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Ferengi Solver by Mark Bloom First of all, I'd like to start off with a word of apology to Daniel Bell, known online as Kavok. The deck I wrote up for last month's issue (Cardassian Armada) was based on a deck he cleaned house with at a tournament in Clive, Iowa (suburban Des Moines). The deck published was his main theme (RRD/Captain's Log with Colony for the win) superimposed over my existing Klingon armada (RRD/Captain's Log with Colony for the win). The decks ended up similar, mainly adjusted to each of our playing styles. The biggest difference between our decks (and this was added to mine) was his use of Wormhole/Bajoran Wormhole in a great combo that I hadn't seen before. Now on to this month's deck... The deck that got smacked at the aforementioned tourney :). This deck has lost only one game, winning 3 of 4 at the tourney as well as a few online games. Seeds (30 + 6 + 6) Missions (6) Aid Fugitives Betazed Invasion Characterize Neutrino Emissions Construct Depot Construct Depot Gunrunning My favorite thing to do is hide behind missions that look like something else. I was accused of playing either Dominion or Borg during the mission phase of nearly every game I've played this deck in. ;) Sites (6) Guest Quarters x2 Docking Ports Quark's Bar Promenade Shops Cargo Bay Seeds (30) Terok Nor Ferengi Trading Post D'Kora Transport Assign Mission Specialists (Drs. Farek and Borts) Bribery Engage Cloak 1st Rule of Acquisition Writ of Accountability Quark's Isolinear Rods Establish Trade Routes x2 Space-Time Portal x2 Fill with dilemmas, doorways, and other seeds... I used an entirely downloadable Q's Tent, and a dilemma set based on Hippocratic Oath and Scientific Method. If you don't have 6 Hippocratic Oaths, replace Aid Fugitives with Tulaberry Wine Negotiations. Draw Deck (about 50) I consider there to be 2 optimum deck sizes... 28 cards (30 - 2 AMS) and 50 cards. Very seldom do I play more than 50, and very seldom do I play with anything between 30 and 50. Also keep in mind the advice that is so often given about any (non-Borg) affiliation with lots of "extras," "Remember, you win by getting 100 points, not by playing cool cards!" That said, I forwent the rules (other than the seeded 1st rule) and other "cool" cards, in order to put lots of Ferengi out quickly, to do missions. Personnel (22) Berik Brunt (target with Writ of Accountability) Dr. Borts (AMS) Dr. Farek (AMS) Gaila Goss Gral Grand Nagus Zek (target with 1st Rule) Ishka Leck Leeta Maihar'du Mardah Morn Morta Nava Nog Quark (target with Quark's Isolinear Rods) Rom Solok Sovak Tel Ships (4) B'rel x4 Equipment (9) Echo Papa 607 Killer Drone Ferengi Disruptor Ferengi Disruptor Rifle Gold-Pressed Latinum x4 Kukalaka Plasmadyne Relay Events (3) Ferengi Conference x2 Regenerate Interrupts (8) Amanda Rogers x3 Distortion of Space-Time Continuum x2 Palor Toff - Alien Trader x3 Doorways (2) Temporal Vortex x2 Facilities (1) Ferengi Trading Post The deck plays relatively fast, and centers around early card advantage to get through the deck. Some pointers for the early game: (1) Send the "Paradox" (Farek and Borts) to Terok Nor on the D'Kora Transport. Have them sit at the Promenade Shops. (2) Get Morn early through the Cargo Bay, have him sit at Quark's. (3) Get Brunt early through Writ, have him sit at a Guest Quarters. With this setup (which can be accomplished, and more, on turn one) you have the potential to draw three cards a turn (and look at a fourth!). Once you get a start, search out those Ferengi Conferences... there are a large number of CIVILIANS in the deck who would just love to meet Grand Nagus Zek. Use the B'rels with Engage Cloak to avoid enemy fire (its worked against 2/3s of the armadas this deck has faced :) ) Go after a mission where you've seeded Establish Trade Route, to get the new Trading Post, as well as a couple of Latinum. Now you can use that Latinum to bribe your way into other missions, or buy new equipment, like that flashy EP607 Killer Drone :) If you are attacked, you'd be surprised how long you can hold out by paloring Trading Posts, and using Bribery to build them at any of your missions :) Suggested modifications - some or all of these have been implemented at one time or another... Scans/Full Planet Scans... Very useful, but they do take up space. In this version, I opted to let them sit in the binder. Tower of Commerce... With this many CIVILIANS, its definitely an option, but it comes with some overhead... namely a mission I can't complete without adding yet another seed card to an already tight seed deck. This also adds a third spot to have to get people from, which can be a major pain in the lower, lower, lower, lower back :) Kevin Uxbridge... Always a good choice, but there really aren't too many "good" events around that aren't handled by the Writ. Writ of Accountability... You'll notice I'm running a Writ short... the second one would be in the Tent, but with Brunt on the table, no one will try anything ;) Bajoran Wormhole... Another card left out by the room goddess. Lack of access to Aid Fugitives almost helps more than it hurts, though. And now the standard warranty information: Use this deck at your own risk... make sure you tailor any deck you take from the internet to your own playing style, otherwise you'll end up not knowing why some cards are in your hand :) I always try to explain my selections, but I usually leave some out (often on purpose :). Any resemblance this deck bares to any you've created or seen is purely coincidental (unless you've seen the version I play :) When this deck was build I hadn't seen a Ferengi decklist, or played against a Ferengi deck; this deck was created merely using my personal knowledge and a few general Ferengi strategy discussions I'd read. And again, let me give my sincere apology to Daniel Bell. Mark 'Neral' Bloom neral@ccgplayers.com