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For Cardassia! by Chris Are We Underestimating 2nd Anthology? I ask the above question not because I think the arrival of Reflections and TwT has wrongly overshadowed 2nd Anthology (2A) or even because I think the 6 premium cards found within have somehow changed the game forever. I ask it because I've found myself having a surprisingly easy time trading for the 6 premium cards from the Anthology, whether via online trades or in person. Many people seem to have the opinion of, "Well, I only play X affiliation, so I only need the card(s) relevant to that." And, at the moment, as they play only that deck, perhaps they may be right. However, down the road, once they become tired of that deck and want to try something else, they might find themselves wishing they'd hung onto their 6 cards. A few things to remember: The 2nd Anthologies were not made in unlimited numbers. Once they're gone, they're gone. Nor are they a bargain by any means. For your $30, you get just 8 rares and 6 premiums. For $10 or $15 more, you'll find yourself with at least 30 rares from a box of Rules of Acquisition or Premier (wb) and a great many more useful common and uncommon cards as well. Additionally, where a dealer might order 3 or 4 or more cases of any given expansion when it appears (equating to at least 18 boxes in their store and hundreds of packs), they're not likely to have ordered more than 10 or 15 2nd Anthologies. On the whole, that equates to only 10 or 15 of those 6 premium cards appearing per store, with at least that many if not many more of any given rare likely to show up in packs pulled from the same store. And, even if you don't buy my math on that, there's no denying that with the advent of Reflections, those expansions' rares are going to get even more plentiful, while the number of 2A Premium cards stays the same and will always stay the same, even if there's a Reflections II down the road somewhere. So why are players and collectors alike not clinging to their 2A Premiums as though they were 7 of 9s? I can only assume they haven't thought through the above points and/or really fully considered the actual cards themselves. Though they may not have changed the entire game, they've certainly made an impact and will likely continue to do so for years to come in ways many of us may not expect. Since I'm set with pretty much all of the 2A cards I can see myself needing, I'm ready to point out the benefits of the 6 Premiums for 2A, some of which have been mentioned before (but are worth reiterating), and some of which may be new to you. I'll begin with what I believe may be the strongest card for its specific affiliation of the bunch. Vedek Dax: This was the third persona of Dax that we'd seen, and, oddly, it's also the 3rd affiliation for the character. And, as much as she helped the Feds and Klingons, she helps the Bajorans even more. To get to the point: There are, notably, only 7 Bajoran Engineers and 9 Bajoran Science personal. And Dax is the only one with both. Moreover, no Bajoran can match her cunning (aside from Rom - sometimes), and only 3 others have Exobiology, a skill that's becoming more and more in demand with each expansion.  Also, her staff star means she can pilot ships, and her Orb icon makes her perfect for HQ: Return Orbs, a classic Bajoran deck archetype. Finally, she's got one other attribute that's even rarer than anything I've listed-she's a Trill with symbiont, meaning it just got a lot easier for you to complete the 45 point Symbiont Diagnosis with that Bajoran/Fed treaty deck of yours. Moreover, Dax can contribute a relevant skill towards solving a whopping 2/3 of all available Bajoran missions, making her as integral to the Bajorans as Odo or Kira. I can't think of any reason not to stock multiples of her in any Bajoran deck. She's a massive boost that affiliation can really benefit from. And 2A is the only place you can find her. Legate Damar: A lot of people reacted to the obvious with this card-Honor. And the lack of Engineering that can be found on his first persona. Cardassians need as much Engineering as they can get, let's be honest, so I can see why people were grumbling, but, upon closer look, this Damar is just as useful, if not more so, than his original. For one thing, he retains the Physics, a skill which only 3 other Cardies possess (as opposed to the whopping 10 that have Honor). Meanwhile, he has a command star and Leadership (x2, for that matter), meaning he can lead your armada into battle if you so desire, as well as your away teams. The Legate also reports free to Central Command, and he's one of only 3 Cardassians with 9 Integrity (the highest for the affiliation). Because Damar is now Security, he also can also participate in Kidnappers, Extradition, and some other fun Cardassian strategies (even do a little Ore Processing if you like). With all that's listed above, there's no reason not to have this version of Damar in any Cardy deck to begin with, but then we've also got a download here as well. Granted, it's one that we haven't even seen yet. And while there's no telling what For Cardassia! will do, it's certainly likely to strengthen the affiliation in some way, meaning it's definitely too early to think about trading this card at the very least. This is one of a couple cards in 2A that I see only getting stronger in the future. // Editor's note: this article was written before For Cardassia! was revealed on Decipher Bashir Founder: Speaking of downloads, the download on this card is what got a lot of attention right away. Supernova, one of the most potentially damaging cards in the game, can enter play and destroy your opponent's armada instantly and from nowhere. It's a bold stroke by Decipher to make a dent in this over-used strategy and certainly an attribute. But the addition of a super-Medical personal to the Dominion is the real value of this card to the affiliation. The Dominion has only 5 other Medical (including the new Thot Gor), and none of them can even come close to matching this Founder's incredible 11 Cunning. In fact, that number makes this card one of only 7 non-Federation cards with so high a Cunning. But back to the Medical. I mean the double Medical. And the Biology (only 3 other Dominion personnel have that skill). And the Exobiology (only 5 others have that). Both of those skills are big ones in today's game, and anyone who's ever run up against Aphasia Device knows why. But that's not all. Bashir Founder gets all the benefits of the plethora of cards that affect and help Founders. I won't bother to mention his infiltration icon, as using this guy to infiltrate the Feds is virtually a waste of a vital card that is a huge boost to Dominion decks, especially when so many other cards that will let you do the infiltration thing. No, keep this guy on your side of the table, and be sure to have an extra, to replace the one you lose after that Supernova. Koval: Much more useful for the Romulans than the Federation, this is the 4th dual Fed/Rommie card we've seen. This is, however, the first double Tal Shiar card we've seen and it's not likely that we'll see many more, given that Koval is the head of said agency. // Editor's note: there are exactly 2 personnel with Tal Shiar x2 Tal Shiar (available on just a handful of personal) is quite handy for the Rommies, useful for staffing the powerful D'deridex Advanced (note Command star while we're on that topic) as well as espionage plans and even for mission solving. And speaking of mission solving (and dilemma solving), that Exobiology is awfully nice, especially considering that only 5 other Romulans have any (including the new Centurion, an AU card). As for another factor that puts him in some unique company among Romulans, his Cunning of 9 is matched by only 3 others (including another new AU crew member, Keras). Add to that a free report to the Continuing Committee. Oh, and don't forget-he's got a special skill as well: any other Tal Shiar may report to his location. Get this guy in play, in other words, and plant him at any mission where you know you need some extra of that skill, and as soon as you get it, it reports right to that location. While Koval doesn't do much for the Feds, he's a very strong addition for the Romulans, easily as good as most Rommie mains and worth a slot in any deck. Luther Sloan This is the card that most people were excited about initially, thanks to a special skill that is, admittedly, pretty amazing. He reports anywhere. Your opponent's ship, the Gamma Quadrant, aboard a Nor, anywhere. And that's just the beginning. Sloan is a super-Security, one of 2 the Federation now has (thank you, George Primmin) and can desperately use, especially given his respectable Strength of 7, which is rather good for a Fed. His combo of Honor and Treachery is a rare one (only 4 other personal in the entire game have both), and I think we can all agree that you can never have enough Computer Skill. His Cunning of 9 is nothing to sneeze at, but it's not a big deal for the Federation by any means. What is, however, is his low Integrity of 3--matched by just 2 other Fed personal (though why Vash is Federation, I will never know), and 2 multi-affiliation personal (including, incidentally, Koval, who's, as we discussed, much better as a Romulan, and the Fajo card Tallera-hardly easy to come by for most players). That low integrity makes getting by Lineup, Chula: The Drink, and a host of other dilemmas quite easy. That command icon means he can staff ships too, which is worth noting only because he can report directly to any one of them in case its commander is killed off in battle or on a mission. And then there's Section 31 x2. While this skill (even x1) is not really tremendously useful right now, it's wise to assume it will become much more so as more expansions come into play, and Sloan will be one of very few people will have it. Currently, he's good for many decks, and in the future, his usefulness will almost certainly improve. Jodmos: Like Dax, we've now seen many personas of Sisko that can work for 3 different affiliations, this one being Klingon. With attributes of 8, 8, and 8, he's one of only a handful of personal in the entire game with attribute totals so high across the board. Many of them, though, are Klingon (including Dax, coincidentally), so, though still impressive, that's not really a unique advantage. On the other hand, his special skill is quite unique. It makes killing this Klingon in personal battle quite a difficult thing, and battling continues to be one of the things Klingons do best. Jodmos is ideal for those decks. And his Engineering skill makes him ideal for pretty much any Klingon deck, considering there are so few in the affiliation (only 7, including, once more, Dax) who have it. He's also an Officer with a command star, which is always handy, and, of note, he ties Martok for highest Cunning among Klingon Officers and is second only to Dax (again!) for highest among Klingon Engineers. Moreover, how long will it be before we see cards of Odo and O'Brien as Klingons and a mission for them to solve? It's easy to imagine a bright future for this card as well. But for the present, I've compared this card a lot to the Klingon Dax it seems. And, just as Dax has become integral to so many Klingon decks, so should Jodmos. Well, that covers all of them. I believe these 6 main characters are better than many rares in the game and can be solid additions to many decks. I hope this has convinced you of the real value of the 2A cards, both now and as the game goes boldly into the future. And, if not, I'm always up for trading to get a few more, so feel free to email me with offers : )