute too much towards your other goals. For a well-staffed Fed
team, this might be the better insurance than a Genetronic Replicator
(as you usually have the required skills for most Dilemmas).
Oh, last tap: Almost forgot about Gomtuu. 7/Hurl/6 might not be that
great, but for one crew...(although in this case I'd use Tam Elbrun and
Captain's Log)
Well, in the end it comes down to a matter of taste. Playable, but not
great.
Favorite combo(s):
- Maques + First Contact + Any Fed.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     MAQUES
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   6.5
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  7.6
John's rating:                  6.5
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Ray's rating:                   8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.31
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD219 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Distortion of Space/Time Continuum"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #219@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Let's make another move towards the next expansion...
Uh - another move?
As in
    @{b}DISTORTION OF SPACE/TIME CONTINUUM@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon
    Any one ship and its Away Team may immediately make another move.
@{i}"Time effects can be caused by the unusual rifting or warping of space."@{ui}
Now this might be the card with the fewest words in the entire game...
But it definitely has some value. You probably remember what I keep
preaching here almost every day: Speed and Flexibility. And this card
has "Speed" written all over it.
How to use ?
Well, first, you can use it as a somewhat weaker version of Transwarp
Conduit. A little weaker for the reason that you cannot just double the
range but have to abide by the single range twice:
Example (for those of you who didn't see it right away)
Mission spans: *-3-4-3-3-2-3.
                 A B C D E F
I have the Enterprise (Range 9) at *. With Transwarp conduit I can now
fly 18 steps to location F. With a Distortion I have to stop after 9
(which I cannot use up, so I wind up at B) and then take another move for
9 (of which I again can use only 8), leaving me at E. But I guess this
gets compensated for by the other uses.
Use number two: Sarjenka or any other Dilemma that didn't critically hurt
me but would leave me stopped for the rest of the turn. Just unstop the
Away Team and go on!
Number three: Nullify a single Rogue Borg played on a ship with the
intention to stop that ship. One of his cards, one of my cards. Fair
trade.
Fourth: Trigger-happy Klingons can finish off a ship before it can fly
the wrong way and make me waste time in pursuit. This use can actually
save me not one but two turns as I avoid not only the pursuit but also
the way back.
Five: Under the influence of Cytherians plus Birth of Junior, gain
another move with a relatively high Range. Might save you several turns!
Six: Beam down somewhere, eliminate an opponent's lone crewmember with a
quick phaser shot and get back aboard to go where you really wanted to
Enough? Well, think so. You might find more variations over these themes
in play. Oh, and if you want to get really nasty, throw a Transwarp
conduit plus the Distortion on a ship for almost quadruple range if you
really need that! (Transwarp conduit says "this turn", not "this
move"!!!)
I once did this in really impressive fashion in a BIG 200-card, 30
mission, 300 points game: Kurlan Naiskos on my Enterprise (27), doubled
by the conduit (54) and enhanced by a Distortion (about 108) to fly along
80% of the spaceline and, just for fun, doing 9 missions in that one
turn. Needless to say this was the last turn of that game ;-)
Favorite combo(s):
- Distortion + Transwarp Conduit: What was that streak of light?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     DISTORTION OF SPACE/TIME CONTINUUM
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Cole's rating:                  7.8
Conner's rating:                7.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   9.5
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  8.1
John's rating:                  6.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                7.5
Ray's rating:                   5.4
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.8
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD220 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Dr. Reyga"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #220@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's something that will make you get big ears:
    @{b}DR. REYGA@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, uncommon.
    Integrity 6
    Cunning 9
    Strength 5
    SCIENCE, ENGINEER, Stellar Cartography, Astrophysics, Staff Star (+).
@{i}"Ferengi male scientist. Inventor of the revolutionary but controversial
metaphasic shield technology. Endured scepticism from the scientific
community."@{ui}
Yes, another dual classification. You know how I like them. Also being
non-aligned and only uncommon does not hurt either, so he's got the best
virtues of a good personnel card.
How good? Well, let's go through. Basic stats are really good (nothing
below five and even a little better than Wesley), so definite plus here.
His two classifications are also of the better sort. ENGINEER is the
all-too-useful skill whenever something goes awry (look at how many
missions or Dilemmas require multiple ENGINEERs), plus it helps enhancing
shields and is (for those who don't have every card) well-usable with
some Equipment cards. And SCIENCE is similar. You need it, especially for
Dilemmas, but unless you want to use Metaphasic Shields, you don't ever
need multiples of it, so including a SCIENCE just to get that and nothing
besides it is usually a bad idea. And this is just the point why I like
duals with SCIENCE or SECURITY so much. You don't get much good stuff
along with these classifications but you need a few of them anyway for
the Dilemmas, so I'd rather get them for free (yeah, the nearly overused
Vekor is another one of these).
And the rest? Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics. Hmm. seems like a
definite candidate for space missions to me. Almost like Neela Daren.
Just maybe even a tiny bit better and definitely more versatile (unless
you need a female or want to play that Ressikan Flute).
Unlike Neela Daren however, this one will also see some play even in
all-planet decks that require some extra Dilemma insurance. One of the
cards I always take a look at when deck-building (unless he's way out of
theme).
Oh, BTW, several of my raters thought this was a duplicate in my lists,
but I checked the website again and didn't see anything (call me Geordi
if I really overlooked something ;-) ). Proves again how good this card
is...
Favorite combo(s):
- Well, can't think of one right now.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     DR. REYGA
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                4.5
Data's rating:                  9.0
Hal's rating:                   9.9
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  7.8
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Ray's rating:                   6.3
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD221 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Cosmic String Fragment"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #221@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's a Dilemma with a twist:
    @{b}COSMIC STRING FRAGMENT@{ub}
    Dilemma, space, uncommon.
    Point value: 5.
Ship is sucked in and destroyed unless Astrophysics OR ENGINEER
OR Navigation aboard. Discard Dilemma.
@{i}"A long space object as thin as a proton but with the gravitational
attraction of a hundred stars."@{ui}
Hey, a Dilemma? With all these ORs in the conditions needed to
overcome? Uh, not! Yes, it might be that its effects are great,
what other Dilemma can boast with blowing up the entire ship
and not just ridding it of some (or all) crew? So far, so good,
but did you ever think you'll catch an opponent attempting a mission
with neither an ENGINEER nor Astrophysics nor Navigation? Dream on,
So a totally crappy card, right? Wrong. This one has a use. As do
Nanites and Null Space. You just don't seed them for your opponent
to hit, but for yourself to score some incredibly easy points!
In this entire game, I can't think of five points so easily earned.
Better yet, if you have several of these in your deck (like six, if
playing six space missions) each mission attempt will net you five
points before you hit anything potentially destructive. Make that
ten if you combine it with Null space and wait for the second
Navigation before jumping in.
You might even make a deck of this design: Six String Fragments, six
Null Space, and a few Cytherians to complete your setup. Play WNOHGB,
and lots of McKnights (or Wesley, Picard, etc, skills don't matter as
long as Navigation is among them). Add some fast ships and you'll
start scoring points over points without ever finishing a mission.
Hit for ten, encounter Cytherians, start flying off, prepare next ship.
Once a ship has reached the end of the spaceline, throw your WNOHGB and
atempt the nearest mission with the known results. You'll be amazed how
fast these points add up. (Note: will probably only work once and best
if your opponent plays the same affiliations as you do, you can then
seed some Dilemma stacks under her locations and keep the bluff up
somewhat longer)
Yeah, this design is a really degenerate surprise, but a String Fragment
thrown in here or there can easily mean 10 additional points in an all-
space deck. And 10 points are 10 points, right ?
Favorite combo(s):
- Cosmic String Fragment + Null Space. Incredibly easy 10 points.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     COSMIC STRING FRAGMENT
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  6.0
Conner's rating:                6.5
Data's rating:                  5.0
Hal's rating:                   3.0
Heather's rating:               7.5 (you found this trap - nice!)
Jack's rating:                  4.7
John's rating:                  4.0
Q's rating:                     --- (long comment but no rating)
Ranger's rating:                4.5 (also found the trap)
Ray's rating:                   3.6
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.16
(Yeah, I like trapping raters with seemingly innocent cards that
have a nearly invisible side use... One of my more successful
tries lately ;-) )
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD222 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Future Enterprise"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #222@{ub}
Hi, folks,
there's that one card I got more requests for than for all others
together.
There also was that one card I was unable to get...
..until NOW!
So I'll delay this no further and give you what you all waited for...
.. the ...
    @{b}FUTURE ENTERPRISE@{ub}
    Ship, Federation, way too rare AU.
    Range 13
    Weapons 10
    Shields 9
    Cloaking Device, Holodeck, Tractor Beam,
    requires 1 Command (*), 0 Staff (+), 3 AU Icons. AU.
@{i}"Commanded by Admiral Riker in an alternate future, U.S.S. Enterprise-D
was fitted with a third warp engine nacelle, greatly enhancing its speed
and power."@{ui}
Okay, a ship with incredible stats. 13 range is fast. Really fast. So I
would want to get this one flying really early to take advantage of its
speed, right? And then I look at the crew requirements and find I have
to take four people aboard, three of them having an AU icon. If I put all
decent AU personnel usable by Feds in my draw deck (all four of them)
I'll wait for 75% of the game before I finally can staff it. Nah. Not my
idea of speed. So I'll have to resort to another way of getting my AU
crew into play. Cryosatellite for example. Which improves my reliability
in drawing them quite a bit. And one of the three seeded personnel should
be a Lakanta to make really good use of the high speed, but I guess you
knew that before I told you. But wait a second, if I have to recover an
artifact anyway to make good use of my flagship, why shouldn't I throw in
a Kurlan Naiskos as well? With Rachel Garrett, Major Rakal and Lakanta I
already have four classifications. Let's throw a few Vekors in my draw
deck and some SECURITY. Vekor has that Command Star, so I'm prepared to
get going. At 39/30/27. Let's hunt Borg ships or missions, to taste, ship
stats are no longer a concern.
But on second thought, I have just used an artifact to get my ship ready.
If I instead had used a plain Enterprise I could have seeded a
Data's Head instead of the satellite. For an 11/10/11 ship. Hmm. equally
good in terms of total stats. Just lacks that cloaking device. Which is
not so useful for a really strong ship anyway. The other affiliations
had to gain more from their holodecks. Only difference: If I for some
reason cannot retrieve my artifact, I can still fly my 9/8/9.
So much for this incredible hyped-about card. It's like Magic's
Leviathan: If you can get it to work, it is big. Really big. No, bigger
than that. It is BIG. :-). It's just that the costs are so
prohibitively high that by the time you make it work, you've lost the
game.
Favorite combo(s):
- If any: Future Enterprise + Cryosatellite + Kurlan Naiskos + Lakanta:
  Total spaceline dominance. If I could only get that *?(&%
  Wartime conditions to work more reliably...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     FUTURE ENTERPRISE
Wesley's rating:                3.0 (-3 for its insane price tag)
Cole's rating:                  5.0
Conner's rating:                8.0
Data's rating:                  ---
Hal's rating:                   4.0
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  8.5
John's rating:                  9.0
Lore's rating:                 10.0 (*)
Q's rating:                     8.5
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   7.0
Tony's rating:                  9.7
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.4
(*) Lore (ancient rater dinosaur :-) ) came back for one final rating. He
is now more that busy doing his own COTD for a different cardgame, which
is also reflected by the fact that he now refers to himself as Gandalf.
Resquiat in pacem.
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD223 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Satelk and Khazara"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #223@{ub}
Hi, folks,
after yesterday's somewhat extraordinary card, about everything will
probably seem a little stale. So why not take something really bland ?
    @{b}SATELK@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 9
    Strength 7
    OFFICER, Leadership, Mindmeld, Diplomacy, Command Star (*).
@{i}"Captain Satelk is the Vulcan Starfleet officer who presided over the
inquiry into Cadet Joshua Albert's death at the Academy Flight Range
in 2368."@{ui}
YAWN. A Vulcan with Mindmeld and Diplomacy. As if we had not seen
that somewhere before. And then, you get the Leadership/Diplomacy
combo we have never ever seen discussed before in this series. If
you don't count the other 20 times. Plus, you get really okay stats.
At 8/9/7, no low values and a good average. Yeah, great, so much for
this one.
Favorite combo(s):
- Satelk + Vulcan Mindmeld. Yawn.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SATELK
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Cole's rating:                  7.6
Conner's rating:                5.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   4.5 (Quote: Snoooooore)
Heather's rating:               7.5
Jack's rating:                  6.8
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                6.0
Ray's rating:                   6.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.4
> "WHAT? That's all? C'mon, Wes, you can't be serious! This is worst
>  Habib style!"
Huh? Did I miss something? Hmm, guess not.
> "But you must have something more to say!"
Really ? So should I also tell you something about
    @{b}KHAZARA@{ub}
    Ship, Romulan, rare.
    Range 9
    Weapons 9
    Shields 7
    Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam. Requires 1 Command (*), 2 Staff (+).
@{i}"Commander Toreth's Warbird. Covertly used by N'Vek and Counselor
Deanna Troi to accomplish the defection of Vice-Proconsul M'ret in 2369."@{ui}
(Yeah, I see those archivists sweating when they have to sort this
out now that I've not even used a new number...)
Can't really say anything against this cute little ship. It's fast enough
to give pursuit, it's weakest point (shields) is the easiest to cover up
with Metaphasic or Nutational Shields, and Weapons of 9 mean that it'll
hurt nearly everything. Besides that, Toreth is not the worst Romulan
OFFICER, so you can even make good use of the Captain's Log. Like
9/12/10, for example. The requirements are not as bad, as Romulan decks
are usually not that much constructed for speed anyway, and you also need
lots of personnel as the Romulans are not that great skill-wise. And
except for 3, all non-holographic Romulans have a Staff or Command icon,
so we won't be hampered by this factor too much.
Altogether a good ship for any deck that counts on just damaging ships
for good effect (like stopping).
Favorite Combo:
- Khazara + Toreth + Captain's Log (+ Bynar's Enhancement + Data's Head +
  Metaphasic Shields + ... + Kurlan Naiskos.) Did somebody say 33/48/54 ?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     KHAZARA
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  8.0
Hal's rating:                   9.0
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  6.9 (Quote: Yawn.)
John's rating:                  ---
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                8.0
Ray's rating:                   7.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.8
> "Hey, I don't get it. What do these two have to do with each other ?"
Nothing. They were just a little too un-interesting for a full COTD, so
I made two mini-COTDs...
> "..."
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD224 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Koroth"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #224@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I just noticed we had no Klingon personnel for quite some time, so let's
fix this:
    @{b}KOROTH@{ub}
    Personnel, Klingon, uncommon.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 6
    Strength 6
    SCIENCE, Biology, Archaeology, Anthropology
@{i}"Klingon High cleric at Boreth Monastery. Responsible for cloning Kahless
the Unforgettable in 2369."@{ui}
Okay, he's no Kurak, but then he's not as rare. His skill mix is special
in that he has several skills for which you do not have many other
possibilities.
Biology is an important skill for Klingons if you go for missions.
Investigate Disturbance (Biology + Gowron) and Fever Emergency (Biology
+ OFFICER) are both among the easiest 35'ers in the game. And they're
both planet and Klingon only. So good mission choices for a Klingon deck.
Other Biology sources for Klingons: Divok (he's a MEDICAL, but has no
other constructive skills) or (using non-aligned crew) Roga Danar or
Etana Jol. As I always recommend having two of each needed skill in the
deck, my recommendations go towards Roga and Koroth for this.
Archaeology: Charybdis defense. If you need it, your other alternatives
would be Koral (CIVILIAN, Navigation), Nu'Daq (OFFICER, Navigation,
Exobiology - sounds better for me than Koral) and Dukath (common SCIENCE,
lousy). Klingon missions with Archaeology are always K/R or even all
three affiliations. The only one that has only one Arch is Plunder Site,
not a best bet.
Anthropology: Your alternatives are limited to Ba'el and Vagh. Both of
them do not have much else to offer and even if this does not convince
you, take a look at Investigate Alien Probe (Anthro + Biology + Computer
Skill.) Hmm. Sounds like Koroth Food to me. 40 points, too.
So three usable skills. That is, if you play a deck that can make use of
them. It all depends on your mission choice. The good thing here is that
you get three rare skills on one card. So if you want to play these
skills (which combine okay, especially Biology and Anthropology), you get
both, coupled with good stats and an often-needed classification.
A good addition to any mission-oriented Klingon deck.
Favorite combo(s):
- Koroth + Roga Danar + any MEDICAL + Investigate Alien Probe. 40 really
  easy points with little to fear from Dilemmas
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     KOROTH
Wesley's rating:                7.7
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Conner's rating:                6.0
Data's rating:                  6.24
Hal's rating:                   7.1
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
John's rating:                  7.0
Q's rating:                     5.5
Ranger's rating:                7.5
Ray's rating:                   6.7
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.0
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD225 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Romulan Ambush"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #225@{ub}
Hi, folks,
those of you who know me a little longer probably already shiver in
expectation of what I do today, with a number evenly divisible by 25...
Well, the answer is, I'll do something really new. I'll treat this just
like a normal issue. Honestly, I got no special idea whatsoever, so
you'll have to be content with
    @{b}ROMULAN AMBUSH@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon AU.
Destroys opponent's ship with SHIELDS < 6 present with your
D'deridex-class ship. Crew killed, except one personnel (your choice) is
made captive.
@{i}"In 2367, Geordi LaForge was captured by a Romulan ship while piloting
a shuttle to Risa. He was brainwashed into an assassination plot against
Klingon Governor Vagh."@{ui}
Yep, that's it. To use this card, you need two things:
1) A D'deridex-class ship. Khazara (Weapons 9), Haakona (9), Devoras (8),
D'deridex (9) and Decius (9) do qualify. That's it already.
2) An opponent's ship with Shields of 5 or less.
Thus, we could use Pi (4), Scout (3), Yridian Shuttle (3), Zibalian
Transport (4), Miranda (5), Type VI Shuttle (2) and Runabout (5). Great
selection.
For the Yridian Shuttle and the Type VI shuttle, I do not need this card.
I can just attack and receive the same effect (except for
the one captive and the fact that I do not get stopped by this kind of
"attack".) So unless I want to play Interrogation, I could just attack
and use the much more versatile Distortion of Space/Time continuum to
regain my move (and restore full Range in the process).
For the Zibalian Transport it's about the same unless my attacker is the
Devoras which cannot kill that ship in one turn. In this case I have
something to gain. About as much as from a Bynars' Weapons Enhancement or
a Data's Head. It's just the latter two are permanent and have additional
effects.
Next are the Miranda and the Runabout. Yeah. Again, a Weapon enhancer
comes just as card effective and has more use after the one attack. Don't
forget Captain's Log which gives a +3 bonus instead of +2 so even the
Devoras can blow up a Runabout with one shot.
Which leaves me with the Pi and the Scout ship, i.e. a game Romulans
against Romulans. This is probably the rarest thing I'll ever see. But if
it happens the card actually gets me something useful. Namely the ability
to attack. Normally I cannot attack Rommie against Rommie, but in this
case this is not an attack in the rules sense, so I can do it. But then,
has anyone ever played a Rommie vs. Rommie game? And even if, why not
just use a Husnock or Combat Vessel (non-aligned)?
Result: The card has a few uses. But these are so limited that the
current card selection does not warrant its inclusion. Maybe this will
change if we get an awesome ship with low shields or some better way to
make use of captives, but currently this card is a dud.
Favorite combo(s):
- Nope. Not today ;-)
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)    ROMULAN AMBUSH
Wesley's rating:                2.5
Cole's rating:                  6.5
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  5.5
Hal's rating:                   1.1
Heather's rating:               7.0
Jack's rating:                  4.4
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     5.0
Ranger's rating:                4.5
Ray's rating:                   4.3
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 4.7
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD226 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Portal Guard"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #226@{ub}
how about a choice that is no real choice ?
    @{b}PORTAL GUARD@{ub}
    Dilemma, planet, uncommon.
Unless at least one Away Team member has CUNNING>7 OR Honor, the entire
Away Team must abort mission and beam up or die.
@{i}"Portal 63 is the last remaining protector of the Tkon empire, which
went extinct 600,000 years ago. Challenges those who awaken him."@{ui}
Yep, great choice. Either you abort the mission and beam up or you die
and then abort the mission. Well, I still have to see a player choose
the second option voluntarily.
But first, the requirements: CUNNING > 7 or Honor. For Feds, we have 26
rares, 7 uncommons and 1 common that can make it past these requirements
unscathed. Klingons have 10 rares, 2 uncommons and 2 commons, Romulans 5
rares, 4 uncommons and 3 commons. Non-aligned can boast 2 rares, 10
uncommons and 1 common. To me, these figures look pretty good. In fact,
they make up about 50% of all cards. Now this gives me a probability of
about 1 in 16 to hit a four-person away team. Or 1 in 64 for a six-person
team. Not really a good chance to hit.
Now the effect. Normally, when I get hit, I beam back up and try again
next turn. Unless something nasty like a Temporal Rift happens to me in
the meantime. So the best I can get playing this Dilemma is some delay.
At a chance of 1 in 16 or worse. Right. Right?
There must be something better I can do. Atmospheric Ionization can
really prove an away team decimator here. Like getting rid of everything
but three personnel. That is, if I can over come that 1 in 16 probability
and hit. Natch.
And Distortion Field does only prevent beam-downs but no beam-ups. So
again, a good idea is lost. Rats.
But the new timing rules now give me a chance to act. Just after the
Dilemma hits (yeah, right, in that 16th game), I could play an interrupt
that stops the opponent's away team. Like Rogu... wait, that one only
works on a ship, and I cannot attack either as it is not my turn. Maybe
Barclay's Transporter Phobia. Could kill one personnel. What an effort.
So where's the use? Evades me. Next.
Favorite combo(s):
- You betcha!
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PORTAL GUARD
Wesley's rating:                1.0001
Cole's rating:                  4.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  6.5
Hal's rating:                   3.3
Heather's rating:               6.0
Jack's rating:                  5.7
John's rating:                  5.0
Q's rating:                     3.0
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 4.3
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD227 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Barclay's Transporter Phobia"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #227@{ub}
during yesterday's review I mentioned a cute little card:
    @{b}BARCLAY'S TRANSPORTER PHOBIA@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon AU.
Plays during transport by beaming, Dimensional Shifting or Iconian Gateway.
One personnel (random selection) refuses all transport until cured with
Plexing.
@{i}"Lt. Reginald Barclay refused to transport out of fear. When forced to
transport in 2369, he saw creatures in the beam and believed he had
transporter psychosis."@{ui}
This is one of those cards you'll probably have multiples of in your
deck if you play it at all. Because its only flaw currently is the
random selection. Plexing does not exist yet (and we have no idea
whether it will have other worthwhile uses besides curing this effect)
and until it appears this is quite permanent. Except for Wolf, but then
that card is really limited and except against a Transporter phobia deck,
it is not really worth including.
The effect can be devastating on any planet mission deck. As very few
people play with shuttles, refusal of transport essentially means you
will not get your personnel on a planet anymore. So you might almost
word this card "One personnel (random selection) cannot be used on
planets anymore". Obviously, using multiples of this card can cripple
an away team before it even arrives on the planet. Great against these
nasty all-planet decks...
Now in case your opponent does not do you this favor and plays a deck
with lots of space missions. In this case, there isn't much beaming, as
you do not need to beam to get from an outpost to a ship or back and
you don't need to beam to do your mission either. But there is an
incredibly nasty combo. Throw a few Tarellian Plague Ships in your deck.
If your opponent hits one, she has to beam over a MEDICAL. She'll
obviously select her worst MEDICAL if she has any choice anyway and beam
her over alone. Too bad that the random selection in this case is not
very random (err, let's see, one out of one...). So this doctor won't beam
anywhere and definitely not to the Tarellians. Now, there can be two
cases:
1) Your opponent has another MEDICAL (obviously better than the one
she wanted to get rid of). In this case, you've gained something and
you know what card you should have under the next space mission, don't
you? Which will, sooner or later, lead to case
2) Your opponent has no more unaffected MEDICAL. Oops, wanted to say,
no more crew...
And if you want to be a little more certain of case 2), make sure you
have TWO Transporter Phobias in your hand when the Plague ship is
encountered. Works great.
Other little neatos:
Love interest + Phobia. Now who beams down a rescue squad to get that
runaway key personnel? They just beam him up. Which means they don't...
Jamaharon + Phobia. Same effect, different flavor text.
Portal Guard + Phobia. Had that yesterday. Oh, BTW, I got another Portal
neato in my mail: Alien Abduction + Portal Guard. You know who you are
going to beam back down (those who cannot solve it) and you are definitely
not going to give up that mission attempt. (Yes, sometimes even I
can learn something new ;-) )
Almost a gamebreaker, but often overlooked. And it is pretty always
useful.
Favorite combo(s):
- Barclay's Transporter Phobia x2 + Tarellian Plague Ship. Instant BIG
  killer.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BARCLAY'S TRANSPORTER PHOBIA
Wesley's rating:                9.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                6.5
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   7.0
Heather's rating:               9.0
Jack's rating:                  8.2
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Ray's rating:                   7.1
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.6
BTW, guys, I'll have a really busy weekend which among other things
includes chairing an STCCG workshop, so don't expect me back before
monday. Sorry...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD228 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Rebel Encounter"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #228@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's another way to decimate an away team:
    @{b}REBEL ENCOUNTER@{ub}
    Dilemma, Planet, uncommon.
Kills one away team member (random selection) unless STRENGTH >44
OR you bribe rebels first by discarding an Equipment card, if
present. Discard dilemma.
@{i}"Belligerent rebels from war-torn worlds often hide out on other
planets and can endanger an Away Team."@{ui}
Nausicaans with a twist. Right. They just copied the text and game
stats off Nausicaans and added the extra escape possibility of
sacrificing an equipment card of the player's choice. And if this
were not enough, there's also Chalnoth which is once again a
Strength-related "kill one person" card. I'd understand this
if this was the sixth expansion, but all three in the primary card
set? They should have some more ideas...
Anyway, what's the difference? Chalnoth is a little easier to
overcome, but it is much more surgical in its effects,thus quite
a bit stronger unless your opponent has serious amounts of backup
personnel. But if she has, you won't kill anything anyway. And she
gets 5 points along the way.
Leaves us with Rebel Encounter and Nausicaans. Your opponent gets to
choose whether to make Rebel Encounter a Nausicaans or a "Destroy one
equipment (your choice) unless STRENGTH >44" Dilemma. And let me tell
you I do not prefer giving my opponent any choices at all. Unless I
can get my opponent to guess wrongly. If she discards a Medical kit
feeling safe with two MEDICALs and next hits Hyper Aging, bad luck.
If I want to do equipment destruction, I'd rather use Disruptor overload,
it's an interrupt and random choice is better for me than
having my opponent choose which card she needs least.
So much for using it. Or better, not using it.
And what if you get hit by it? Let's look at the potential cases:
a) You have no equipment. No choice.
b) You have a Phaser or Disruptor. And you still got hit? Man, what
kind of away teams are you playing? I'd rather drop the equipment if
I was so weak, I am probably going to need every single personnel.
c) You have a PADD. Unless you need it for a CUNNING requirement,
drop it, but then, how did it get into your deck in the first place?
d) You have an Echo Papa Drone. Which shouldn't be on the planet when
attempting missions anyway! Unless you count on getting stopped and
attacked afterwards in which case you'd better keep it.
e) You have an I.P. scanner. A what ? Get rid of it...
f) You have a Tricorder, Engineering PADD, Medical Kit or Medical
Tricorder. Well, count your crew with and without the equipment.
If you have 3 MEDICAL without the Med-equipment, 2 ENGINEERs without
the Eng. PADD or one SCIENCE without the Tricorder, drop the equipment.
Also drop it if the Rebel Encounter was the last Dilemma and you don't
absolutely need the equipment for solving your mission.
Otherwise, cross your fingers and have somebody bite the big one.
An OK card, but there are better ones which are very similar. Good
Anti-Fed cards (all 3) unless your opponent has Data.
Favorite combo(s):
- Natch.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     REBEL ENCOUNTER
Wesley's rating:                5.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                6.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   6.8
Heather's rating:               8.0
Jack's rating:                  6.0
John's rating:                  5.5
Q's rating:                     5.0
Ranger's rating:                6.0
Ray's rating:                   7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.3
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD229 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Seize Wesley"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #229@{ub}
there are some people who would just like to do something nasty to me.
Hey, I cannot understand that. Isn't it that I am the neato little
genius everyone loves? Not? Well, in this case, you can as well
    @{b}SEIZE WESLEY@{ub}
    Interrupt, rare AU.
Plays on opponent's ship under influence of Ktarian Game Dilemma. All
remaining personnel are disabled. If Wesley Crusher aboard, he is made
your captive.
@{i}"Influenced by the Ktarian Game, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise
chased and captured the last unaffected human crew member...
Wesley Crusher."@{ui}
I know, nobody wants this card for playing. Just some serious Wesley-
Bashing, eh? At least if I can judge from some raters' comments:
"I'm all for anyone beating up that kid,..."
"We at [censored] love this card."
"[a card suggestion] 'Wesley gets shot by a Photon Torpedo'. Who cares
if it never happened?"
Yeah, from that I should just quit this COTD thing. Ya know, you do 200+
articles in the hope of finally shedding a little better a light on a
certain name and then you get stuff like this ;-)
Don't worry, I'll stick around in the (futile) hope the next 200 ones
will make you think better...
Okay, enough. Let's for the moment assume somebody really plays this
card. He will obviously also need a Ktarian game somewhere. This
dependence on another rare (which one rater criticized) is not bad in
itself - just think Tox Uthat + Supernova. The trouble with this card is
that the probability of getting it to work is much too low for the
effect. CUNNING > 30 is not that impossible to have on a ship, so you are
not only stuck with an ineffective Dilemma but also an unusable
interrupt. And the only thing you get off it is that the workings of the
Dilemma are a little faster.
And it could have been such a good card is the timimg rules were a little
different... If curing the Ktarian game were a separate action, you'd
have a cute li'l time window in which to play Seize Wesley and disable
all crew before the requirements could even be checked. Would be a little
worse than a Temporal Rift as it would remove the crew until you can
bring some reinforcements, but then, a two-card combo of which one is a
Dilemma should really have some punch to be worthwhile. Of course, this
would also fit the show, as there was a lot of CUNNING on that Enterprise
and it still was affected. Guess for the fate of the Federation had it
not been for a certain W. Crusher...
As it stands, a slight improvement on a not-so-great Dilemma. Not usually
worth wasting a card slot for.
Favorite combo(s):
- Guess what. Yeah, quite obvious, isn't it ?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SEIZE WESLEY
Wesley's rating:                2.5
Cole's rating:                  6.6
Data's rating:                  8.0(Watch for the bomb in your mail ;-) )
Jack's rating:                  3.5
John's rating:                  7.0(You, too, though a little smaller)
Q's rating:                     5.0
Ray's rating:                   7.0(Yet another traitor ;-) )
Richard's rating:               6.0
Tony's rating:                  4.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.5
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD230 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Brain Drain"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #230@{ub}
when I recently did a really lousy card (I think it was Romulan Ambush),
Q enhanced his (low) rating with a 'if you go on like this, next time
you'll be asking opinions on Brain Drain' comment. Of course, people
just should know better than tempting me. And omnipotent beings should
know that twice. So now you know who is to blame for this COTD:
    @{b}BRAIN DRAIN@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon AU.
Removes all skills and CUNNING from any one personnel for the rest of
this turn OR Doubles effects of Interphasic Plasma Ceatures. AU Icon.
@{i}"In Lt. Commander Data's dream, his perception of the leech-like
interphasic creatures aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise was symbolized by the
surreal actions of his friends."@{ui}
(BTW: Q's reply on my rating request: "Ha. :)" Whatever this means.)
This was an absolutely lousy card. Was. With the old timing rules there
was no affecting away teams once your opponent has started a mission. But
now of course, you can just interfere in between two Dilemmas (and you'd
better know what you seeded where as you'll need this knowledge soon).
You got some nasty Dilemma that normally can be overcome. Like a
Barclay's Disease. Unfortunately your oh-so-well placed
Female's love interest failed to get your opponent's Vekor, so he still
has a SCIENCE and can pass. Unless you pull your Brain Drain and suddenly
make Vekor an empty shell without any grey mass in her head. No SCIENCE,
no passing Barclay's... Too bad! And do not forget your opponent cannot
do anything about it except Amanda'ing your Brain Drain - you get to
choose which one is affected.
Other neat little applications include removing the one Leadership needed
for a battle (if your opponent has no OFFICERs present) or getting rid of
a Diplomat when your opponent tries to escape from a Borg ship through
a Q-Net.
The thing missing from this card is that it does not remove the
classification. If this worked, you could hit with a lot more Dilemmas
than otherwise as most of them do count more classifications than skills.
Getting rid of a pesky ENGINEER or MEDICAL in the right moment could
prove beneficial...
And the other function? Double Interphasic Plasma Creatures. [Insert a
2 minute gap here while I scramble for my FAQ file to look up whether
that was effect or condition - ah, it's effect.] So you can lower the
Strength rating of affected personnel by 4 instead of 2. Which might
sometimes prove handy. If you do something that requires Strength later
on. So if you plan on doing this, you'd better use Chalnoths, Nausicaans
or Rebel Encounters. Or Rogue Borg. Or plain Away team battles. Otherwise
it's not really useful.
An average card with incredible surprise value. But a little tricky to
use efficiently and you need a good memory to make sure your Dilemmas are
what you think they are.
Favorite combo(s):
- Brain Drain + Zaldan or Cardassian Trap. Good effects and a skill drain
  will help you a lot around here.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BRAIN DRAIN
Wesley's rating:                5.501
Cole's rating:                  4.5
Data's rating:                  7.5
Jack's rating:                  6.3
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ray's rating:                   7.9
Richard's rating:               6.5
Tony's rating:                  6.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.5
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD231 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Stefan DeSeve"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #231@{ub}
Hi, folks,
is anybody still reading this stuff? Normally, when I was away four days
without signing off, I quickly got to regret that as I got at least three
(more often ten) messages saying "Hey, what's up?", but this time nobody
complained. Is it that the cards are getting boring? (Complaints in this
direction should go to Decipher, and I'll also start the next Internet
expansion at #250). Okay, you also want a card, don't you?
    @{b}STEFAN DeSEVE@{ub}
    Personnel, Romulan/Federation, rare AU.
    Integrity 5
    Cunning 8
    Strength 5
    CIVILIAN, Staff Star (+), AU Icon.
    Romulan: Treachery, Greed.
    Federation: OFFICER, Treachery, Integrity -1
@{i}"Former Federation officer who defected to Romulus in 2349. Later,
apparently had second thoughts. Joined Spock's Romulan underground in
2369."@{ui}
One of those cards that instantly triggered the "why did they do this"
questions from my raters. I'll answer that question first. They had a new
concept. Dual affiliation. Then they created Major Rakal. Now of course
this is a rare and they wanted more probability for players to actually
draw one of these dual affiliation cards. So they looked around and found
that the sensible ones like K'Ehleyr had already been made as normal
cards. Then, this minor character was found and thus we have another
Romulan/Federation dual.
Now, if they had used my original dual-affiliation concept (They allowed
the two affiliations to work together at that particular location -
like Diplomatic Conference), this would have been a sensible card.
As it stands, you have a Romulan CIVILIAN. Something you need if you want
to play a Rommie deck with Kurlan Naiskos. Only his remaining abilities
suck. Treachery is common for Romulans and Greed is not really useful
unless you use Latinum Payoff (which actually somewhat works together
with the Naiskos). But if I need a CIVILIAN for my Naiskos I can as well
use Berlingoff Rasmussen. Same skills, plus Archaeology plus his special
ability. And his lower Integrity doesn't hurt me as I don't plan to take
the card to any planet missions (what for?). Or I use D'Tan if I fear
Firestorms coming my way.
You could of course also have a Federation CIVILIAN with Treachery. Hmm.
Did somebody say Nikolai Rozhenko? No? Shame on you. Instead of Greed
he has Computer Skill and Anthropology, two skills that might come in
handy. Unlike Greed in a Federation deck.
Now somebody could argue that I might be playing a Romulan/Federation
treaty deck and do not want to waste two CIVILIANS on that Naiskos. Too
bad for that somebody that Rasmussen is non-aligned and thus even better
suited to treaty decks.
Favorite combo(s):
- If I must choose anything: DeSeve + Kurlan Naiskos + Decius +
  Latinum Payoff
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     STEFAN DeSEVE
Wesley's rating:                2.0
Cole's rating:                  3.5
Data's rating:                  5.0
Jack's rating:                  4.0
John's rating:                  5.0
Q's rating:                     6.0 (?????)
Ray's rating:                   3.5
Richard's rating:               ---
Tony's rating:                  4.0
Tania's rating:                 5.5
Hal's rating:                   1.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 3.95
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD232 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Lore's Fingernail"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #232@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now that we've cleared up the issue of what should be contained in future
COTD's let's get right back into it (with some new motivation due to that
40+ reply turnout in one day):
    @{b}LORE'S FINGERNAIL@{ub}
    Event, rare
    Plays on table. While in play, all Soong-type androids (including
    Lt. Cmdr. Data) and Exocomps lose their affiliation and are non-aligned
    personnel.
@{i}"Circuitry in Lore's finger was used to control and manipulate
Lt. Commander Data with emotions."@{ui}
Now this is a card with future potential. While, currently, only two
cards are affected by it, there are some more to come. Lal, Lore and
Data's Mother are three that I can imagine right from the top of my head,
and all the Holo-incarnations of Mr. Data will make a good extra number
of Soong-type guys to choose from.
But then, what's the effect? Most players just think of this card as a
convenient way to get Data and his brethren into a Romulan or Klingon
deck. Or maybe, the possible Data as Romulan card into a Fed deck. In
this case, they are just that much better off with a treaty. It allows
not only the use of the android, but also of other personnel, and a real
benefit from the second outpost can also be gained. Thus, there is nothing
to be gained here. Especially as the Fingernail can be dispelled with
Uxbridge and a Treaty requires the Devil.
But then, where is the benefit? There are no cards that require a
non-aligned personnel to work. But one that disables any affiliated crew:
Qualor II Rendezvous. Wouldn't it be nice to have Data's Dilemma-busting
capability present there? Too bad we do not have a few more non-aligned
missions...
So let's finally try a different approach. If gaining the non-aligned
attribute does not help too much, maybe losing the Fed attribute does.
If you can suddenly put a decent leader on a non-aligned ship and fire or
send an away team of Data(12), Roga Danar(12) and an Echo Papa Drone(10)
to wipe out opposing crews, your opponent is going to be really
surprised.
And the surprise is entirely yours! Play the Fingernail, beam down,
attack. Your opponent won't even know what hit her.
Good card? Not really. Fun card? Yes! Just remember to use it when it
is to be expected least.
Oh, BTW, this also affects your opponent's androids, but I see no benefit
in this feature as being non-aligned is usually advantageous compared to
Fed. Although removing the only Fed from an away team can prove
troublesome when doing missions, but then, it's no interrupt, so no
surprise value here.
Favorite combo(s):
- The sneak attack mentioned above.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     LORE'S FINGERNAIL
Wesley's rating:                3.5
Cole's rating:                  6.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Jack's rating:                  6.8
John's rating:                  2.0
Q's rating:                     4.5
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Richard's rating:               7.5
Tony's rating:                  5.0
Tania's rating:                 5.5
Hal's rating:                   2.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.1
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD233 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Qualor II Rendezvous"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #233@{ub}
Hi, folks,
yesterday I mentioned a certain mission:
    @{b}QUALOR II RENDEZVOUS@{ub}
    Mission, planet, non-aligned, uncommon AU.
    30 points, span 4
    Treachery + Greed OR Amarie, Aligned personnel on planet in stasis until
    mission completed.
@{i}"Qualor II: Rendezvous with nefarious merchants in squalid camp."@{ui}
This one's cheap. Really. I would not know any other mission where such
crappy skills can score you 30 points. The trouble is not the mission
around here, but the Dilemmas that might be underneath. As usual, to have
a decent chance at overcoming Dilemmas, you should have at least one
each of SCIENCE, ENGINEER, SECURITY, OFFICER and Computer Skill and two
MEDICAL. Limited to only 22 cards I cannot say my choices are great.
Prime candidates for inclusion are Roga Danar and Vekor, overall useful,
and each equipped with two classifications I need. Plus the additional
Computer Skill with Roga. As I can duplicate Vekor, I am in no trouble
for the backup (Love Interests), but I need a substitute for Roga. Bok
fits great for the ENGINEER side as he also has OFFICER, Greed and
Treachery. And extra SECURITY? Well, apart from Ajur or Boratus, I am
out of luck. I'd also add Berlingoff Rasmussen (more useful than Amarie)
and I get the second mission-solver I like to have. So last thing, a
backup OFFICER. Dathon might come in handy (Shaka!) and my team is about
complete. Total crew: 7 (8 with 3 Vekors). Not bad for a team that I just
have to supplement with some aligned mission-solvers to create a
virtually unstoppable away team for any other mission, too.
So this mission is a valid choice for a deck. One pretty much built
around it, BTW. But then this crew gives me an insane amount of
flexibility. The large number of different skills and the fact that I can
quickly change the affiliation of my core crew to match whomever I am
just working with makes it a neat idea. Add the best crew from three
different affiliations, some non-aligned ships and a Neutral Outpost and
you'll be all set for some nasty mission-stealing. (And you know where
you seeded artifacts instead of dilemmas ;-) ) And surprise value also
plays a part here...
A nice concept and a good centerpiece for a deck. Not nearly as useful as
an addition to a regular deck. And if you play it, don't forget to leave
your aligned crew back aboard the ship. Prevents ship seizure and keeps
them awake.
Favorite combo(s):
- That deck and its variants
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     QUALOR II RENDEZVOUS
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  3.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Jack's rating:                  ---
John's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ray's rating:                   3.5
Richard's rating:               6.0
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Tania's rating:                 4.0
Hal's rating:                   7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.75
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD234 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Shaka, when the walls fell"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #234@{ub}
Hi, folks,
let's be diplomatic about this card I somehow always overlooked:
    @{b}SHAKA, WHEN THE WALLS FELL@{ub}
    Dilemma, either, uncommon.
Must have 2 Diplomacy and CUNNING >30 to communicate and proceed.
@{i}"'Shaka, when the walls fell' means inability to understand. The
incomprehensible Tamarians spoke entirely in metaphors."@{ui}
Can't believe I missed this one for so long. It's in nearly all of
my decks and it is one of those Dilemmas that really often hit home.
First, it's planet/space. The virtues of this have already been
discussed at length in other issues, but the key is that it always can
be used, even if your opponent plays all planet or all space.
Second, it stays around until the requirements are met. And thus
nicely guards that artifact your opponent just wanted to snatch.
Granted, it does not hurt anybody, but it slows them down, often by
quite a few turns and that's what you need to win. A few turns.
Of all the Dilemmas that just prevent passage, it probably has the
stiffest requirements. Ancient Computer has several ORs, Wind Dancer
can be passed with Youth or Music, Matriarchal Society is no longer
a threat to modern decks as everyone is prepared for that and
Impassable door is just embarrassing if it hits. Hologram Ruse's conditions
are too interdependent (have one, have both) and the ENGINEER on
Hidden Entrance is just that much easier to get than 2 Diplomats.
(Quick quiz: Which one did I leave out? No - don't go for your cards,
answer that from your brain ;-) )
Affiliation analysis: The Federation obviously has the least problems
with this card, Klingons might have trouble with both requirements
and Romulans will have a hard time getting any Diplomacy (unless
playing with Pardek). Some non-aligned support is available (Dathon
among others, but that should be expected of him :-) )
Making it even stronger: The key here is the x2 behind Diplomacy.
Any Dilemma that requires an opponent's choice kill is a great
preparation for this card as it allows you to get rid of Dathons, Pardeks,
Picards and Sareks. Male's Love interest can also help (all double
Diplomats are male). Or of course Zaldan (before or after it, helps
both ways)
Favorite combo(s):
- Male's Love Interest (+ Armus ) + Chalnoth + Shaka. Nearly
  impassable barrier.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SHAKA, WHEN THE WALLS FELL
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  7.5
Jack's rating:                  6.8
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Richard's rating:               5.8
Tony's rating:                  6.0
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Hal's rating:                   9.4
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.8
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD235 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Phaser Burns"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #235@{ub}
Hi, folks,
doesn't everyone love getting two cards for one? With a chance of
getting them for free instead? Well, then this one's for you:
    @{b}PHASER BURNS@{ub}
    Interrupt, common AU.
If you have phasers or disruptors present during an Away Team battle,
before a winner is determined randomly select two opposing personnel to
@{i}"Even on stun settings, phased energy weapons can cause severe injuries
and burns if not fired judiciously in bursts."@{ui}
This card can give you a great personnel advantage. Of course, you should
play Klingon or Romulan or throw a few non-aligned redshirts in your
deck, otherwise you have no control on when you can use it.
Easiest use: Speed up the killing of an opponent's away team. If you have
a big team present, you can get rid of three opposing guys with one shot.
Two turns saved.
Better use: If you are just slightly behind in STRENGTH, use it to gain
numerical superiority, thus arriving at the same result as in the first
scenario. So far, so good. But these always assume I want to win the away
team battle. Can't I do something different?
For a start, I take a non-aligned redshirt (in a Fed deck, to increase
surprise value). Then, wait until opponent gets stopped by a Dilemma.
Give that guy a phaser and beam him down to that location (Runabouts are
convenient means of getting there in time as you can follow that ship the
team came from). Attack. Play 4 Phaser Burns. Select 8 opposing personnel
to die. Randomly of course. Which won't mean very randomly in any team of
8 or less. Result: I have used up 1 personnel (if my opponent still had
some crew left) and four Interrupts. Five cards (the phaser can be
retrieved). On the  other side, eight cards lost for my opponent. And
none of them interrupts. Worse (for her), they probably included the key
crew for at least three missions...
You can build a really degenerate deck around this concept:
6 Fed missions (any planets).
1 Fed Outpost (seed as close to opponent's as possible)
6 Outpost Raid
1 Betazoid Gift Box
4 Kivas Fajo
2 The Traveler (I urgently need cards).
4 Starfleet Type 2 Phaser
3 Runabouts
6 Phaser Burns (to foil planet mission attempts)
7 Rogue Borg (to stop space mission attempts)
1 Crosis
2 Red Alert!
2 Kevin Uxbridge (I don't care about events except SWB, TAK and
  Genetronic Replicator)
12 personnel to solve the chosen missions, the more non-aligned the
   better.
(4 non-aligned is minimum to make this work)
The idea is to stop your opponent from scoring anything. If they do
planet missions, attack and Phaser Burn, if it's space missions from a
ship, use your Rogue Borg, and if she attempts a space mission from her
outpost, that's what the Outpost Raids are for. (your missions are safe
as you play planet only). And only 2 rares needed. (though you will
probably want a few Bridge crew to get good personnel). But it
works with just 2 rares.
Legal? Yes. Nice? No.
Favorite combo(s):
- Hey, I gave you a deck. Find the combos yourself...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PHASER BURNS
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Jack's rating:                  8.1
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ray's rating:                   8.0
Richard's rating:               8.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
Tania's rating:                 4.0 (*)
Hal's rating:                   9.5
Nick's rating:                  4.5 (*)
Heather's rating:               7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.3
(*) There's always at least one who disagrees with the majority...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD236 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Hunter Games"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #236@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's another nasty Dilemma:
    @{b}HUNTER GANGS@{ub}
    Dilemma, Planet, common AU.
Two Away Team members (random selection) are chased. Examine cards
separately. Personnel escapes if CUNNING is even, killed if odd. Discard
Dilemma.
@{i}"On some planets, civilization has devolved into a bitter struggle for
survival. Violent gangs search for prey, such as those which chased
Natasha Yar on Turkana IV."@{ui}
Three words: Poor man's Armus. Why? With Armus you kill one personnel.
With this card, you kill one personnel, on average. Really? Let's do a
quick check:
Fed personnel: 32 even, 34 odd.
Klingons: 23 even, 17 odd.
Romulans: 12 even, 17 odd.
Duals: 2(1) even, 0(1) odd.
Non-aligned: 9 even, 13 odd.
----------------------------
78(77) even, 81(82) odd.
The number in brackets is for Major Rakal who
has 8 Cunning as Romulan, 7 as Fed...
So your chances are even a little better than 50% of nailing any given
personnel. Only 51/49, but still, you have a slight edge. And if your
opponent is not a Klingon player, it gets even better. Our Rommie fans
have once again drawn the worst end as their crew (including non-aligned)
gives them a 23/30 disadvantage. Feds are slightly better off at 42/48
with the 6 better bridge crew (Picard, Data, Bev, Wesley, Geordi and
Worf) absolutely safe. The Klingon player has better chances at 32/30
and thus is the only one better off when hitting Hunter Gangs compared to
Armus (by a whopping 0.07 personnel cards ;-) )
Now further on, there's a commonly used defense against killers:
Genetronic Replicator. Let's assume your opponent has two MEDICAL. If one
gets killed, goodbye Replicator. 4 of 7 Fed doctors can survive, 1 of the
2 Klingons and neither of the two Romulans. Of the non-aligned, Vekor is
a loser but Farek wins. Again, the good Fed crew is on the safe side with
the worse ones affected. With the chance of actually hitting two
MEDICAL (thus giving a small chance to kill both in spite of Replicator +
3 Meds), your averages are again better than with Armus.
So if you want to take a little risk, just go for it. It's a little
riskier than Armus, but the rewards are slightly greater on the long run.
If only by 2%.
And just think of a deck where your Dilemmas are 6 Female Love Interests,
6 Male Love Interests and 6 Hunter Gangs. Complemented by a few
Temporal Rifts to stop Rescue ships...
BTW: Quick Rules Info (for those who didn't read every FAQ line): This
Dilemma does not stop away teams even if it hits.
BTW2: Hey raters! I still need a lot of your opinions of the first three
repeats, Picard, Borg Ship and the Enterprise. Didn't you see the last
call I posted?
Favorite combo(s):
- Female Love Interest + Male Love Interest + Armus + Hunter Gangs + Any
  big-time Dilemma. If you can't kill them when five crew are gone, you'll
  never get them...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     HUNTER GANGS
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  5.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
John's rating:                  7.0
Q's rating:                     9.0
Ray's rating:                   8.0
Richard's rating:               7.8
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Hal's rating:                   ---
Nick's rating:                  7.0
Heather's rating:               8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.1
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD237 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/REM Fatigue Hallucinations"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #237@{ub}
Hi, folks,
this card should have the shortest flavor text in the game:
    @{b}REM FATIGUE HALLUCINATIONS@{ub}
    Dilemma, either, uncommon.
    5 points.
No one aboard can dream. Entire crew dies in three of your full turns
unless 3 MEDICAL present OR ship returns to outpost first.
@{i}"A crew can go insane from lack of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep."@{ui}
This card alone has some potential. Seeded at a spaceline location as far
away from an outpost as possible, it will nearly always net you something
sensible unless your opponent has one of the Beverlys in play or uses a
Medical Kit.
3 of something is always a harsh requirement, and most players just will
not wait that long before starting to attempt missions (or if they do
they'll usually get run over by fast decks). So then the player hit has
the choice of losing his entire crew for the rest of the game or for at
least a few turns while flying back to the outpost to save them.
But this card already screams for other cards to fully explore its
potential.
Female's love interests are the all-around Bev remover and might also hit
some other MEDICAL staff, thus increasing your chances of hitting in the
first place. Second is the good ole Disruptor Overload, if your opponent
uses that Medkit, it will quite often be the only equipment card present.
But the best prefix is a Tarellian Plague Ship. Who has 4 MEDICAL???
So now you have hit, let's do something to get maximum effectiveness from
the Dilemma. Your prime task will now be stopping that ship headed back
to the outpost. If you have an attacker capable of hurting the ship, just
shoot, even if you get damaged in return. You will usually be able to
repair yor ship, but your opponent will find the distance to the outpost
just that much greater. Just take into account a desperate opponent might
attack back next turn and take you with him.
Even nastier for this purpose are Rogue Borg, played one by one for
stopping purposes. Before the ship starts moving, play a RB and stop the
crew. Repeat once more and you already have most of the work done. You
might not even need the third RB.
Now there remains a rules question: Does Temporal Rift help? The FAQ
does not answer this, but I would say no (from Trek sense). The crew is
time-teleported to the future so their insanity does not increase in that
time. The Dilemma is just delayed two turns. Same for Time Travel Pod.
And the best place to seed this Dilemma? Diplomatic Conference. It
affects all crews of all ships where any away team members present came
from. Chances are you'll hit many ships with just one card.
Favorite combo(s):
- Rem Fatigue Hallucinations + a Rogue Borg or two.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     REM FATIGUE HALLUCINATIONS
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  6.8
Data's rating:                  8.0
Jack's rating:                  6.0
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     5.0
Ray's rating:                   7.5
Richard's rating:               6.8
Tony's rating:                  6.5
Tania's rating:                 7.5
Hal's rating:                   5.0
Nick's rating:                  4.0
Heather's rating:               7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.3
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD238 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Jean-Luc Picard"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #238@{ub}
Hi, folks,
today is the starting day for the "Classic COTD" series, now interleaving
with the new cards in a 1 of 3 ratio (i.e. 1 classic card, 2 new ones).
The purpose of this mini-series is to bring up the standard of the first
25 articles (Habib's) to the longer and more well-rounded reviews of
modern COTD time (strange how things do evolve).
I will keep the original order of cards, but they'll get a new number so
the older Habib reviews will not get overwritten on the archive pages.
(Nitpickers: Of course there will be only 24 classic COTD's -
@{"Wormhole(#8)" link COTD8} already got redone by accident in, I think it was @{"#73" link COTD73})
        @{b}Classic COTD # 1@{ub}
    @{b}JEAN-LUC PICARD@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 9
    Cunning 8
    Strength 6
    OFFICER, Diplomacy x2, Leadership, Honor, Archaeology, Navigation, Music,
    Command Star (*).
@{i}"Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the @{"U.S.S. Enterprise" link "STCCG:cotd100.guide/COTD3"}. Born in LaBarre,
France. Has an artificial heart. Reads Shakespeare. Something of a
Renaissance man."@{ui}
The old man himself, what a start that was. The only card in the entire
game with six skills. But I've never heard anyone say this was the best
personnel card. A good card, sure, but quite some distance from being the
best. Why?
In contrast to most of the other bridge guys, Picard's skills are not the
rare skills you only get on a handful of cards. Navigation is common as
dirt in Feds and though often useful will rarely be needed more than once
(except for Null Space whose effect is rather weak and FGC-47 in which
case it can speed you up a little).
Then there's the good old DLH combo (Diplomacy, Leadership, Honor) which
occurs five times in the game (@{"Gowron" link COTD5}, @{"Dathon" link COTD181}, Picard, @{"Riker" link COTD19} and
@{"Governor Worf" link COTD151}). Of course any two-skill subset of these three is also a really
common sight on missions. A number of good decks are constructed around
this triad and in these decks, having the entire trio on one card proves
really effective, though the other requirements on these missions usually
prove too hard to make a really fast deck especially since none of the
DLH cards has ENGINEER, SCIENCE or MEDICAL, the classifications you
really need to overcome Dilemmas.
Picard also makes a really good start for the big mission decks, with
three of his skills useful on Pegasus Search and two of them usable for
@{"DNA hunt" link COTD62}.
Leaves me with Music and Archaeology. Besides being useful for some of
the rarer threats (@{"Wind Dancer" link COTD127}, @{"Crystalline Entity" link COTD52}, @{"Charybdis" link COTD211}), these are
also mentioned on some of the missions. @{"DNA hunt" link COTD62} is the prime place for
Archaeolgists to go, but a quick Artifact snatch on a poorly guarded
Excavation is always a great start for a game. And then there's
Risa Shore Leave. Not very suitable for our Captain, he might be a Musician
and fully functional male but he is not really young anymore and can't be
considered a CIVILIAN either. I usually prefer sending Amarie and
Alexander Rozhenko, the former also being useful on @{"Qualor II Rendezvous" link COTD233}...
And that's Picard's failure. He has 6 skills. But if you look at my
personnel strength list, you'll find they're not worth that much (I think
his best is a 7-point thing). Feeble if you compare it to @{"Data" link COTD7} who has
ENGINEER, Astrophysics and Exobiology, all three worth 9 or better. Sure,
the combination gives him an edge, but still the total is only good, not
outstanding.
Favorite combo(s):
- Picard + @{"Vash" link COTD88} + @{"Roga Danar" link COTD18} + @{"Varon-T-Disruptor" link COTD17}: The only 4-card
  @{"DNA hunt" link COTD62} team
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     JEAN-LUC PICARD
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Jack's rating:                  9.0
John's rating:                  9.0
Q's rating:                     9.5
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Tony's rating:                  9.9
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.9
Almost a "classically" low number of raters for this issue, they must be
all sound asleep! Hey guys, I posted that rating request in two COTD
issues!!! Don't you ever read the results of your contributions? ;-)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD239 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Ancient Computer"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #239@{ub}
back and better than ever? Well, I can at least confirm the first part ;-)
    @{b}ANCIENT COMPUTER@{ub}
    Dilemma, space, rare.
Cannot get past unless 2 Computer Skill or 3 SCIENCE or 3 ENGINEER present.
@{i}"Vital information can be retrieved from old or damaged computer systems
like this one found aboard a derelict Promellian cruiser."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are two things I really do like about this Dilemma.
1) It stops the affected crew quite effectively with a "cannot get past"
clause. I always try to have at least one Dilemma of this kind under each
mission (most often as the last one) in order to assure that my opponent
won't even get to check the mission requirements because he'll never get
there.
2) Its requirements include multiples of a certain skill. Yes, most players
wait until they have one of every important skill (SCIENCE, MEDICAL,
SECURITY,ENGINEER, Computer Skill, Diplomacy), but you just can't afford
waiting until you have two of everything (maybe 2 MEDICAL, but that's it),
much less three of them. But then, really that good?
a) Feds have ENGINEERS. Lots of them, especially in a Bridge crew deck where
3 of the best characters are ENGINEERS, plus Roga Danar, plus Dr. Reyga,
etc. That's the trouble: Nearly all the good dual-classification personnel
(i.e. the ones that see play) are part ENGINEER.
b) It's a Space only Dilemma. This is a strength and a weakness. A strength,
because there are very few space Dilemmas of this more permanent nature. But
a Weakness, because most decks have more planet missions than space
missions. And whilst I have seen a lot of all-planet decks, all-space decks
are rare (but nasty surprises if you run against them in tournaments - if I
play in a tourney where you can change decks between games, I usually swap
the other missions in for the semifinal or final when running up against an
opponent who really checked my deck before. A 15-card sideboard is good
enough to swap missions plus supporting personnel...)
I often have this in decks when playing high Dilemma rates (i.e. half seed
card decks). Of 21 Dilemmas, keep 3 Space, 6 Either, 12 Planet. Prepares me
well for any deck that has a P/S ratio between 6/0 and 3/3 and still
somewhat works for a 2/4 and 1/5 deck. And every 3rd Dilemma a stopper like
this.
Preparatory measures? Anything that lets me choose who dies or some of the
bigger killers. Nagilum works well, and for people who play ENGINEERING or
SCIENCE equipment, a well-placed Disruptor Overload is often an effective
countermeasure.
(Oh, another free Wesley hint: If you really get Dilemma-screwed, do not do
what I see done everywhere - seed the three matching Dilemmas and discard
the rest. Instead, put up your best pokerface (or a mean grin) and misseed!
Unless your opponent scans the locations, he'll not attempt the missions
before he has a fair crew and if you are even playing the same affiliation,
you can sneak in yourself and snatch the game so fast they won't know what
hit them...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Nagilum + Ancient Computer. In any order. (though the reverse will need
  some extra work in between...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     ANCIENT COMPUTER
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  6.8
Data's rating:                  7.6257189759 (Androids...)
Jack's rating:                  6.0
John's rating:                  5.5
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Richard's rating:               4.0
Tony's rating:                  3.0
Tania's rating:                 4.0
Hal's rating:                   6.8
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.9296108159901 (Ha!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD240 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Borg Ship"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #240@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I have to change my schedule a little bit, as I ran out of rated cards
(yeah, the side effects from being away), so let's do this thing first:
        @{b}Classic COTD #2@{ub}
    @{b}BORG SHIP@{ub}
    Dilemma, space, rare, 45 points.
Self-controlling ship (WEAPONS=24, SHIELDS=24). Start here. Attacks
everything. End of every turn, moves 1 card toward and off spaceline's
long end. Destroy for bonus.
@{i}"Gigantic cubic ship of the Borg collective. Possesses powerful weapons
and remarkable regenerative abilities."@{ui}
The power Dilemma. and at the high point value, you can even use it in
a dual way - to hurt your opponent and to score points.
The first way is quite straightforward. Hide it somewhere and hope your
opponent is going to hit it from a ship instead of from the outpost (This
card is an exception from the rule that you should generally have your
best Dilemmas at the probable outpost locations). Only if you use it this
way, be very careful.
If you get stuck somewhere, your own ships might be in danger as well.
First rule: never park at a location where you put a Borg ship. NEVER!!!
Okay, you can make an exception if you would have to otherwise hit
Gaps in normal Space or fly over a @{"Subspace Warp Rift" link COTD83}, but only if no ship of
your opponent can reach the location in one turn (that includes ships he
might play on the outpost that turn!).
The second thing is a little trickier. Getting 45 points seems good. And
it actually is. You do have two chances at destroying a Borg ship. First
is a fast Klingon Armada deck with @{"Shield enhancers" link COTD40} and at least 1
ENGINEER aboard every ship (preferably two, but it is easier to get 3
@{"Nutational shields" link COTD40} and one ENGINEER on each ship than to get 2 shield
enhancers and 2 ENGINEERS per ship). Plus, at least one (better two)
@{"Bynars' Weapon Enhancements" link COTD197}. This list demonstrates you need a
single-minded deck for this Borg hunt and you cannot easily destroy two
Borg ships with your Armada as it will be necessary to undergo extensive
repairs before going out again.
The better way is with a @{"Kurlan Naiskos" link COTD13}. Excavation or @{"Relief Mission" link COTD64}
provide the artifact seeding place and Geology is readily available to
any affiliation, though often not on great cards (except Klingons -
@{"Lursa" link COTD54}), but then you do not go for personnel strength anyway. Load up the
@{"Naiskos" link COTD13}, complete the crew classifications and hunt down two Borg Ships.
Your ship will not get damaged if it is large enough, so you can complete
the hunt in two turns. 90 points, plus 20 or 25 for the mission, enough
to win even if you hit @{"The Higher... the Fewer" link COTD155} somewhere. Disadvantage:
you need two Borg ships. But that's why this is called a trading card
game, guys!
Favorite combo(s):
- Borg ship(s) + @{"Kurlan Naiskos" link COTD13}. An alternative to mission-solving.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BORG SHIP
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Jack's rating:                  9.5
John's rating:                  8.5
Q's rating:                     9.5
Tony's rating:                 10.0
Hal's rating:                   7.8
Nick's rating:                  9.0
Ranger's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.9
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today!
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD241 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/The Gatherers"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #241@{ub}
Hi, folks,
can't leave you alone, so I'll overcome my being tired and give you:
    @{b}THE GATHERERS@{ub}
    Dilemma, planet, common AU.
Unless Marouk OR Integrity >36 present, discard all Equipment and
Artifacts in Away Team, plus one card (random selection) from your
hand. Discard Dilemma.
@{i}"Nomadic marauders and thieves from Acamar III. 'We Gatherers value
our freedom. We do what we want and we answer to no creature.'"@{ui}
After quite a long time, again an external request. Seems I've pretty
much covered anything that's interesting :-(
Into it: The effect is a glorified Disruptor Overload, plus the loss
of a card from the hand. Against most strong decks, only the discard
will do anything, as high-level play does not involve a lot of
Equipment, if any, and only the Varon-T Disruptor and Data's Head can
be carried by an away team and thus be affected. But in low- to mid-
level playing environments, Med kits, Engineering whatevers and
other equipment are common sights, and there you can really do something,
if you combine the Gatherers with some other Dilemmas that require
multiples of a classification (Hyper Aging, anyone?). But this
Dilemma has a feature that turns out to be a disadvantage here, though
it usually is an advantage: It stops the away team if it hits and your
opponent can wimp out and find greener pastures elsewhere instead of
losing the away team from the other strategically placed Dilemmas.
Leaves us with the discard. In some other games, a single card can
be an invaluable resource (Think Magic). In STCCG, there are quite
a few means of drawing extra cards (Kivas Fajo, Traveler), so cards
are not quite that important on your hand as in Magic, and restoration
possibilities are also much better as Palor Toff, etc. are not
restricted to 1 per deck as Magic's Regrowth is.
So, in the end, you get a mediocre effect and the Dilemma is not that
hard to overcome. Granted, it might have a few uses, but it is not
usually worthwhile in a deck designed for power.
Favorite combo(s):
- The Gatherers + Hyper Aging or Alien Labyrinth
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THE GATHERERS
Wesley's rating:                3.5
Cole's rating:                  5.5
Conner's rating:                --- (doesn't have much AU)
Data's rating:                  6.0
Q's rating:                     5.5
Ranger's rating:                6.0
Tania's rating:                 "???" (whatever this means)
Tony's rating:                  7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.6
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard,
 but currently under heavy construction)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD242 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Alien Groupie"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #242@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Those of you who play Magic probably know what Laces are -
rare, useless Interrupts. Rare, useless Interrupts?
    @{b}ALIEN GROUPIE@{ub}
    Interrupt, rare.
Plays on an Away Team which has just completed a planet mission. Female
groupie delays beam up of one male (random selection) for one full turn.
@{i}"Lanel, a Malcorian Nurse, agreed to help Commander William T. Riker,
but only if he would..."@{ui}
Yeah, the most interesting thing about this card is the '...' Because
male STCCG'ers might actually be able to use this card to propose
doing '...' to a female or vice versa.
In game aspects, however, this card su-, sorry bites. (Some Decipher
guys want to put a few of these articles on their webpages and they
do not like it if their cards su..., thus they do now bite. But
it means the same thing ;-) )
The thing that makes it utterly useless is the random selection factor.
If I could choose somebody to stay behind, there might be a few
applications actually worth their money, but if I need a combo to do
anything constructive,it should better be great. This one isn't.
And then the time at which I can play it. Only after my opponent has just
scored big points. As if I would want this to happen. Natch. I'd rather
get rid of the guys before the mission attempt. Like with Brain Drain.
This disables a single crewmember much more effectively and I get to
choose which one I want to affect and it's uncommon.
What? You desperately want to strand a crewmember because you want to
attack on the next turn? Play Barclay's Transporter Phobia. Much more
permanent in nature, usable also at other times than after a completed
mission, uncommon, ... You get the picture.
Now let's assume you actually use the card (2% probability), your
opponent solved a mission (total probability 1.2%), you actually have the
card in hand (total: 0.5%), the mission did not put your opponent over
100 points (0.3%), you affected a male that you really want to hurt
(0.2%), your opponent does not use Amanda (0.19999999%) and you do have
other cards ready to make use of the situation (0.05%), what could
you do?
- Attack. This stops your away team and your opponent gets a chance to
  retaliate. And probably wins as your away team can't be that strong when
  you couldn't attack without the Groupie.
- Jamaharon. Send him off doing yet more '...'. Too bad you don't
  regularly play with Risa Shore leave, do you?
- Leave him there for a turn. Maybe your opponent actually waits that
  turn to retrieve the guy. Maybe.
That's it. Great, eh?
Favorite combo(s):
- Really ?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     ALIEN GROUPIE
Wesley's rating:                1.00000000000000006
Cole's rating:                  2.0
Conner's rating:                4.0
Data's rating:                  2.0
Q's rating:                     0.0
Ranger's rating:                4.3
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Tony's rating:                  2.0
Jack's rating:                  5.5
Nanite's rating:                7.0 (What did I create there - HELP!)
Ray's rating:                   7.2
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 3.45454... ('...' ??? Gee, is there a
                                            pattern to this ???)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD243 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/U.S.S. Enterprise"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #243@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's a peacemaker:
    lassic COTD #3
    @{b}U.S.S. ENTERPRISE@{ub}
    Ship, Federation, rare.
    Range 9
    Weapons 8
    Shields 9
    Holodeck, Tractor Beam, requires 1 Command (*), 2 Staff (+).
@{i}"The fifth Starfleet ship named Enterprise, launched in 2363. Built at
the Utopia Planitia shipyards orbiting Mars."@{ui}
It is big, it is bad and it cannot usually attack. But this is not the
point here anyway. The Enterprise is the ship for mission-oriented
decks. Here's why:
- It's fast. 9 range is the best you can get without AU crew.
Speed chart to translate range into probabilities to bridge a gap of
         2 cards   3 cards   4 cards
Range 03   00.55     00.00     00.00
Range 04   04.42     00.01     00.00
Range 05   19.36     00.17     00.00
Range 06   49.38     01.26     00.00
Range 07   78.33     05.97     00.05
Range 08   94.39     19.04     00.38
Range 09   99.28     42.10     01.86
Range 10  100.00     67.80     06.73
Range 11  100.00     86.80     18.11
Range 12  100.00     96.22     37.07
Range 13  100.00     99.32     59.64
(really valid only for Fed or Rommie ships, I assumed you do not seed
Warped Space, but your opponent might do, the error margin is around 2%
if this is not true)
The interesting thing is that you gain a huge jump in 3-card flights at
range 9 and this shows in gameplay as a big speed boost. (You get another
one of these jumps from 9 to 10, so the Decius also greatly benefits from
this speed increase.)
- It has good defense. It is not easy to destroy, period. And that's what
  counts if you want to play a fast mission-solver. Add Nutational shields
  and two ENGINEER and you are proof from direct Borg hits. And no
  un-enhanced non-AU ship can damage it.
- It has high weapons. Just to discourage Klingon K'Vort-Fleets from
  attacking, as they'll nearly always lose a ship from a weapons 8 shot
  unless enhanced.
- A holodeck is fun for space-only decks. Try with Paul Rice & Co.
- And a tractor beam is a plain must. Radioactive Garbage Scows can prove
  really nasty.
- The crew requirements are standard for a large ship, and easy to meet
  with a Fed deck. Plus, the two extra stats points beyond the basic Galaxy
  have been put in the best possible place.
Oh, weaknesses? No Captain's Log benefit, but who needs that on this
ship?
Favorite combo(s):
- Any amount of Bridge crew on the Enterprise.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     U.S.S. ENTERPRISE
Wesley's rating:                9.1701
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                7.0
Data's rating:                  9.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                8.0
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  9.0
Jack's rating:                  8.8
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Ray's rating:                   8.5
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.2
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD244 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/I.P. Scanner"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #244@{ub}
Hi, folks,
let's try a card type of which I have only done one yet - equipment...
    @{b}I.P. SCANNER@{ub}
    Equipment, common AU.
    Where present, nullifies Interphasic Plasma Creatures, Brain Drain
    and Phased Matter.
@{i}"The Interphasic Scanner has been used to detect signatures of phased
matter,invisible interphasic creatures and being from other subspace
domains."@{ui}
Yet another card of the "nullifies ..." type, listing a few Dilemmas or
Interrupts. Let's see what we can get rid of with it.
Interphasic Plasma Creatures: Okay, it drains my Strength. Not really
important, but someday it might become important and I don't like it
sapped. So I could use the scanner, right? I could also use a Mindmeld
personnel and not care about the Dilemma at all. And if I understand it
right, the scanner can only prevent the drain, but not later nullify it,
as the effective Dilemma "plays on table as an event", so I cannot ever
nullify it "where present", because my guys are on the spaceline and
nowhere else. (Q, correct me if I'm wrong here) Next.
Brain Drain: An interrupt that disables one of my crew for a turn, or
doubles the previous Dilemma. Now, if the latter, I ned not fear if I
have a Mindmeld guy, and for the former, if I really need that crewmember
(in the middle of a mission attempt), why not just use an Amanda? Again,
next.
Phased Matter: I need a SCIENCE and an ENGINEER. Well, if I do not have
an ENGINEER, I should be beaten up, and SCIENCE? Did I mention Mindmeld?
So I could for example use T'Pan (SCIENCE x2 + Mindmeld). Once more,
next.
What? No more "next"s? Uh, then it seems this card is a T'Pan with
attributes 0/0/0 who cannot use Vulcan Mindmeld, has no SCIENCE ability
and no staff star.
YUCK !!!
Favorite combo(s):
- Arrgh. Grrr. Well, any two cards that do *not* include I.P. Scanner.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     I.P. SCANNER
Wesley's rating:                1.0
Cole's rating:                  1.1
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  4.0
Q's rating:                     3.0
Ranger's rating:                3.5
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Tony's rating:                  3.0
Jack's rating:                  4.0
Nanite's rating:                4.5
Ray's rating:                   5.5
Nouwa's rating:                 3.0
Rothspar's rating:              "Not used yet"
-----------------------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 3.4
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD245 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Punishment Zone"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #245@{ub}
Hi, folks,
twohundredfortywhat? Have to remember to remind you of the Internet
Expansion part II later, but first...
    @{b}PUNISHMENT ZONE@{ub}
    Dilemma, planet, common AU.
One Away Team member (random selection) is killed OR beam up that
personnel at a penalty. Double penalty if Federation. -5 (or -10) points.
@{i}"On Rubicun III, mediators arrested Wesley Crusher when he fell into a
garden. He was designated for death, which created a Prime Directive
dilemma for Jean-Luc Picard."@{ui}
Uh, still got shivers when I remember this incident. A poison needle can
feel really cold, you know ;-)
At first glance, a minor Armus. At second glance, a less selective
The Higher... the Fewer. At third glance, maybe interesting. Not so much
for the user, but for the one hit by it.
You hit this #*?&% thing. Your opponent randomly selects an away team
member and what now?
a) You have to face no more Dilemmas:
a1) If the person selected is critical for the mission, forget the
points, beam that guy up! After all, it will be paid back soon.
a2) If that guy is not critical and you'd go over 100 points, there's
probably no big question what to do.
a3) Now the hard part: You don't need him here but maybe somewhere else.
Should you or shouldn't you? If he's a vital for a mission you intend to
do soon or he's the last of a certain classification in your team, you'd
better rescue him.
However, especially Feds will often fare better by letting the crewmember
die and later res-Qing him.
a4) You have a Genetronic replicator in play and you can use it. In which
case you should probably better choose the alternative of ... Hey! Did
you really read on ? ;-)
Then remember that you are not stopped by this Dilemma even if you use
the replicator.
b) You have to face more Dilemmas:
b1) The selected person is critical neither for the mission nor does it
seem likely to be affected by another Dilemma without her: See case a2,
a3 or a4.
b2) She's mission critical, but not likely to help you during Dilemmas:
See a1.
b3) It's likely that this person's absence will hurt you during further
Dilemmas: Hard case. If you have a good point lead late in the game, let
her die and try stalling. If you have Emergency Transporter Armbands,
beam her out, follow up with the armbands before hitting the next Dilemma
and try again next round. In any other situation you will have to guess.
Which probably means guessing wrongly :-(
b4) You have a Genetronic replicator in play and you can use it. In which
case you should probably better choose the alternative of ... Oh come on,
it can't be true that I caught you two times with this stupid trick ;-)
And if you seed it ? Always remember to seed something else behind it.
Keep them guessing, that's the only way to have them guess wrongly.
Favorite combo(s):
- Both Love Interests + Punishment Zone + Armus. Anybody left?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PUNISHMENT ZONE
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  6.5
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  7.0
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                6.2
Tania's rating:                 4.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Jack's rating:                  8.1
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Ray's rating:                   7.3
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Rothspar's rating:              2.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.8
Oh, and the Internet Expansion II? Send me your favorite card idea(s),
up to 4, no DS9, VOY or Classic, please! Try to stay true to the show and
provide all important data including the lore. If you present them in COTD
format, more power for you! The five best reader cards will get presented from
COTD 250 onwards, along with one of my own ideas...
But hurry up, I won't take entries after COTD # 248 (Tuesday or so...)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD246 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/The Traveller: Transcendence"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #246{ub}
Hi, folks,
this one is almost a spoiler card:
    Classic COTD #4:
    @{b}THE TRAVELER: TRANSCENDENCE@{ub}
    Event, uncommon
Place besides any player's draw deck. That player must draw one extra
card at the end of each turn. Also, while in play, nullifies
Static Warp Bubble. (Not cumulative).
@{i}"Benevolent humanoid from Tau Alpha C who could transcend space and time
with thought."@{ui}
Yeah, one more Magic spoiler reprinted in ST:CCG and even improved upon.
Not that there are few of them. Here's what I found:
The Traveler                    Library of Alexandria (+)
Anti-Time Anomaly               Armageddon (-)
Kivas Fajo                      Ancestral Recall
Goddess of Empathy              In the Eye of Chaos (+)
Red Alert!                      Fastbond
Thought Maker                   Jester's Mask
Distortion of S/T Continuum     Time Walk (-)
Horga'hn                        Time Vault + several Twiddles (almost)
Palor Toff                      Regrowth (-)
Betazoid Gift Box               Demonic Tutor (+)
(list probably not complete)
Now the Magicians among you will notice that almost all of these cards
are out of print. Seems Decipher had a faible for spoilers.
And just because the Traveler is such a staple, I'd rather not tell you
what it can do (obvious), but a few things you should think about:
- You get a lot of extra cards. So you must find a way to play them, or
they won't do you much good. As your regular card play is only one card
each turn, you need card play enhancers. Interrupts are a good addition
to a fast deck, as they play for free, but make sure their effect is
worthwhile. Red Alert is a classic, but if you have too many Events, you
will be in trouble. Six events in a 30-card draw deck is enough. With
the Traveler and one Kivas Fajo you only get between 10 and 23 turns in
a game, at about 15 average (11-13 if you also have a gift box.) With
these figures, it's obvious that six events is the upper limit.
And don't forget the Devidian door as a means of getting a card into
play.
- Make sure your deck can reach 100 points in those 15 turns, especially
if you intend to go to an official tourney where card exhaustion
victories are only half points.
- You can play the Traveler on your opponent. This will not happen very
often, but it is possible. And if you have a small lead, he's got 4 cards
remaining and you have a Traveler and a Temporal Rift, do just that! Play
the Traveler at the next opportunity and use the rift to make sure his
key crew doesn't solve any missions.
- Same thing the other way round. I sometimes Uxbridge my own Traveler if
I need an extra turn to get ahead or go beyond 100 points before
exhausting my deck.
- The Traveler is a card that helps you only if you can keep it in play.
Uxbridges sent against him are prime-time Q2 targets!
- If you are lucky enough to get both the Traveler and Red Alert in your
opening hand, play the Traveler first. One-card advantage.
- He gets more effective if you keep your draw deck small (35 or less).
If you have a larger draw deck, you might be better off with several
Kivas Fajos. Drawing probability for Traveler is too low and having
several of them is not an advantage (not cumulative).
- You might run into Thought Fire. Consider this fact when selecting crew
members.
- And lastly the Static Warp bubble countering effect turns the one-card
advantage into a two-card advantage. Awesome card.
Favorite combo(s):
- Traveler + Red Alert. A classic and a staple, but incredibly effective.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THE TRAVELER: TRANSCENDENCE
Wesley's rating:                9.5
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                8.0
Data's rating:                  8.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                9.0
Tania's rating:                 7.5
Tony's rating:                  9.0
Jack's rating:                  6.5
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Ray's rating:                   6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Rothspar's rating:              7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.8
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD247 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Alexander Rozhenko"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #247@{ub}
Hi, folks,
how about the youngest personnel in the entire game (at least until they
publish the other Ian Andrew Troi)?
    @{b}ALEXANDER ROZHENKO@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, uncommon.
    Integrity 6
    Cunning 4
    Strength 2
    CIVILIAN, Honor, Youth
@{i}"3/4 Klingon, 1/4 Human male. Born on the 43rd day of Maktag. Son of
Lieutenant Worf and K'Ehleyr."@{ui}
When I first saw that kid I thought "totally useless, except maybe for
a Worf theme deck". But really that useless?
To give the result first: Not a great card, but not useless either.
First, he's half of the best Risa team possible. Pair him up with Amarie
and you have a two-person crew to solve this particular mission. With
Amarie also being able to do Qualor II, you might even make this a theme
(but you'll need a good number of non-aligneds to do it).
Then, he's also one of the three Klingons usable for a pure Fed deck.
With K'Ehleyr (only marginally better) and Worf, you might not only build
an Honor deck (Wormhole negotiations can be done by these three), but
also use the Klingon-enhancing interrupts. Your Rommie friends will think
twice before attacking that vulnerable Fed team if they don't know
whether you might hold an Honor Challenge in your hand.
And if the game really runs badly and you lose one Klingon after the
other?
Try Klingon Death Yell and snatch at least a few points from a failed
mission attempt.
Lastly, Alexander & Co make fair additions to a Klingon deck. Use him as
an excuse to seed a second (Neutral!) Outpost, and throw in a Treaty
Federation/Klingon and use Alexander plus the Treaty to sneak into your
opponent's Fed missions (true, you could also do that with an Espionage
card, but that one only works on one mission - this combo works on all of
them.) Why Alexander instead of Worf? Because you tend to rely on a
powerful off-color card to solve missions and then you're in deep trouble
if you don't draw that treaty. With Alexander, you're not usually in this
danger. If you are really sure you can avoid that trap, just use Data or
any other great Fed personnel. Unless of course, you want to use K'mtar
in order to give little Alex a big boost, but that already implies
relying on the treaty again...
Favorite combo(s):
- Alexander + Worf + K'Ehleyr. Lotsa blue-bordered ridgeheads...
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     ALEXANDER ROZHENKO
Wesley's rating:                4.5
Q's rating:                     4.5
Ranger's rating:                4.5
Ray's rating:                   4.5
Cole's rating:                  3.0
Conner's rating:                3.0
Data's rating:                  3.0
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Tony's rating:                  3.0 (hey, come on, this gets boring ;-) )
Jack's rating:                  6.4
Nanite's rating:                5.1423 (Nanites...)
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Rothspar's rating:              5.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 4.2
(These ratings have not been influenced in any way!)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD248 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Fissure Research"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #248@{ub}
Hi, folks,
if AU has brought us anything, it is that we finally got a few
interesting missions:
    @{b}FISSURE RESEARCH@{ub}
    Mission, space, Fed/Kli/Rom, rare AU.
    35 points
    span 3
    Astrophysics + Physics + 3 AU icon personnel
@{i}"Forcus sector: Investigate quantum fissure between parallel universes
reported here."@{ui}
Hmm... 9 AU personnel for the Feds, 3 for the Rommies and 2 for Klingons.
Plus the 5 non-aligned ones. Not that much for a thing you need three of.
Let's compare the other missions where you need 3 or more of something:
DNA Hunt: Archaeology x3, available 6 Fed, 4 Klingon, 3 Rommie, 3 Non,
          55 pts.
Wormhole: Diplo x5, available 15 Fed, 7 Klingon, 6 Rom, 5 Non... or
          Honor x4, having 12, 15, 3 or 2 respectively,... or even
          Treachery x4 with the figures being 5, 6, 11 and 7, 45 pts.
Investigate Disappearance: Astrophysics x3, but there is another
          possibility that does not need a triple skill
Dyson Sphere and Repair mission: You don't expect me to count the
          ENGINEERS?
Khitomer Research: Honor x3, see above, but it's Romulan only...
Investigate Sighting: Empathy x3, again with an alternative
Secret Salvage: Treachery x4, we had that already
Expose Covert Supply and Strategic Diversion: Yet more Treachery yawn
Fever Emergency: MEDICAL x3: 9, 2, 2, 2, but again an easier alternative.
So except for the really lousy Khitomer research, this one seems to be
the worst mission with a three-of-something requirement. Nearly
unsolvable for anyone but the Feds, unless you are willing to use even
the crappiest characters in your teams. And to make things worse, I even
need four cards for the minimum team, as no AU icon personnel has
Physics. (You can do with three personnel + Mask of Korgano, using the
latter on Kurak or Einstein, but which player in full mental health does
that?)
Heck, four cards can solve me the DNA hunt (the infamous riddle I posted
way back then...) and that thing gives me twenty more points! Nah, never
ever...
.. even if a Cryosatellite can make getting my crew a lot easier. But
solving a mission to be able to then solve a 35-er? I'd rather put Rakal
+ Gov. Worf on that satellite and go for Diplomatic Conference.
Favorite combo(s):
- C'mon... you expect something here after that article?
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     FISSURE RESEARCH
Wesley's rating:                1.5 (0.6 bonus for All Good Things theme)
Cole's rating:                  3.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  6.5
Q's rating:                     6.6
Ranger's rating:                5.0
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  5.0
Jack's rating:                  6.0
Nanite's rating:                4.0
Ray's rating:                   6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Rothspar's rating:              4.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.36
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD249 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Gowron"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #249@{ub}
Hi, folks,
is it a classic one again ? S'pose so.
    Classic COTD #5
    @{b}GOWRON@{ub}
    Personnel, Klingon, rare
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 7
    Strength 9
    V.I.P., Leadership x2, Diplomacy, Honor. Command Star (*).
@{i}"Son of M'Rel. Leader of the Klingon High Council after defeating the
Duras forces in the Klingon Civil War of 2367-68."@{ui}
The big Klingon guy. And for the leader of the High Council, he IMHO
actually is too weak, game-wise. He should be a Klingon Picard
equivalent, having at least one skill besides the fave Klingon Triad,
Leadership, Honor, Diplomacy. After all he must have done something when
he was younger.
His dual Leadership serves exactly one purpose: Alien Abduction, of whose
requirement he can fill two thirds instead of just one. But at 10
Klingons with Leadership (not counting Toral) and three more non-aligned
crew who have that skill, a Klingon deck should not have too many
problems with this Dilemma, anyway, so the second Leadership's value is
very close to nil.
The rest of the skills can be used for several missions, though none of
them requires all three and only 3 missions can at least use Leadership
plus one of the others.
The Investigate Disturbance mission is of course tailored for Gowron who
only needs either 23 more Integrity or Biology to complete the mission.
With Kurn and Kurak, two of the better Klingons, 14 Integrity are already
provided and nearly any two more Klingons will complete that team. Or,
just send Divok (best Klingon Medical) with his High Council chairman,
and have the two resolve that problem alone. A 35er for two people is
quite okay, but nearly the only real application for Gowron. I'd rather
use Governor Worf, who has several extra useful skills and can also
supply a much-needed AU icon in case I want to use the Fek'lhr.
Favorite combo(s):
- If any: Gowron + Divok + Kurak + Roga Danar + Vekor. The only Klingon
  five-person crew that has at least some chances at successfully doing
  missions.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     GOWRON
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Cole's rating:                  6.7
Conner's rating:                6.0
Data's rating:                  8.0
Hal's rating:                   8.5
Jack's rating:                  8.5
Nanite's rating:                6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                8.4
Ray's rating:                   8.5
Rothspar's rating:              6.5
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.3
Tomorrow I'll start the Internet Expansion II. Interleaved with real
cards, 1 to 1, so if you just hate Dream Cards, skip the even numbers
from 250 to 260 and only read odd-numbered articles. But then, you'll be
missing six really great ideas if you do...
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD250 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Draw Sheriff!"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #250@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now we've done it... 250 issues of the STCCG COTD. This really is a very
long time, and for those who are newer to this series, I'll also compile
a history of COTD with some of the best quotes, etc. Maybe I'll even get
it out today...
And for this special event, I'll break my tradition of presenting player
cards in inverse order of power, but start with the second place, because
the card is as special as the day...
    Internet Expansion II - 2nd place
    Author: Tom
    Score: 43 points (not comparable to IE1 scores)
    @{b}DRAW, SHERIFF!@{ub}
    Dilemma, Planet, uncommon
Stand 6-8 paces apart with target opponent. Both players place a
discarded card in top of pants (or skirt). On a simultaneous count to 3,
draw card and throw at opponent. Hitter scores 5 points, person hit loses
5 points. Repeat until at least one hit scored.
@{i}"Worf, Alexander and Troi were trapped in an American Old West holodeck
fantasy in which all the other characters were holos of Data in various
garb. Sheriff Worf had a shootout with the villain."@{ui}
(Tony, sorry for the slight rewording but this shorter version might just
fit on a card, yours was a little too long)
After the rather bland Royale Casino: Blackjack, here is a sidegame that
actually will cause a lot of fun and laughter. The net effect of it even
is the same as in the Royale Casino (+5 and -5 points), but the way to
arrive there is much more fun.
The most effective way to use this card is to seed it and trigger it
yourself. Put it at your outpost mission as the last Dilemma and redshirt
it after playing some Interrupt card (doesn't really matter which, but it
must be discarded). Your opponent will find himself in a shootout with an
unloaded gun. Guess who'll win...
The next really creative application of "Draw, Sheriff" only applies to
really crowded CCG conventions, or, even better, outdoor events. In the
optimal case your opponent just had to discard a valuable black border
rare as his first drop. Picard will do, though the Future Enterprise
causes even more fun. And don't forget, only pick opponents who are
careless enough to play without sleeves. Stand in the Mud, preferably
with a white-border K'Tesh in your pants and watch your opponent squirm.
I'll guess he'll opt to "shoot" his own foot.
Still more uses? Cracking a good(!) joke is always an effective game
tactic, but right on "Three", this might also mislead a throw. Just
remember that this kind of plays might lead to the next thing flying your
way and that this second thing might be somewhat heavier ;-)
And last not least, the effectiveness of this particular card depends
very much on your choice of opponent. That 250-point guy over there might
be the better STCCG player, but your "Draw, Sheriff" will work better
against him than against the 8-year-old girl who just picked up her first
starter.
And like the Chaos Orb, the final benefit will be that we will have
players who, before every tournament, practice card-throwing for hours
instead of tuning their decks. Not bad, that much easier for me to win
Favorite combo(s):
- Draw, Sheriff + Opponent's really valuable card + my totally useless
  common.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     DRAW, SHERIFF!
Wesley's rating:                SQRT(3(X-Y) + 2(A-B) + Pi) (*)
Cole's rating:                  6.0
Data's rating:                  5.0
Gowron's rating:                5.8
Hal's rating:                  10.0
Nouwa's rating:                 1.0
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ranger's rating:                9.8
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Tony's rating:                 10.0
Ray's rating:                   5.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.56
(*) Of course X is opponent's hand cards, Y is my hand cards, A is total
    number of Federation icons in play and B is total number of Klingon
    icons in play. (A New) Hope you got that ;-)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD251 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Frame of Mind"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #251@{ub}
Hi, folks,
as I said, I'm going to interleave cards, so no Internet expansion
today, but instead something really normal:
    @{b}FRAME OF MIND@{ub}
    Dilemma, space/planet/uncommon AU.
One away team member (random selection) now becomes non-aligned with
attributes of 3-3-3 and only two skills (oppponent's choice). Cure
with 3 Empathy present. AU icon.
@{i}"William Riker was captured in 2369 on Tilonus IV, tortured with
neurosomatic techniques and made to believe he was someone else - until
his illusions were shattered."@{ui}
Okay, let's reword this card: One away team member (random selection)
becomes useless. Cure with - forget it, you don't have that.
Really. The hardest condition I've ever seen. 3 of something is always
hefty, even if it's something as common as ENGINEER. But 3 Empathy
will prove to be nearly unsurmountable for Klingons (only two
non-aligned empaths, one with double empathy), very hard for Rommies
(at least they have Rakal) and still difficult for any streamlined
Fed deck. Now add the fact that it is a really universal Dilemma,
perfect for any placement. If I just put six of these in my deck,
I have six Brain Drains. Permanent ones. So you'd better play with
lots of extra personnel or you're not going anywhere. And of
course, this is best for a Rommie stall deck, as you cannot
espionage against my Romulan missions, it fits the theme and if you
get stopped by something I even have a decent chance of winning away
team battles with all your rather weak guys.
But then, can't you even use this Dilemma to your advantage? (Sure
you can if I'm asking such stupid questions ;-) ). Let's assume you
have Mot the Barber on the table. Right, Mot. You send his redshirting
to a Frame of Mind location (place a Sarjenka behind it to stop him).
What was that? Two skills? Umm, guess, you'll give him Barbering
as the one skill, but you'll have to choose something different for
the second one. Did I just gain a skill there?
Just note that Frame of Mind does not erase the classification. So while
a framed Beverly Crusher might no longer be a great or dancing doctor,
she still is MEDICAL (unlike Bev Picard, who'll lose both her MEDICAL)
Put this Dilemma in front of anything that requires skills and not
classifications, preferably in combination with attribute numbers.
Shaka should qualify. 2 Diplomacy? 30 Cunning? That stuff you just
lost? Add a Chalnoth to make sure the right people leave play when
Frame of Mind fails to hit (Oops, that strength drain hurts). Multiply
by 6. I'd like to see the deck that can pass that.
Favorite combo(s):
- One more that works: Frame of Mind + Firestorm
- Frame of Mind + any Love Interest / Parallel Romance
- Frame of Mind + Brain Drain.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     FRAME OF MIND
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   8.9
Jack's rating:                  8.9
Nanite's rating:                9.5
Nouwa's rating:                 8.5
Q's rating:                     8.8
Ranger's rating:                8.6
Ray's rating:                   8.7
Rothspar's rating:              4.0 (?)
Tania's rating:                 4.0 (??????????????????)
Tony's rating:                  7.5
- ----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD252 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Spark of Insight"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #252@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's my contribution to
    Internet Expansion II
    Author: Wesley (natch)
    Score: outside contest
    @{b}SPARK OF INSIGHT@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon
Play on one personnel card. Until end of turn, that personnel gains
one classification  or skill of your choice.
@{i}"In moments of grandeur, human beings can transcend their own limits
by huge amounts, often with a simple idea, as the Traveler once
taught Wesley Crusher."@{ui}
Giant Growth translated into STCCG. It even has both facets of that
Magic card, the offensive aspect (being able to solve a mission) and
the defensive part (not being affected by a nasty Dilemma.)
The use of this card for missions is quite straightforward: You lack
a skill, so you play Spark of Insight on one of your crewmembers and
go in there. Right? Nope. Wrong timing. You go in there, hit those
pesky Love Interests that can snatch away that vital crewmember and
then, right before the last Dilemma (usually a killer and nothing
like Love Interests), you play the Spark. This way, you cannot find
your key card in the Delta Quadrant, forgetting the idea she just
Now, other way round. You have a serious problem, because that
Female Love Interest just got your only doctor heated up and run away and
you already imagine yourself Barclay-Protomorphosed and crushed under
a Crystalline Entity. Exactly in this moment, one crewmember will
probably have an idea that saves him an entire Medical education.
That is, if you hold a Spark of Insight in your hand. But again, wait
for what you lose before trying the Spark. If you get stopped, the
card is wasted and you'll have that much more trouble next time
around.
And you might even play that Spark on your opponent's personnel!
If you seeded a Zaldan somewhere and your opponent has no Diplomats,
well, why not cause Wesley or Beverly to be really diplomatic to that
Zaldan guy for this turn? Or that oh-so-brutal Roga Danar getting a
diplomatic side? Just too bad it doesn't work on Data (he has
Exobiology).
And if your opponent tries to snatch the last 5 needed points from
Worshiper and you cannot find a trace of a Brain Drain in your hand?
Better give somebody Honor and grin.
Oh, and last: You can even discourage your opponent from attacking
that Enterprise you left under supervision of Mot. Just give that
guy Leadership and you can fire back.
A card that practically cannot not be useful should find a place
in every deck. So should this one.
BTW: Some people said that they made stronger versions of this card,
but IMHO a card this versatile need not and should not be stronger.
Just put 4 of these in a deck and see how easy mission-solving
becomes!
Favorite combo(s):
- Spark of Insight + Full Planet Scan. Be prepared.
- Picard + Spark of Insight + Explore Black Cluster. Easy 35.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SPARK OF INSIGHT
Wesley's rating:                9.95
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  9.5
Gowron's rating:                3.6
Hal's rating:                   9.1
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Q's rating:                     5.0
Ranger's rating:                7.0
Tania's rating:                 9.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Ray's rating:                   9.0
- ----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD253 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Conudrum"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #253@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's another "poor man's rare card substitute":
    @{b}CONUNDRUM@{ub}
    Dilemma, Space, common AU.
Unless Integrity >40, this ship must do nothing but chase (at normal
speed) and attack one of your opponent's ships (your choice). Discard
Dilemma.
@{i}"In 2368, U.S.S. Enterprise personnel were given amnesia by Satarrans,
who then attempted to trick the crew into attacking Lysian ships and a
Lysian command station."@{ui}
With some playing skill, you can turn this card into a Cytherians that is
much worse than the real thing (for the one hitting it, natch). The prime
prerequisite for this killer combo is having WNOHGB in play and having
exactly one ship. A decent range on that ship helps. When your opponent
cannot overcome Conundrum, move to one end of the spaceline and maybe do
a mission or two there. Then, just before your opponent arrives, wrap
around to the other end, continue your mission business and wait for your
opponent to make his way back. If the ship is well laden with important
crew your opponent might as well concede unless he somehow gets to
nullify your WNOHGB. Best thing here: only commons involved! Anyone can
do it!
Second try? Sure. But now you'll need something more expensive. Like
a Future Enterprise. Unless your opponent has a Shield enhancer, the
FE shoots everything except a Husnock to bits, as you can be sure you'll
get two attack rounds (your opponent's and yours). Again, make sure your
FE is the only ship in play and leave a leader aboard so you can shoot.
You can even move towards your opponent to speed up the inevitable.
Again, great effect.
Number three: Use it as a Federation attack excuse. If you have a
Wartime Conditions in your deck, this is the opportunity to play it. Just
make sure your ship's defensive values are good enough to survive the initial
attack. Combines well with the previous usage, BTW. Again (though not as
vital), it is a good idea to deny your opponent the choice by having just
one ship in play.
Eh, only one ship in play? Sure, isn't there a card called
"Auto-destruct sequence?" Just evacuate the ship after you pressed the
button and if you can, do it in a situation where it counts. Helps
increasing the net benefit.
Or, if you want to be nasty, just use Temporal Rift on the ship you don't
want your opponent to attack. Then help him spanning the distance a
little faster by coming his way and painting a bullseye on your saucer
section.
And getting his Integrity to 40 or less? C'mon, you read COTD, don't you?
You should find a few ways to do it in these articles.
The card just has one big flaw: It does nearly nothing on its own. You
almost always need a clever (and sometimes hard to pull off) combo.
Hrmph. Except for one case, though: Seed it, hit it yourself (with the FE
and Integrity <40), speed off, choose whatever target you want to
eliminate. Better that IM:Attack Authorization or Wartime Conditions. The
trouble is just it'll cost you several turns to chase. And two more to
attack. Might be too slow.
Favorite combo(s):
- Conundrum + WNOHGB + any ship. Better than destroying and just as
  effective.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     CONUNDRUM
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  5.0
Hal's rating:                   9.2
Jack's rating:                  7.1
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                5.5
Ray's rating:                   5.1
Rothspar's rating:              ---
Tania's rating:                 5.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.5
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD254 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Manheim Time Loop"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #254@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I just recently had a thread about MAGIC spoilers being put into STCCG.
And then I got this cute little fo... er card:
    The Internet Expansion II
    3rd place, 42 points
    Author: Gul Madred
    @{b}MANHEIM TIME LOOP@{ub}
    Interrupt, rare
Plays immediately following another interrupt.  Treat Manheim time loop
as an exact copy of this interrupt, coming from your hand.
@{i}"In 2364, Dr. Paul Manheim did experiments with non-linear time which
caused small time loops to occur.  Things were repeated, causing
confusion and bafflement."@{ui}
Fork. Nothing else. You wait until an Interrupt is played (or you want to
play one yourself) and fire this card to either pay back in equal
currency or just pile injury upon insult (depends on who did the first
move).
Now the decision is what to copy. Probably the best target is any
Kevin Uxbridge. You will nearly always find an events you'd rather not see
and if you don't hold a Kevin yourself, just make use of your opponent's
Kevin. But be careful if you also hold a Q2! Once you played the Time
Loop there is no more way back to nullifying that Kevin. So only do this
if you hate your opponent's event more than you like yours. And
Kevin Uxbridge is such a staple that it's always worthwhile putting in a few
Time Loops instead of more Kevins, after all, they are nearly as good as
the real thing in event-killing and they are just that much more
flexible. Just make sure you have at least one (preferably two) Kevins of
your own, just in case...
Two cards you should not copy are Amanda Rogers or Q2. What would you
want to target these at? A copied Amanda can only target Amanda
(illegal) and the same goes for Q2. So nothing to be gained here.
Other nifty ones:
- Temporal rift (opponent's). After all, why leave his ship ready for
  action if your's isn't ?
- Brain Drain. How often do you wish you had two to disable both
  Whateverists your opponent needs one of to pass that Dilemma.
- Rogue Borg or Crosis. After all, if you have 3 RB in your deck, why
  use 8? The Time loops are again much more versatile.
- Transwarp Conduit. Range x4? Uh, gets me nearly anywhere at much
  better versatility than Wormholes.
- Palor Toff. Nuff said.
- Phaser Burns. Away-team sweeper. Makes battle really attractive.
- Any kind of scan. Gives you information about which one is better,
  not only how bad the one is.
- Jaglom Shrek. Gotcha. This does nothing sensible ;-)
In the end, this card just spells one word: versatility. And versatility
means being able to better adapt to your opponent's strategy. You know
that bad one you are just gonna win against ;-)
Favorite combo(s):
- None, really. There is just too much flexibility in this card to
  choose one.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     MANHEIM TIME LOOP
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  9.21
Gowron's rating:                8.5
Hal's rating:                   8.5
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Q's rating:                     4.0
Ranger's rating:                7.6
Tania's rating:                 7.5
Tony's rating:                  5.5
Ray's rating:                   7.0
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Wa'QaH's rating:                9.0 (anyone know how to pronounce that?)
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.6
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD255 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Red Alert!"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #255@{ub}
Hi, folks,
this one is just a classic. I've never seen a deck without it. (Okay, the
one where its player just had a starter and a warp pack doesn't count...)
    Classic COTD #6
    @{b}RED ALERT!@{ub}
    Event, common.
Plays on table. Allows you to play as many Ship, Personnel and Equipment
cards as desired each turn.
@{i}"The state of maximum crew and systems readiness aboard starships."@{ui}
The prime Uxbridge target, as this card is fast. Really fast. No, faster
than that. It is FAST (Hope the planeswalkers among you got this
in-joke!).
The problem here is not what to do with it. That is obvious. The question
is, is it worth starting a major interrupt battle about your opponent's
Red Alert ?
If your opponent is lucky enough to draw a Red Alert on the first turn
and then instantly plays it, do anything you can to get rid of it.
Uxbridge is fine, but Yellow Alert is even better, as it cannot be
countered before it hits the table and destroys the Red Alert. If you
hold both a Yellow Alert and an Uxbridge, lucky you. Play the Yellow and
wait for a Red one of your own, then kill the Yellow and go ahead.
The different case is when your opponent holds 3 or less cards when
playing a Red Alert. At best (with a Traveler) he's going to play 4 cards
next turn and that's it. In such a case, save your Uxbridge for something
better or shoot that Traveler which will soon reduce him to only one card
per turn anyway. By the way, that is the killer setup #1 anyway. Traveler
plus Red Alert. Lots of cards and a way to get them onto the table. Can't
beat this by much.
Oh, and if you hold the Traveler and a Red Alert? I told you, play the
Traveler first. Not only do you get an extra card, you will also have a
good chance at drawing out the only Uxbridge and getting your Red Alert
into play uncountered. And you need it for only one turn if you get it in
the very beginning. Six personnel and ship cards is enough to start doing
something constructive in turn 2.
But then, a good STCCG deck is not one that wins because of its Red
Alert, but the one that even wins if the Red Alert is the bottom card of
the draw deck. So don't rely on it. If you run up against an
Uxbridge-heavy deck, you'll never get anything from a Red Alert even if
you throw in three of them.
(BTW: That's why Wrath of Wesley is so effective. It works with 5 crew on
the table and if you get an outpost bluff past your opponent, you can
even get a turn one Gift Box (requires your opponent to play either
Investigate Time Continuum or Evaluate Terraforming). Seed the Gift Box
and The Higher... He'll never know. Uh, didn't get that deck listing? Try
Decipher's web site or InQuest #16)
Favorite combo(s):
- Red Alert + Traveler:Transcendence. Plain eeevil.
- Yellow Alert + (later) Uxbridge + Red Alert. Hoard some crew while
  denying your opponent the opportunity to play his, and play several
  events. Once you have no more events, Uxbridge the Yellow Alert at the
  end of his turn and play Red Alert!
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     RED ALERT!
Wesley's rating:               10.0
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Conner's rating:                5.0
Data's rating:                  9.0
Hal's rating:                  10.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
Nanite's rating:                9.52593
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Ray's rating:                   9.0
Rothspar's rating:              9.99995
Tania's rating:                 8.5
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.3
Good news: There will soon be a new web page for the STCCG COTD. I will
be able to use Conner's designs and re-install the webboard. You should
get the URL within the next two weeks.
For a sneak preview at the new maintainer, try
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/ccgdnnis.jpg ;-)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD256 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/U.S.S. Pasteur"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #256@{ub}
Hi, folks,
those of you who created a 1-byte variable for the number when indexing their
COTD's will be in trouble today. All others can continue with me at warp speed:
    Internet expansion II
    place 5, 39 points. Author:Cole
    @{b}USS PASTEUR@{ub}
    Ship, Federation, Rare
    Hope-class
    Requires 1 Command (*) 2 AU
    Range 13
    Weapons 3
    Shields 5
    Tractor Beam, Sickbay*, AU Icon
    Sickbay - Functions as MEDICAL if a MEDICAL personnel present.
@{i}"Alternate future Starfleet Medical starship.  Commanded by
Captain Beverly Picard."@{ui}
This is about the 10th version of the Pasteur I've seen, but it's somewhat
cool. The standard is of course the 13(or 14) range, 4 weapons, 4 shields
variation that requires but 2 crew. That one is a strong card, but not really
cool. This one around here has the extra twist of having the Sickbay
installation.
First of all, with this particular ship you get the range of the
Future Enterprise for two AU icons instead of three. It doesn't look much of a
difference, but here we have a ship we can consistently get flying even without
first doing a mission to get at the Cryosatellite.
Of course the price we pay is that this "Future Enterprise replacement" cannot
sensibly attack. But aren't we talking about Federation ships here anyway? The
real price is vulnerability. At Shields of 5, this ship can be damaged by any
single K'Vort or whatever. And then the incredible range is gone and we are
talking about shooting sitting ducks. So this ship is not at all worthwhile
playing against a Klingon or Romulan with trigger-happy fingers, as it won't
survive very long. After all, the only thing your "friend" needs to do is place
a 7 or 8 range ship just over 8 span from your outpost. Regardless what you do,
you are within his movement range once you move away from the outpost. And at
just one staff for a K'Vort, he's not doing badly, dedicating two cards to
slowing and maybe even stopping your entire game.
So we have one of these cards that penalize the opponent for playing Fed as
your Fed friend will not be able to do what I just suggested. Unless he uses 3
cards and a non-aligned ship.
So you need two more cards to use the Pasteur effectively. Beverly Picard (who
is quite useful anyway, but more so on this ship) and Captain's Log. Beverly
gets MEDICAL x3 (Sickbay), and your Weapons and Shields are now 6/8, good
enough to withstand an attack.
And the sickbay? A cute idea. If you have any MEDICAL, you get an extra one,
no longer having to worry about MEDICAL x2 requirements on space missions and
Dilemmas. On planets it helps you just nothing, except that you can beam up
after contracting a Rem Fatigue Hallucinations and possibly get a third MEDICAL
from the sickbay. In the right deck (all space missions!), this can give you an
interesting edge.
Favorite combo(s):
- Pasteur + Captain's Log + Beverly Picard. Almost a Future Enterprise.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     U.S.S. PASTEUR
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Gowron's rating:                7.9
Hal's rating:                   8.9
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Q's rating:                     5.0 ("Duh. As if we're never [...]")
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Tania's rating:                 6.5
Tony's rating:                  8.5
Ray's rating:                   6.0
Nanite's rating:                8.5
Wa'QaH's rating:                4.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.2
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD257 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Risa Shore Leave"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #257@{ub}
Hi, folks,
with only three workdays to go before I can take my annual holidays (no
fears: I'm not traveling...), I could rather take a good look at this:
    @{b}RISA SHORE LEAVE@{ub}
    Mission, planet, Federation, rare AU.
    30 points, span 3
    Music + Youth + CIVILIAN x2 + Female + Male
@{i}"Risa: Have a good, relaxing holiday on the pleasure planet."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A mission? I'd rather say a "no mission". But you can get some points for it
and, if you don't take the word "holiday" too seriously (Picard showed how
it works ;-) ), you can even discover an artifact or two. Now the
requirements are rather strange: Youth + Music are not used that often, and
I don't understand the point about taking a female there, with all these
girls wanting Jamaharon already on the planet ;-). But the skills aren't
that hard to get in a Fed deck. After all, you're usually playing Wesley
(Youth) and Picard or Data (Music), right? And you also normally have a
MEDICAL (For Feds this means a female, unless you're playing Tarses, but I
don't think you're doing that) The point around here is that you need 2
CIVILIANs. And these are hard to get if you want to do anything constructive
besides Risa with them. Alexander Rozhenko should qualify. He's not the
worst Redshirt (at five points for a Death Yell!) and he also brings Youth
and his masculinity (if that already counts ;-) ) with him. Complement this
with Amarie (female musician who, fortunately, also is CIVILIAN) and you
have a two-person team for this particular mission.
But if you do use these two, do't forget to throw in several non-aligneds
(at least Roga Danar and Vekor) to get skills for Qualor II Rendezvous,
which, with Amarie already present, is a kind of bargain.
The rest? Oh, you want to solve four more missions? Too bad. I don't know
any mission that complements this selection well enough to be worth
recommending. Maybe in the next expansion, we should see some more missions
that can make use of the till-now neglected skills, but at current time,
this is not enough for a full deck's complement.
And the Jamaharon factor? You get a portable Male's Love interest. Not too
bad, but don't forget to make full use of it. Send some Redshirt in a
Runabout to visit the Cytherians and then have him get some feelings and
instantly return to Risa (without his ship). How convenient if you just
built your outpost here... This way you get 15 points per trip and even get
your crew back.
In this case, you're not even that interested in the missions, so you could
as well build your deck around Risa + Qualor (+ 3 Cytherians). Yet another
idea for Nick, eh? (BTW: This one also works to retrieve a love-interested
male from a distant planet you never intended to visit...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Risa + Outpost + Jamaharon + your stranded male
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     RISA SHORE LEAVE
Wesley's rating:                6.0
Cole's rating:                  4.5
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  5.0
Hal's rating:                   6.1
Jack's rating:                  6.9
Nanite's rating:                4.0
Nouwa's rating:                 4.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                5.2
Ray's rating:                   6.0
Rothspar's rating:              5.0
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Tony's rating:                  5.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                5.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD258 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Boarding Party"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #258@{ub}
Hi, folks,
you know that certain Captain? He who tries to make it into the Internet
Expansion by delivering so many ideas that one just has to make it? Well, in
this case he was successful (though out of medal range):
Internet Expansion II
place #4 (41 pts)
Author: Capt. Stasis
    @{b}BOARDING PARTY@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon
Plays during ship-to-ship combat. If opponent's ship is damaged, beam away
team aboard, and engage in away team combat with crew. Ship and remaining
equipment become Neutral when captured, if ENGINEER present.
@{i}"During ship combat, boarding parties attack the ship's crew, trying to take
the ship from within."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally a way to gain something from ship battles other than just blowing up
opposing hardware and wetware. Without this card, battle decks were more or
less limited to the Armada approach with several Klingon K'Vort class ships
delivering cumulative damage. Now a different approach, with a larger ship
and substantial crew also is possible, thereby also multiplying your attack
capabilities as you can use the ship as your own as soon as you successfully
capture it. The ENGINEER requirement is not really a harsh one (though
correct from story perspectives - think what Kirk & Co could have done with
the Bounty in ST 3 / 4 had it not been for Scotty), so you should usually be
able to fly the ship, and even if not, you at least prevented your opponent
from Paloring (or Res-Q'ing) it. The disadvantage of this combat style is
that you need several turns before you are finally able to capture the ship
and the opposing personnel still get chances to act while you initiate a
battle turn after turn (they're only stopped on your turn, so they can do
something during their turn - like flying back to the outpost or getting
some help. They might even beam off the ship at the nearest convenient
planet location or start an auto-destruct sequence, so there is a
significant risk involved in doing battle this way.
Taking into account that you can arrive at a very similar result using Rogue
Borg and Lore Returns doesn't help the power of this strategy, but on the
other hand, your crewmembers are usable for more things than Rogue Borg are.
In the end, this card is a nice, though sometimes merely cosmetic, addition
to battle strategies, unless you can find a way (or an opponent) that helps
you overcome the risks. Honor Challenges and Phaser Burns help getting the
battle done much faster (important around here), and of course the cutest
play is to turn tides on a Klingon ship battler, whose poorly manned K'Vorts
can be taken in one turn and then turned on himself. After all, any card
that helps battle to be a more viable strategy is highly welcome (though not
Trek spirit, this game can use more diversified strategies...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Boarding Party + Phaser Burns (+ maybe Honor Challenge). Rather fast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BOARDING PARTY
Wesley's rating:                5.2
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  7.8
Gowron's rating:                4.2
Hal's rating:                   8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                9.5
Tania's rating:                 9.1
Tony's rating:                  3.0
Ray's rating:                   1.0
Nanite's rating:                5.1
Wa'QaH's rating:                9.2
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD259 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Bok"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #259@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's an example of a card that at first sounds really good:
    @{b}BOK@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, uncommon.
    Integrity 4
    Cunning 9
    Strength 4
    OFFICER, Greed, ENGINEER, Treachery, Computer Skill, Command Star (*)
@{i}"Former Ferengi DaiMon. Son killed by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in battle.
Seeks revenge at all costs."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds good? Four skills, a dual classification, 17 attribute total, command
star, non-aligned. Seems to me like the recipe for a universally good
personnel card. But then, until now I never used him in any deck. Why?
The dual classification OFFICER/ENGINEER. Its rather common and those that
have it are usually among the best cards in the game. Data and Wesley spring
to mind. But they don't get their great value from the dual, they get it
from the remaining skills. So let's single it out. OFFICER is pretty
useless, you normally have enough of them, and ENGINEERs? Even in
non-aligned, I have Dr. Reyga (ENGINEER/SCIENCE) and Roga Danar
(ENGINEER/SECURITY), who, combined, will usually be enough for me to pass
most Dilemmas and have a better second classification. So, while better than
a pure ENGINEER, this is still not good.
His most valuable non-classification skill is Computer Skill and again Roga
Danar also has it. Plus there are several decent crewmembers in any
affiliation that can also provide this skill.
Treachery is one that just might make it worthwhile, being rather uncommon
outside Romulan, but so are missions that provide a good effort/reward ratio
and involve Treachery without being Romulan. And as it's not worth anything
for Dilemmas or other cards (except for the rarely-played IM: Attack
Authorization), you could as well scratch it off the card.
Leaves me with Greed whose uses are limited to getting 5 points off a
Worshiper or maybe 6 - 12 points off a Latinum Payoff if you play a battle
deck. Once again, no justification for inclusion.
Attributes? Integrity 4 leaves an open flank for Firestorm, 9 Cunning, while
substantial, is odd and thus a great target for Hunter Gangs and 4 Strength
doesn't get me too far in away team battles. It seems that unless I go for
high Cunning missions, these attributes are stuck in the wrong places. (Give
me 5/8/4 and I won't complain!)
In the end, the card looks good. But it doesn't play that well. Sorry. Some
people use it as a Roga Danar replacement, but this only works if you need
Danar as ENGINEER. I usually care more for his SECURITY and in this case I'm
lost here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Bok + Thought Maker: For thematic reasons and in order to fill this line
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BOK
Wesley's rating:                4.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                5.0
Data's rating:                  7.3
Hal's rating:                   8.8
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Nanite's rating:                7.53
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                4.5
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Rothspar's rating:              ---
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Tony's rating:                  6.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD260 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Penalty Box"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #260@{ub}
Hi, folks,
before I present the winner of the Internet expansion II, here's the close
calls, i.e. the ones that just didn't make it in...
10th: Saucer Separation       (Cpt. Stasis)
9th:  Emergency Course Change (John Teti)
8th:  Starship Hijacking      (Data)
7th:  Disabled Gambit         (Tony)
6th:  Q-Bubble                (Ray)
And the big one? Well, the author of it is an old COTD contributor / rater.
To be exact, the oldest one. With us since #6, now on #1: Jack Dracula
with...
(DRUMROLL)
.. a card that scored 49 points ...
(even louder Drumroll)
    @{b}PENALTY BOX@{ub}
    Dilemma, planet/space, uncommon Internet Expansion II.
Randomly choose a unique crew member. That crew member is taken out of the
misson attempt, and set aside. If the misson attempt fails, that crew member
is removed from the game.
@{i}"Q often thought that he would get the best from people by raising the
stakes."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So simple. A hoser for expensive decks and one that gets you into nice
strategy problems when seeding it. Used correctly, this Dilemma is better
than an Armus, used wrongly it's significantly weaker. The similarity is
that you get to remove one crewmember at random from the current mission
attempt.
Now for the differences:
- Penalty Box is guaranteed to hit a unique. So your probabilities are
  slightly better for getting a good crewmember.
- There is no Genetronic Replicator that could be used to save the person
  just sent into the penalty box.
- If you really get the person, Res-Q won't help. Understandably, why would
  Q bring back the one he just punished?
- You can use it in space, which is a big advantage.
- But, on the other hand, you might have to hand back the crewmember
  unharmed, if your opponent still manages to do the mission.
- And of course it can be nixed by Q2.
So, to make really good use of this Dilemma, it's obvious you'll have to
combine it with something else. If you have the resources and want to be
mean, use it in the combination Penalty Box - any Love Interest - Q (on
planets) or Box - Tarellian Plague ship - Q (in space). The aim of the
middle Dilemma is to send away another person so the probability of nailing
the team with Q is greatly enhanced. Multiplied by six missions, your
opponent will wonder where all his crew disappeared, and, with only the
middle Dilemma affected by the Planet/Space choices of your opponent you
might put 4 of each in your deck, thus making sure you correctly seed at
least 4 missions and still have 3 artifact/doorway slots left in your deck.
For less expensive combos, try it with Worshiper or (in space) Radioactive
Garbage Scow! The latter one is a 100% killer combo and the former is nearly
as safe for planet missions.
But just for story fun, I still prefer the Penalty Box - Q combo (without
any intervening nasties). First one member of the crew gets thrown into the
box and then Q's judgement over the rest of the crew decides the fate of the
ill-mannered crewmember that dared to taunt our omnipotent friend in the
first place.
And for the rest - well, rarity of the card is adequate, it reflects the
show and Q's "penalty box" concept - even to the point that there can only
be one in it at a time, as the first personnel is killed before you can hit
another Penalty Box under a different mission. Decipher guys, this is a
worthy one!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Penalty Box + Q. What else?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PENALTY BOX
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Data's rating:                  7.2
Gowron's rating:                8.8
Hal's rating:                   9.9
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Q's rating:                     6.9 (you have your own?)
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Tania's rating:                 8.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
Ray's rating:                   6.5
Nanite's rating:                6.1
Wa'QaH's rating:                9.9
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: I misattributed a card in the Expansion earlier on. "Draw, Sheriff" is
not by Tony, it was Tom (not Braunlich, natch!).
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD261 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Data"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #261@{ub}
Hi, folks,
sorry for the gap, but I was hired (err... drafted) to co-organize a meeting
whose subject matter had very little to do with Star Trek, but with really
old stuff. Like MG sports cars (1930 - 1970). But here's something else
that's rather classic:
    Classic COTD # 7
    @{b}DATA@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 12
    Strength 12
    OFFICER, ENGINEER, Computer Skill x2, Music, Astrophysics, Exobiology
    Command Star (*).
@{i}"Lt. Commander Data is a sentient android created by Dr. Noonien Soong. Has
positronic brain. Desires to be human. Once left his head in San Francisco."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This personnel card looks as if he had five skills (not counting the x2).
Wrong. He has seven.
WHAT? Seven? Right. His sixth skill is being Data. It is one of the
requirements for Investigate Time Continuum. And the seventh is even less
visible: Soong-Type Android. Not only does this skill give him several
resistances to otherwise rather deadly Dilemmas, but it also helps actually
overcome a few of them. Try Ktarian Game or Malfunctioning Door. Of course
this particular trait also helps when using a Vulcan Nerve Pinch or the
less-than-great Lore's Fingernail. But his other abilities are no less
excellent. The OFFICER/ENGINEER combination is not much more than an
ENGINEER that might in rare cases save you a crewmember for a Naiskos or a
Senior Staff Meeting, but even ENGINEER in itself is often worth it,
especially with all these multi-ENGINEER requirements in this game.
Astrophysics is the higest-valued non-classification (non-CAPS) skill in
this game as it is needed for a high number of missions and relatively rare.
Besides Scotty, Mirok and Reyga the non-rare Astrophysicists are not worth
playing.
Exobiology is another one of these rare skills you only get in a few cards
but need for a number of missions.
Leaves us with Computer Skill, one of the few skills you can actually use
two of and Music. The latter can even come in handy in a few cases in spite
of not using the Ressikan Flute (with which it greatly combines), if you
encounter a Crystalline Entity or want to take a quick trip to Risa.
And on top of this rather long skill list, you get 28 attribute points. All
values are even (defying Hunter Gangs and such stuff) and not too shabby.
After all there are several personnel cards whose highest value is
substantially below 8. Alexander Rozhenko for example (Integrity 6). And
(puzzle!) there is one personnel card whose highest attribute is a mere 5!
Try to figure this out without consulting your card binders... (Don't send
solutions, it's quite easy. And it's not Mot!)
To sum it up, as versatile as a personnel card will get. But with a hefty
price tag attached to it. Less wealthy players might go for a Wesley
Crusher, or if even less money is available, for a Scotty. To get a better
personnel card however, you'll have to go a long way. Maybe a Beaming Clone
(COTD #106, Dream Card, copies any one personnel card at the outpost it's
played to) might someday take the top slot on the list, but as it stands,
Data is the #1 guy in the game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- About any Federation crew that involves him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     DATA
Wesley's rating:                9.5
Cole's rating:                  8.6
Conner's rating:                9.0
Data's rating:                 10.0
Hal's rating:                   8.0
Jack's rating:                  9.0
Nanite's rating:               10.Overflow
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Q's rating:                     9.5
Ranger's rating:                9.0
Ray's rating:                   8.75
Rothspar's rating:              8.5
Tania's rating:                 9.0
Tony's rating:                 10.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 9.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD262 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/U.S.S. Sutherland"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #262@{ub}
Hi, folks,
we just had Data, right? So why not continue this thread and take a look at
    @{b}U.S.S. SUTHERLAND@{ub}
    Ship, Federation, uncommon.
    Range 7
    Weapons 7
    Shields 7
    Holodeck, Tractor Beam. Requires 1 Command (*), 1 Staff (+).
@{i}"Named for Horatio Hornblower's fictional flagship. Briefly commanded by Lt.
Commander Data during the Klingon Civil War blockade."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the most bashed cards in this game. Or so it at least was
until AU was released. Inferior to the common U.S.S. Nebula by one Range
point, this ship does not seem the best buy in the fleet, especially
compared to vessels like the Runabout (7/5/5 without requirements) or the
Mercenary Ship (7/7/7 for one Staff, but no Tractors/Holodeck).
Then, AU suddenly fixed the situation with the release of the Captain's Log
card. If you have the right person aboard, your ships get a +3 boost on both
Weapons and Shields. And with the Sutherland you have a Captain that you'd
use anyway in any decent Fed deck, so you could as well get a 7/10/10 ship.
But somehow this still doesn't seem worth the effort. For one extra card,
you can staff the Enterprise (9/8/9) or a Husnock (6/9/12) and get the
skills of an additional person and gain the freedom of not having to rely on
drawing two particular cards (Data + Captain's Log).
And in a Fed deck, I'd pretty any day prefer an 8/7/8 to a slower 7/10/10
with the same requirements. Shields are high enough to withstand a K'Vort
class attack, and I'm not usually attacking anyway. Plus, for the extra
Event card I'd need to get the bonus, I could also play a Nutational
Shields, giving me at least 8/7/10 on the Nebula if Data is aboard plus an
easier Shield bonus on the other ships in my fleet than the Captain's Log
could give me.
So even with the Captain's Log, the Sutherland doesn't make the cut to being
a good Federation ship. Give me a standard Nebula and I'll outfly you every
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Yuck! Who put this section here ? ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     U.S.S. SUTHERLAND
Wesley's rating:                3.5 (-2 for Nebula)
Cole's rating:                  5.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  7.0
Hal's rating:                   9.0 ?!?
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.5
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                8.7
Ray's rating:                   ---
Rothspar's rating:              5.5
Tania's rating:                 7.5
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD263 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Lt. (j.g.) Picard"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #263@{ub}
Hi, folks,
even at the current going rates for STCCG cards (whine), there are still
people who claim not to be able to buy a Black Border Picard. They're wrong:
    @{b}LT.(J.G.) PICARD@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, uncommon AU.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 6
    Strength 6
    SCIENCE, Astrophysics, Navigation, Staff Star (+). AU Icon.
@{i}"Jean-Luc Picard regretted his reckless youth until Q's alternate timeline
antics revealed that he would have been a mere assistant astrophysics
officer."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, not the Picard. But at least Picard and black border. And at least a
decent SCIENCE for some deck designs that don't rely on Vekor for MEDICAL
protection. Like a space mission deck.
After all, SCIENCE, besides being absolutely vital against some rather nasty
Dilemmas doesn't help you much, but somehow you seem to need it in any deck.
At least any deck that does not rely on redshirting Barclay's Protomorphosis
Disease. SCIENCE for mission-solving? Well, not in this color. Warped Space
has the only SCIENCE requirement in all missions and that one's red, so
unless you play a treaty or espionage deck, your SCIENCE officer is merely a
life insurance.
So why not give him at least a few usable skills? And that's where many of
them also severely lack. Most of them only sport a few unimportant skills.
(That's why Vekor is so often used: She's MEDICAL and you need at least
three of that classification, so you get the SCIENCE for free.)
Now our alternate Picard has at least something going for him that breaks
this pattern: Astrophysics and Navigation. Both good skills, and unlike the
combinations on many other cards, these both fit one mission type: Space
missions.
So for a planet deck, forget this guy, but in space, he might be worth
considering. Especially if you're playing two or more of these: Pegasus
Search, Investigate Disappearance, Study Nebula, Explore Dyson Sphere,
Investigate Rogue Comet, Study Plasma Streamer, Fissure Research. Seven
choices. Better than nothing.
And so is the card. Not the greatest ever seen, but better than nothing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Hmm. Anything strikingly obvious ? Guess not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     LT. (J.G.) PICARD
Wesley's rating:                5.5
Cole's rating:                  6.0
Conner's rating:                ---
Data's rating:                  6.5
Hal's rating:                   7.6
Jack's rating:                  6.8
Nanite's rating:                6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                6.5
Ray's rating:                   5.0
Rothspar's rating:              4.5
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Tony's rating:                  5.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD264 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Betazoid Gift Box"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #264@{ub}
Hi, folks,
before any nitpicker criticizes my numbering: Classic COTD #8 already
exists. I accidentally redid Wormhole back in #73, so count that in.
Therefore we continue with
    Classic COTD #9
    @{b}BETAZOID GIFT BOX@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Immediately look through your draw deck for up to thirty seconds and choose
three cards to place in your hand. Reshuffle draw deck and discard artifact.
@{i}"Traditional device for presenting important gifts. Its sculpted face comes
to life boisterously presenting its contents to the recipient."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ancestral Tutor or Demonic Recall? Anyway, more than just a good Artifact.
Three good cards can almost always be the difference between winning and
losing and getting the three best cards in your deck, even adaptable to the
situation you are in right now is very close to being an over-powerful
spoiler (Magic would have discontinued this card after the Alpha run ;-) )
The only limitation you have is that you may only take thirty seconds to get
your cards. So before turning your deck around, mentally go through it and
choose your favorites before even flipping over one card as there is
practically no going back once you took a certain card from the deck and now
find you need another one more urgently.
And then, you are of course bound by the artifact limitation that you need
to solve at least one mission before using the effect. But with all those
missions that can be solved by one or two characters, this should not be too
hard, even pretty early in a game. That is, for Federation crews. Romulans
can at least resort to Excavation (with Galathon being a common and
universal Archaeologist) and both Klingons and Romulans can go for Relief
Mission. In both cases, Redshirting from the Outpost (without previously
playing any crew besides the one to be redshirted) is a viable strategy to
get past some of the nastier Dilemmas without assembling a real crew. Or, if
your opponent is careless enough to play the same affiliation you do, bluff
him out by seeding the Gift Box and two space(!) Dilemmas under a planet
mission you can solve with a lone character and rush in, if you're lucky on
the first turn. The misseeded Dilemmas get discarded (but discourage your
opponent from trying the mission) and you snatch the artifact and the
points. Outside a tournament, you can of course also substitute two more
useful artifacts for the space Dilemmas.
One more: If you have several artifacts, always seed the Gift Box at the
place you want to go to first. With it, you can easily filter the cards you
need out of your deck and retrieve the other artifact one turn later. And
I'd always recommend distributing your artifacts a bit. Not three of them
under the same mission, even if it is allowed. Unless you are pretty sure
your opponent will never attempt and complete this particular mission.
And last: One rather nasty combo is Betazoid Gift Box + Palor Toff. It is
not legal in tournaments (used artifacts placed out of play), but outside
that environment, you can translate the three card advantage into a five to
seven card advantage, at Interrupt speed. What more do you want?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Betazoid Gift Box + Horga'hn. The Box gets you the cards needed to fetch
  the Horga'hn and the points you acquire along the way make sure you win.
- Betazoid Gift Box + multiple Palor Toffs: Always get a Palor and two cards
  you need. Palor the Gift Box, lather, rinse, repeat. Until you run out of
  cards or Palors. Careful: This combo can result in bodily injuries if
  executed more than three times in a row.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     BETAZOID GIFT BOX
Wesley's rating:               10.0 (rather 30.0 for 3 top-notch cards)
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Conner's rating:                7.5
Data's rating:                  9.0
Hal's rating:                  10.0
Jack's rating:                  7.9
Nanite's rating:                9.95
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Q's rating:                    10.0 ("Don't get me started" ???)
Ranger's rating:                7.2
Ray's rating:                   8.25
Rothspar's rating:              8.5
Tania's rating:                 9.0
Tony's rating:                  8.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD265 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Masaka Transformations, Vulcan Mindmeld, ETA"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #265@{ub}
Hi, folks,
there are a few cards that have been reviewed in the past (mostly before AU)
and have gained some additional uses. For this purpose, here are three
mini-reviews to be added to the original articles:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    # 97 @{b}MASAKA TRANSFORMATIONS@{ub}
    Event, uncommon.
Plays on any player. That player must shuffle entire hand, place on bottom
of draw deck then draw the same number of cards from the top. Discard event
after use.
This one has gained an extra use with the AU card Devidian Door. You can on
the one side use it to retrieve your own Devidian Door (a risky proposition
unless your current draw deck size is less than your hand size, but a
perfect play if you know there is a Devidian Door in the last 5 cards of
your deck and you have 6 cards in hand and need to use the door for some
purpose). But more powerful is the use of this card to make an opponent
discard a Devidian Door when he just used the effect and wants to place it
out of play during his next turn. In this case, you can make for a very fast
victory. Just have some Uxbridge defense ready.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    #132 @{b}VULCAN MINDMELD@{ub}
    Interrupt, uncommon.
Allows all mindmeld personnel to add to their skills. For one turn, add all
of the skills of another personnel who is present.
Do I have to mention Ajur and Boratus? Their ability works only once per
game. That is once for Ajur and once for Boratus. Plus once for Sarek, once
for T'Pan, once for Dr. Selar... you get the picture. Equally nice for
getting a whole Federation Armada "around the corner" with a single Lakanta.
Mindmeld three Vulcans with Lakanta, then distribute them among your ships
and fly away. This combo, plus Wesley, can also be used if you need an
urgent attribute boost of 4 or 8 points somewhere as this ability also can
be enhanced. The other abilities, Dathon's and Mickey D's are less useful to
duplicate, to say the few uses are rather obscure, but still, a few
surprising options.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    #95 @{b}EMERGENCY TRANSPORTER ARMBANDS@{ub}
    Interrupt, common.
Beam personnel up or down at any time, except during Dilemma resolution,
even during a battle before the winner is determined (paraphrased, I only
have the Black Border card)
While you still cannot use this card during the resolution of a Dilemma,
thus saving yourself against a mission attempt gone horribly wrong, you can
now use it between Dilemmas again (as it was in the very beginning with the
old wording). So you have some extra options when having hit a Dilemma you
recognize as preparatory for something really nasty and you don't think you
can survive the big hitter, you can now either abort the attempt and come
back later or (and many people forget this) beam in some reinforcements! The
latter one is a big surprise for some trigger-happy away teams who, after
triple-counting their 32-29 Strength advantage, attack and suddenly find
that that funny twinkling light was a Roga Danar beaming in, resulting in
fatalities on the wrong side. The new timing rules have breathed some extra
life into a little-used card.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combos:
- Masaka Transformations + a Devidian door refusing to come up. Effective
  hand size doubling once you're down to the last few cards.
- Vulcan Mindmeld + Lakanta + Federation Armada. Who needs a WNOHGB?
- ETA + any strong character left behind on ship, during battle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)
                   MASAKA         MINDMELD          ETA
Wesley's rating:   6.5            6.0               7.0
Cole's rating:     6.7            7.0               4.5
Conner's rating:   4.0            5.5               5.5
Data's rating:     7.0            8.0               6.0
Hal's rating:      7.5            6.7               9.9
Jack's rating:     6.7            7.0               8.8
Nanite's rating:   8.5            4.5               7.0
Nouwa's rating:    6.5            5.0               6.0
Q's rating:        5.0            7.0               8.0
Ranger's rating:   5.5            7.8               4.0
Ray's rating:      7.5            4.3               3.0
Rothspar's rating: ---            6.0               4.5
Tania's rating:    3.0            4.0               5.0
Tony's rating:     7.0            6.0               7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:  10.0            4.0               7.0
--------------------------------------------------------
AVERAGE RATING:    6.4            6.0               6.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: [e-mail]
Visit the Web Pages!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html
(great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD266 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Tasha Yar"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #266@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Hi, folks,
with cards really starting to run out there's one request I hear more than
any other:
    @{b}TASHA YAR@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 7
    Strength 8
    SECURITY, Honor, Leadership, Staff Star (+).
@{i}"Lieutenant Natasha Yar served as chief of security on the U.S.S.
Enterprise. Curageous orphan of Turkana IV. Proved Lt. Commander Data fully
functional."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huh, why I never touched her? She's so similar to her alternate self and
those other Federation Security guy (the one with the head) that I never
thought her to be of any interest. So I got myself a nasty little idea: How
if I put together a COTD by just quoting the relevant paragraphs from the
other articles and then putting up a big smile if nobody notices? So I
called up the appropriate files and found - err, wait a second, this can't
be true - a lot of references. I lengthily explained why the Alternate Tasha
is better than the original, I told you about Worf being the worst Security
officer ever because he can't defeat Wesley in single-handed combat, but I
never said a word about why Tasha (and her kin) are worth including in (or
being left out of) a deck. WHOOPS!
But that's the problem with those Security guys! They have little to nothing
to offer in the skills department, but everybody needs one in case you run
into a Dilemma that requires this clasification. And as there's no equipment
that would supply SECURITY, the choice for Feds narrows to Roga Danar, Worf
or one of the Tashas. Maybe Jenna D'Sora in case you play a space mission
deck and need the rare Stellar Cartography (something for free is always
good). It's obvious that Danar is the first choice of these cards as he has
several good skills plus he's an ENGINEER (something for free is always
good). Don't have a Danar or need a second SECURITY? Choose between
Diplomacy or Leadership, which one you need more. If the former, take Worf,
if the latter Tasha - the Alternate one, as something for free is alw... -
oh darn, I said that before, didn't I?
Okay, the regular Tasha is a good card. In case you need the Honor skill
(for Wormhole Negotiations, maybe), don't want to play with AU or plain need
a second SECURITY, preferably female, she might even make a deck. But
usually she's not great enough to make the cut, unless your card selection
is so limited that you don't have access to the excellent cards that
ususally preclude the use of a card that's just good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Huh? Am I still online? Combo? Somebody please switch off that connec#*?&$
  *** NO CARRIER ***
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     TASHA YAR
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  8.0
Hal's rating:                   8.9
Jack's rating:                  8.5
Nanite's rating:                5.1243
Nouwa's rating:                 6.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                6.0
Ray's rating:                   7.1
Rothspar's rating:              7.5
Tania's rating:                 "???" (whatever this means)
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD267 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Soong-Type Android"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #267@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I suppose some of you are waiting for something. Like a Wesley statement
on those shiny new cards that showed up on that Decipher website.
Well, I won't give a summary right now, but a review or two won't hurt,
although I can only do the cards that are clear from the material I
received.
    @{b}SOONG TYPE ANDROID@{ub}
    Personnel, Non-aligned, uncommon(?) QC.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 10
    Strength 10
    Computer skill, Youth, Staff Star (+).
    Select Classification and gender when it reports.
    (didn't get the lore - sorry)
Those of you who are longtime followers know this basic idea: Get a
personnel card whose abilities you can decide when you play the card, not
when you design your deck. My good old Beaming Clone (COTD #100) was an
impersonation of that idea though it didn't help you if you need a
classification or skill that was buried deep in your deck.
This one does the job even better in some respects. As I didn't see the
pic, I'll assume the card is universal (otherwise the title won't make
much sense) and from that I concluded it could be uncommon (Decipher is
as yet undecided about rarities, but IMHO it's too good for a common and
too useful in multiples to be rare). So we might be able to construct a
deck that doesn't wait around for lotsa crew to show up. Take those
missions that have requirements that can be done by a single person. Or
by one person, plus a second one that has Computer Skill and/or Youth.
There are more than six of these missions, so it's possible to play such
a deck. Next, throw in about 15 Soong-Type androids. You'll want to draw
five of them, to have 2 MEDICAL and one each of SCIENCE, ENGINEER,
SECURITY and OFFICER. Yes, that's six, but you'll still need your
mission-solver and he'll have the sixth classification.
Now you have an away team that's pretty proof to any hefty Dilemma and
with the high attributes won't get into mucho trouble there either. At
the worst, you'll run into a Shaka that stops you. (You have a lot of
Computer Skill so this will also overcome the obnoxious Impassable Door)
And BTW, remember to make most of your Androids (if not all) female to
get past Matriarchal Society and be less vulnerable to Love Interests.
Good enough ? Right. Now draw that Gift Box from beneath the mission, get
some more mission-solvers and score 100. Too easy ? Maybe. But effective.
Now you still want to play with regular personnel ? Good. You got that
situation: Everything is ready for some action, if only your Security
(Science, whatever) guy would show up. Again, a single Android will help
you out here. And if you need that 7th classification for your Naiskos ?
Again.
Somehow this card seems to me as almost too good to be true. Like a
5-color multiland in Magic or something similarly broken. We'll see how
it works, but IMHO this card that somewhat got overlooked in the first QC
hype is the most degenerate thing we have seen since Red Alert, and it
can't even be countered! Wouldn't be too amazed if it got toned down a
notch until the release but as it stands, it's the first ever clear "10"
from me for any personnel card.
Favorite combo(s):
- Not really a combo, but true: Soong-Type Android plus that card I'd
  right now want from deep in my draw deck.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SOONG-TYPE ANDROID
Wesley's rating:               10.0
Cole's rating:                  9.0
Nanite's rating:               10.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.975
Q's rating:                     8.5
Tony's rating:                  9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 9.1
Not too many ratings yet, and no surprise, Q's was the lowest on the
group. Maybe they actually underrated the flexibility power of the card a
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD268 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Wormhole"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #268@{ub}
Hi, folks,
just printed a quick reference sheet of the QC card pics and found one that
looks really good, mostly because I didn't expect something like this in
this color:
    @{b}SIROL@{ub}
    Personnel, Romulan, rare(?) QC
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 8
    Strength 7
    OFFICER, Diplomacy, Leadership, Navigation, ENGINEER, Treachery,
    Command Star (*).
@{i}"Commander of the Imperial Romulan Warbird Terix during the Pegasus incident
of 2370."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I hadn't seen the card, I'd have said "Okay, that one is definitely
blue". Five skills and a solid attribute base, looks a good lot like a
Feddie. And even more so the fact that you get a dual classification and
none of the skills is really useless. Not like B'Etor's Greed or Data's and
Riker's Music which are only useful in rare circumstances. And Wes' Youth
isn't much better unless you're playing with something like Study Plasma
Streamer or Investigate Legend (also QC).
And somehow Sirol's skills seem to integrate well with other Romulan cards
to create a powerful theme. Diplomacy/Leadership/Treachery is also found in
Sela and Diplo/Leader/Navigation gives you a Tebok. By the way, Tebok is
pretty useless now. His three skills plus the lower attributes make him
inferior in nearly every way. Also, you can forget about Tomalak (the real
one) and Alidar Jarok. And even the valuable Sela only keeps her Youth and
her femininity to put something against the onrushing contender for the #1
Romulan.
But if you take another viewpoint, how about letting him cooperate with the
guys he just outsmarted? Pegasus Search is an ideal field for our Sirol with
four(!) matching skills. Just add some Integrity in the form of a Doctor, a
Scientist and a Security Officer (maybe three Soong-type Androids?) and a
little extra support and you get a whopping 50 points.
Wormhole Negotiations is next, with the alternative Diplomacy and Treachery
requirements. As you'll need replacements for a key card anyway, why not put
them to a good use if you draw both?
Covert Installation is a one-man job for Sirol (seed some Artifacts and make
your opponent believe they're Dilemmas ;-) ), and to round out the picture
you can use Covert Rescue, Expose Covert Supply and Strategic Diversion.
Six missions and Sirol can play a good part in all of them. Sounds like a
deck to me, and best, you don't need any skills besides the ones Sirol has.
So replacing him is easy and you need these skills in multiples anyway for a
few missions so getting Sirol and the replacement isn't that bad either.
With this card, the Romulans can now compete in a field that was until
recently considered a pure Fed domain: Fast mission decks. Maybe dilutes the
personality of the affiliation but makes Romulan a viable choice to play.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Sirol + Sela + Alidar Jarok + Tomalak + three Soong-type Androids + the
  six missions mentioned above. Now who can stop this force?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SIROL
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Allen's rating:                 9.6
Cole's rating:                  9.0
Data's rating:                  8.0
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   9.5
Jack's rating:                  9.0
Lakanta's rating:               ---
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.5
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   7.2
Tony's rating:                  8.9
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.6
You'll see a few new names up there with dashes for this card. I just took
the opportunity of introducing them, you'll see more constructive comments
from them tomorrow when I'm tackling something already in print
PS: Sorry for the delay. I'll make up for it on the weekend so expect an
extra issue or two. Promised. Which I hope also means kept ;-) .
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD269 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Horga'hn"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #269@{ub}
Hi, folks,
about all that QC hype I almost forgot the classic stuff. So here's one,
old, proved and powerful:
    @{b}HORGA'HN@{ub}
    Artifact, rare
Immediately play on table. Artifact allows you to take double turns from now
on (Not cumulative).
@{i}"Mysterious symbol of sexuality from the pleasure planet of Risa. To own one
is to call forth its powers. To display one is to announce that the owner is
seeking jamaharon."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are good cards and there are great cards. And there's this card which
caused an insane amount of hype when it was first released. After all, Magic
discontinued its Timewalk and Star Trek introduces a card that is a
permanent and reusable Timewalk? But somehow this card is less potent than
Magic's and that is most simply caused by the fact that Star Trek does not
know the concept of tapping, i.e. making resources usable only once per
turn. An extra turn means an extra card play opportunity (duplicated in Red
Alert), an extra move for each of your ships and away teams (Distortion of
Space/Time Continuum) and an extra card (The Traveler: Transcendence). The
strength of the Horga'hn is only the fact that it combines these three cards
into one. But not that you get a turn against an opponent who is helpless
because he exhausted all his resources during your first turn.
Still, the Horga'hn is one of the greatest speed cards in this game. Once
you solved a mission, you can throw down cards at double rates and
practically move at double speed, plus getting stopped is that much less of
a threat when you get another turn. And in a game that is often decided by a
single turn, two or three extra turns can prove the exact bonus you need to
turn a loss into a win.
An additional bonus is that the Horga'hn counts as neither an event or
interrupt. Which means the staple counterspells Kevin Uxbridge and Amanda
Rogers won't work. An opponent pitted against this card will need a Devil or
a Jamaharon, both pretty specialized cards with less than optimal side uses
apart from being able to destroy a Horga'hn.
So even if you never get your Horga'hn from under your mission, in
competitive play you usually already gained the advantage of forcing your
opponent to include one of the two counter cards, thus wasting a card slot
and a draw on a card that could have been something more constructive.
But now I am going to shock you: The Horga'hn is not a staple in all of my
decks. I have several that do not include it. Namely all those which already
have two other artifacts (3 if one is a Cryosatellite). I don't go for more
than two misssions with artifacts - the third mission usually nets me enough
points to win and I'd rather have another Dilemma to hurt my opponent - so
if I need something for a theme (like the Kurlan Naiskos for a battle deck
or a Ressikan Flute for the infamous Music deck), I leave out the Horga'hn
as I prefer to have the Gift Box whose effects are even more useful and more
immediate. The Horga'hn might be more useful on the long run but it'll never
get me any help if the card I need is at the bottom of my deck (draw it and
the game is over), the Gift Box always helps.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Horga'hn + Traveler + Red Alert. The ultimate card drawing and playing
  combo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     HORGA'HN
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Allen's rating:                 9.3
Cole's rating:                  9.0
Data's rating:                  9.2545294572049502976
Gowron's rating:               10.0
Hal's rating:                   9.9
Jack's rating:                  "Refuse to rate"
Lakanta's rating:               9.99
Nanite's rating:               10.0
Nouwa's rating:                10.0
Picarde's rating:              10.0
Q's rating:                    10.0
Ranger's rating:                9.8
Ray's rating:                   9.1
Tania's rating:                 9.0
Tony's rating:                  9.8
Wa'Qah's rating:               10.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 9.59556053277676178218
(without a calculator, guys, what do you think I have that head for ;-) )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD270 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/U.S.S. Stargazer"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #270@{ub}
Hi, folks,
How about an old ship that's now a new card?
    @{b}U.S.S. STARGAZER@{ub}
    Ship, Federation, rare(?) QC
    Range 8
    Weapons 7
    Shields 6
    Requires 1 Command(*), 1 Staff (+). Tractor beam,
    Once each game, may be taken from discard pile to hand.
@{i}"Captained by Jean-Luc Picard on a historic 22-year mission of
exploration.Thought destroyed in 2355 at Zeta Maxia until returned by DaiMon
Bok."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
At first sight, this ship does not seem that good. 8/7/6 isn't really what
you expect for two icons when you can have an 8/7/8 common Nebula for the
same price or a Klingon 8/7/7 at even one less command icon. But maybe the
special abilities catch it. And this ship has two of them. One is the
obvious one printed in the game text box. Though this is not a gamebreaking
one. Granted, you can get this ship back when it is destroyed (but where do
you get a new crew from) or discarded by Ship Seizure (sometimes somebody
even plays with this card - can cause lots of trouble with careless
players). But IMHO the best use of this ability lies in taking one less card
damage from a Static Warp Bubble or TAK. When having to discard and only
waiting for a Traveler or Kevin, discard the Stargazer and take it back once
the threat to your hand cards is over - one less card lost as this retrieval
costs you nothing.
And the other ability? Hidden in the lore lies the tidbit everybody would
have wanted to see on the Enterprise: The capability of using the Captain's
Log with our good old Jean-Luc Picard. And this way, you get a new ship with
8/10/9 and a crew requirement of 3 cards that can at least move if it has
only two of them aboard. And looking at it this way, the once so crappy
Stargazer does no longer look that bad. She'll never be the flagship of
STCCG but then, they also won't mention her in the same sentence as Yridian
Shuttles and Miranda-Class ships.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- C'mon, you know exactly what goes here ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     U.S.S. STARGAZER
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Allen's rating:                 8.7
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  8.0
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   9.0
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Lakanta's rating:               6.5
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.5
Picarde's rating:               ---
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   6.2
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  9.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
Drew's rating:                  7.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
Yuck, this is getting scary! 18 raters! (That happens when you use an older
list and include the new ones on it and send it out - all the old guys come
back and then the usual dropout rate fails to occur ;-) )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD271 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/I.K.C. T'Ong"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #271@{ub}
Hi, folks,
We just had one ship, here's another:
    @{b}I.K.C. T'ONG@{ub}
    Ship, Klingon, rare (?) QC.
    Range 5
    Weapons 6
    Shields 6
    Requires 1 Command (*), 0 Staff (+). Cloaking Device,
    Reports at end of spaceline with up to 3 personnel.
@{i}"A Klingon sleepership from the 23rd century, an era when Klingons despised
humans and attacked them on sight. Commanded by K'Temok."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now what do I smell here? A ship with a Cryosatellite built in? Or is it a
Devidian Door / Ophidian Cane combo? Or rather a minor Red Alert? All three
and neither.
The Cryosatellite is thematically closest, with the sleeper theme carried
over here. Also identical is the number three, with the additional advantage
that you're not limited to AU crew. But on the other hand you still need to
draw the cards and you can't play the card that you right now would like to
get from deep in your deck, so you have far less control.
Devidian Door / Ophidian Cane? Again, it's three personnel and you actually
save more cards than with the combo as you neither need to draw the door nor
have to solve a mission to get the artifact. But you can only report to two
locations instead of twelve and you cannot use the effect during your
opponent's turn or just before initiating a battle. With two Wormholes you
can get even closer to the Door/Cane combo as you'll have the choice to go
to every location (but need one more card).
And Red Alert? Probably the closest of the three. You get to play some extra
cards (though only personnel and limited to three), but this play, on the
other hand, cannot be countered with a Kevin Uxbridge.
Anyway, a card that gives you the opportunity to play three extra personnel
is good in itself. The fact that it is a ship doesn't even matter very much
here. The 5 Range is dead slow, but you can at least use it to speed up the
transfer of your newly played personnel to a different ship. And with the
possible Captain's Log effect on K'Temok your opponent might someday even be
looking at a 5/9/9 coming his way with only a single Klingon aboard. Add
some Range-enhancing equipment and you get a fearsome battleship with a lot
of surprise value (great for circling a ship that tries to escape your
Armada and has the better Range)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- I.K.C. T'Ong + Kivas Fajo. Draw three cards, play three cards. Win three
  turns earlier.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     I.K.C. T'ONG
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Allen's rating:                 6.5
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  7.5
Drew's rating:                  4.3
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   8.8
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Lakanta's rating:               5.0
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.5
Picarde's rating:               8.0
Q's rating:                     5.5
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   7.9
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  5.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD272 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Tox Uthat"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #272@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's another classic and also the promised extra issue:
Classic COTD #11
    @{b}TOX UTHAT@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Place in hand until played on table as an event (supernova can be played on
later turn) OR as an interrupt (prevents supernova). Discard after use.
@{i}"Dangerous quantum phase inhibitor invented in the future by Kal Dano who
hid it in the 22nd century for safekeeping."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A card with one okay use and one lousy "use".
Lousy one first. Prevent a Supernova. Yeah, great. You use up an Artifact to
do what any Kevin Uxbridge could do as well and with a lot more flexibility.
While this might actually be sensible once in a while (you have no Uxbridge
in hand and your oponent is just going to blow up your outpost and your last
ENGINEER), usually you are better off using the Uthat for your own Supernova
and avenge your outpost by blowing up your opponent's. Of course this
assumes you have a Supernova in your deck. Which won't necessarily be true
if you have just stolen your opponent's Tox Uthat. That's why they put in
this use in the first place. But then, which opponent is going to play with
two Tox Uthats? And only in this case would it be possible to make use of
this second ability.
And the okay use? Allows you to play a
(COTD 272 1/2)
    @{b}SUPERNOVA@{ub}
    Event, rare.
You must have Tox Uthat on table. Place atop any mission. Everything here is
destroyed (discarded), but leave Mission card underneath for span reference.
@{i}"The explosion of a star, usually caused by natural processes toward the end
of its life cycle."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(joining both reviews here)
This two-card combo is actually not really a combo. It is rather one card
with the extra requirement that half of it must be drawn and half of it is
buried under a mission. And as both have only minimal or no use on their
own, they have to be viewed together.
So let's add up: You need to solve a mission and draw a certain card. Then,
you use up two turns to destroy a single location. Which usually will be
either the location your opponent has just assembled her entire crew or the
location of her outpost. As a bonus, you nix any Artifacts that might have
been buried there and prevent her from scoring any points at that place.
Many of these functions, singly, can be accomplished be less troublesome
means: Destroying an outpost is a job for an Armada, and getting rid of a
crew can as well be accomplished by a well-armed ship or a few Temporal
Rifts played in sequence (after all, if she's still there after you held her
crew for six turns, you should revise the rest of your deck) - Artifact
denial can be duplicated with the Charybdis and if you go for point
draining, I might recommend Edo Probes, The Higher... and Punishment Zones.
Works as well. So why use Supernova? It's quite versatile, yes. But it's
vulnerable (your opponent Uxbridges your Uthat and you got a dead card in
your hand) and in most decks, you have the cards with a specific of the four
functions in mind. Add them if they support a theme you are building (like
Klingon Armada / Outpost Elimination), but don't just feel tempted to throw
them in because they have a powerful effect.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Yeah, well, I think you know this one. Even if you didn't figure out @{"#270" link COTD270},
  you should be able to get this
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best) TOX UTHAT SUPERNOVA
Wesley's rating:                        4.5       4.4
Allen's rating:                         3.4       6.2
Cole's rating:                          7.0       7.0
Data's rating:                          7.0       7.0
Drew's rating:                          8.5       ---
Gowron's rating:                        9.5       9.0
Hal's rating:                           4.0       5.0
Jack's rating:                          6.5       6.5
Lakanta's rating:                       9.0       8.5
Nanite's rating:                        9.0       8.0
Nouwa's rating:                         6.0       6.0
Picarde's rating:                       8.0       8.0
Q's rating:                             9.5       9.5
Ranger's rating:                        8.0       9.1
Ray's rating:                           6.9       7.1
Tania's rating:                         5.0       5.0
Tony's rating:                          9.0       9.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                        5.0       4.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                         7.0       7.0
Phew! Those averages came out nearly identical (some slight advantage of
about .05 for Uthat) . Would have been really disappointed had they been far
apart...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD273 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Plasmadyne Relay"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #273@{ub}
Hi, folks,
those Decipher guys really do know how to keep COTD authors happy. A new
card every day for another twelve days means I can forget about that card
shortage for a while.
But of course I can't review the T'Pau yet (no I don't have the stats
either) so I'll stick with
    @{b}PLASMADYNE RELAY@{ub}
    Equipment, uncommon(?) QC.
While on a ship, RANGE and SHIELDS are +2. While at a station or outpost,
SHIELDS are +4. (Cumulative).
@{i}"Device designed by Geordi LaForge to improve warp engine quantum
efficiency. Wesley Crusher opined that it was obsolete and needed a
subprocessor matrix overhaul."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally something I waited for almost since the game came out. A Range
enhancer and even a good one. Put this on any ship with a 7 or 8 range (they
have by far the most to gain from a 2 range boost as the 8->9 step is the
most effective in terms of locations traveled per turn and the 7->8 and
9->10 steps are also quite large. The added two SHIELDS are IMHO just an
extra bonus, but not negligible either.
A few good places to put the relay:
1) A runabout. At 9/5/7 without staffing requirements this is more than just
   a good ship. Gives "RUN about" an entirely new meaning ;-)
2) The USS Nebula. 10/7/10 even beats the Enterprise in mobility and
   defensive power, and with the same number of total cards.
3) The Enterprise-C. Again 10/7/10 and at least a 7 Range until you can
   repair the ship after bringing it into play.
4) The I.K.C. K'Ratak. Helps her to get the same range as the other K'Vort
   class ships and finally make her a useful member of a Klingon Armada.
5) Any rare D'Deridex class warbird (ed: Devoras, Haakona, Khazara, Decius).
   With Captain's Log and the right Captain. Nets you a really big attacker
   (11/12/12 anybody ?)
6) Tama. 9/9/10 is good. 9/12/13 is better. And Dathon is a good character
   so you might even play him. And I doubt you can pump a 2 crew ship much
   higher.
And the other use? Playing it on a station or outpost? Far less useful.
Though you might want to add one to the Colony card just in case a Borg ship
comes your way and you have a large away team down there.
Last thing: adding two or more on a single ship. Gains from Range become
worth less once you go over 10. So the only ships where it would IMHO make
sense to add two Plasmadyne relays would be a Husnock or an Edo Vessel if
you really want to use them for attacking.
Or, if you really want to pull off a daisy chain with a twist, try this:
Play Engage Shuttle Operations. Add a shuttle to your Enterprise. Add three
Plasmadyne Relays (+6, so the Enterprise now has 15 range.) Fly those 15.
Send out the shuttle with the relays. Fly 6+6 = 12 more Range. If you happen
to have a Nebula there, load the shuttle (and the relays) aboard and fly
another 14 range. Solve a mission there (41 span away from your starting
point). Next turn, return the same way. Oh, your spaceline was shorter than
41? Too bad ;-)
And who said I considered these things obsolete? Q, next time take care what
you write in those cards !!! ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Multiple Plasmadyne Relays and a ship daisy chain. Why stick with +2 if
  you can get +4 ?
- Plasmadyne Relay + Runabout. Almost degenerate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PLASMADYNE RELAY
Wesley's rating:                8.5
Allen's rating:                 9.5
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  7.0
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   ---
Jack's rating:                  8.4
Lakanta's rating:               ---
Nanite's rating:               10.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.975
Picarde's rating:               7.0
Q's rating:                     9.0
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   6.7 (What was that Wesley comment about?)
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  ---
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.6
Huh, many ---'s here. Seems some people have overlooked the card.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD274 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Colony"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #274@{ub}
Hi, folks,
it's always interesting to try a new card type. Like this:
    @{b}COLONY@{ub}
    Station, uncommon (?) QC.
    Shields 22.
Build on any planet mission you completed. At the start of each turn, any
unopposed away team here scores 1 point for each personnel (2 for each
CIVILIAN).
@{i}"Communities are commonly founded on uninhabited planets. Many are not
charted by the Federation."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's build a deck around this card: 4 Amarie, 4 Colony, 20 Soong-Type
Android. Plus Red Alert and a few card-drawing tools of your choice. And you
should have Qualor II Rendezvous in your mission selection. Play: Use a few
Soong-Type Androids to overcome the Dilemmas. Then, play Amarie, solve the
mission and build a Colony. Play lots of CIVILIAN Soong-type Androids. Watch
your point total grow to scary heights. (If you want to be really sure, add
a few Diplomats to avoid Shaka). Okay, this one was degenerate. But good.
And it illustrates how you use the Colony card.
Get yourself a large away team, of any affiliation. Add a few capable
CIVILIANS to make sure you'll actually get good points. Then, solve a few
missions. Maybe up to a total of about 70 points (less if you have a really
large team). Play Colony on wherever you just are and wait two turns
(assuming you have around 15 points worth of personnel). Your opponent will
find that pressure is rising badly when you don't even have to take a risk
to be sure to win in two turns. So far for the idea. Now is it worth it?
Let's again assume you have a 15 points away team on a planet. If you can
solve another 30 point mission with this team in two turns or less, you
should do the mission. The probability that you have the right skills is
obviously high. But you might run into masty Dilemmas (Love Interests
hitting the wrong character) or Temporal Rifts. So if you want to play it
safe, just found a Colony and wait. Although this can be fatal if you have
an opponent who is only waiting for a crucial crewmember to start a
100-point turn. Ack. We're doing 360 degree loops here and still no
recommendation in sight. Seems like a difficult decision which doesn't
become easier if you make the team smaller. The reward from Colony is less
with a smaller team but so is the chance of successfully attempting a
mission.
A few guidelines might however apply:
   * If you need four turns or more with a Colony, solve more missions. A
     wait that long is not reliable unless your opponent has nothing on
     table.
   * If you manage to stall your opponent by blowing up an outpost, don't
     risk anything. Wait.
   * If your opponent is not playing Fed, remember that your Colony could be
     attacked.
   * Same goes if you suspect any hidden Borg Ships.
   * If you have a fast ship, you can even combine both strategies. Found a
     Colony at your outpost location. Score some points. Play the ship and
     board it. Do a near mission. Return, beam back down. At the start of
     your next turn, again score points and then do a mission to the other
     side. Come back, get more Colony points. Combines the best of both
     strategies and gives a good use to the insane RANGE of a Future
     Enterprise. In this particular case you might even want to upgrade the
     Future E with a Plasmadyne relay, giving you an effective 7.5 RANGE
     instead of 6.5 (You have to return!)
So this might become a strategy. Even a valid one. But I don't really like
it even though it is a neat concept. Because it leads to passive, defensive
gameplay that gives the other player very little chance to interact.
Oh, BTW: The Colony is not an Outpost. So no reporting of personnel here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Colony + Risa or Qualor II. Guaranteed CIVILIAN bonus points.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     COLONY
Wesley's rating:                5.0 (-2.0 for gameplay impact)
Allen's rating:                 9.0
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Data's rating:                  8.0
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   7.5
Jack's rating:                  9.1
Lakanta's rating:               8.0
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Picarde's rating:               7.0
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   7.3
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  7.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD275 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Thought Maker"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #275@{ub}
Hi, folks,
why didn't anyone tell me I totally misnumbered the last Classic COTD? The
Tox Uthat was not #12 (rather #11) , this one is :
Classic COTD #12(really!)
    @{b}THOUGHT MAKER@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Place in hand until played once as an Interrupt card. Look at opponent's
draw deck for ten seconds and rearrange as desired.
@{i}"Outlawed Ferengi mind control device. Transmits signals that implant
sensory experiences and triggers emotions and memories."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of you playing Magic, this card might have a striking similarity
to the Jester's artifacts. It manipulates the deck of the unlucky opponent
in a way that will really screw her. That is if you get it to work right and
that's not at all easy.
You only get ten seconds which will usually not be enough to take a real
look at the cards so you will rather need a more sensible way to process
about two to three cards a second (thus making sure your opponent won't draw
anything useful in the next turn or so).
First, practice flipping through the cards in an order you are not used to.
For maximum efficiency you will want to go through the deck from the top to
the bottom which means once you turned it over to face you you will need to
take a look at the bottom cards first, a hand movement which is rather
unusual. Or if you feel really confident you can make it through the deck,
you can flip the usual way, but you'll need to be very sure about what to
take.
To ensure maximum processing speed, you will need to concentrate not on
specific cards but on certain card types. Best for this is to go for the
personnel and ship cards, hoping to place them all at the deck's bottom.
Thus, you not only cripple your opponent's ability to score points, you
equally importantly deny her the ability to get her Betazoid Gift Box and
thus reshuffle her deck, upsetting your carefully gained advantage. And the
"personnel plus ships" strategy will also be easy to learn as these cards do
stick out from the rest because of their unusual layout and thus is one that
can be implemented even with bottom-up flipping. Go through the deck,
swiping out every card that is not personnel or ship. Once the ten seconds
are over, take the swiped cards and put them on top of the deck. (Remember,
the ten second limit is the limit in which you may actively look through the
cards, the restacking is not included, so just flip them on the table.) This
way, if you don't make it all through, you still have filtered the 75% or so
of the non-personnel cards to go on top and you will only delay your
opponent for 12 turns instead of 16. Too bad ;-)
This strategy, while by far the most powerful, however requires you pull it
off very early. So you will need to find a way to solve a mission in the
first three turns or so, to ensure your opponent will never get a lot of
personnel. So it's best suited for a fast deck (usually Fed or, with the
latest QC additions, possibly Romulan) that has a number of missions doable
by a lone personnel. (And then it only takes some bluffing to get through a
mission of your opponent with Thought Maker and a mis-seeded Dilemma
underneath and score on your first turn, using the card right away).
Now what if you don't get it early and your opponent already has all key
crew on the table? In this case, you'll obviously not want to do the above
practice as it won't help you too much. Instead, you'll be best off by just
using the reverse flipping method (look at the topmost cards first) and
taking out whatever you think is powerful. Like Kevins, Amandas, card
drawing tools, etc. You'll not make it through the entire deck but you at
least assured that the person on the other side will have bad draws for a
few turns. Or until she gets her Betazoid Gift Box and reshuffles.
And when you're unsure about what to do, I warmly recommend you another
card: Jaglom Shrek - Information Broker. You get twenty seconds to look
through the deck (do it on your own turn). Then reconsider what you have
just seen, make a plan (your opponent can't do much - it's your turn),
mentally revisit the approximate card order and then go for it. You'll be
operating at peek efficiency.
Advanced players with a sharp eye will also be on the lookout for a few
certain cards they would not want to see on top of the deck, namely
   * The Juggler. ARRRGH!
   * Kivas Fajo. Hey, you just stalled them. Do you want them to be stalled
     for three less turns?
   * The Traveler: Transcendence. Same thing here.
And if you intend to use the Thought Maker in a tourney, as I said,
practice. Build a stack of 33 cards (40 card draw deck minus 7 card starting
hand). Make sure it's composed of a usual card mix. 15 personnel, 4 ships, 7
events, 7 interrupts. Sleeve it as you would do with a tournament deck.
Shuffle. Now put yourself under pressure and separate it in various ways,
trying to average around or below 9 seconds. This way, you'll make it in a
tournament with a second to spare. Once you go below around 8 secs, add some
Jugglers and Kivas and practice the advanced sorting. It is doable, but
it'll take you a few hours to get comfortable. Note that usually you won't
get to see 33 cards in real play as few players play with less than 20 seed
cards, but it doesn't hurt to practice the worst case.
(I just tried, never having practiced much myself. I had 3 runs of 9 secs,
one of 11 and one of 12, making a total of 5 errors - left 3 cards in that
should have gone out of and took out 2 that should have been in the "useful"
half. Just okay for a pro, but I'll need more work on it.)
End result: The most professional card in STCCG. Devastating in the hands of
a high-level guru who knows every card from sight, nearly useless in the
hands of a beginner.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Jaglom Shrek + Thought Maker: Some added confidence you'll use it to the
  max.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THOUGHT MAKER
Wesley's rating:                4.0 + X (*)
Allen's rating:                 4.3
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  8.0
Gowron's rating:                5.0
Hal's rating:                  10.0
Jack's rating:                  8.2
Lakanta's rating:               8.5
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.5
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     9.0
Ranger's rating:                6.6
Ray's rating:                   6.9
Tania's rating:                 5.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
Drew's rating:                  8.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.6
(*): X is your play level: 0.0 - absolute beginner, 1.0 - played twice, 2.0
- casual player, 3.0 - average player, 4.0 - consistent, 5.0 - senior
strategist, 5.5 - Wesley, 5.8 - Q, 6.0 - Tom Braunlich ;-) For averages, I
used 7.0.
And no, I don't draw the backward conclusion from the ratings some people
gave me to their play level. ;-) That one would probably be invalid (though
I was quite good in predicting who'd rate it higher or lower)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: Those of you who know me: There is usually a "special" in any issue
whose number is divisible by 25. This one is hidden. But it's there. Guesses
to my email address ;-)
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD276 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Sakkath"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #276@{ub}
Hi, folks,
need more proof that QC is an interesting expansion? Probably not. So I'll
rather prove that QC also has a few cards that are not that great. Like
    @{b}SAKKATH@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, uncommon (?) QC.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 8
    Strength 7
    V.I.P., Mindmeld, Diplomacy, Suspends Bendii Syndrome where present.
@{i}"Vulcan male assistant of Sarek. Attempted to use his telepathic skills to
repress Sarek's Bendii Syndrome during the crucial Legaran Conference of
2366."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahem. I definitely hope this card is not rare. A Federation personnel card
with V.I.P. and Diplomacy. Plus Mindmeld, as he's a Vulcan. Guess I have
seen this before.
Like in Sarek. Only that the latter one has Diplomacy x3 and somewhat
different attributes (actually totalling one less point). Or, like Satelk.
Granted, he's an OFFICER instead of a V.I.P., but you get an extra
Leadership, one more Cunning and a Command ability.
And unless you're playing a Mindmeld deck (haven't ever seen one yet) that
skill is not really too useful, so we're basically stuck with a V.I.P. who
is also a Diplomat and Federation. Great. Always wished to have more of
them. But wait! Sakkath has a nifty special ability. Suspends Bendii
Syndrome where present. Well, I don't know yet what Bendii Syndrome does,
but so much is obvious:
   * It's Event, Interrupt or Dilemma. If the last, it will most certainly
     affect all Vulcans, if one of the former, it should probably be played
     on one Vulcan only. I suspect that it's a Dilemma, though, as otherwise
     it wouldn't really be a strong card.
   * It will only affect Vulcans.
   * It will gradually ("SUSPENDS") drain their skills and/or attributes
     (esp. CUNNING) and maybe ultimately kill its victim.
So it could look like
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENDII SYNDROME
Dilemma, either.
Place on away team. Every Vulcan present will lose 2 CUNNING and the
first-listed remaining skill at the start of each turn.
Killed when CUNNING < 1.
(Q, how close did I get?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So it affects Vulcans. All four, sorry five, of them. But I count only four,
as Sakkath's only real place in your deck would be to provide Bendii
Syndrome defense. That leaves us with Sarek (so la-la), Satelk (sometimes
usable), Selar (don't you have a Vekor?) and Taurik (exactly how many cards
do you own - 61?) All four not cards I'd usually put in a deck except maybe
for Sarek if I have a great emphasis on Diplomacy or want to play the
Naiskos and choose him for Q-Net passing, leaving Picard at home.
Even if the effect of Bendii Syndrome were somewhat stronger, IMHO it
wouldn't see a lot of play as it will hose Vulcans and nothing else. And
Vulcans just aren't that good in STCCG.
Leaves us with a pretty useless ability. Plus some skills we have already
seen on better cards. Try something else.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Nope. Not tonight. Got my migraine ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SAKKATH
Wesley's rating:                4.0, with no X's today ;-)
Allen's rating:                 5.5
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  ---
Drew's rating:                  6.9
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   7.9
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Lakanta's rating:               ---
Nanite's rating:                6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 ---
Picarde's rating:               6.7
Q's rating:                     4.0 <-- seems I was quite accurate about Bendii
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   ---
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.35
A huge lot of ---'s, several raters refused to rate because they don't know
what Bendii Syndrome does, but IMHO it's obvious enough that it can't be
that strong.
PS: Only got one (correct) guess yet for the #275 mini-puzzle. Is that the
best you can do? Congrats to Lennard, spotted exactly right. But you had an
unfair advantage (hint!) ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD277 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Data's Body"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #277@{ub}
Hi, folks,
last QC for now, the rest will be seen when we get the real stuff...
    @{b}DATA'S BODY@{ub}
    Personnel, Non-aligned, rare (?) QC.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 2
    Strength 12
    OFFICER, ENGINEER, Computer Skill, Music, Astrophysics, Exobiology,
    During seed phase, may report for duty at your outpost,
    Command Star (*), AU Icon, Disabled unless Data's Head attached.
    (When attached, Data's Head does not enhance ship).
@{i}"Soong-type android body recovered from Devidia II."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A complex card. First thing most players noticed was that, with the Head
attached, you get a full Data. Skill-wise. Second thing that was noticed is
that there are some differences:
   * The "Puzzle Data" is non-aligned
   * He has an AU icon
   * He has the ability to temporarily separate to enhance a ship instead of
     a crew
   * He cannot solve Investigate Time Continuum
   * His skills can be enhanced with Data Laughing
   * (Maybe) the Head can be affected by Disruptor Overload
Several of these differences are marginal (Data Laughing, AU icon - who
plays without an AU door today) and at least one of them (the
head-separation) has been disputed over the net for a while, but as this has
actually been seen in a show (Disaster) and it was a voluntary decision on
Data's part, I'd say this is a legal play. However, the loss of the "Data"
ability hurts speed decks, as Investigate Time Continuum is often a staple
in Feddie Bridge Crew decks.
BTW: The Disruptor Overload debate has not yet been successfully resolved.
From a strict rules interpretation the overload can get rid of Data's Head
even if attached (obviously the neural circuits blow), but this does not
seem very sensible unless Data himself is also subject to the effect. For
now however I'd say that Disruptor Overload does affect the attached head
(It's illogical, but it's in the rules :-( )
Most important for the non-Feds is of course the ability to get a complete
Data without resorting to the less than great Lore's Fingernail. They'll
however have to solve a mission to get him, but then, people played with
Data's Head before Data's Body was even talked about. But even for Feds this
Data can prove valuable as
   * you get an AU icon for a Future Enterprise
   * you can use two Datas
   * you can seed him, even without a Cryosatellite
Yes, a seeded Data. Place the Body on your outpost during the seed phase and
take it along when you go for the mission that has Data's Head. Once you
have recovered the head, you can instantly attach it and thus gain full use
of the card.
Although not as good as the real thing, this Data variant will probably see
several uses, especially in non-Fed decks. Perhaps a creative player will
find even more applications...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Now come on. This one's pretty obvious, isn't it?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     DATA'S BODY
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Allen's rating:                 7.9
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  6.4
Gowron's rating:                ---
Hal's rating:                   9.6
Jack's rating:                  6.9
Lakanta's rating:               8.0
Nanite's rating:                ---
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Picarde's rating:               7.0
Q's rating:                     ---
Ranger's rating:                ---
Ray's rating:                   ?.? (He didn't quite get it)
Tania's rating:                 ---
Tony's rating:                  9.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                ---
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD278 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Kurlan Naiskos"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #278@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Finally we get to the one card that was for long deemed lost (COTD veterans
- real veterans - will still know the tale of the lost number 13... Nobody
had it and it wasn't before #90 or so that the original turned up again.
Anyway, here's the new version:
Classic COTD #13
    @{b}KURLAN NAISKOS@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Place in hand until played on any ship as an Event card. If ship has all 7
personnel types aboard, its RANGE, WEAPONS and SHIELDS are tripled. (Not
cumulative.)
@{i}"Statues which open to reveal a multitude of similar but smaller figurines
inside, representing the belief that each person is a community of
individual voices and desires."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ultimate "My ship is bigger than your ship" tool. While it was always
impressive (think of a 27/24/27 Enterprise), the various expansion cards
have turned this Artifact into a card that requires a pocket calculator.
Even if I try for the minimal crew and don't use duplicates of any card, I
can get truly epic proportions:
Let's start with the I.K.C. Hegh'ta. Put four persons aboard: Kurn, Governor
Worf, Kareen Brianon (QC, if you didn't notice, she has ENGINEER now; they
updated the card) and Vekor. 8/7/7 and it flies. Add one each of Captain's
Log, Nutational and Metaphasic shields, Bynars' Weapon Enhancement, Data's
Head and Plasmadyne Relay. 12/14/18. With the Naiskos you can get this up to
36/42/54. Not big enough? Throw in a Transwarp Conduit and Data Laughing and
you get to 84/48/60. Hmm. Still can't kill a Borg ship in a single shot.
Okay. Try a treaty. Throw out Kurn and the Hegh'ta, instead use Tomalak and
the Decius. 96/54/63. Help! (BTW, the only way to get the Naiskos benefit
with four crew and still use the Captain's Log. You can freely choose the
OFFICER and the corresponding ship, but the other three are mandatory.)
Other ways to get your Naiskos benefit with 4 crew:
   * Roga Danar + Vekor + Stefan DeSeve(Fed) + V.I.P.
   * Data or Wesley + Vekor + Gov. Worf + CIVILIAN
   * Gov. Worf + DeSeve + Dr. Reyga + MEDICAL
   * Gov. Worf + DeSeve + Vekor + ENGINEER
   * Gov. Worf + Brianon + Taris(another QC) + SCIENCE
And that's it. I tried to find all 7 possibilities, but SECURITY can't yet
be singled out as the only V.I.P. with a secondary classification yet is
Governor Worf. Maybe QC will fix this as easily as they fixed the other
holes.
As you see, whenever we talk Naiskos, we have a huge lot of cards involved.
The minimum is one for the ship, four crew and the Naiskos itself. Six cards
of which usually three to four have a secondary use (CIVILIANs and VIPs are
not yet really useful, even the few that have a secondary classification).
So practically you're using 2 1/2 extra cards to get the additional battle
value of 2 ships (plus less vulnerability). As the 2 extra ships would each
need crew, we're talking 4, 6 or even 8 cards here. So 2 to 3 isn't bad. If
your goal is battle value of course. That means the Naiskos is great in any
battle oriented deck, but not as useful in a mission deck unless you just
care for its also pretty powerful speed effect.
And for the Naiskos freaks among you, here's a challenge: Up there I built a
ship that could fly at 96 for a turn. Can anyone of you break the Warp 100
barrier? Remember, only one of each card and only 4 crew. QC cards are
permissible ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- 96/54/63. It's so insane even if it takes 16 cards to play it. Warp 96 and
  eliminating Borg ships with a single trigger press...
- Kurlan Naiskos on a Gomtuu. Better than any Q-Net ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     KURLAN NAISKOS
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Allen's rating:                 9.3
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  9.9
Gowron's rating:                9.5
Hal's rating:                   9.8
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Lakanta's rating:               9.0
Nanite's rating:               10.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.5
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                9.6
Ray's rating:                   9.2
Tania's rating:                 9.5
Tony's rating:                  9.9
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD279 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Lwaxana Troi"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #279@{ub}
Hi, folks,
as I said, no more QC cards until they atually come out, instead:
    @{b}LWAXANA TROI@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 8
    Strength 3
    V.I.P., Empathy x2.
@{i}"Betazoid mother of Deanna Troi. Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the
Scared Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This card, in black border or WB Alpha, is a somewhat valuable collector's
item, because of the "Lwaxanna" misprint (which also occurs on the Wind
Dancer card in these two editions). For game value however, I could imagine
better cards. Like Tam Elbrun, who, for example, has three less attribute
points on the one hand but gets me an extra Honor and the ability to use a
Captain's Log on Gomtuu. So let's not stick too much with the actual Lwaxana
(whose greatest asset is Majel Barrett on the picture) but take a quick
delve into one of the more complex skills in the game: Empathy. If I am
right there is no skill mentioned that often outside the context of mission
requirements, but nearly all of these cards are AU. Before that, Empathy was
merely a skill useful in some specialized deck constructs.
But now we have:
   * Gomtuu, the only (pre-QC) ship whose crew requirements are not measured
     in staff stars and AU icons. Instead you need Empathy x2. And with the
     special "hurling" ability of Gomtuu this is not a negligible use for
     double Empaths like Lwaxana and Tam Elbrun.
   * Wolf. Not a great card but a Genetronic Replicator for Empaths. Merely
     a support card for Empathy decks.
   * Eyes in the Dark. A last resort card when faced with a nasty Dilemma
     you could almost overcome. Doesn't require double Empathy so we might
     use one of the more versatile single Empaths here (like Devinoni Ral)
   * Two-Dimensional Creatures. A threat to any Empathy-dependent deck. You
     might want to add an extra ship just in case you hit this one.
   * Cardassian Trap. One of the few Dilemmas that actually require a skill
     and not a classification. And who plays Empaths unless required by
     their missions?
   * Frame of Mind. Cure with 3 Empathy? Sounds a lot like "don't cure at
     all" to me. Unless you're playing a deck with double Empaths in which
     case you might actually have a chance to get by this big crewmember
     paralyzer.
   * First Contact. A mission for Deanna, not Lwaxana. She has all the
     required skills on her own.
   * Investigate Sighting. Either you play with double Empaths or you use it
     as a Romulan (though not really great) mission. I'd rather forget about
     this one, there are better 35-pointers.
In total there are a few reasons to include an Empath in your deck
(Cardassian Trap, Eyes in the Dark). But there is very little reason to use
any double Empath unless you really count on a certain personnel and fear
Frame of Mind (rarely played) or want to use Gomtuu as a Spaceline blocker.
So Lwaxana doesn't make the cut. Much less with Maques and Tam Elbrun
showing her how better double Empaths look like.
(One little QC card however works in Lwaxana's Favor: That guy who
cannibalizes female Empaths to enhance his Diplomacy - forgot his name; He
can benefit of the fact that Lwaxana will still retain one Empathy when he's
done draining.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
- Just forget this section for today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     LWAXANA TROI
Wesley's rating:                3.0
Allen's rating:                 5.0
Cole's rating:                  4.5
Data's rating:                  6.0
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                3.0
Hal's rating:                   7.5
Jack's rating:                  7.0
Lakanta's rating:               5.0
Nanite's rating:                2.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Picarde's rating:               ---
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                6.0
Ray's rating:                   3.0
Tania's rating:                 5.0
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD280 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Escape Pod"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #280@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here's a simple card. Quite simple that is:
    @{b}ESCAPE POD@{ub}
    Interrupt, common.
Plays on ship being destroyed. Escape Pod saves entire crew. Unseen by
enemy ships, crew remains in pod until personnel rescued. Disard after
rescue.
@{i}"Angosian escape pod used by Roga Danar in 2366. Escape pods can be used
in an emergency to save a crew."@{ui}
Another "Oops" card. Oops because it only helps you in a situation that
shouldn't really have happened in the first place.
These situations can include:
- having been on the wrong end of a Borg Ship. Maybe the most useful
application for this Interrupt. Uncovering a Borg Ship under a mission is
something that can happen even to the best of players unless you're
regularly using Scans (cards that tend to clutter up your deck as much as
the Escape Pod though it might help you to decide which missions to
attempt). And in this case you are perfectly justified in assuming you
can rescue your crew later as there won't be an attacker waiting for you
when you come around with your next ship.
- seeing a small ship (Runabout, Scout) of yours destroyed by a shot from
a larger attacker. If there are several valuable crewmembers aboard that
ship a rescue attempt might make sense and also be successful in spite of
a waiting attacker if your rescue ship is large enough (or protected
enough) to withstand the attack of a Vor'Cha or D'Deridex class ship.
- Losing a big, laden ship to an armada. While in this case the
instantaneous effect of the Escape Pod might seem much more powerful than
in the first two cases where the loss is often limited to a smaller crew,
you will have severe trouble avoiding the very same fate for the rescue
ship you want to send in, as your opponent might leave two or three ships
in waiting, able to kill your new ship in two turns (or even one turn in
the case of 3 ships).
- Losing a ship to a Dilemma apart from Borg Ship. You did *what* ? Hit
Cosmic String Fragment ? Or Gravitic Mine with a damaged ship ? Come on,
is the "crew" on that ship really worth saving ?
- Losing a ship to an Interrupt or Event. Plasma Fire or Warp Core Breach
should not be that much of a threat. Maybe the occasional Auto-destruct
sequence used to finish off an opponent's ship ? Waitasec... Your
opponent has a damaged ship with SHIELDS of 7 or less and you can't
finish it with your WEAPONS ? You must either have a rather weak ship (in
which case there usually isn't much personnel aboard) or your opponent
has just been hit by a damaging Dilemma or Interrupt (in which case there
usually isn't much opponent to worry about) or you're playing Fed (in
which case I don't know how you got the ship damaged in the first
place)...
Yeah. That's it. Borg Ship Defence. Maybe a sideboard card (is that how
Q's tent is played ? Sideboarding during a game ?) But that requires that
you at least play two games and have the opportunity for deck alteration.
So try something else.  (Although it might make sense, if Q's Tent works
this way and with the Pods, to put one in there and if you Scan a Borg
Ship and urgently want to attempt the mission to play the Pod. But in
this case you could as well attempt the mission from a ship with only a
single Redshirt aboard and save both the Pod and the Tent. Unless your
opponent used a Shaka / Borg Ship combo which requires you to go in there
with several crew...)
Favorite combo(s):
- Escape Pod + a strategically triggered Borg Ship. Just to fill this
  space.
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     ESCAPE POD
Wesley's rating:                3.0
Allen's rating:                 4.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  7.5
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                3.4
Hal's rating:                   7.0
Jack's rating:                  7.6
Lakanta's rating:               5.0
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Nouwa's rating:                 3.75
Picarde's rating:               6.5
Q's rating:                     3.0
Ranger's rating:                5.0
Ray's rating:                   5.2
Tania's rating:                 7.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.7
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD281 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Time Travel Pod"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #281@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Classics time again:
    @{"Classic COTD #14" link "STCCG:cotd100.guide/COTD14"}
    KURLAN NAI... no, not another title SNAFU ;-)
    @{b}TIME TRAVEL POD@{ub}
    Artifact, rare
Place in hand until played once as an Interrupt card on any ship. That ship
travels into the future (disappears for up to 5 turns). Pre-announce the
return time.
@{i}"Craft from the future, stolen in the past by Berlingoff Rasmussen for his
own gain."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The basic function of this Artifact is that of a glorified Temporal Rift.
Instead of just sending a ship two turns away you can select any number from
1 to 5 turns. And as you can announce the exact return time, you can even be
a bit more selective like returning a ship "next turn, after I finish my
card play phase" or "At the end of your turn, right after you move the Borg
Ship". Of course you can only select events that must happen, i.e. the start
or end of a phase or a turn.
But even this half-flexibility gives you a variety of options. Unfortunately
most of them are not that strong or require extra cards to work. Let's see
what we have:
   * The basic BIG Temporal Rift. Deny your opponent the use of his best
     ship for five turns instead of two. Of course this 150% gain in delay
     does not mean a 150% efficiency gain as in many cases two turns are
     already sufficient for a good deck to gain a decisive lead.
   * Borg Ship or Anti-Time Anomaly Evasion. Why waste two turns in an
     escape attempt if you can do with half a turn? In this case the
     announcing effect really comes into play. Your ship can leave the table
     at the end of your opponent's turn and come back right after the card
     play of your turn. Just enough to avoid some really nasty effect that
     might occur in the meantime.
   * Borg Feeding. Why restrict yourself to evading? After all, Borg also
     want to have fun! So slap a Pod on your opponent's ship and with a
     quick count, you announce a return time of (1/2 turn for each location
     Borg Ship is away from target), "right before the Borg ship moves".
     Ship disappears and reappears just to disappear again. But more
     permanently this time ;-)
   * Shifting of attack balances. But you could do this as well with the
     basic Temporal Rift. Although the extra time might help if your
     opponent is waiting for the last ship necessary to destroy your
     outpost. You might have far less need for an outpost after the three
     extra turns.
And that's about it here. Not too much and the extra power over the basic
Temporal Rift is just too specialized to make this card really useful for
the much higher effort required to get it into play.
Wait, there's one more ability not mentioned on the card but on a different
one: Investigate Time Continuum. You can use the Pod to solve that mission.
And you can even make a really fast concept out of this.
Try the following:
  1. ) Excavation with Time Travel Pod underneath.
  2. ) Investigate Time Continuum with Interphase Generator underneath
  3. ) Pegasus Search with Cryosatellite containing Rachel Garrett
  4. ) Restore Errant Moon
You don't even care what crew you have in your draw deck as long as it's
good enough to solve most Dilemmas! Each mission done solves the next one.
(Actually, the Restore Errant Moon is only present to allow for a The
Higher... or a similar nasty). Add any ship and a number of Transwarp
Conduits and you might actually get the fastest deck ever seen. But careful,
your opponent can use the engine himself and you'll be in deep trouble if
you can't get there first. So you might want to seed a few Dilemmas yourself
at Excavation just in case..., after all, you know what you put there ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * See above, faster than Blue Lightning and if your opponent doesn't know
     it, maybe even more surprising than Wrath of Wesley.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     TIME TRAVEL POD
Wesley's rating:                6.0
Allen's rating:                 7.6
Cole's rating:                  6.825
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  7.6
Gowron's rating:                7.8
Hal's rating:                   5.0
Jack's rating:                  7.4
Lakanta's rating:               7.5
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Picarde's rating:               6.0
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ranger's rating:                7.0
Ray's rating:                   8.8
Tania's rating:                 6.5
Tony's rating:                  9.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD282 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Thine own self"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #282@{ub}
Hi, folks,
here comes one of the better (and most overlooked) ways to get a captive or
two. Literally.
    @{b}THINE OWN SELF@{ub}
    Interrupt, common AU.
Plays on opponent's one- or two-person Away Team. Away Team is "lost" (place
under mission). Rescued if owner later completes mission. Captured if you
@{i}"Attempting a mission with only a few personnel is dangerous. Lt. Commander
Data suffered amnesia while alone on Barkon IV. He was lost and eventually
'killed.'"@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The contrary to The Higher... the Fewer. The latter punishes teams that are
too large, this one rather penalizes too small teams. Most of you will now
think "Redshirting" but there is another (although risky) application that,
if it works, can prove devastating.
This setup works best against an opponent with a Wrath of Wesley style deck
designed to be able to do a mission very early and then relies on a Betazoid
Gift Box. Beat them with their own weapons - bluff. "Forget" to put any
Dilemmas under a mission they can do with one personnel. Investigate Time
Continuum is best here, but Evaluate Terraforming will also do. You can bet
a high stake on where their outpost is going to wind up. Now you need a
little luck to draw one of your 4 or 5 Thine Own Self cards in your opening
hand. If all works well, your opponent will draw just the crucial personnel
needed to do the mission and head for a first turn Gift Box. You, however,
just mirror the broad grin on his face and slap down Thine Own Self. With
the key card for the mission gone and the Betazoid Gift Box far out of reach
your bluffed-out bluffer friend will now have a hard time getting back into
the game (while you can play a duplicate of the just lost personnel and get
the really easy 35 points plus Gift Box yourself...)
More common however than this play (I'm not yet gonna call it legendary
though you'll soon be just that if you pull it off against an unsuspecting
[i.e. COTD-less] friend...) is the more basic use of this card: Hamper
Redshirting. But here the usefulness is much more limited. Granted, you can
be sure that the first attmept at redshirting will fail, but you could as
well do so with several good Dilemmas (Shaka, Hologram Ruse). So this
alternative only helps you in a deck where you already exhausted your seed
percentage with more important cards. And even if you get a personnel and
manage to capture him or her, you will only get the worst or least needed
member of your opponent's crew. After all that's why the card was chosen for
redshirting in the first place. And in this way, Thine Own Self just bites.
(Wanted to say something else, but just in time remembered Q's dislike for
that other word ;-) ) And your so-badly-hampered opponent just redshirts the
next guy putting you back to the situation you were in before.
The only kinda instance where you could still make something out of your
elimination of a wimpy personnel is when you have good means to deal with
captives and the possibility to solve your opponent's missions. And while
there might be a playable deck design around this concept I doubt it'll be
too effective.
So we wind up with some specialized uses but not so much of a general
usefulness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Thine Own Self + a strategically placed Nothing! (see above)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THINE OWN SELF
Wesley's rating:                5.0
Allen's rating:                 7.8
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  6.5
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                8.8
Hal's rating:                   5.5
Jack's rating:                  8.2
Lakanta's rating:               6.0
Nanite's rating:                5.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Picarde's rating:               7.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                7.8
Ray's rating:                   4.4
Tania's rating:                 4.0
Tony's rating:                  1.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                5.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD283 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Gaps in normal Space"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #283@{ub}
Hi, folks,
this one's suitable for stalling strategies:
    @{b}GAPS IN NORMAL SPACE@{ub}
    Event, uncommon.
Place between two mission cards. Creates a gap with a span of 4. Ships
stopping on the gap kill one personnel (random selection)
@{i}"Pockets of space, such as those in the Mar Oscura nebula, dangerously phase
out when coming in contact with a ship."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Span 4? I'd say it has more. How much more depends on two things: First the
willingness of your opponent to lose personnel and second the place- ment of
the card. Here's three examples: (Outpost is opponent's)
Span3 - G*A*P - Span2 - Span5 - Span5
OUTPOST
Span3 - Span2 - G*A*P - Span5 - Span5
OUTPOST
Span3 - Span2 - Span5 - G*A*P - Span5
OUTPOST
Which one is best?
Got it? The second one. In the first case, any ship with Range 6 or better
will start from the Outpost and pass the gap, and you thus only created a 4
span gap. Nothing more. (Which still helps more than 4 as the two 5's serve
as good blockers. They'll lose a full turn with any 7, 8 or 9 Range ship).
On the way back, any ship with 7 or better gets over the gap after stopping
on the right "5" and then hopping to the "2".
The third case is less obvious. A ship with 8 or less Range will be in
definite trouble here, so the choice is much better. But a 9 Range ship
loses nothing at all and some of the best ships are just that. Range 9. But
a good choice if your opponent plays Klingon - they have nothing sensible in
the Range 9 department.
And case 2? Again, any 8 or slower ship will lose a personnel on the way out
(though they can avoid it on the way in) But in addition, you made the span
of the gap a whopping 9 as far as the Range 9 ships are concerned. They'll
have to stop on the 2 and then take a big jump which gets them right to the
place they would have reached in one turn without the gap. More than double
the effect than you paid for.
Net gains:
   * In (1), you created a gap that has a span of 7 to 9 for ships with
     those ranges and can be overcome unscathed with a ship of 7 or better.
   * In (2), the gap is unavoidable for 8 or slower ships and has Span =
     Range for all ships of Range 9 to 11.
   * In (3) lastly, you also have the block for ships with 8 or less Range
     but a 9 Range ship will only lose the span of the mission to the right
     of the second "5".
Obviously, (2) is best with (3) coming in second (although the latter is
preferable if you think your opponent will have to bridge the gap very often
and with ships of less than 9 Range. Which will normally be the case only in
a Klingon Armada deck.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And then there are my two
Favorite combo(s):
   * Gaps in Normal Space + Subspace Warp Rift. A no-win situation. You stop
     and lose a crewmember or you go over it and damage your ship.
   * Gaps in Normal Space + Tetryon Field. Hurts those Armada decks like
     hell.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     GASP IN NORMAL SPACE(*)
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Allen's rating:                 5.6
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                6.8
Hal's rating:                   9.1
Jack's rating:                  7.0
Lakanta's rating:               6.0
Nanite's rating:                4.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Picarde's rating:               5.0
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                8.0
Ray's rating:                   7.9
Tania's rating:                 3.0
Tony's rating:                  7.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                4.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.9
(*) That was a typo, but it was so funny that I left it in ;-) After all,
what would you do if out in space, unprotected???
PS: I'll be in Paris for two days, so don't think I left this ship for
good...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD284 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Interphase Generator"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #284@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Chrrr... Phhh... Chrr...r...R...? What? COTD time?
And that now that I was so beautifully phased out of consciousness... PHASED
OUT??? (Hmmm... couldn't we use that as a COTD intro?)
WHAT? I'm already on air? Sh*t, errr... wanted to say
Hi, folks,
now that you know how intros come to exist, let's phase back in with
    Classic COTD #15
    @{b}INTERPHASE GENERATOR@{ub}
    Artifact, rare
Use as Equipment card. Nullifies: Chalnoths, Archers, Rebels, Impassable
Doors, Phased Matter, Crystalline Entities, Armus and Nausicaans.
@{i}"Experimental Romulan device that both cloaks and phases matter, allowing it
to pass through normal matter."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This card is plain annoying. Not because it's so strong or because it can
thwart any intelligent play but just for the fact that you'll have to read
through three lines of Dilemma names each time you face a Dilemma card you
don't instantly identify as being from an expansion. But what does it help?
True, it nullifies some of the more commonly used Dilemmas, but let's
quickly go through them to see whether there are other ways to get past
them:
Chalnoth, Archer, Armus, Nausicaans, Rebel Encounter: All these kill one
Away Team member. So Genetronic Replicator + MEDICAL x3 will do exactly the
same job (though you will be stopped in this case). The requirements here
are also quite similar - SECURITY and Strength. Klingons will have no
problem anyway with most of these Dilemmas and the other affiliations will
also often have an Away Team large enough to get past most of this stuff.
And for Armus - well I mentioned the Replicator and in this case it doesn't
even stop you.
Phased Matter and Impassable Door: You don't have SCIENCE + ENGINEER and
Computer Skill? What deck are you playing? An all-Mot deck?
Crystalline Entity: Again, a requirement you should be able to fulfill
unless you're just taking risks. Only that in this case the stakes are a
little higher. But any decent team will be able to overcome this one without
problems.
And it wouldn't still be that bad as you could start taking notorious
shortcuts in team preparation and solve missions very early. But there is
just a tiny, little, negligible, ;-), weenie problem with this: Interphase
Generator is an Artifact. So how do you get it without a fair away team?
Somehow it seems to get it you will either need to bluff (and be lucky) or
use a good team in the first place which makes it quite useless.
So much for the printed ability.
And the one not on the card? Pegasus Search. 50 free points. So let's reword
the card: "Use as an Equipment card. If Pegasus Search on table, fly there
to score 50 points, otherwise use as Disruptor Overload bait."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * The only one: Interphase Generator + Pegasus Search
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     INTERPHASE GENERATOR
Wesley's rating:                5.0 (9.0 with Pegasus Search)
Allen's rating:                 9.0
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  8.6
Gowron's rating:                7.5
Hal's rating:                   6.7
Jack's rating:                  5.8
Lakanta's rating:               9.0
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.5
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                9.0
Ray's rating:                   7.3
Tania's rating:                 6.0
Tony's rating:                  7.5
Wa'Qah's rating:                7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD285 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Thermal Deflectors"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #285@{ub}
Hi, folks,
in case you missed it: There's something new on Decipher's webpage... But
before you run off looking there, first read this COTD, okay ? (Otherwise
you'll only collide with the 2000 others that also ignored the request ;-) )
    @{b}THERMAL DEFLECTORS@{ub}
    Event, uncommon AU.
Plays on table. While in play, nullifies Firestorm, Thought Fire, Plasma
Fire, Fire Sculptor and Phaser Burns.
@{i}"Away Teams from the U.S.S. Enterprise used an array of Thermal Deflectors
to delay Bersallis III firestorms long enough to allow evacuation of the
population."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Circle of Protection: Red, right ? ;-)
At least it nixes anything that even remotely looks like fire and does
damage. And unlike other "nullifies [insert long Dilemma list here]" cards
this one can prove quite useful.
As it worked so well yesterday, I'll again look at the Dilemmas first.
Firestorm: A big killer, even if you are not Romulan you will very often
have a personnel with an Integrity below 5 (Vekor!). And no real prevention
in sight unless you use the deflectors.
Plasma Fire: A nasty little event usually employed to take out annoying
runabouts or Klingon Armada ships as they are quite badly manned. A Kevin
will do the trick here, but it's a card each time you could use for better
purposes.
Fire Sculptor: Wouldn't know why I should encounter this as it's very
specialized. We can probably forget this.
Phaser Burns: More than nasty as it usually means losing three instead of
killing one. And again no prevention except Amanda. But one Deflector will
take out several Burns...
Thought Fire: Firestorm V.2 upgraded... More universal against affiliations,
and a Traveler-counter card. But then, everyone plays with the Traveler.
Thus, a generally useful protection card, even more so when you are playing
fairly large teams or have to rely on Vekor for Genetronic Replicator
protection. Although this of course greatly depends on your opponent's
Dilemma selection. But four of the five cards are so generally useful you
can almost bet on seeing at least one of them. And as only one of the 4 be
"overcome" without using up a Kevin or Amanda, this protection actually
works, unlike the one granted by yesterday's Interphase Generator.
BTW: Can't really figure out why Thermal Deflectors are capable of
extinguishing an imagined fire, but then maybe they just prevent the fear of
fire as the affected crewmember just knows that it can't hurt him...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Thermal Deflectors + Lotsa fire-related Dilemmas under opponent's
     missions + espionages + Rommie deck. It hurts them but it doesn't hurt
     you...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     THERMAL DEFLECTORS
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Allen's rating:                 4.6
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Data's rating:                  5.5
Drew's rating:                  ---
Gowron's rating:                9.0
Hal's rating:                   9.9
Jack's rating:                  6.1
Lakanta's rating:               7.5
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 4.0
Picarde's rating:               6.5
Q's rating:                     4.5
Ranger's rating:                7.8
Ray's rating:                   6.8
Tania's rating:                 8.5
Tony's rating:                 10.0
Wa'Qah's rating:                7.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now that you're still here:
The new thing on the website is QC! But not just a cardlist... Not just a
spoiler list... (Prepare to download 9 MByte if you want to see it all!!!)
[I can already imagine the transfer rates on their server dropping to about
4 Byte/s per connection, but I don't mind, I got mine this afternoon when
nearly nobody else had already found it - German's advantage, I'm just a few
hours ahead of you guys ;-) ]
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD286 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Nick Locarno"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #286@{ub}
Hi, folks,
now that it's out - not physically but at least with the official images -
we could as well start talking about it. It, that's of course QC. Now, with
a new expansion, there's always the question, where do I start?
Definitely not with the continuum cards, these, while at the heart of QC,
are so complex that I'd rather wait for the first rulings in order not to
say anything wrong here. Maybe a card from a Wesley episode would fit better?
Like this:
    @{b}NICK LOCARNO@{ub}
    Personnel, Non-aligned, rare QC.
    Integrity  7
    Cunning    8
    Strength   7
    CIVILIAN, Navigation x2, Computer Skill, Leadership, Youth,
    Transporter Skill, Command Star (*),
    Does not work with Federation Affiliation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Something like a @{"Wesley" link "STCCG:cotd100.guide/COTD26"} for non-Federation players. You'll get the high
attributes (though I don't understand the 7 Integrity - after all his
coverup was not really loyal to Starfleet and after having been forced to
change sides I'm not expecting much more in this corner) plus five skills.
And three of them are even the same as good old Wes': Navigation, Youth and
Computer Skill.
But then, he loses Wes' best two skills: ENGINEER and Astrophysics. These
two that made Wesley such an important addition to any space mission deck
are replaced by Leadership and Transporter Skill, giving the entire
character a completely new direction.
No longer is he primarily a space mission solver or a good addition to any
team that is bound to solve lots of Dilemmas, instead he becomes a
high-powered support character. With a CIVILIAN classification and a Command
Star for Naiskos decks, the double Navigation for anything that has to fear
FGC-47 spans or Null Space and Transporter Skill to help beam people that
would otherwise not as easily reach their destination when some of the
anti-beaming events are in play, Nick is a character to remain aboard the
ship while others take the brunt of the danger.
Longtime COTD fans will know that I was until now not very fond of pure
support characters as they often only seem to fill a particular hole in the
protection structure of your crew complement and are nearly useless for
anything else. But QC has several good supporters and protectors with a wide
range of defensive abilities and Nick is not at all the least of them.
Saving valuable Kevins when beaming inhibitors disrupt your game is just one
use, and the widespread skill range will offer something constructive
towards pretty every mission combination thus creating a supporter even
useful besides his basic protective function.
And finally, a good CIVILIAN. No more wasted characters in a Naiskos deck.
Plus, nicely balanced in the way that you can't use him if you play the
already well-protected Federation affiliation.
(BTW: Fun thing - the only ever CIVILIAN to wear a Starfleet Uniform in the
picture! Of course he was never seen in any other clothing, so they had no
choice ;-) )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Nick Locarno + Naiskos deck or Armada deck.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     NICK LOCARNO
Wesley's rating:                8.0
Data's rating:                  8.0
Jack's rating:                  7.4
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.5
Picarde's rating:               7.5
Q's rating:                     7.5
Rothspar's rating:              6.5
Tania's rating:                 7.5
Tony's rating:                  9.9
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.9
Those raters who didn't send their ratinx yet: Please do so or send me a
quick sign-off message. I have several persons on the waiting list who would
like to come aboard when there's again room so please help me out, okay?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD287 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/End Transmission"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #287@{ub}
Hi, folks,
don't take the title of this card too seriously or you won't get to see the
review:
    @{b}END TRANSMISSION@{ub}
    Interrupt, common QC.
Play to immediately end your turn, delaying until the end of your next turn
everything which must happen at the end of this turn, including card draws.
"Subspace communications are sometimes abruptly terminated by the
transmitter."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First what you can't do with this card: Delaying the inevitable in the hopes
of drawing something that might save you. At least unless you hold a Kivas
Fajo or a Samuel Clemens' Pocketwatch. Because you don't get your usual
draw.
You also can't say "well, at the end of my turn, my opponent gets a turn, so
that'll be delayed until the end of my next turn and I sneak in a turn I
need to win..." Nice try, but I doubt the Decipher rule guys will let it go
through.
Third thing that won't work: Using it as a "Last Stand" (Interrupt, almost
made Internet Expansion II - when a player draws his/her last card, play
Last Stand and continue play for 3 full turns in which nobody may draw
cards). Because it doesn't help against things that must happen at the end
of opponent's turn and you can't play it on an opponent's turn because you
just can't end your turn when it's not your turn in the first place
(obvious, eh?).
Now what will work? Delaying drawing your last card if you are way ahead in
a tournament game and need one more turn to gain 100 points and make it a
2-point victory instead of a 1-pointer. Or getting an extra play turn when
your trailing by just a few points and have set up a sure combination to
overtake your opponent next turn.
Also, you can save a ship slated to return from a Temporal Rift into a
pending Anti-Time Anomaly or get enough time to get an ENGINEER to a ship
with a Warp Core Breach or a SECURITY to extinguish a Plasma Fire. There are
a few more like these (Hyper-Aging, REM Fatigue Hallucinations) but the
principle remains the same. And in most of these cases, a Distortion of
Space/Time Continuum would help you just as much and give you some extra
play possibilities as well.
At best, a card for a deck that relies on drawing all of its cards at an
insane speed and then taking a few turns with the full complement of crew
and ships on the table. But I doubt the effectiveness of that concept as too
many of your cards will be used to either draw more cards or later avoid
drawing cards. It was a nice idea, but it should have been playable on
opponent's turn as well, to avoid deck exhaustion strategies (a little
errata, Decipher folks ?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * If any: End Transmission + Kivas Fajo. Might give you the card you need
     to avoid the thing that made you play End Transmission.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     END TRANSMISSION
Wesley's rating:                4.0
Allen's rating:                 6.5
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Data's rating:                  7.5
Jack's rating:                  6.4
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Picarde's rating:               6.5
Q's rating:                     6.5
Rothspar's rating:              6.5
Tania's rating:                 5.5
Tony's rating:                  4.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.2
Several raters mentioned End Transmission + Devidian Door. Okay, you used
the Door ability without having the door, so you delay it with End
Transmission. But how are you going to draw your Door? (Though it'll work if
you can stall long enough to make your opponent run out of cards and still
stay ahead in points without going over 100)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD288 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Vulcan Stone of Gol"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #288@{ub}
Hi, folks,
slowly the Artifact block of the classics is dwindling to an end, but we
still have two left, one of which is:
    Classic COTD #15
    @{b}VULCAN STONE OF GOL@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Place in hand until played as an Event card. Kills everyone in an Away Team
without Youth or CUNNING > 7. Discard Artifact.
@{i}"Ancient Vulcan telepathic weapon. Kills by magnifying aggressive and
violent thoughts, but can be blocked by peaceful thoughts."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another killer Artifact, which we already had two of in this classic subset,
Tox Uthat (plus Supernova) and Kurlan Naiskos. Maybe an apporach pointing
out the differences will get us best to this card.
Advantage: The Stone of Gol does not need any other cards to work. The Uthat
needs two cards to use its destructive power and the Naiskos even needs at
least 6 (Naiskos, ship, 4 crew). Also, its destructive effect is more
surgical that Supernova's, leaving the mission score and all other cards at
the location (your ship you couldn't move away in time, your stranded
love-interested card) intact.
Disadvantage: It is far less powerful. Against the typical Feddie Bridge
Crew deck, the five most important cards will be left intact: Picard, Data,
Beverly, Geordi and Wesley. Only Worf, Riker, Troi and Yar will bite it out
of the big nine. (And if someone has a Federation PADD or other Cunning
enhancer, they'll all be safe!). Roga Danar and Dr. Reyga are also safe,
meaning that out of the core crew of my Fed decks (the above five immune
Feddies + Danar, Reyga, Vekor) only one will be affected by this artifact.
Of course, against Klingons it will prove devastating: Out of the entire
Klingon empire, a measly 8 (9 if you make K'ChiQ a kid) will have the brains
or naivity to survive the onslaught of this telepathic massacre.
And Romulans, while on the average having a high Cunning, will also find
they'll have a large death toll to pay as 7 is the most common Cunning
number in Rommies (16 occurrences of which 5 have Youth) and there are also
a few mentally handicapped ones with a Cunning of 6.
And even if you have the luck of playing a Klingon opponent, you'll still
need a way to get an away team stranded on a planet at the start of your
turn, meaning your opponent will either give it to you by playing a Colony
or battling you or you'll need to find a Dilemma to stop the team. So the
advantage of being usable on its own is now upset by the fact that you'll
need to establish certain conditions, which requires a cooperative opponent
or a card (or even several cards). I'd rather have a Naiskos at any time. I
can be sure to wipe out the entire crew, I do not need to rely on a stopped
opponent and with QC the disadvantage of having to carry a CIVILIAN and a
V.I.P. is not a big one anymore, as there are quite a few decent specimens
of each kind floating around now.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Natch.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     VULCAN STONE OF GOL
Wesley's rating:                3.0
Allen's rating:                 ---
Cole's rating:                  5.0
Data's rating:                  9.0
Drew's rating:                  4.6
Hal's rating:                   4.3
Jack's rating:                  7.9
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Picarde's rating:               5.0
Q's rating:                     6.0
Rothspar's rating:              8.0
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Tony's rating:                  6.0 (had to average this out...)
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: I'll be away for three days but don't want to let you down, so I'll send
the next articles to Cole for posting - if you usually find COTD by author
search you'll have to look for 289, 290 and 291 under "Cole Bozman ".
(I also want to keep Decipher under pressure to put out new cards - Q
suggested I might slow down COTD to ensure I'll not run out of reviewable
material, a favor I'm not gonna do them unless they start keeping me busy
designing new cards or doing some other thing to enjoy the STCCG player
community ;-) And after all, did somebody say "Internet expansion III" ?
Bottom line: WE WANT MORE CARDS. Hope everyone agrees with me on this ;-) )
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD289 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/K'chiQ"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #289@{ub}
Hi, folks,
Worf got a real chick from Q once, now we get one from QC...
    @{b}K'CHIQ@{ub}
    Personnel, Klingon, common QC.
    Integrity 6
    Cunning 4
    Strength 7
    CIVILIAN, When reporting for duty, select any one skill. May change that
    skill at the start of each of your turns,
    AU icon, Discard if another K'ChiQ or no male Klingon present.
@{i}"William Riker, vested with the powers of Q, created an 'ideal mate' for
Lieutenant Worf."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ack! A living Spark of Insight! Those Decipher guys must really be reading
COTD...
But then, I just went back to that review and checked what was so great
about that card. And actually, whereever I looked, most of the card's merit
was the surprise value. You got hit by something that removed a vital skill
from your crew or away team. Then you played the Spark and took it back. And
that's something you can't do with K'ChiQ, as vital as it would be to our
Klingon friends who tend to be affected by more Dilemmas than Feds anyway.
But there's a way out: Devidian Door! With the Door ability you can use
little K'ChiQ as a Spark of Insight, provided you have a male Klingon
around, but that shouldn't prove too difficult in a Klingon deck ;-). Yeah,
it costs you two cards, but so what? You get the added advantage of 17
ability points, a CIVILIAN classification for a Naiskos and the fact that
K'ChiQ will stay around and can still fulfill the first function of the
Spark of Insight card: providing an extra skill towards a mission attempt.
And with a lot of Klingon missions requiring either 2 skills plus a
classification or 2 skills plus an attribute requirement you will quite
often find yourself in a situation where you have one of the skills but not
both and thus have a perfect use for a single extra skill.
IMHO, an improvement on my idea, as it can if necessary function as a Spark
of Insight and has some extra powers besides it. And the Klingons deserve a
borderline degenerate personnel card as they don't have too much to offer in
that sector yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * K'ChiQ plus Devidian Door. Just because it makes up a card I devised...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     K'CHIQ
Wesley's rating:                9.951
Allen's rating:                 8.6
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  8.0
Drew's rating:                  5.5
Hal's rating:                   8.9
Jack's rating:                  7.6
Nanite's rating:                6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Picarde's rating:               7.5
Q's rating:                     9.5 (*)
Rothspar's rating:              8.0
Tania's rating:                 6.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.8
Interesting... 0.1 better than the Spark on the average...
(*) I don't get that... He rated Spark of Insight 5.0 but his opinion about
the value of getting one skill at the right time seems to have changed...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD290 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Space"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #290@{ub}
Hi, folks,
a card against opponents who get too predictable in outpost placement:
    @{b}SPACE@{ub}
    Mission, space, common QC.
    Point value: N/A
    Span: X
Counts as 1/2 card. May insert into spaceline.
X=3 + number of adjacent universal locations.
@{i}"The final frontier..."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmm... Why did I know the flavor text of this card right upon seeing the
name?
The key to the power of this card lies in two abilities, first the
possibility to play two of them instead of one other card. Most decks rely
on only four of their six missions anyway, so you can insert four more Space
cards and make sure the spaceline gets just that bit longer. Which of course
affects both players, but the second ability will make sure it hurts your
opponent more than yourself:
You can insert this card into the spaceline! You will usually have a pretty
good idea where you want to seed your outpost, so you'll keep it away from
that place and add it in at a position that is much closer to the place
where your opponent will most probably have hers. Which is surprisingly
easy, after all, you'll have more mission cards to play than your opponent
so you'll get a few extra seeds after your opponent is already finished
doing her mission cards. In the best case, you'll be able to surround your
opponent's most probable outpost location with an 8 span gap to either side
(assuming you play 4 Space cards), effectively forcing her to reconsider her
entire strategy and putting several of her missions at a severe penalty
(amongst which will most certainly be the one she intended to rely on most).
You will have a much easier time as the area you yourself want to explore is
not so badly spread apart, but you will still want to take some adjustments
to your deck when playing a heavy allotment of Space. A fast ship from the
AU expansion will be a good start and all your ships should be of at least
the 8 Range category unless you play a Range Enhancer equipment (Runabout +
Plasmadyne Relay comes to mind). If you use Space as a roadblock, putting
all of them close together (the most promising strategy anyway) , a WNOHGB
or Lakanta will completely nullify the penalty for you leaving your poor
opponent with a time-consuming gap in the spaceline you yourself closed
"around the corner". Just keep an Uxbridge handy to remove your opponent
from exploiting her own WNOHGB... And last, add a few Transwarp Conduits,
Distortion of Space/Time Continuum or Wormholes to keep your movement
freedom.
A good addition to any stalling deck, but make sure you have enough card
drawing power or you'll spend too much time getting your crew cards with the
additional cards you need to devote to insuring your own freedom.
BTW: If you're courageous, try playing a Romulan/Klingon Espionage deck with
12 Space cards and a K'ChiQ or two to make sure you can do your opponent's
missions...
And a rules question for Q: What's the exact meaning of 'adjacent' here?
Directly neighboring or in an uninterrupted sequence? Thus, will the span of
three Space cards next to each other be 13 or 15?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Space x4 (or 6) + Lakanta or WNOHGB
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SPACE
Wesley's rating:                6.5
Allen's rating:                 4.0
Cole's rating:                  6.5
Data's rating:                  6.7
Drew's rating:                  6.7
Hal's rating:                   3.4
Jack's rating:                  7.1
Nanite's rating:                8.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Picarde's rating:               4.0
Q's rating:                     4.5
Rothspar's rating:              ---
Tania's rating:                 5.0
Tony's rating:                  6.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD291 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Varon-T Disruptor"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #291@{ub}
Hi, folks,
the last classic artifact (and maybe the worst one):
    Classic COTD #16
    @{b}VARON-T DISRUPTOR@{ub}
    Artifact, rare.
Use as an Equipment card. Doubles all of your personnel's STRENGTH where
present. (Not cumulative)
@{i}"Only five of these pistols were made before being banned be the Federation.
These vicious weapons disrupt the body from the inside out, causing a slow
and painful death."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, extra Strength. As if we needed it. Strength points have two uses:
Battling Away teams and overcoming Dilemmas and missions with such
requirements.
If you want to do the second one, you'll be in logical trouble to justify a
Varon-T, after all, you need to complete a mission to get it and only then
will you be able to make use of the enhancement. And as the highest Strength
requirement on any mission or Dilemma is 44 (I don't count Outpost Raid -
you won't usually have a Varon-T present when attempting a mission from your
outpost), you can as well use a regular disruptor or phaser as the average
Strength of a card is just below 5 and that'll be good enough to overcome
any Strength-requiring Dilemma with 7 people and a reqular Strength
enhancer. Zero use here. Really.
If you go for battle on the other hand, you'll usually want to assemble a
strike force very quickly and try to disrupt your opponent's doings as early
as possible. After all, your mission-solving capabilities are limited at
best and you will not be as fast as a mission-oriented deck to assemble a
team that is capable of retrieving an Artifact. And this means, your Fed
opponent will already have snatched that Gift Box and taken another turn
before you can even lay your hands on that Disruptor and you will then still
need to chase him and start shooting away (usually another 2 turns). Which
means you'll then have to make up for something like a 25-85 score, not easy
if that guy on the other side threatens to draw his last card in three turns
and the majority of your crew is busy decimating his people.
Last try to get something out of it: Defense against away team battles.
Carry it along to discourage opponents from attacking. Only that this
function can as well be fulfilled by a Genetronic Replicator and a few
MEDICAL personnel (4 if you want to be sure that even a Phaser Burns card
won't disable your regenerative capabilities). Somehow this constellation
seems to have a lot more use to me than the Varon-T.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * (Yuck!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     VARON-T DISTRUPTOR
Wesley's rating:                1.01
Allen's rating:                 ---
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Data's rating:                  8.9
Drew's rating:                  5.4
Hal's rating:                   8.5
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Nanite's rating:                5.0
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Picarde's rating:               4.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Rothspar's rating:              7.5
Tania's rating:                 4.5
Tony's rating:                  7.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.0
Huh? Did I overlook something????????? Even the first time around when the
classic COTD's were done by Habib I never got the hype people tended to
place on some Artifacts, back then, none of them had all ratings below 9 and
I was the only person to place any of them below 5.5 Tsk. Glad they're done
with... many of them were quite complex and the ones I rarely play with were
quite hard to evaluate.
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD292 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Madam Guinan"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #292@{ub}
Hi, folks,
the 10th and last of the big stars has taken her time to enter STCCG, and we
still only got a secondary version of her in QC:
    @{b}MADAM GUINAN@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, rare QC.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 9
    Strength 6
    CIVILIAN, Anthropology,
    Once per turn may nullify any AU icon interrupt, event or dilemma
    where present, Staff Star (+), AU icon.
@{i}"Adventurous El-Aurian who spent time exploring worlds such as Earth. Met a
time-traveling crew from the U.S.S. Enterprise in the 19th century."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, apart from the fact that this card should have been AU (it's the big
expansion hoser), it's really good. For those who don't understand its power
but play Magic, I'll quickly create the equivalent Magic card: Guinan,
Summon Legend. Tap: Counter target Ice Age Interrupt, Instant or Enchantment
spell. Powerful? Sure. Why? Because it gives you a card advantage.
After all, the game balance is simple. You have 60 cards, your opponent has
60 cards. You draw a card per turn and so does he. And any card that takes
out more cards from him than from you gives you an advantage (Star Wars
takes this to an extreme by actually making the cards your life, but it's as
true in our game).
Of course a nullifier card is only as good as the cards it nullifies. So
let's have a look:
Vorgon Raiders, Dead in Bed, Temporal Narcosis, Wolf, Devidian Foragers:
     Limited at best, and not very common in play. Not primary targets.
Brain Drain:
     The cute temporary killer. Almost as good as taking out that personnel
     by a Dilemma only more surgical and more reliable. Almost needed a
     counter-card.
Wartime conditions and Rishon Uxbridge:
     Really? Maybe a quick target for turns in which you don't get hit by
     anything sensible.
Thought Fire, Frame of Mind, Quantum Singularity Lifeforms, Parallel
Romance:
     Underrated nasties that you'd probably rather avoid than face.
Maman Picard, Interphasic Plasma Creatures, Empathic Echo:
     Not worth their money.
Royale Casino games:
     Unkillable 7 or 10 point differential you'd probably not want to waste
     a card on but if you can take it out on the fly...
Conundrum:
     Dangerous against the typical transport ship with little crew and
     annoying.
Drought Tree:
     Easily nullified, but the Guinan way is even easier.
Doppelganger:
     That's a hard one - who has more to gain from it?
Android Nightmares:
     another nasty one with all these great androids now floating around.
You see: Good targets. And at two hits for each of your turns (you can use
her on your opponent's turn, too!) Guinan will almost definitely give you a
card advantage. Unless your opponent is mean enough to play without AU - but
that's the risk you take.
Oh, BTW: She cannot do Investigate Time Continuum (no colon rule match and
no match under the new "Persona" rule either).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Madam Guinan + several AU Dilemmas + Espionage or matching affiliation.
     How come your missions are so much easier for me than for you ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     MADAM GUINAN
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Allen's rating:                 7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.5
Data's rating:                  7.8
Drew's rating:                  7.8
Hal's rating:                   7.8
Jack's rating:                  6.8
Mot's rating:                   9.0
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                8.5
Rothspar's rating:              9.95
Tania's rating:                 7.0
Tony's rating:                  8.8
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD293 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Mordock"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #293@{ub}
Hi, folks,
an uncommon I would not have dared to make, not even as a rare:
    @{b}MORDOCK@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, uncommon QC.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 7
    Strength 4
    SCIENCE, Missions you solve are +5 points. Bonus points lost if you ever
    battle in this game. Computer Skill, Physics, Staff Star (+).
@{i}"Developer of the 'Mordock Strategy'. Became first Benzite in Starfleet,
outscoring Wesley Crusher for appointment to the Academy. Looks like
Mendon."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I'll leave the snide Wesley remarks to you (however, how can a 7
Cunning Benzite outsmart an 8 Cunning Terran? Decipher screwed up here -
should have been 9 Cun...). And now that we finally know what Mendon looks
like ("Looks like Mordock - who looks like Mendon - who oh stop that")
another problem just has left our world.
But there's one that just entered our world. Err - the world of our
opponents! A Federation SCIENCE guy with two usable skills is good. But a
Federation SCIENCE guy with two usable skills and the ability to save you a
mission is awesome. Right - this Mordock guy is like getting a mission for
free. After 3 missions, you'll usually have around 95 points unless you
scored several points from Dilemmas. And with Mordock this 95 is a 110. Or
like a game won.
And even better: You don't need to carry him around as Dilemma bait. ANY
mission you solve gets the point bonus. Even if Mordock is sitting at your
outpost and having a good time in the holosuite.
Only problem: You may not battle. That means not at all, so you should
better make sure you don't get attacked. Temporal Rifts help by eliminating
that potential attacker for quite a little time and when he comes back
you'll hopefully be somewhere far away. I also assume that if you don't
retaliate you won't lose the points either. So stock up on shield enhancers
and make sure they won't hit you on a planet with superior numbers. Yeah,
that pesky K'Vort ship might escape your Wrath (of Wesley ;-) ), but then,
15 points are 15 points or do I get something wrong here ?
Anyway, a sure 3-mission win with a potential for being a 2-mission one
(take 2 35's and stock a 10 pt. Dilemma (combo) under each) is nothing I'd
neglect. Try with Evaluate Terraforming and Investigate Time Continuum + 2
Barclay's Diseases. For laughs: Beverly Picard + Mordock + Data + Roga
Danar. Plus 5 Federation PADDs, 2 Barclay's, 2 Q, 2 Iconian Gateways. The
rest of the deck? Kevins, Amandas, Q2s, Temporal Rifts, Kivas, Traveler. Hit
the Barclay's for 10, the Q to get rid of any remaining Dilemmas, use
Kevin/Amanda/Q2 for nasty Q-Flash cards and get the mission. Step through
the gateway, repeat. Did you think one can really win the game with 4
personnel?????????
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * see above. Plain nasty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     MORDOCK
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Allen's rating:                 6.8
Cole's rating:                  6.5
Data's rating:                  8.0
Drew's rating:                  9.985768
Hal's rating:                   9.8
Jack's rating:                  6.6
Mot's rating:                   7.5
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Picarde's rating:               6.5
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                6.4
Rothspar's rating:              7.0
Tania's rating:                 6.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD294 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Plague Planet"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #294@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I know it would actually be time for a classic today, but with the #300
issue looming over our heads, I'll shift that back by one to make sure I'm
not gonna hit that number on the wrong card... For today, it's
    @{b}PLAGUE PLANET@{ub}
    Mission, F/K/R, Planet, rare QC.
    Points 30
    Span 4
MEDICAL + Biology + Archaeology.
Player: If you solve, automatically overcome Plague Ships.
Opponent: If you solve, all Plague Ships score no points. "Tarellia:
Investigate origin site of famous deadly plague."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First thing that struck me: MEDICAL + Biology? Didn't we have this before?
Like in the good old Evaluate Terraforming? Right. Only this time, you won't
just get by with sending Beverly as the third skill is not as well suited to
her. So you'll need an Archaeologist. Picard of course comes to mind in a
Bridge crew deck, but there are plenty of other alternatives which rather
depend on the other missions you are playing. But you should have Bev if
you're a Feddie. Preferably both Bevs, that is...
Second difference: It's triple affiliation, so we'll need to take a look at
how the others will be able to solve it. For the Romulans, there will be no
way past Taris who has both MEDICAL and Archaeology and thus provides as
solid a basis as Beverly. The other Rommie doctors are really crappy anyway.
Klingons? Divok plus any Archaeologist. Or Koroth plus MEDICAL. The latter
might be even better. Non-aligned crew cards? No serious contenders here.
Sorry.
So it's a 2-person 30-point mission whose primary solver characters are
quite good in other circumstances ,too, which gives us a good card. But then
there's that special ability. Different for you and your opponent to further
complicate things. A Tarellian Plague ship is a 5-point booster which
normally requires you to sacrifice a doctor. And only these are influenced,
so if there are none on table, just forget the ability. But let's assume
there are a few. And the mission just calls for making up the 5-point
difference to Evaluate Terraforming by overcoming the occasional Plague
Ship. Which means you'll need some space missions (or a mixed crew to
attempt some of opponent's space missions, but then you can never rely on
anyone playing the right card). Seed several Plague Ships (one under each
does the trick) and go for the Plague Planet. Then encounter the Ships for
free points. But the catch is that your opponent can revert this advantage
of yours into a disadvantage by getting there first. You still need to
sacrifice the doctor but now you don't even get points for it anymore. Risky
business. Add to this the fact that it will be quite obvious where you'll
want to have your outpost if you seed Plague Planet and several Dilemmas
under your own missions, and the Plague Wager becomes a rather lousy chance.
But you still get a solid mission for your money and if you keep those
Plague Ships under your opponent's missions, you might even be able to
snatch an occasional 5 or 10 points while really hindering the person on the
other side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Ah, rather none - the one I discussed above is not to my liking.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     PLAGUE PLANET
Wesley's rating:                7.0
Allen's rating:                 7.2
Cole's rating:                  5.5
Data's rating:                  8.0
Drew's rating:                  8.8
Hal's rating:                   7.0
Jack's rating:                  7.0
Mot's rating:                   7.0
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.0
Picarde's rating:               6.0
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                4.5
Rothspar's rating:              5.5
Tania's rating:                 6.0
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD295 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Roga Danar"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #295@{ub}
Hi, folks,
I'm back from the Essen game fair (that other Decipher game called me for
duty as tourney director) and while I'm at it I could as well do a COTD, or
do you think otherwise ? (Anyone saying yes here will get the point from Q)
Uh, what's up? A classic? Now that I just got a hand on some shiny real QC
cards? Drat.
    Classic COTD #17
    @{b}ROGA DANAR@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, rare.
    Integrity 5
    Cunning 9
    Strength 12
    SECURITY, ENGINEER, Computer Skill, Biology, Leadership, Command Star (*).
@{i}"Angosian male. Biochemically altered into a formidable perfect warrior
ranked Subhadar."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
My copy of this card would probably not even be legible anymore if I would
not have played with sleeves from the first day on - this guy has seen more
play than any other personnel. And he merits it by several points:
  1. He's a SECURITY. You always need that and there are very few that
     actually get you something beyond just filling the classification need.
  2. He's non-aligned. Which means you get to use him in every deck.
  3. He got Leadership. And unlike most other cards in which I don't
     consider Leadership a big deal (unfortunately they are almost always
     OFFICERs), here the Leadership can be of good use. A single personnel
     is not a match for our Roga unless it were Data or Fek'Lhr, but the
     latter is not relevant for the use I just want to explore as she'll
     just never be there...
     Try this: WNOHGB plus a Love Interest under every mission. Put Roga on
     a Runabout and send him to the end of the spaceline. If somebody winds
     up on the remote planet, send down Roga to finish the job. If your
     opponent seeks greener pastures across the middle of the spaceline -
     well that's what the WNOHGB is for. Six personnel of his for one of
     yours and you can always order him back. Especially good tactic in a
     slower deck when you get him out early.
  4. What would you wish to complement a SECURITY Leader? The ability to fix
     something - either persons or things. At least for "things" we can get
     something here - Computer skill and ENGINEER. Good enough, especially
     if you add a Nutational Shields to your Klingon Armada.
  5. 12 STRENGTH. Highly useful in any battle-oriented...
     ...
     ...
     Federation-deck !!! You need a low number of characters for an
     acceptable Strength, so why not send your non-aligned guys on a quick
     punitive strike? A staff star also helps here. Combat Vessels, Husnocks
     and the new Zalkonian Vessels are just the right stuff to play your
     enhancers on. Oh, almost forgot to mention 2 classification for the
     Naiskos.
  6. The remaining shebang. 5 Integrity just avoids the Firestorm, Cunning 9
     takes care of Thought Fire (though I'd prefer 8 because of Hunter
     Gangs) and Biology can also be useful sometimes. And Roga's biggest
     enemy? Yuta. At a Yuta number of 2, he'll stand out in any Feddie or
     Romulan deck so he's an easy target. Not what you'd like for a useful
     character.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * You can combine him with nearly any card though the quick
     non-affiliated Strike Force with Roga, another non-aligned and a Combat
     (or Zalkonian) Vessel + Bynars is probably the most surprising for your
     opponent when used in a Fed deck.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     ROGA DANAR
Wesley's rating:                9.2
Allen's rating:                 ---
Cole's rating:                  8.0
Data's rating:                  9.9
Drew's rating:                  9.8
Hal's rating:                   9.9
Jack's rating:                  9.3
Mot's rating:                  10.0
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.5
Picarde's rating:               9.0
Q's rating:                     9.0
Ranger's rating:                9.5
Rothspar's rating:              9.999555
Tania's rating:                 9.5
Tony's rating:                 10.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 9.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD296 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Galen"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #296@{ub}
Hi, folks,
4 to go until 300... and this time I got something great planned! But for
now I'll keep the tension high and rather go for
    @{b}GALEN@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, rare QC.
    Integrity 5
    Cunning 8
    Strength 6
    SCIENCE; Archaeology, Computer Skill, Treachery, Leadership, Navigation,
    Music, Command Star (*), Does not work with Fed affiliation.
@{i}"Jean-Luc Picard went undercover in 2370 posing as a mercenary and artifact
smuggler."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second six skill box in STCCG, and this time it's filled with stuff
almost better than the first one. Similarities first. Galen has four skills
in common with the big one, namely Archaeology, Music, Navigation and
Leadership. And he has the same Cunning and Strength. Good enough to be
called a Picard. And unlike with the real Picard, the Leadership skill is
really worth something here as he's no OFFICER and you can still use him as
a leader in battle.
Of course a smuggler won't be very honorable so this got switched with its
counterpart Treachery and Computer Skill gets to replace the double
Diplomacy (hacking is just another means to get to information you could
have gained the diplomatic way...). And as compensation for the lost x2 we
get a classification that actually counts: SCIENCE. If I now go for point
scores on the old usability table (didn't redo it yet), we gain 8 for
SCIENCE instead of OFFICER, lose 7 for Computer Skill instead of Diplo x2,
gain 1 for Treachery replacing Honor and lose 4 for the lower Integrity. Net
change: -2. But the fact that he can work with two affiliations instead of
one makes up for this and with the old formula, Galen will actually come out
4 points ahead of the real Old Baldly.
Mission-solving capabilities? Sure. Only one he could solve alone,
skill-wise, but that's not so important, after all he is non-aligned which
means you will always need to add another person. But major contributions go
towards Khitomer research, Iconia Investigation, Secret Salvage, Plunder
Site, Covert Installation, Expose Covert Supply, Excavation (well, he has
that skill, but as I said, he'll still need a Romulan to help him) and
Compromised Mission. All of these can be done by Romulans, and three also by
the Klingons. Which means Galen is a superb addition to any Rommie deck,
which other character can sport six missions he can contribute not one but
two skills to and still have a classification important for Dilemma
overcoming. Just add Roga Danar and Taris and you have a core crew for a
really great Rommie deck.
And the fact he won't work with Feds? Not critical either. You wouldn't be
able to use him at the same time as the real Picard anyway and the Feds
really don't need even more crew choice flexibility...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Galen + Roga Danar + Taris (+ Haakona + Captain's Log)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     GALEN
Wesley's rating:                9.2
Allen's rating:                 8.1
Cole's rating:                  9.0
Data's rating:                  7.0
Drew's rating:                  ---
Hal's rating:                   9.5
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Mot's rating:                   9.0
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.0
Picarde's rating:               8.0
Q's rating:                     9.8
Ranger's rating:                9.0
Rothspar's rating:              6.0
Tania's rating:                 7.0
Tony's rating:                  9.2
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD297 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Samuel Clemens"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #297@{ub}
Hi, folks,
after Newton and Einstein, we got our third card from the past:
    @{b}SAMUEL CLEMENS@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, uncommon QC.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 5
    Strength 3
    CIVILIAN, Once per game, may leave play when Devidian Door is "shown"
    and score 10 points. Diplomacy, AU icon.
@{i}"Crotchety 19th century author popularly known as Mark Twain. Visited the
U.S.S. Enterprise in 2369 during the Devidian time travel incident."{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, somehow this card reminds me of the one sitting right next to it in my
binder, Kova Tholl (CIVILIAN, Diplo, scores 10 points if killed by an attack
in which you do not retaliate, 8/6/2). As long as they are in play, they are
pretty identical. But there are a few differences:
   * Sam Clemens gives you control over when you can take him out of the
     game to gain the 10 points, because you can use a Devidian Door
     yourself.
   * Sam might be usable in staffing ships for a Naiskos as he's a
     non-aligned CIVILIAN with an AU icon. Decius and Fek'lhr fans will love
     him just for this.
   * Kova, on the other hand, is reusable. Once you lose one, just play the
     next and score the points again if your opponent is foolish enough to
     start another attack.
But I think the first point is the most important. You don't need to rely on
your opponent to gain 10 extra points, you can do it on your own by just
using a Devidian Door for a purpose that is on its own already worth that
card play. So you practically have an event that says, "score 10 points if
you ever play Devidian Door in this game". Only it's not uxbridgable and can
be played with Red Alert or seeded in a Cryo. Plus, you get the ability
scores, the CIVILIAN for an eventual Naiskos (delay cashing the 10 until you
have 90 or more) and a Diplomat if anything runs really wrong.
Somehow, with Devidian Door being that good, I wouldn't count this card into
the group of bad buys. Actually, I think Devidian Door is almost too good to
allow for an enhancer card which is a little the gripe with this Sam Clemens
card. I'd rather have seen "Once per game, you may play Devidian Door to
place Sam Clemens out of play and gain 15 points". Thus you'd actually be
wasting the door for 15 points. But as it stands, this card should be in any
deck with more than one Devidian Door and even in some of the decks with
exactly one of them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
   * Yeah, guess what ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     SAMUEL CLEMENS
Wesley's rating:                7.5
Allen's rating:                 5.5
Cole's rating:                  6.8
Data's rating:                  7.0
Drew's rating:                  6.5
Hal's rating:                   5.9
Jack's rating:                  6.2
Mot's rating:                   4.5
Nanite's rating:                7.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Picarde's rating:               5.0
Q's rating:                     6.9
Ranger's rating:                6.8
Rothspar's rating:              8.9
Tania's rating:                 5.0
Tony's rating:                  5.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 5.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD298 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/William T. Riker"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #298@{ub}
Hi, folks,
two more issues before we make it through the barrier... But first, let's
add another classic touch:
    CLASSIC COTD #19
    @{b}WILLIAM T. RIKER@{ub}
    Personnel, Federation, rare.
    Integrity 8
    Cunning 7
    Strength 7
    OFFICER, Diplomacy, Leadership, Navigation, Honor,
    Music, Command Star (*).
@{i}"Commander William T. Riker is the executive officer of U.S.S. Enterprise.
Imzadi to Deanna Troi. Gourmet cook. Jazz musician."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A card that surprisingly often stays at home when I send my Enterprise on
yet another mission to explore strange new spacelines, seek out new missions
and new dilemmas and boldly score what no one has scored before...(TM).
Why? First: Because I own Picard. Simple enough. What does Riker have that
Picard doesn't? Answer: Strength 7. Yep, Picard has only 6. And in any other
respect, Riker is the poor guy's Picard. He loses one Diplomacy, one
Archaeology, one Cunning and one Integrity. And he cannot captain the
Stargazer for the Captain's Log benefit. Now why for *'s sake (insert any
expletive you see fit for the *) does that guy have the same rarity and
almost the same price tag? Yes, granted, five skills look good, but then,
three of them are the stale old "Diphole" (Diplomacy, Honor, Leadership),
meaning they don't count much more than 2 "real" skills.
Leaves us with Navigation (I know better Navigators) and Music. About a
McKnight, 50 cents. And that's it when it comes to William Riker. A McKnight
and a Diphole. Plus a stare into the camera as if that guy's brain has just
gone flying off and he's watching it disappear. Oh, don't forget the beard -
it might become a real use for Barbering someday. No. Really. If you plan on
shelling out money for Bridge crew, put it on something really useful. Data,
Wesley, Picard, Geordi, Beverly. (Not necessarily in this order.) If you
still got money left, maybe a Worf or even a Troi (though I don't think much
of her either, at least Empathy does now have a few uses).
One exception though: If you have a pure Fed Diphole deck (yeah, it's
feasible though not that effective), you might want to have Riker as a
Picard replacement just in case old baldly oversleeps his turn at the very
bottom of your deck. But otherwise these skills might make a good $5 card,
but not a $25 card. Sorry.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
 * - Do I have to? Well, if you insist: Riker + Picard + Satelk + Worf +
     Tasha Alternate: The ultimate Diphole crew.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)     WILLIAM RIKER
Wesley's rating:                5.49 (can't give this guy "average" ;-))
Allen's rating:                 ---
Cole's rating:                  6.7
Data's rating:                  8.7
Drew's rating:                  1.6
Hal's rating:                   5.0
Jack's rating:                  8.5
Mot's rating:                   7.0
Nanite's rating:                3.0
Nouwa's rating:                 7.0
Picarde's rating:               9.0
Q's rating:                     8.0
Ranger's rating:                8.1
Rothspar's rating:              7.8
Tania's rating:                 9.0
Tony's rating:                  9.5
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.9
Um, one of the largest spans we had lately. And again the "expensive cool
card" syndrome...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD299 "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Zalkonian Vessel"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #299@{ub}
Hi, folks,
a ship? Really? I never understand why you find this stuff so interesting,
but then, maybe some are...
    @{b}ZALKONIAN VESSEL@{ub}
    Ship, non-aligned, universal, common QC.
    Range 9
    Weapons 8
    Shields 6
    Requires 1 Command (*), 0 Staff (+), 2 non-aligned crewmembers.
    Kills untransfigured John Doe if at same location at end of your turn.
@{i}"Typical Zalkonian defense vessel. One commanded by Sunad traveled at Warp
9.72 hunting the fugitive known as John Doe in the Zeta Gelis cluster."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First comparison: Tama. That was the best non-aligned ship before with 7/9/8
for only two crew. Now this one needs three (same as with the AU guys who
can work either as command or as AU), but two of them have a rather weak
requirement: they just may not be affiliated. So all the scientists, doctors
and whatevers may still help fly this beauty. And it is universal, so even
though the Tama might be a little better in value for money, this one's
powerful just because you can have more than one of them. And an 8 Weapons
is a good start for an attacker, with the 9 Range helping to hunt down
nearly any ship. Let's put her to maximum use. Madred, Vekor and Kareen
Brianon (or Timicin) have 6 of the 7 classifications needed for a Naiskos.
Add any cool VIP (Devinoni Ral should do) and you have a sparkin' brand-new
4-person Naiskos crew composed of only gold-bordered cards. Which means this
beauty can attack. Even in a Fed deck well-equipped to get to that Naiskos
at incredible speed. And as it's universal, you can well have one in play
and save your Gift Box to put together the crew. Neat, eh? Add 2 Bynars and
you have an Outpost killer. And you don't even need to go too far out of
your way in a Fed speed deck as most of the crew cards are even good for
overcoming Dilemmas and the ship has a solid 9 Range so your flying speed is
as adequate as the Enterprise's.
More ideas? Sure. Use these ships in a non-aligned mission solver deck with
Rakal and DeSeve providing the necessary color splashes. Rakal can even
allow you to attack other Romulans. Just use mainly planet missions as you
can't use John Doe to save some personnel's butt.
Oh, speaking of John Doe: This is another reason to have the Zalkonian
Vessel in play if you can support its requirements. It is as close as you'll
get to a free nullifier card. And it's the only way to get rid of John
besides Doppelganger or a well-placed Dilemma.
(A few raters complained about the somewhat low shields, BTW. I don't think
this is so big a disadvantage. After all, what did they print these
Nutationals and Metaphasics for ?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
 * - Zalkonian Vessel + Timicin + Vekor + Madred + Devinoni Ral + Kurlan
     Naiskos. Rarely seen so many skills in a minimum Naiskos crew...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best)      ZALKONIAN VESSEL
Wesley's rating:                9.0
Allen's rating:                 8.1
Cole's rating:                  6.0
Data's rating:                  7.5
Drew's rating:                  5.5
Hal's rating:                   6.5
Jack's rating:                  6.9
Mot's rating:                   4.0
Nanite's rating:                6.0
Nouwa's rating:                 8.9
Picarde's rating:               6.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
RAnger's rating:                6.0
Rothspar's rating:              6.5
Tania's rating:                 6.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.7
Oh, if anyone can guess the card(s) that will be in #300, I'll give that
person a head start on Wes' COTD #300 contest. Guesses accepted up to Monday
4pm EST...
(It will be from the real cards only - no Internet expansion or equally
nasty stuff...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode
@Node COTD300A "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/John Doe"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #300a@{ub}
Hi, folks,
this is the day! A new digit marks the front and for those of you who want
to celebrate the start of the new era, I'll post a contest. And unlike the
previous COTD contests, this time you can win. 6 well-hidden Dream Card
images. To participate, watch out for "Wes' COTD #300 contest" on your
mailing list or news server. Mind you, it won't be easy this time! (And
sorry to Lennard for the extra COTD files you'll have to send out the next
days...)
Now for the card. I thought about it quite some time, but it was a rater's
idea that finally got me to:
    @{b}JOHN DOE@{ub}
    Personnel, non-aligned, uncommon QC.
    Integrity 7
    Cunning 7
    Strength 4
    CIVILIAN, Once per turn, may prevent one other personnel from being killed
    on a ship where present.
@{i}"A Zalkonian male with amnesia and the ability to heal by touch alone.
Romantically involved with Dr. Crusher. Later evolved into a pure energy
being."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"HEY!!!!! What's so special around here? You make such a hype about the #300
issue and then THIS?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whoops, let's see. Maybe that guy didn't yet get the entire story. Okay,
where did I leave off? John Doe. (Must be first signs of amnesia within
myself) John fits the scheme of the many new CIVILIANs with great special
abilities. You don't get a host of skills, but you get a single ability that
almost functions as an event. We had Lakanta, with his built-in WNOHGB and
now we have a living Genetronic Replicator. Well, almost. Several advantages
and disadvantages apply:
   * John can only work once per turn. The original Replicator can prevent
     any number of deaths each mission attempt.
   * John does not need any help by MEDICAL personnel. He just does it. And
     he does it well.
   * He cannot be nullified by that nasty Kevin Uxbridge guy.
   * He is far more vulnerable to nasty Dilemmas. With three different
     MEDICAL, an away team using a replicator is safe against any Dilemma
     that kills one personnel. Even if it's opponent's choice. John is just
     John and that might mean he's soon gone.
However, it is a little unfair to compare these two cards as their areas of
usefulness don't really overlap. The Genetronic Replicator protects Away
Teams on planets. (And also prevents Wesley from getting the side-effects
along with the point...). John, however works in space only. Exactly where
no Genetronic Replicator has gone before. (And here, pointy things coming
Wes' way are also softened...).
So John Doe is an integral part of any defensive deck. At least if you play
any space missions. (BTW: Rules question for Q: If the entire crew dies, can
John still regenerate a crewmember while dying or is it analog to the
MEDICALs operating the Replicator? Unfortunately, my bad omens tell me it
will be the latter...) Just make sure, you won't run into any Zalkonian
vessels. They will put a quick end to your defensive bonus. But then, every
card in this game needs a nullifier card.
But wait a second, I didn't even mention John's best ability yet! An ability
that makes another card rather...
                             @{"[to be continued!]" link COTD300B}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EndNode
@Node COTD300B "STCCG.guide/ST:CCG Card of the Day/Transfigurations"
        @{u}@{b}@{fg highlight}ST:CCG Card of the day@{fg text}@{ub}@{uu}
        @{b}Wesley's STCCG card of the day #300b@{ub}
Hi, folks,
@{"[what happened until now]" link COTD300A}
John Doe, an uncommon QC personnel card, has been reviewed in the light of
its special ability to function as something like a Genetronic Replicator
in space, listing several differences to the Replicator. A little rules
question occured on simultaneous deaths, which Q answered according to my
fears.
And just when it got interesting, somebody said that John could make
another card rather...
[end flashback]
obsolete! Namely, the mediocre Kevin Uxbridge: Convergence. But he cannot do
this alone, he needs a little help from
    @{b}TRANSFIGURATION@{ub}
    Event, uncommon QC.
Plays on John Doe after he has prevented a death. Each turn, he may nullify
one Event card (except Transfiguration) where present. (Immune to Kevin
Uxbridge).
@{i}"John Doe was persecuted by other Zalkonians who did not understand his
evolution into a higher form. He is now a benevolent energy being with
metaphysical powers."@{ui}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A neat feature, having a great personnel card split into two separate cards.
The first is already good, with the second played on it, he gets awesome.
Don't like Gaps in Normal Space? Any of the Beaming preventers? Forget KU:
Convergence! Why stick with getting rid of cards on the spaceline once when
you can have it again and again, every turn? It's just not that easy to
play. First, you'll need John and Transfiguration in your hand and an
opportunity to play John. (So far, quite easy). Now, you'll need somebody to
die. It should not be John himself (otherwise you'd not achieve much), and
you need to do it in space. Maybe the best way to do this is to use some
more QC. Play Klingon. (You'll need it). Have two leaders in play together
on a ship with John Doe. Play Arbiter of Succession on them. Score 10 points
and slap down your Transfiguration on your next turn. Now you have a
permanent KU: Convergence. And luckily, Star Trek does not write "Use this
ability only once per turn" as "Tap to...", meaning you can use both
abilities of your enhanced John Doe on the same turn. Neat, eh?
And, one more problem is now solved: You can now put John on a Zalkonian
Vessel without him disintegrating to discard pile dust. Two reusable
abilities, on one character. Not too crappy. I guess that guy should rather
see some play, with or without his enhancer card.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Favorite combo(s):
 * John Doe + Transfiguration + 2 Klingon Leaders + Arbiter of Succession.
   10 points plus a great character.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratings for :
@{u}Card Rating@{uu} (1=worst  10=best) JOHN DOE      TRANSFIGURATION
Wesley's rating:                    8.5           7.0
Allen's rating:                     9.0           6.5
Cole's rating:                      8.0           6.5
Data's rating:                      8.5           8.0
Drew's rating:                      7.8           5.7
Hal's rating:                       8.1           5.0
Jack's rating:                      6.5           7.0
Mot's rating:                       6.0           7.5
Nanite's rating:                    9.0           7.0
Nouwa's rating:                     3.0           3.0
Picarde's rating:                   7.5           7.0
Q's rating:                         6.5           6.0
Ranger's rating:                    7.1           8.0
Rothspar's rating:                  5.0           6.0
Tania's rating:                     8.0           8.0
Tony's rating:                      7.5          10.0
----------------------
AVERAGE RATING:                 7.3           6.8
Attn raters: I ran out of ratinx, please do rate the two QC doorways!
(Waitlist occupants can use this opportunity to do a two issue guest
performance...)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: Did anyone expect this "cliffhanger" episode? Or did anyone guess where
part 2 would be headed? Comments to my email address...
PPS: Those of you who participate in the #300 contest, the file URLs are now
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/XXXX.JPG Sorry for the technical error!
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to:
[e-mail]
Visit the Web Page!
http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)
With all back issues from #1 up to today !
LLAP,
Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord
"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"
@EndNode