Good Card, Bad Card #27

We're back bloggin' after letting the cooler heads prevail. My last blog touched some nerves and things got heated. I hope everyone has taken a deep breath and put things in perspective. It's tough sometimes, people have real life trouble going on and then take the 'dork stuff' too serious. I've seen it happen in the past. We had a player, Steve Fitchett, seemingly lose his mind one day, make wild threats then quit the game. Steve and I became good friends, I helped him start a neighborhood poker game, I watched the Eagles SuperBowl at his place. Then, in a blink of an eye, he changed and became this angry little man. Steve had health problems and didn't work, he played lots of different games to fill the time. I guess when games become your life things can get confusing. Being a poker player I had to learn the ability to always keep a personal inventory of my emotions and personal problems and to make sure they weren't affecting my decision making process. If you bring your problems to the poker table you probably end up broke. The same can be said for the Trek table. One mistake can set you back in Trek. Two usually will cost you the game.

Good Card: Unexpected Difficulties

Why: This is probably the ultimate "good card". It cost 0 and should go in just about every deck. It's simple, this card can buy you an extra turn. Extra turns are what wins you games. People are shocked sometimes when I blow up "UD" when there other events on the table. Even when I'm attempted a mission clean. Then they catch a "bad beat" and I solve the mission. Well, that UD probably would've stopped me that turn, and maybe even on my next attempt. That's 2 turns I just gained on my opponent. It's tough to catch up 2 turns.

Bad Card: Gomtuu Shock Wave

Why: One set of requirements has integrity. The other side has... integrity. WTF!? I never understood that at all. This dilemma is almost as bad as 'An Issue of Trust' for the fact it absolutely nerfs certain affiliations. Terok Nor, Cardassia (pre-central command), Dominon. Hell, any non-integrity deck has issues passing it. This is the reason we see all sorts of dumb cards that add other attributes to integrity. The new resistance rifle, Korinas, etc. All this because of one terrible space dilemma that was made.

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Today's Pic: Our first game of HeroQuest. I was the evil sorcerer (of course) and Brandy and the kids were the Heroes. Connor the Barbarian killed the vile Gargoyle and found the treasure. But sadly, the dwarf didn't survive. He died bravely while the two other injured heroes were falling back. He dies with honor.

Good Card, Bad Card #26

God hates Star Trek, banking, and poker. I'm just trying to figure out how the 'jesusfreaks' in the trek community balance in their minds their religion, jobs and their hobbies. Star Trek, is a show about a God-less, money-less humanist view of the future. Our concept of 'god' has no place in Roddenberry's vision. I would take that even further, suggesting our waste of time and energy in religion holds us back from ever accomplishing the things seen in Star Trek. Poker, well, that's just a game based on taking money from someone. There's no way to balance the ideals of Christianity and playing poker. That's why Islam forbids gambling, it's goes against the nature of god. Islam also forbids lending money at interest, since it's usury. I'm no Muslim, in fact I would make a terrible one. But I'm pretty sure Jesus would hate banks too. The only time you see him angry in the Bible is when he went apeshit on the money-changers in front of the temple. Like all religions, most of their ideas about how to treat each other are pretty solid (unless you're a homosexual). But if you're a Christian, working at a bank, playing poker and Trek in your spare time I don't understand how you can't see the conflict of interest.

Good Card: Baraka

Why: I forgot another random quote of mine when I came across this ship. When I play DS9 with Region: Bajor System space missions I usually stock this ship. I only need one range and this ship only cost two. So I'll go for the Turn 2 attempt on the Baraka yelling, "I'm on a boat! Everybody look at me." (If you've seen the SNL skit you'll laugh. If not, you'll just stare at me strangely, like most people do) There's nothing more absurd flying the Baraka with 15 personnel aboard. If that's not enough reasons for you, it has the same name as a Mortal Kombat character. What else do you want?

Bad Card: B'tanay

Why: I get it, it's does the opposite of what Bajorans normally do. Sack your whole discard pile for a ship that doesn't have the normal crap stats of a regular Bajoran ship. I don't see a reason why I want to pay 7 counters for a 9-9-9 ship. I'm Bajoran, I probably don't need more range. The extra weapons and shields aren't going to do me much good. Bajorans are all about combat, not engagements. On top of that, it's a pain in the ass to staff. Even with all the new Bajoran love in the last set, this ship still serves no purpose.

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Today's Pic: Everytime I see an iPad commercial I have to explain to whoever is in the room how Star Trek invented everything. Cell Phones, laptops, iPads, kissing black girls....

Good Card, Bad Card #25

So I find myself this weekend all alone, the female taking the kids up to her parents for the weekend. I'm old now so I don't even spend the free time touching myself. Just enjoying the peace and quiet. After eating a buffalo chicken pizza and taking a solid nap I decided to make a new deck. Going through looking at some cards it made me realize some odd things I say out loud during tournaments. I like to have fun and "get my dork on". What's the point of playing this game if I can't yell out random trek quotes or just act like a weirdo. Just a few I came across:

I think we all yell "Khan!" or "Dabo!" when we play those cards. I mean, it really should be required.

When my opponent misses a Prejudice and Politics I bang the table and yell, "The military does not dictate policy on Romulus."

When I play the card You Have a Disease I just put it on the table and say "AIDS".

When my opponent names a card with Sensing a Trap I do my best Star Wars Admiral Akbar impression, "It's a trap!"

When I score 10 points from Labor Camp I point at my captives and say, "Get to work!"

Anytime I say "Spock" I have to do it in Shatner-speak.

The 'Holy Grail' of quotes and the ultimate win, which I'm still waiting to do, is to be at 100 points and my opponent to have the Phoenix in play. Then play a damage card and say, "Watch, you're future's end." Hopefully I can pull that off one day.

Good Card: Dukat, Prefect of Bajor

Why: We call this version "Pimp Dukat" in Jersey. Watch the episode, he's just smooth with the Bajoran ladies. Come to think of it, he banged Kira's mom, then tried for years to bang Kira. Actually, he's a pretty sick son of a bitch. But that's what makes him a great villain. As for the card, it's my favorite Dukat. His ability works on himself as well any Cardie present. Some personnel don't affect themselves, that's a big difference. The most success comes when your opponent just flat out forgets about the ability. You'd be surprised how much it happens. They usually think they have to stop 2 or 3 people and play dilemmas accordingly. The one unstop usually is the difference in solving the mission.

Bad Card: The Enterprise Incident

Why: This is another card I've never seen anyone use. Ever. Why? Because it's high cost and a lot of work for little reward. A leadership captive? That's it? Not a great deal for stopping two ship most likely. Plus, I'm playing Romulan, what the hell am I going to do with a captive. Play Condition Captive to take command of him? Great, now I have to stock another card in my deck to make this worthwhile. I'm all for Romulans getting some captive flavor their way. It makes trek sense, they could get down and dirty like Cardassians. Ask Geordi La Forge.

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Today's Pic: That ogre is Neil Timmons, who last Sunday at KillerBOWL XI took home the Vince Berardi Trophy and won the WCT Heavyweight Title from Darrell Minott. "The Legacy Effect" has a stranglehold on our meta. Choking creativity like Tiger Woods choking a white girl. OT Kirk can make all your hopes and dreams come true.............

Good Card, Bad Card #24

My absence from the blog has been due to my return to full-time poker. I didn't want to write a "blah, blah, blah" article about all that. It seems there are tons of poker clowns out there who write blogs. Makes sense, playing poker is actually a lonely business. You're surrounded by people all the time but you're really isolated in your own thoughts. I'll spare you the mundane, bullsh*t experiences of a poker life. But I did come across this the other day in an Internet search. It was an interview with Tony Gammell many years ago:

I remember a great article written by John Corbett which compared Poker to Star Trek CCG. He said that when you face an average player, just play a basic ABC game and your skill will take you through. But when you play a world-class opponent, you have to use tricks that you would not normally have to use in order to beat the player.

I still look back at this game as one that totally changed me as a player. I had to concentrate so hard for the entire hour, I was forced in to playing smarter and wiser, and I looked at the game from a new perspective. Games like this, where you become a better player than what you were before, are one of the best reasons for players of any level to attend such a large event.

So I guess I can dish out a nugget of wisdom every now and then. So if I come across a worthy poker lesson that applies to Trek I will still share it with you all. But enough with all that, let's get back to finding good cards and bad cards.

Good Card: Just Following Orders

Why: When a new set come out I like to throw a new oddball dilemma in my pile. Usually it doesn't work and I curse myself for trying new things. This sneaky little dilemma helped me out big time when I blew an event up with it (today's 'bad card'). I like dilemmas that destroy events. Especially if you have a deck that's light of event destruction. Just Following Orders has the "can't gain skills" ability, which is good. One side of the requirements has intelligence, easy to track. The other side: geology, honor and navigation. Those are three skills that usually don't go together.

Bad Card: Captain on the Bridge

Why: This falls in the category of "the card isn't bad, it's what you can do with it". Even now, since it's been made unique, it still annoys me. Two problems: OT Kirk and playing Krudge to the Federation Qel'Poh. Both are lame and bad for the game. While the "Legacy Effect" is in place in 2E OT Kirk is going to be everywhere, which means this event is going to be everywhere.

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Today's Pic: The dirty girl on the left is the actress who play Isabella on a TNG episode. I forget her name. Looks like she's turned into a bad girl.......

Good Card, Bad Card #23

Now when I'm sick, I'm a bitchy whiny little girl. I don't handle it well. I don't like it at all. Now the baby is sick, and he doesn't like it more than me. Having kids isn't hard most of the time (that's what the female is for :)). Having a sick kid makes you reconsider having a vasectomy. If the children's tylenol doesn't put him to sleep I'll have to call the family doctor.... Jack Daniels.

Good Card: B'amara

Why: 5 skills on a non-unique, sign me up! Some say Kahmis is the best Klingon non-unique. Well, that's easy when you have all the skills on one mission. Seriously, that was lame whoever allowed that to happen. Getting back to my girl B'amara, she doesn't even come up short on attributes. 6-5-6 straight up, solid stuff. Her and an anthropology and your off solving Investigate Alien Probe. If that anthropology is Kahless you only need 2 more bozo klingons. Klingons dominated early in the life of 2E. It was because they had the best non-uniques. Then Klingon Riker just made them silly. Just a reason after that lots of non-skill dilemmas started being made....

Bad Card: Keldon

Why: Somebody tell me why Cardassians had 3 different non-unique ships in Premier? A bit overkill, no? So I have the nice, simple 5-cost Galor. Ok, I like that. Then 6 cost Keldon Advanced, that's pretty awesome if I have a intelligence personnel aboard. Ok, I like that too. So tell me why I would want to pay the same amount for a ship with worse attributes and a extra staff icon? I don't want to, that's why I've never used. I realized that when I played it in a draft event. Then I was sad when my non-aligned holograms couldn't staff it.

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Today's Pic: So I've finally stumbled into e-Bay, where I can buy all sorts of crap I used to have as a kid. Good thing about having a 5 year old son, you can use him as an excuse to buy dork toys. Here's him playing with some Star Trek micro machine ships I acquired.

Good Card, Bad Card #22

A long weekend of Twilight Imperium, BenHosp, a dirty LARP, puking at Neil's house, SuperBowl, Neil puking on the side of the road, speeding tickets and swine flu kept us away for awhile, but we're back in action. Now I'm sitting here, cutting the new set of Extreme Measures painfully slow, one page at a time. Looking at my speeding ticket, cursing the state of Maryland. That state is just one giant speed trap. So I'm going to relax, eat some bacon, and talk about cards. You never saw an angry man eating bacon.

Good Card: Dangerous Liaisons

Why: Not too many premiere dilemmas stand the test of time. This old school all-star doesn't get the respect, or play, it deserves. The cost is perfect, and the requirements aren't easy. It's a "player's card", it requires you to track skills. The only drawback is if you face a deck with tons of treachery (Cardassian or Dominion), but no dilemma is perfect. In a nutshell, this dilemma is everything a good wall dilemma is supposed to be.

Bad Card: Event Horizon

Why: That's the question I asked when I saw this card, why? Give up with the persistent keyword already. Enough. Don't get me wrong, I like the persistent dilemmas. They just don't need the keyword. This was somebody's dumb idea when Decipher was in it's death throes and it should've been buried there. This card sucks more than the movie Event Horizon.

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Today's Pic: I'm not sure of anyone else who still has a old Decipher DGMA tablecloth. We still use ours. I "stole" one at Origins one year. By "stole" I mean I told a Decipher employee I was taking it and they really didn't give a shit.

Good Card, Bad Card #21

Today's interesting combo of Good Card, Bad Card comes from Dan Van Kampen, a.k.a. Iron_Prime. He asked me my thoughts on the missions that give you a discount on manuevers and assault events after you complete them. Then I realized I play one, but never the other.

Good Card: Advanced Battle Simulation

Why: Who's the best affiliation for this mission? Surprise, it's TOS. One of the few times I was clever in Trek was my TOS Battle deck, "Wrath of the Constitution". When looking for missions for TOS personnel this fit like a glove. Leadership x2? No problem, non-unique Evans. For the other skills you can go either way, 1-cost Josephs has navigation + security and 1-cost Angela Martine has engineer + programming. It's my philosophy that for a good deck your non-uniques should provide all your mission skills. Plus, Cunning > 33 for 35 points is always a great deal.

Bad Card: Advanced Combat Training

Why: Skills. Sure, leadership, security and officer are usually found together on personnel. But the oddball medical thrown in there makes things tricky. At the moment the only affiliation I could see using this mission is Klingon, and they aren't too keen on doctors. Plus, they have plenty of easier planet missions to pick from. Maybe the new Bajoran Resistance personnel coming out tomorrow could use some combat training? I hope so, it makes me sad when a mission never sees any play.

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Today's Pic: This little red-headed vixen is Scarlett Pomers. You might remember her years ago as Naomi Wildman on Voyager. Looks like she's grown up.........

Good Card, Bad Card #20

We're back after a bit of a delay. Somebody in the trekcc.org chat room found me a website that lets you download the game Birth of the Federation for free. I lost my CD of that game years ago. That game is like crack cocaine for me. I start playing and then 5-6 hours just disappears. I used to play that game so much I would fall asleep then have dreams about it. It's like that TNG episode with the Ktarians, "The Game" (I think), you just can't stop playing it. It's not the greatest game ever, just really addictive. Now let's play a game called "Good Ship, Bad Ship".....

Good Card: U.S.S. Centaur, Patrolling Warship

Why: DS9 has two type of personnel: cheap one coster weenies and expensive 4-costers. When I play Ds9 I like to 'jobber drop' (lots of weenies). The problem with that is their attributes are garbage. This ship let's you get away with that a little bit. Plus Ds9 needed a regular ship. They had nothing but runabouts and 7-cost Defiants. Sorry, I don't count the Akira from Premiere, it's overcosted and requires too many staffers. If I need a 10 weapons ship I'll just play the Defiant. This ship combines with a previous 'good card' Anneli to make her attributes 7-7-7, now that's a great deal for a 1-cost personnel.

Bad Card: Tama

Why: When I want a Non-Aligned ship there are two options. #1, I want a low cost, two star staff ship, like Flaxian Scout Ship. #2, I want a 7-cost ship that does something crazy, like Kyana's Hope. I don't want a 7-cost ship, with 4 staffing icons with a lame ability. Am I really supposed to park a ship with 4 guys at your mission just to make you discard one card? Sure, it would be awesome to catch somebody napping and then lock them out of beaming down to their last planet mission during a game. But that's never going to happen. I loved the ship in 1E, but the 2E version is no good.

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Today's Pic: I figured with all the Legacy drama going on it was time to begin my own Legacy. The dilemma is so easy to play I just told her, "If you draw it and have 4 points play it." She only played one game of Trek before, weeks before. So she lost 3 games, but managed to stop Daddy twice with Legacy. Sad thing is, if I played her deck, I would've went at least 2-2. On another note, kids like scoring points, even when they lose. Another reason we should have differential.