by Sirna Kolrami
Who is this assassin and what is this assassin doing to my science personnel? This is actually the best dilemma to come out of the Sealed Deck package. It is an easy to get by wall dilemma [CUNNING greater than 24] that also kills SCIENCE personnel. Drawbacks? The SCIENCE personnel can not have Greed or Treachery. Bonus? It is an either dilemma.
So what are you going to do with this dilemma? Well, in sealed deck it is another dilemma that will help stop the all too common sealed deck threat of red-shirting missions since you need at least three personnel to get by Unscientific Method [UM] - with out any CUNNING bonuses ;). Since so many of the Sealed Deck missions can be solved with personnel that are SCIENCE classification or have SCIENCE for a skill UM is a great card to knock off those SCIENCE personnel before they can solve the mission (s).
Now in the constructed deck game UM takes on a different look - a far better look. It is still a great anti red-shirt card to slow down Borg on a planet or red-shirting PNZ players in space. What I like about it, is that it is selective in that it picks on SCIENCE personnel.
In space, use it to preface Interphasic Plasma Creatures [IPC] and Maglock. IPC is tough to pull off because it is easy to get by. You just need two SCIENCE, but with UM you can get rid of SCIENCE and grab an opponent with the IPC and lower all there personnel's strength by 2 making it darn hard to get by Maglock.
Mentioned above was the fact that UM was great against Borg on a planet because it slows them down a turn. But UM is even better against the Borg in space if the ever present Interlink Drone and the Queen are together [and why shouldn't they? They work so well together]. Just mix UM with Alas Poor Queen. You see the Interlink will share the skill of SCIENCE with the Queen and since she is the most CUNNING Borg she is the target of UM … follow with Alas Poor Queen and watch a lot of Borg go to the discard pile.
UM can work anywhere [not just space], since it is an either dilemma, prefacing it with Frame of Mind [another either dilemma] can help to make sure that the CUNNING of 24 is not there on an early game attempt [heck, give the Frame of Mind victim SCIENCE to boot].
My favorite is to mix it with the popular Yuta and Barclay's Protomorphic Disease [BPD]. Not only will UM help to make sure that this combo is not easily tripped by red-shirts but it also will help thin out one of the requirements of BPD - SCIENCE. So UM catches the most CUNNING SCIENCE personnel and then Yuta nabs the last SCIENCE [if there is more than one] personnel and BPD kills off the last of the crew/away team.
But what about the Greed and Treachery part? Well, it is true that the Romulans have a good amount of SCIENCE that also has treachery and Jo'Bril [of course] and Galen are imune to UM as well. But Greed and Treachery are skills that can be Brain Drained. Yes, that is right UM works great with Brain Drain as well.
If you are playing Borg and plan on scouting some of your opponent's missions UM is a great dilemma to seed that you know you can get through if you know it is there.
My suggestion? Go get yourself a sealed deck or two and get this nice little dilemma on your side!
Questions? Comments? Email Sirna Kolrami or visit his site.