Playing The Borg #12:
Countering Anti-Borg Tactics

by Evan Lorentz (evanl@earthlink.net)

Way back in the first installment of this series, I made the recommendation not to stock any copies of Kevin Uxbridge, Amanda Rogers, or Q2 in a Borg deck. (This remains a piece of "Mot's Advice.") Many were quick to point out that not stocking these cards would leave the Borg vulnerable to a number of nasty things.

Static Warp Bubble. I have actually found this to be rather ineffective against the Borg. Most typical Borg strategies are based around downloading necessary cards and putting them directly into play. You don't need to worry about keeping cards in hand. Also, many Borg players use Zalkonian Storage Capsule (along with Mercy Kill) to rig their probe draws. When faced with a Warp Bubble, a Borg player could begin storing their hand to protect it. Still not convinced? Stock Deactivation. It's even a Captain's Order, so a Ready Room Door can download it.

Telepathic Alien Kidnappers. Another "hand-shrinking" card, not too powerful in the face of an affiliation not too big on keeping cards in hand. For this, I recommend an Intruder Force Field in the Tent. You can reflect the TAK back on your opponent, and also deal with another very powerful anti-Borg strategy...

Rogue Borg Mercenaries. I'm sure you've seen Rogue Borg used singly to stop a ship for a turn (by battle). This hits the Borg doubly hard, since they cannot probe on a turn they've been battled. You'll definitely want to have access to an Intruder Force Field, so that if your opponent does want to Rogue Borg you to slow you down, they'll have to spend three cards to do it.

Baryon Buildup. I don't see many players using this, but I can't deny it's a powerful anti-Borg strategy. Returning to your outpost is time consuming and counterproductive. Playing a Regenerate, though, will not only repair your ship, it will discard any cards (like Baryon Buildup) that are reducing your RANGE. (The repair function of Regenerate will also help against cards like the Calamarain).

Temporal Rift. Use your Quantum Drone to help you out of these, by downloading an Alternate Universe Door. This will protect you against casual, delaying use of the Rift, but leave you open to Patrol Neutral Zone decks in the hands of smart opponents. For them, land a Scout Vessel (using Launch Portal) at a Neutral Zone planet. That'll really put a crimp in their plans!

Invasion. Sometimes, your opponent will beam over onto your ship with an arsenal of weaponry and a squad of their toughest personnel. There are three ways to deal with it: preventative, reactive, and vengeful. By preventative, I mean discourage your opponent from ever doing such a thing. Play with a lot of Assault and Talon Drones -- and make sure your opponent knows every time you are adding them. They'll think twice about personnel battle against Borg with STRENGTH in the teens. By reactive, I mean using cards to get you out of battles. Emergency Transporter Armbands is a great one, allowing you to escape onto your opponent's ship (and you may already be using this Interrupt to help you with scouting planets). By vengeful, I suggest that while you may or may not be able to do anything to stop the attack, you can teach them a lesson for doing it. With the opponent's Away Team on your ship, play Auto-Destruct Sequence to kill them all. A Three-Dimensional Thinking or Escape Pod will even save your crew when you eliminate your opponent's.

Alas, Poor Queen. People will use the invasion tactic above, or dilemmas like Yuta to target your Queen, allowing the use of this interrupt. Your best bet is to stock Assault Drones, again discouraging combat, and also tampering with the Queen's Yuta number in the process.

Q-Nets. If the Queen or Locutus of Borg isn't around to help you pass a Q-Net, use the Alternate Universe Door (downloaded by the Quantum Drone, if necessary), to allow your ship to pass through it.

Revolving Doors. If you find your Transwarp Network Gateway or other valuable Doorway closed, Alternate Universe Door can also deal with that problem.

Borg Hunting. Players may come after your little Scout Vessels and Spheres for the point bonuses, or even bring a Kurlan Naiskos or fleet up against your Cubes. Intermix Ratio can be a deterrent against the former, and Shipwreck and a Multiplexor Drone can foil the latter. If you are using smaller ships, you might try to keep a Cube handy to retaliate if they are attacked.

You'll notice that the same cards keep coming up here: Alternate Universe Door, Quantum Drone, Intruder Force Field... a surprisingly small number of cards will protect you against a wide range of anti-Borg tactics. These make great cards for your Q's Tent (although I do recommend you stock the AU Door in your deck itself, in case the Tent gets closed).

There are also a handful of cards that work quite well in supporting Borg strategy and holding back your opponent.

NEXT TIME: Borg Support Cards