Good Card, Bad Card #51

So I've been in a ditch the last 6 days. Another episode of "going broke" in poker. I've seen this episode plenty of times in the past. Seems to be my M.O. when playing poker full time, I run really well for about two or three months, then things 'go bad'. Part of it is numbers, part of it is playing poorly, or pushing things when the move is to scale back. It's just the way it goes really. When you're playing full time you're supposed to have 6 months of living expenses in savings, just in case things 'go bad'. Well, I'm just a guy from Jersey living day-to-day, I'm lucky to have a month or two. So I've decided it's time to go back to the real world again. I also had some other personal stuff going on, family troubles. It's funny how everything seems to go good at the same time, and how everything goes bad at the same time. I got stressed out for a little while. I considered filing some lawsuits or sending somebody a hate-filled private message.... but then I remembered I'm not from the Midwest and trek has nothing to do with my "real life". So I chilled out for awhile, took some quite time, plotted out my next move. That's what people from Jersey do, just figure it out and make the best of it.

For GCBC we're onto Reflections 2.0. This set was hot when it came out, everyone was buying it up. It had a lot of 'hot tech' in it, as an Ohio buddy of mine likes to say. I had a lot of different options here when choosing cards, and I'm sure I'll come back to this set in the future.

Good Card: Ohhhh! Nothing Happened!

Why: I always felt like a fool when filling out a decklist when using this card. I'd have to check to make sure how many "h's" were in the Ohhh! part, and remember the card ended with an exclamation point (!). I didn't want some fool to give me a game loss for messing up this dumb title. As for the card, this is the ultimate "meta card". This is almost like a 1E referee card, in the sense you can punish somebody who's abusing a dilemma too much. When Tragic Turn was running wild (and sometimes it still is) a few years back, I started packing this card. When you blew out all three of their Tragic Turns they were left with a big pile of monkey crap for a dilemma pile. But it's also good against anything else someone might abuse: Legacy, Gorgan, Tactical Disadvantage, Overwhelmed, etc. The last couple years in the first round of Day 2 at Worlds I've run into guys playing this against me. Lucky for me, I played Tragic Turn Day 1 and opted for a standard pile Day 2. I guess they figured I would go with a gimmick pile, but that's something I rarely do Day 2.

Bad Card: The Three Vipers

Why: You probably forgot this card was even in this set. That's because nobody plays this terrible dilemma. Why? Because it's a 3-cost space damage dilemma that has no attribute requirement. Why would I play this when I have plenty of other choices that are tougher to get past? Two set of requirements, both with 3 skills. Sure, one side is 2 navigation, which can be tough, but in today's world of super easy skill gain your opponent is going to get past one side of this dilemma. It doesn't even have a cool damage effect. Discard one card from hand at the start of the turn. Really? That's some lame sauce right there. I rather just play Prefix Codes, stop them, then blow them out of the stars.

Good Card, Bad Card #50

The 'Book of Hosp' reads, "Navaar is God, and Gav is her prophet. And one day they will all live on Assess Contamination with Kirk and Donatra and live happily ever after." So I went to the Romulus Regional to play 3 BenHosps and an Alex. I played Ben, of course, a Donatra/Assess Deck, with some NA Thieves. Phil, who was playing BenHosp's TOS Kirk/Assess Contamination. Josh Sheets (who gets props for making the journey) was playing a complete Assess Contamination sellout deck with Donatra AND Kirk, apparently getting some online help from Mr. Hosp. Then Alex, who didn't read the 'Book of Hosp', but had a Borg deck with Assess Contamination.

This won't be a rant of hate for Assess Contamination. I like the mission, it's a previous 'good card'. The game just wasn't ready for the Donatra/Assess combo yet. The problem, which the current lead designer already took offense with when I 'spoiled' my opinion, is that Design didn't use any long-term thinking by releasing these cards at the same time. The problem now, and why this combo is super-strong, is that dilemma piles that are 85-90% skill dilemmas just aren't that good. When somebody has Navaar and Gav out, they can just about handle any skill based dilemma combo. When they're attempting Assess Contamination with Donatra, that wipes out any non-skill combos you might have. It's never good when an mission attempt can have the answer to everything. As for the 'drawback' of cunning > 40, and it being a tough mission to solve, that doesn't exist for Romulans. Power Shift at Assess Contamination is sick nasty stuff. I've seen it solved with 4 or 5 people. So when I talk about 'long-term' thinking, I mean Design should've released more skill-based 'support' dilemmas before release that nasty combo. Like Coolant Leak, a weenie hate card with a skill. There needs to be an Urgency-type dilemma that requires a skill. There needs to be a Timescape-type card that requires a skill. When Design decided they wanted to go in the direction of making people play more skill based dilemmas they should've taken more time, and came up with a better gameplan. Now there's a big gaping hole in Tier-1 and it'll be a patchwork job to fix it up. Sadly, that's been the problem with Trek Design from the beginning, even the Decipher days. Problem, patchwork solution, new problem, more patchwork. It's like how we fix our roads in America, just keep doing one shitty fix job after another, instead of doing it right the first time.

On our stroll back through sets in GCBC we stop at the Archive Portraits. The ultimate fanboy experience, big pictures of girls in tight outfits. Or Shinzon, if you're into that sort of thing. Hey, I'm not judging.......

Good Card: Persis, Loyal Daughter

Why: If I had "Exhibit A" of why every personnel doesn't need text on it to be good it would be Persis. Her skills are money for most space missions, which probably you'll be doing first (Unless you read the 'Book of Hosp'). And those attributes.... wow.... and I'm not talking about female attributes. 6-8-8 for 2 cost!? That's the definition of value. And if you need another reason why the archive Persis is a good card, I only got one word for you: Nipples. The headlights are on, if you know what I mean.



Bad Card: Improved Scenery

Why: I swear, I did not do it on purpose, but when I was looking through the Archive Portraits the only bad card there was the 'World Champion Design-a-card 2008 Kevin Jaeger' Improved Scenery. So after winning his worlds with Worf, Security Detail Leader he probably knew errata was coming soon to Mr. Worf. So I guess he decided to put that terrible ability on a interrupt. Improve Scenery is nothing more that a 2E version of the 1E cards Scan and Full Planet Scan. Listen, any card that messes with your opponents dilemma pile is bad. It's goes against what this game is about, getting through (and I mean through, not 'around') dilemmas. I've mentioned in the past about 'protecting the integrity of the dilemma pile'. Just about all the cards that 'break' the game involve 'dilemma choke'. Many a World Champion has been crowned by getting around facing dilemmas. That's fine, you play to win the game. But if you don't understand the concept of protecting the dilemma pile, then you don't know what this game is about.
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Today's Pic: A stressed out BenHosp playing Josh Sheets. Josh was going for the win, deciding on who to attempt with while me, Phil, and Alex were talking. Josh overheard us and said something. Ben then called 'clock' on Josh, because he didn't know how much time was left and was scared the game would go to time. I then informed Ben that there was 20 minutes left and he was a terrible human being for calling time on a player who doesn't play slow. BenHosp stopped Josh, then won on the next turn. Then turned back into Mr. Happy. I'm pretty sure he's bi-polar and probably a sociopath.

Good Card, Bad Card #49

Ahhh, spring time, warm weather, birds singing... unless you live in a wasteland like South Dakota or Minnesota I guess. There it must still be bad weather, because another Midwest guy has gone bonkers on me. I got this lovely PM on the CC site the other day from Mr. Kevin Jaeger:

"I didnt call you a name. I stated that I believe you're an idiot....thus proven by the fact that you dont know the difference.

(Then 2 paragraphs of blah-blah listing the reasons why I'm a terrible human being)

YOU GOT YOURSELF FIRED AND NOBODY LIKES YOU. YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT THIS GAME. YOU HAVENT WON A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND NEVER WILL. YOU ARE NOT THAT GOOD. Now go back to your jail cell.

- Kevin

P.S. You wont see me at Gencon. I have better things to do with my time and money then drive 14 hrs and have to see your ugly face walk away from the table mid-game because you're a poor sport that cant handle losing."

OK, the first sentence doesn't make any friggin' sense. That's some fancy lawyer-babble there. That's like Newt Gingrich saying anyone who quotes him from his Meet the Press interview is telling a falsehood. Then came the ANGRY CAPS, not sure why that was necessary. Then he wraps it up with a pretty 'P.S.' (like it's a love letter), saying how he has better things to do then come to GenCon. Funny, since he just spent 10 minutes writing me an angry letter.

So that little mental meltdown earned Kev-Dog the next "Get to know your Trek Player" bio. Hopefully, he'll change his mind, and spend his very valuable time, since money should be no object for a high rolling lawyer like him, and come to GenCon. We also dig into the set 'Strange New Worlds' and find a couple of cards.

"Get to Know Your Trek Players"
*Disclaimer: some of the information 'might' not be entirely accurate*
*Anyone who qoutes me from this is telling a falsehood*

Name: Kevin Jaeger, esq. (pictured left)
Resides: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Occupation: Ambulance Chaser
Motto: "I went to law school"
Highest Worlds Finish: 2008 World Champion
Favorite Deck: TNG Integrity Worf/Mot abuse


Fun Facts: Earned law degree from Sioux Nation Reservation Law School; Failed the bar exam 7 times; Personal attorney of Kris Sonsteby; Has the #1 profile on ChristianMingle.com


Good Card: Calisthenics Opponent

Why: I've always loved Calisthenics Opponent. I used to use him in my Cardassian "Pimp Dukat" (previous good card) deck. Back in the day, when Cluttering Irrelevancies (which would've been the 'bad card' from this set if it never got fixed) was insane, this guy was a beast. Monster attributes and the ability to get any skill, and more attributes, until the end of the mission attempt. I still think he's a beast, and have been thinking about making an all-NA Olarra/Hologram deck featuring him. Not only is he great for gameplay reasons, he's the most badass looking character ever.

Bad Card: Leonard H. McCoy, Remarkable Man

Why: Ironic, our 'bio' is of a player who like to abuse TNG nonsense, and here's a good example. What made absolutely no sense about McCoy was that TNG decks were already strong and Tier-1, yet they still gave them this monster. You know what TNG integrity decks with super-easy missions didn't need, a guy who turns 7 integrity personnel into 9 integrity personnel. Add in a broken Worf who 'scans' your opponents dilemmas, plus some Mot & Vic to cut down dilemma points and you got yourself some hot 'Jaeger Tech' going on.

Good Card, Bad Card #48

Going into this year's World Championships in August, at GenCon, I wanted to give some people a little background on some of the players. So I'm going to start a new feature of GCBC called "Get to Know Your Trek Players". I've played in more World Championships than anyone and figured I'd share my 'scouting reports' with you. Think of this as your 'media guide', like in baseball. Also, we take 2 cards from the set 'To Boldly Go', a set even more sad then the series Enterprise.

"Get to Know Your Trek Players"
*Disclaimer: some of the information 'might' not be entirely accurate*

Name: Neil Timmons (creepy picture left)
Height: 6'3''
Weight: 325 lbs
Born: Montana
Resides: Washington, DC
Occupation: Internet Pornography
Family: Wife, Brenda; Son, Isaac
Highest Worlds Finish: 2009 World Champion
Favorite Deck: Klingon/Tragic Turn
Fun Facts: Once fought a grizzly bear in Montana as a small child; makes a delicious omelet; excellent housewife; can't hold his beer; suffers from post-concussion syndrome since Worlds '10; has never told a story with an ending

Good Card: Dabo!

Why: It's got a exclamation point in the title, that's got to mean it's awesome! If you don't like Dabo! then you don't like fun. Last time I saw Dabo! played was the Beirmiester tournament in Germany last year. Hell, if I'm drinking at a Trek event I don't even need an excuse yell Dabo!, but I'll take one. Is it Tier-1? Not really, but you'd be surprised how competitive a Dabo! deck can be. Every now and then, at a local (or 'fun' format), you can bust out the dabo wheel and try your luck.


Bad Card: Parallels

Why: 3 cost for a "maybe" dilemma? I already dislike dilemmas that might miss and do nothing. I have a whole list of why this dilemma is garbage. One, I have to already be playing a event heavy deck for this to be useful. If so, I have better options, like Overwhelmed and 8-pointers. Two, it's only going to be successful against decks that pack multiple copies of unique personnel (Terok Nor for example). I know it can hit non-uniques too, but so what? Three, if I have a good matchup where this dilemma might hit, I'm still not guaranteed to hit anything. Even if I do, I only stop them. Maybe, and I mean maybe, if the people I hit with this dilemma were placed on the bottom of the deck instead, I might consider this dilemma. Bottom line, for a 3 cost, space-only, dilemma I need more than a random chance to stop one or two personnel.

Ruling New Jersey- Volume 2, Issue 3

                             "R.I.P. Academy Format 2010-2011"

Academy Format was a collaboration of myself and a local player, Ed Kime, last year when we were sitting around trying to come up with a new fun limited format. At first it was great, a format without any b.s. like OT Kirk or Tragic Turn. Just a fun, clean, simple format. Sadly, yesterday I watched it die. I realized that with every new virtual expansion including a team that Academy doesn't exist anymore, it's now "Teams Format". A non-team build has almost no chance against a team. It's not a terrible thing, it's still an alright format to play, but it's not what I envisioned Academy to be. I envisioned something along the lines of a 'No Rares' format where people would play cards they normally wouldn't play. Now it's just pick a team, grab what they need, and go. On top of all that, the "85 point Kressari Monster" can be played in this format, and that just isn't right. There should be no easy two mission win in any limited format (Two mission win where you can solve both missions with 4 personnel no less). I brought my 8 year old daughter to play Academy (she blew up a ship, which was epic), thinking it'd be a simple format. All she saw was complicated team nonsense that she didn't understand. I've made no secret about my distaste for teams. I think it's the path of least resistance when designing new sets. It hampers the creative process of design, deckbuilding and gameplay. As a father wanting to bring his kids into this game in the near future I see bad things on the horizon. If we keep making every expansion built around complicated teams, how are we suppossed to bring new players into this game? No new entry point = slow death. We learned that from 1E, at least I thought we did. We forgotten who we were when we started playing this game, young people. Now we're men in our 30's designing a game for people in their 30's. A very SW:CCG-like game (where every person has a 3-line ability), that has too many moving parts. And if you think you can give a young person a 'team' and try to explain this game to them you're sadly mistaking. You try to give a kid an Equinox deck and explain the ship's ability and Nucleogenic crap to them. Jesus, that would be borderline child abuse. The current Design Team (and previous ones) have forgotten the roots of this game. Which each set they try to do more and more, cards with walls of texts and clunky interactions. The last in turn leads to tougher and tougher rules questions. M'Pella is a good example of Design not understanding the game itself. Her ability, and similar cards in the set, turns out didn't even work until somebody brought up a rules questions (Which then lead to a new ruling, then the infamous "2E Keller Dilemma Resolution Guide"). There's always been a disconnect between Design and how the game is actually played. I just ask them, remember who you were when you began playing Trek, and try to think of that person trying to learn this game, when you design new sets.

Good card. Bad Card #47

This is a rare Friday night edition of GCBC. Usually right about now I'd be at a poker table "working". But since coming back from the Ohio Regional I've been getting beat up, so a break was in order. Maybe I hit a Gypsy on the drive back, because I got some wicked voodoo on me. So I'll take out my anger on the draft set Dangerous Missions. Listen, draft is cute, but it just doesn't work in 2E. Every year, at GenCon, I watch Charlie and other poor saps spend hours cutting out draft packs. Every year I end up playing in the draft tournament, and every year it sucks more than the previous year. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea, nothing sealed usually is. But with v-cards now, it just seems like way more work than what it's worth. Dangerous Missions is also where the concepts of 'teams' came from in v-sets. I'm not a fan of the team concept in every set. Charlie tells me people love teams, but I think it short-sighted way to design cards. Plus, it can lead to bad things, like Damaged Archer. From a business standpoint, I guess Dangerous Missions was a smart move for Decipher. Design 19 mostly crappy cards and charge $15 bucks ($45 to buy all three) a pop. Too bad they didn't pay attention to all that money....


Good Card: Vedek Assembly Transport

Why: This one is kinda simple, Bajorans didn't have any decent ships before, and now they got one. Easy to staff, low cost of 5, and get two of the three keywords on it you'll get to the magic 8 range. 7 is always the worst number, since usually it takes 8 to get to a planet and back. Plus, Bajorans have some 2 span space missions too, that's always an advantage. When you have all three keywords and you attempt a space mission without moving (usually your 2nd attempt) you can't get hit with Outclassed.



Bad Card: James T. Kirk, Irrational Human Being

Why: At least we have a Kirk on the 'bad card' list for just for being a crap card rather than being borderline broken. A Kirk with Anthropology and Security, that's interesting, I'll give him that much. This ability reminds me of something.... oh, the last 'bad card', the Jem'Hadar Umat'Adan. They both essentially lose a guy to boost attributes, but Kirk's trigger is terrible, 'when your leadership personnel present is selected by a dilemma'. Shit, you can't even use this for Chula: The Dice. I really have no clue how this ability is useful. I understand this was a card intended for draft, but that doesn't mean he had to be absolutely unplayable in constructed format. I think I'll just spend 1 more counter and use Living Legend.

Good Card, Bad Card #46

The set Captain's Log brought us the Voyager affiliation. I'm not a big fan of Voyager, it's completely unplayable in Tier-1, but at least it didn't ruin the game like it did in 1st Edition. The main knock against this set is that it brought us the dilemma An Issue of Trust (previous 'bad card') and that made some affiliations useless for years. Other than that, it's just a set of pretty sub-average cards. Lots of binder fodder in Captain's Log. I'm pretty sure 50% of the cards I use to glue v-cards on are from this set.


Good Card: A Pattern of Lies

Why: It's probably the most useful meta-dilemma in the game. Klingon and Borg are two if the top three affiliations in the game right now (Assess Contamination + OT Kirk is the other), and this dilemma rocks them. It also has a decent shot against other decks you might come across: Cadets, Equinox or Ferengi. In my Ohio Regional deck I packed this dilemma x2 in case I ran into Klingon/TT. I did, but sadly Klingons attempt with 6 and solve with 4 at two of their missions, and I never drew it. Yeah, nothing like a deck that can ass-rape you with Krudge and Tragic Turn, then do two ridiculous easy missions. But I digress......


Bad Card: Umat'Adan, Eager Fifth

Why: A Jem'Hadar without Officer or Security. This should be a cool and interesting card, right? Nope, not a chance. This 'token' Dominion card thrown into Captain's Log is pathetic. No help with non-strength attributes, overcosted at 3, and a stupid ass ability. Umat'Adan is the trifecta of lame. That terrible ability is what takes the cake, how the hell would this help me in any way? It took me 10 minutes to even think of a scenario in which this ability is useful (Chula: This Dice). The only thing he's got going for him is that he has Science, but I'm afraid the Founders weren't wise in all things when they created Umat'Adan. Oh, did I mention he has a meaningless keyword? That's nice, he could get nailed by The Captain's Guest, that's just what I need.....
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Today's Pic: The Advocate Magazine declared Minneapolis, Minnesota the 'gayest city' in America. I'm glad Minnesota has a new title after Team Jersey ended their run, at GenCon '08, at the 'self proclaimed' top in the Trek.  

Good Card, Bad Card #45

Back in the day we were asked by Decipher, "What is Genesis?" Turns out, it's a 27-card sub-set that would screw up the game up until this day. We covered OT Kirk way back in GCBC #4, so we don't need to kick that dead horse. We'll get to the other really 'bad card' today. What really pisses me off is the card Cellular Peptide Cake. What the hell is this 1E card doing in a 2E set? More importantly, why is there a bad 1E card in a 2E set?

Good Card: Genesis Effect

Why: Early game, my opponent is playing a 'theme' dilemma pile (Tragic Turn, Overwhelmed, etc), so I can drop this down and protect myself. Late game, I can drop this down and name Excaliban Drama or No Kill I and take out his main planet stopper. You want to get creative with this card you can find a way to blow it up (Navaar, or any personnel that blows up events) and move across the galaxy with peace of mind.

Bad Card: Kruge, Instinctive Commander

Why: It was only a matter of time before I tackled Kruge on GCBC. Let's start off with the fact that he's insanely undercosted. Just think, the Spock in this set is cost 4. Sure he has a few more skills and a little better attributes, but he can't do something in the game that goes above and beyond anything in second edition. Kruge's ability is more of a gamebreaker than OT Kirk's. Kruge's ability says a ship with 4 personnel. That's misleading, it's really 5. Any Klingon battle deck is packing Ferocity, so a ship with 5 is going to end up with 4. So most mission attempts begin with 8 or 9, so all you have to so is chip away three or four personnel and Kruge can wipe them out (Not hard at all with Tragic Turn). It's actually worse than death, because your opponent can't replay unique person you capture. 2E was created because of the NPE effect in 1E of where all your personnel would die on one mission attempt or a good battle deck could completely wipe you out. Kruge brought that NPE to 2E and he's still around.

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Today's Pic: Charlie Plaine, with a Klingon deck I made, smashing a sad Brian Sykes the night before the Ohio Regional. The I.K.S. Valdore (thanks to today's 'bad card') blows up a Bird-of-Prey for the win.

Good Card, Bad Card #44

Today America celebrated like it was our generation's 'V-E Day'. It was not, no war has ended, no soldier is coming home because a tall, goofy Muslim got shot in the head. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the son of a bitch is dead, but the "America, Fuck Yeah!" attitude is getting us into trouble. We might as well of put his head on a pike and paraded it around all our cities. I do pose one question: What if bin Laden surrendered? Would they still of shot him? This 'eye for an eye' justice rubs me the wrong way. Are we a country that exacts blood vengeance now? In other less important news, I went all the way to Ohio to lose to a deck I see all the time in Jersey. Listen, people can play any deck they want, but when you play a build that somebody else came up with you have to freely admit it. It seems some people just take decks off the internet then act like it's their deck. Just do me a favor people, just put the name of the person you hacked it from in the deck title, do that and I don't care what you do. You can't change two cards in the deck, give it a stupid new title, then act like you won a tournament yourself. On the way home I made a return to Wheeling, West Virginia. I left Columbus the next morning and it was raining, by the time I got to Wheeling, about 2 hours later, it felt like I was driving for 8 and needed a break. So I figured a couple hour poker break wouldn't hurt. After 2 hours, I got my money in the pot with the worst hand, got lucky and won back about half the money I lost on my way to Columbus. Figures, the one hand I play like a donkey is the one I end up winning. I decided to take the money and run, it was time to get the hell out of Wheeling. I have to give a big thanks to Brian Sykes, and his lovely wife, for letting Charlie and me crash at their place in Columbus. Sykes used up all his man-cred for that I'm sure. He'll probably have to take her to a chick flick movie to make up for it. For GCBC we're on to the set 'These are the Voyages'. Overall, I like this set. If it wasn't for a terrible 0-cost dilemma, that was a previous 'bad card', and a Romulan ship that needed errata, this set would've been a home run.
Good Card: Parek, Privileged Legate

Why: We all know I love 'Pimp Dukat' (Prefect), so of course I love his buddy Parek. But I also love this personnel because he's awesome. Cardassians have some skill issues, because most Cardassians are just shady scumbags with Officer and Treachery. Parek skills are a bit redundant (Cardies already have tons of archeology and exobiology), but at least he doesn't have Treachery (at least one guy not getting stopped by An Issue of Trust). But the ability to pop any skill you want from a Comfort Women is a great bargain for a 2 cost personnel. Right now he's super-awesome when you combine him with Navaar.

Bad Card: Two of Nine, Transtator Drone

Why: Borg were already Tier-1 good, then they gave them a Luther Sloan. Actually he's better than Sloan, all you have to do is put him on the bottom and then download him again next turn with Quintessence. An affiliation becomes too good when it gets too much 'offence' and 'defense'. Borg can already get through missions because they have awesome cheaters. Adapt, K & E, etc. Two of Nine gives them a defense against any event that might slow them down. They already had a way to 'steal' events with Adapt to Service Us, and that was great. So why did they feel the need to make this card?