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Dilemma Theory IV: Deprivation by The Ninja Scot We’ve had the types of dilemmas, how common dilemma combos are made and the chaos theory approach. One more approach to dilemma usage is the focusing on one particular skill or classification type at every one of your opponent’s missions. The theory is that if you can get rid of every copy of that particular skill or classification, they can’t pass any of their missions for the rest of the game, barring examples of renewal like Regenerate. To make such dilemma combos, you have to focus on something that can be a collection of three things, usually. One, there have to be dilemmas that can either specifically kill or make unavailable the target. Two, there have to be walls that can only be passed by using that skill or classification. Three, it has to work for both space and planets. Let’s examine these points one by one. Dilemmas that target specific things can be like Hippocratic Oath, which targets cunning Medical personnel but also works for opponent’s choice dilemmas as well, like the new card Kelvan Show of Force. Obviously, if you can’t get your target, then it doesn’t work so use dilemmas that make it difficult, if not downright impossible, for your opponent to weasel out of. This also works for genders as well, although with the Borg, it’s irrelevant but nonetheless, they can work for this as well. Examples of cards that can target specific skills or classifications as well as potential opponent’s choice dilemmas are as follows: Planet-Only Angry Mob – Targets Security or Shape-Shifters Chalnoth – Opponent’s choice Female Love’s Interest – Targets Women, sends them to far end of the spaceline. Ferengi Attack – Opponent’s choice Firestorm – Targets Personnel with Integrity less than 5. Gorn Encounter – Targets Leadership Kidnappers – Targets Women, leaves them on dilemma-encountered planet where they can be captured by opponent. Male Love’s Interest – Targets Men, sends them to far end of the spaceline. Microvirus – Opponent’s choice Parallel Romance – Targets Men and Women, stopped for 2 turns plus the turn you’re on. Punishment Box – Targets Officers Shot in the Back – Opponent’s Choice Zaldan – Targets Diplomacy   Space-Only Drumhead – Targets personnel with Integrity < 5 Strict Dress Code –Targets personnel with Diplomacy, Holograms, Defense Drones or Opponent’s Choice Tarellian Plague Ship – Medical personnel is discarded   Planet/Space A Fast Ship Would Be Nice – Opponent’s Choice or Bodyguard (ignoring other option for this) Assassin’s Blade – Opponent’s Choice not Android or Shapeshifter Brief Romance – Targets either Men or Women, stopped until countdown expires. Center of Attention – Opponent’s Choice of Greed or Treachery Chula: Crossroads – Possibly stops Opponent’s Choice Common Thief – Unless Equipment discards, Opponent’s Choice of personnel whose Cunning plus Strength is less than 15. Distraction – Randomly selects one gender, you pick from the other personnel present of the opposite gender. Don’t Call Me Ahab – Targets Officer with Integrity greater than 6 and whichever Enterprise-E personnel you wish. Ferengi Ingenuity – Targets high Cunning Computer Skill personnel Framed for Murder – Opponent’s Choice as to who loses skills or staff ships. Hate Crime – Targets single instance of a race among personnel of your choice, making them unable to use their skills. Hippocratic Oath – Targets high Cunning Medical personnel Kelvan Show of Force – Opponent’s Choice of two non-androids/holograms, one of which is randomly selected to die. Make Us Go – Targets high Cunning Engineers Misguided Activist – Targets VIP or Command Star personnel, random selection either stopping or killing. No Loose Ends – Targets Medical and Engineers for death Oooby Dooby – Targets Youth/Music and Zefram Cochrane Outpost Raid – Two Dead by Opponent’s Choice if at Outpost Location Q Gets the Point – Targets Treachery Personnel Skullduggery – Randomly kills a personnel that doesn’t have Treachery, Acquisition, Smuggling, Greed or Integrity less than 5, otherwise they stop. Strange Bedfellows – Targets a low Integrity Man and Woman, if identical Integrity, they die, otherwise they’re stopped. System-Wide Cascade Failure – Targets an android for death, player’s choice. Thought Fire – Kills all personnel with Integrity plus Cunning less than 12 Trauma – Targets personnel with many skill dots Unscientific Method – Targets Science personnel who do not have Greed or Treachery Yuta – Possibly opponent’s choice: (Integrity + Cunning) – Strength, first instance = Death   As you can see, there are quite a few possibilities for this. However, some are better than others. What I didn’t list was the conditions for many of these, which are important. The less chance that your opponent can pass the nastiness ahead, the better off you are. To this end, things like Hippocratic Oath, Tarellian Plague Ship, A Fast Ship Would Be Nice, things that have little chance of not working out how you want them to are ideal. Which leads us to the next section. Yes, you can target personnel with varying success but what’s the focus going to be? It has to be a wall dilemma or dilemmas that focus on the same thing, something that can be easily whittled down. You might try something that isn’t stocked in high demand, like Empathy (with Thought Fire as a wall) or perhaps a classification like Science (with Scientific Method). Walls that have only one kind of cure that focus on either skills/classifications or gender, barring dilemma-crushers like Dr. McCoy, are as followed: Planet-Only Crisis – Requires Officer on the Ship, Leadership in the Away Team Flaxian Assassin – Requires 2 Security and Biology Hidden Entrance – Requires Engineer and Cunning > 32 Impassable Door – Requires Computer Skill Matriarchal Society – Requires Two Women New Essentialists – Requires Integrity > 40 and 2 Honour OR Cunning > 40 and 2 Treachery Odo’s Cousin – Requires 2 Exobiology and Geology Seismic Quake – Requires Geology   Space-Only Emergency Conversion – Requires 2 Astrophysics and Transporter Skill Maglock – Requires 3 Officers with Strength > 5 Navigational Hazards – Requires 2 Navigation and Stellar Cartography   Planet/Space Ferengi Infestation – Requires 2 Security and Cunning > 50 Hazardous Duty – Requires 2 Officers Hippocratic Oath – Requires Medical Q Gets the Point – 2 Treachery or Mortal Q Scientific Method – 3 Science and Medical Shaka When the Walls Fell – 2 Diplomacy and Cunning > 30 Thought Fire – Empathy Present (Traveler: Transcendence effecting other player) Again, like the selective killers, some walls are more effective than others. Some require more work to set up (Traveler effecting your opponent) than others and some have personnel that can throw serious monkey wrenches in there, (Dathon for Shaka, Dr. McCoy for anything Medical, Goran'agor for Hippocratic Oath etc.) so choose wisely. That’s where the last part comes in mind. How are you going to set this puppy up? This is where you come with the wall-kill-kill-wall ideas. Ideally, the more you can get to eliminate that one focus of your dilemmas before the final wall, the better. Also, you want it to work for any missions your opponent might have so planet/space dilemmas obviously do better than strictly planet or space-only combos. Some cards that seem to help me out for this: DNA Clues – If you can trip these before your opponent can get to it, you’ve just added two Medical to every dilemma there. It’s really difficult to pass a DNA Clues’d Hippocratic Oath-Scientific Method, especially if you seed Aid Fugitives. Just be sure you can get there first and prevent scanning as much as possible. Also, McCoy just makes this really annoying. Battle Bridge Side Deck – Use Tactics that kill that which you’re trying to eliminate: Attack Wing for Medical personnel, Strafing Run for Officers, Photon Torpedo for Security, etc. Also works well with an armada theme and with Scout Encounters. Download a Bajoran Scout Vessel with Rinnak Pire and a Security Personnel and a seeded Make It So. If you have Captain’s Log out already, use Make It So to download a Tactical Console onto your Scout Vessel. You now have a ship with weapons of 10 before tactics, which will go far in being able to damage your opponent, possibly even taking out their ship in the process. All with expendable personnel and a ship. Limiting Reporting Ability – Locking them down with cards like Dixon Hill's Business Card, Kilm Dokachim, Telepathic Alien Kidnappers etc. makes it even more difficult to get the cards necessary to pass your dilemmas. Examples of such skill-deprivation combos are as follows: Hazardous Duty – Strict Dress Code – Scout Encounter (with Strafing Runs) – Maglock (If they don’t have Diplomacy, you can kill an officer; if they don’t choose an Officer with diplomacy, they lose 5 points, Scout Encounter can take out two Officers and then they have to come up with 3 more Officers) (substitute Crisis for Strict Dress Code at planets) DNA Clues – Hippocratic Oath - Scientific Method (Trip it first and seed Aid Fugitives) Odo’s Cousin – Kelvan Show of Force – Common Thief - Seismic Quake (Get a Geology personnel to attempt on Odo’s Cousin, kill with Kelvan, Common gets rid of the Classic Tricorder and then stop and possibly kill someone with Quake) There are, of course, flaws with these kinds of decks and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point them out: Scanning, for obvious reasons. Senior Staff Meeting – These decks tend to flounder without the first dilemma Equipment, especially the Classic ones – They supplement the skills or classifications that you’re trying to get rid of It’s slow – You’re basically trying to lock down your opponent, which means that your deck tends to focus more on stopping your opponent rather than winning yourself. These decks can have a trend to time out or get close and you might not get full victory points. Your opponent is most likely going to score points. With all these quick start means to get the ball rolling, it’s very difficult to get a 100-0 victory with this deck set-up, especially speed decks. Anyway, I hope this helps out some and if there’s any questions or comments, just e-mail me at: mrvbmrvb@pacifier.com Ciao, The Ninja Scot