Friday, July 15, 2011

Good Card, Bad Card #63

I saw this hat up on my "Wall of Shame" (Where I keep all my 'not winner' STCCG trophies. Plus other keepsakes, like my Schloss Picard wines from Worlds in Germany) today and it made me think. Many years ago I called a group of MN players a bunch of "Random Jobbers". So when I showed up to Worlds that year, I think it was '03 or '04, I see a bunch of guys wearing Orange Hats. They took the 'insult' I gave them and turned it into their team name. It was actually very clever (even made Trek sense if you think about changelings). After Worlds, a MN player, I can't remember who, gave me a hat as a souvenir. There was no actual bad blood, and everything was in good fun. Believe it or not, back then, MN players had a sense of humor. I know, it's tough to believe. Sure, there have always been some prickly guys in that group. But overall, they were just like everyone else. They didn't go nuts anytime somebody talked some smack, made a comment on a message board, or made crazy threats of lawsuits. Those regular guys are gone. All that's left now (at least online) are a few unhinged characters who take things way too serious. They try to blame me for players they've lost or have 'left the scene'. But the Random Jobbers I don't see at Worlds anymore are the ones that used to have fun, have a sense of humor. The ones that I would have a beer with after they beat me (it's a tough sell saying I'm a sore loser when that happens). What's more likely, those people stop playing because of a guy they saw once a year, and didn't take seriously, or their prickly locals who have reality perception issues?

Today for GCBC we'll stop at the random set of These are the Voyages. I had the MACO virus for about two weeks. I kept thinking MACO's were the truth and Tier-1. I just couldn't crack the code.

Good Card: Swashbuckler at Heart

Why: Sometime back I said "Every dilemma pile should have at least one The Dreamer and the Dream". Well, now you can include Swashbuckler in that rule. There are a lot of cheaters out there. But the good ones are really good and the rest are just ehh, ok. Knowledge and Experience, The Central Command and Bridge Officer's Test are going to see lots of play at Worlds. Sadly, against K&E all it'll do is make your opponent burn one copy to save his others. But at least it's something. Also, this dilemma can really screw up a Terok Nor deck. Oh, I didn't mention the two bonus draws. I've used that bonus to beef up Excaliban Drama. In less you're playing a ton of interrupt prevention, this card is a 100% must in your dilemma pile. Why else is it "Good Card"? Sulu with his shirt off. Oh my.....

Bad Card: Richard Daystrom, Influential Scientist

Why: He's a poor man's Kirk. Everything else is fine with Daystrom, but he's got the evil words on him.... "prevent and overcome". That alone will get you on the "Bad Card" list. The Kirk errata helps a little bit, when these two guys were tag-teaming around it was pretty silly. A really abusive deck can play Daystrom 2 or 3 times in a game. Doesn't sound like a lot, but that's either a quick solve or plenty of extra dilemmas overcome. The +2 doesn't really mean much. TOS is really just OT Kirk, this guy, and a bunch of really cheap personnel.

1 comment:

Jesse said...

It looks like the trek community is taking itself too seriously these days. The reason I don't play in tournaments anymore is because there aren't enough people competing. When the same 20 people compete in worlds every year, whats the point?

It used to mean something when you won a regional, than got through Day 2, and into Day 3. I don't think it really means much anymore.

I'll still play for fun though, so I may do something lame like play a 1E sealed deck at Gen Con.