Star Trek CCG Starter Deck 2 - Card Strategies
Botanical Research
By: Joeri Hoste
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
Contributing Writer
With an attractive 30 points and a measly span of 2,
this premium mission has Vekor written all over it.
Because it is a universal mission, you can start
gathering plant life by seeding multiple copies,
allowing you to cut down on mission-solving personnel
and to stock other useful cards instead!
A rather unusual feature is the
ability to seed Atmospheric Ionization, which can
protect you from early-game mission stealing if it turns
out your opponent plays Federation, Klingon or Dominion.
|
Ferengi Trading Post
By: Bruce Umene
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
This is one of the biggest lifts for sealed deck play
since the warp pack came out. Your non-Borg personnel
can report and mix aboard regardless of affiliation. No
more worrying about getting the correct outpost or
treaty to be able to play your personnel.
Anything else? You can also seed a
(non-unique) D'Kora face up here. This should go nicely
with a Husnock Outpost and a Husnock ship. You'll still
have to wait for the actual D'Kora card though. The only
thing you'll have to take into account is that both
player's cards may report aboard, so be prepared and
start packing those phasers and disruptors.
This also goes along nicely with the 3
Ferrengi missions in SD2, couple this with the existing
Ferengi missions from DS9 and now there are 7 Ferengi
missions. I forsee Ferengi decks making a presence on
the tournament scene in the near future.
|
Geological Survey
By: Joeri Hoste
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
Contributing Writer
Geological Survey is a perfect example of a SCIENCE
planet-mission, making it an excellent card for SD2 vs
SD2 introductory games.
You might not consider this premium
card of much use in constructed play, since it only
gives you a mere 20 points. Think again. You get 10
extra points with 3 Greed or 3 Geology present,
providing Non-Aligned decks with a welcome bonus (Bok,
(non-unique)Dr. Farek, (non-unique)Narik -- and you're
in). Or you could stock extra Geology, which really
makes using multiple copies of Geological Survey
worthwhile and makes quite a number of dilemmas such as
Odo'Cousin considerably easier.
The small span of 2 makes navigating
the spaceline a walk in the park. In future Ferengi
decks (aha..the plot thickens) Geological Survey will be
a must have that goes perfectly with other cards from
Starter Deck II, such as Ferengi Trading Post and Study
Cometary Cloud.
|
Memory Wipe
By: Joeri Hoste
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
Contributing Writer
Memory Wipe's second function removes the affiliation of
a ship, it's crew and Away teams. This will seriously
hurt any deck with a relatively small number of ships
since affiliated personnel is required to attempt most
missions. Stocking multiple copies of Memory Wipe could
spell a world of hurt for your opponent.
Memory Wipe also substantially boosts
Non-Aligned decks. The Deep Space Nine Expansion set
largely enhanced this possibility in deck-building; now
you get to explore it even further. You're missing a
couple of crucial skills in your NA-deck. No problem.
Just take the personnel with the needed skills and make
it Non-Aligned!
The same goes for affiliation-decks.
You'd really want to use Dukat, Elim Garak and Korinas
in your Romulan deck, but don't want to lose the seed
slots to seed a treaty. Memory Wipe them on a separate
ship!
|
Military Exercises
By: Joeri Hoste
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
Contributing Writer
Military Exercises is a great mission for the
traditionally warring affiliations : Romulan, Klingon,
Cardassian and the Dominion.
Undoubtedly this mission is going to
be very popular in armada decks. You already have the
ships, and some of the OFFICER and SECURITY personnel
you're stocking to battle are bound to have Leadership,
so you might as well use them for your missions too!
The universal icon gives you the
go-ahead to drill your troops all across the spaceline.
I wouldn't feel too safe on the other side of the table.
In a Cardassian theme deck, multiple copies of this
premium mission would fit nicely next to Intercept
Maquis, or Intercept Renegade, for that matter.
Combo:
2 *Military Exercises+2 *Search For
Weapons+Intercept Maquis+Intercept Renegade = who's
afraid of the Dominion?
|
Search for Weapons
By: Decipher Product Development
Search for Weapons, like the other premium missions in
Starter Deck II, is designed to facilitate playability
in an SD2-vs.-SD2 game, as well as providing useful and
interesting features in all game environments.
As our first five-affiliation-icon
mission, this card definitely breaks some new ground --
and should settle a few standing bets about whether we'd
ever get to five! Because it has a universal icon and is
in the Demilitarized Zone region, Search for Weapons
allows you to build a DMZ as large as you like. Combine
it with Intercept Maquis from the Deep Space Nine
expansion set for a Cardassian theme deck.
Another unusual aspect is the ability
to seed hand weapons here like artifacts. Although you
can't seed duplicate copies, you're free to seed two or
three different weapons here for a nice little payoff at
mission-solving time!
Combos:
Search for Weapons + Cardassian Disruptor +
Cardassian Disruptor Rifle + Varon-T Disruptor +
Kressari Rendezvous: "find" a weapons
stockpile in the DMZ, then deliver the disruptors to
Kressari agents for extra points.
Search for Weapons + Search for
Weapons + Search for Weapons + Search for Weapons +
Intercept Maquis + one other space mission:
Nice little Cardie DMZ deck that's safe from Balancing
Act.
|
Study Cometary Cloud
By: Joeri Hoste
Star Trek CCG Ambassador
Contributing Writer
Study Cometary Cloud is the only unique mission in
Starter Deck II. In constructed environments, Study
Cometary Cloud can pave the way for Non-aligned deck
designs and makes these strategies a more viable option.
It also supplements the Cardassian
SCIENCE-missions (Characterize Neutrino Emissions comes
to mind) opening up other and new possibilities for this
affiliation.
Combos:
Study Cometary Cloud+Qualor II
Rendez-Vous+Deliver Supplies+2 *Establish Diplomatic
Relations = who needs the baggage of an affiliation when
you can do it on your own?!
Study Cometary Cloud+Characterize
Neutrino Emissions+Changeling Research+2 *Survey Star
System = a Cardie SCIENCE deck with Gamma excursions!
|
TM & © 1996-1998 Decipher Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|