Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Good Card, Bad Card #29


Yesterday I was told by the "Ultimate Imitator" Neil Timmons that the latest GCBC sucked because I was wrong about the D'deridex Advanced (and having a BenHosp pic). That the Advanced was usless now because of the virtual Bird-of-Prey. Ironic, the TNG-era Warbird being made obsolete by the 22nd century bird-of-prey. Neil listed all his supposed reasons, some had merit, others didn't. Problem is, all his logic is based under the assumption "This is how you play Romulans". That's how he thinks, "This is how you play Klingon", "This is how you play Maquis", etc. I reject that philosophy all together. That's why I love 2E, there are multiple was to play every affiliation (well, maybe not Terok Nor). If you play Klingon, you don't have to play TT/Mara/Krudge. If you play Romulan, you don't have to play past icons/P'tols x3/bird-of-prey. Are some builds better then others? Sure, but you have plenty of other options. This rigid world of absolutes that Neil, and other top level players, live in curtails their creative ability. That's why after awhile, they usually end up with only 1, maybe 2 (if they're lucky), Tier-1 decks they can bring to a big event. And when they try think outside-the-box it usually ends up a disaster. BenHosp wanted me to make Parallel Course a "good card", but I haven't seen used effectively yet. In fact, the last time I saw it used was Neil using it in an actual original deck of his. He beat the jobbers with it, but I had no trouble. It wasn't quite a disaster, but it was light-years away from Tier-1. The true test of a player is the test of time. If you paint yourself into a corner when you decide to play an affiliation you run the risk of becoming a 'stale player'.



Good Card: I.K.S. Kla'Diyus, Prototype

Why: General Chang is my 2nd favorite villian in Trek. So you really have to screw up for me to hate something related to him. But this ship's ability is awesome. It's really fun to staff the Kla'Diyus on turn 2, then cloak it and tell your opponent "I can see you Kirk. Can you see me?" Even if you don't want to make a fun deck completely based around it, it's still a 3-cost ship. That's always good. Careful, the stats suck so don't get hit by a Gomtuu or you'll be sending a distress call to the Rotarran to pick your ass up.




Bad Card: George Primmin, Starfleet Security

Why: Oh, he's a good card gameplay-wise, I use him when I play DS9. But let me tell you why he's 'bad'. One, he's undercosted for his awseome ability. If he couldn't use his ability on himself he'd be ok a 2-cost. Two, because he can use his ability on himself this leads to confusion. I've had to explain this to casual players multible times during tournaments. To new players one of the first things you usually have to explain is that personnel aren't "present" with themselves. Then this guy comes along and I have to explain that he isn't restricted by that. Big problem with 2E rules is sometimes you have to say, "Kinda forget about that stuff when I explain this....".
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Today's Pic: From the ages of 2 to 6 kids are just "drunk midgets". They run around, break stuff, then just pass out wherever. This little bastard passed out in my chair, with my remote.

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