NIX VIC TRIX
(a.k.a. Stopping Vic Fontaine)

Please note that this article assumes that you are relatively familiar with Star Trek CCG gameplay, terminology, and abbreviations/symbols such as those used in the Glossary and Current Rulings. While beginners can benefit from this article, it is really more of a “toolbox” for intermediate and advanced players.

Vic Fontaine is one smooth singer, daddy-o. What a fantastic special skill: “May download a card if a dilemma just ‘stopped’ your personnel here (once per game per dilemma).” In fact, it’s so good that many players quickly began basing entire deck strategies on preprogrammed Vic-driven downloads as soon as the Holodeck Adventures set released (if you’re intrigued by such possibilities, read Slik Vic Trix). Some players have reacted so negatively to Vic that anti-Vic sentiment, and ruminations about how to defend against an aggressive Vic strategy, dominated the Decipher STCCG gameplay message board in late January 2002.

Please note that none of these strategies are perfect. None are foolproof. Most depend on getting certain cards in your opening draw. I am not claiming to give you here the final solution to all your problems with your opponent’s Vic Fontaine usage. I am just trying to give you some suggestions about how you might even things out a bit.

Understanding Vic Jumpstarts

Before you try to defend yourself against Vic-based jumpstarts, you need to understand how Vic-based jumpstarts work. For the sake of reliability, all Vic-based jumpstarts must depend on preprogrammed first-turn “stops” with Vic at the same location.

Some versions use multiple preprogrammed “stopper” dilemmas. For example, one of my Vic Trix decks self-seeds Altonian Brain Teaser + Ooby Dooby. I attempt a space mission where those are seeded with Vic Fontaine, four Federation Youth personnel, and Dr. Telek R’Mor. Altonian Brain Teaser stops Vic Fontaine, Ooby Dooby stops the Youth personnel (and I get four card draws), and Dr. Telek R’Mor cannot continue because the mission has no [Rom] icon (I make sure of this in my mission selections). Thus I get four card draws and two Vic downloads from two self-seeded dilemmas.

Other versions use one preprogrammed “stopper” dilemma, and use Vic’s skill to download Q’s Planet, under which the player then seeds three more preprogrammed “stopper” dilemmas. See my Lounge Lizards deck for an example of this type of Vic-at-Q’s-Planet (V@QP) jumpstart.

A Basic Principle: Outseed Your Opponent

Vic Fontaine jumpstarts are just the latest (and, some would argue, greatest) in a line of deck types that depend heavily on self-seeded dilemmas that are encountered before the opponent’s dilemmas. Knowing how to outseed your opponent — that is, how to make sure your dilemmas are placed last — is thus an important skill in the Star Trek CCG generally as well as in defending yourself against Vic-happy opponents.

Part of your success in outseeding your opponent will depend on your deckbuilding as such. To maximize your likelihood of outseeding your opponent at missions where they wish to self-seed dilemmas, you should minimize the number of your seed cards that must seed in the doorway and facility phases. You must also be sure that you are fully cognizant of the game text on your cards, so that you know which ones must seed during each of the seed phases, and which ones may seed during any seed phase.

Many players attempt to outseed their opponents in the dilemma phase by seeding all their non-dilemma cards — hidden agendas, for example — in that phase first, then seeding their dilemma cards. This is not always the best technique, however. Seeding all your hidden agendas and non-dilemma seeds (like Assign Support Personnel and Make It So) early in the dilemma phase is easily matched by your opponent, and detracts from your own passing flexibility later in the dilemma phase. There is no one “right way” to handle the dilemma phase so that it guarantees that you will outseed your opponent. You might, however, choose to try this: use your first six to twelve dilemma-phase seeds to seed dilemmas under your opponent’s missions. Make sure that these are powerful dilemmas that will stave off your opponent for at least a turn or two in most cases. Next, seed any non-dilemma cards that must seed in the dilemma phase. Now you have the opportunity to sit back and pass if need be. Your opponent who is depending on Vic Fontaine self-seeds is unlikely to double-pass before sliding in some of those self-seeds, at which time you can respond by seeding beneath those cards.

It helps even more, of course, if you can guess where your opponent will put their outpost. Some of this just depends on your knowledge of the opponent; you might know that Joe prefers to have his outpost close to the middle of the spaceline for easy access to both halves, while Sue prefers to have hers near the end of the spaceline. But what if you don’t know your opponent’s proclivities, or your opponent is tricky enough to change things around on you once in a while? Here are some things to look for: (1) Mission IIs. A number of players use the Mission II built-in outposts as a way to minimize the number of seed cards they bring out in the facility phase. This might clue you in as to where self-seeds will be; they will often be at the outpost location or at an adjacent planet. (2) Anomalous [NA] or [Fer] icons. If you see only one [NA] or only one [Fer] icon on an Alpha Quadrant spaceline, your opponent might be planning to put a Husnock Outpost or Ferengi Trading Post there. Husnock Outposts and Ferengi Trading Posts are popular in strong Vic decks because they allow you to seed ships there (and often Holodeck Doors will be seeded on those ships, to provide quick access to the Holodeck Doors via Space-Time Portal’s function of returning a ship to hand). (3) Liberation. On a Delta Quadrant spaceline, Liberation or an adjacent mission is likely to be the location of choice for self-seeded dilemmas for Vic to exploit, because of the Caretaker’s Array and its handy “report with crew” function.

Seeding at Q’s Planet

If your opponent is using Q’s Planet to try to exploit dilemmas there for Vic downloads, you will almost never be able to outseed them at Q’s Planet. They will almost always seed three cards, and even if you seed three cards, you must seed first when they play Q’s Planet. Therefore, their third card will be encountered before your first one. Plan on your opponent getting at least one Vic download from a Q’s Planet dilemma if they manage to get out Q’s Planet on their first turn.

This does not mean that all is lost. If you stock your Q’s Tent well, you can minimize (I am not saying “neutralize”) the impact of your opponent’s Vic-oriented strategy. As you plan out your Q’s Planet seeds against a Vic deck, you must “think different” (as they say in Cupertino). Your anti-Vic Q’s Planet setup needs to try to end your opponent’s mission attempt without “stopping” your opponent’s personnel. In most other situations, your dilemmas are designed to prevent your opponent from solving the mission they’re attempting. With Q’s Planet in a Vic-based strategy, you don’t have any objection to your opponent’s Away Team solving the mission; you just want to minimize how many of them get stopped along the way.

A typical V@QP jumpstart will have up to six personnel attempting Q’s Planet: two mission specialists, one support personnel, one SECURITY personnel (from Defend Homeworld), Dr. Telek R’Mor (from Temporal Micro-Wormhole), and one other personnel (from a regular card play, though many Vic jumpstarts need that card play for a ship). It’s very unlikely that fewer than three personnel will be in the Away Team. A well-designed Vic jumpstart will selectively “stop” these personnel one by one; you need to try to minimize the stopping. The following dilemmas might prove helpful at Q’s Planet (none can shut your opponent out completely).

Alien Parasites. Turn the tables for a while and use your opponent’s Vic as your own. As of the Holodeck Adventures expansion, the average (mode) INTEGRITY in the game was 7. (Curiously, the same was true for CUNNING and STRENGTH.) Your opponent will most likely be attempting Q’s Planet (in a first-turn Vic scenario) with three to six personnel. If your opponent attempts with six personnel, their third-seeded (hence first-encountered) dilemma will stop one or more of them (that’s the whole point, to enable the Vic download). Your third-seeded, first-encountered dilemma should be a filter that removes one or more personnel without stopping anyone. Your opponent’s second-seeded, second-encountered dilemma will probably stop one or more of their own personnel. Now the Away Team is down to three personnel or fewer, and odds are good that their INTEGRITY is within one or two points of 21. If your next-encountered dilemma is Alien Parasites, you can take control of the Away Team and their ship (which has to be in orbit for Vic to be any use). Now you can run the Away Team into opponent’s final card (and your own final card) and get one or two Vic downloads yourself from opponent’s Vic, perhaps killing some of opponent’s personnel in the process.

Common Thief. Depriving a V@QP Q’s Planet mission attempt of one personnel can potentially deprive that mission attempt of a personnel stoppage, and therefore of a Vic download. Common Thief can remove one personnel from the mission attempt without “stopping” anyone. Other single- or multiple-personnel killers that don’t stop anyone include Dal’Rok, Denevan Neural Parasites, Firestorm (not very reliable), Flash Plasma Storm (not very reliable), Horta, Trauma (Trauma doesn’t immediately kill, but it does disable), and Yuta (if you call the right number).

Edo Probe. While this won’t work against all V@QP strategies, it works very well against those where your opponent seeds a big wall (like Dead End) as their first or second seed (thus to be encountered middle or last). If your opponent knows they can’t get through their own dilemmas without stopping all their unique personnel — and remember, your Vic-happy opponent wants to stop their own personnel — they will need to abandon the mission or lose 10 points. Be aware, though, that your opponent will probably accept the point loss if they believe they can otherwise earn +60 points that turn.

Female’s Love Interest & Garbage Scow. In combination with Mission Debriefing, this provides a potentially powerful brace against a V@QP jumpstart. If there are any females present, it at least has a shot of putting a crimp in the plan to the extent of denying one “stop” by a self-seeded dilemma. Most ships will have plenty of RANGE to tow away the scow and return, and most ships with holodecks also have tractor beams. You can hope, however, that the Love Interest part of the combo dilemma deprived your opponent of a needed staffing icon, or an ENGINEER, or both (even better, you can swap the Female’s Love Interest half with a Q-Flash using Beware of Q to increase your chances of quashing your opponent’s ability to tow away the scow on the same turn).

Male’s Love Interest & Plague Ship. Here again is a simple filter dilemma, which you hope will cut down on the number of Away Team members enough to keep one or more of them from being stopped by your opponent’s Q’s Planet seeds.

Punishment Zone. This rarely-seen dilemma is weak for a normal mission attempt, but against a V@QP setup it could deny your opponent one Vic download (and maybe 5 points to boot, if your opponent decides to save the targeted personnel’s life).

The Higher ... the Fewer. This dilemma won’t end the mission attempt, and won’t remove any personnel from it, and therefore won’t deny your opponent any Vic-powered downloads. It will, however, charge them a few points for using the V@QP strategy. Be aware, however, that an Altonian Brain Teaser seeded by your opponent will neutralize any such point loss.

Vic Denial

Capturing Vic

No matter what the particulars, one of the ways to slow down a Vic-based deck is to deny it access to Vic’s special skill. One way to achieve this is with the dilemma combo Scout Encounter + Extradition. At an ordinary mission, you will have to work hard to outseed your opponent; at Q’s Planet, they will probably get away with two Vic downloads during the process. Nevertheless, if both of these dilemmas go off during a mission attempt where your opponent is using Vic to power downloads, you can almost certainly capture your opponent’s Vic Fontaine.

Prior to the release of the Holodeck Adventures expansion, captured holograms deactivated and returned to their “associated” ship if their capturers tried to move them away. The language of “associated” ships has passed out of use, and as of the Holodeck Adventures expansion, certain rules have changed. The rule that relates to capturing holograms now states, “If a dilemma (or other card, such as Escape Pod) requires a hologram to leave a ship or facility without immediately boarding another one, they instead deactivate (unless they are wearing a Mobile Holo-Emitter)” (Current Rulings, 12-05-01, emphasis added). The same expansion introduced a card — Children of Light — that explicitly provides for capturing holograms.

The same rules that allow Children of Light’s capturing mechanic to work enable Scout Encounter + Extradition to work for capturing holograms (including, of course, Vic). Since your personnel who beam off opponent’s ship using Extradition immediately take him to another ship, they can in effect “keep” him captive without him bouncing back to the ship from which he was taken. Capturing Vic is the most effective way of shutting down a Vic Fontaine deck — even more effective than blowing up Vic’s ship — because you keep your opponent from re-reporting or using Vic at all.

Killing Vic — Permanently

This technique is a bit hard to pull off, and it will only work for you if you go first (or at least get your Vic out first). It works on the same principle as Vic jumpstarts with self-seeds, with a twist. Get your own Vic into play and a Klingon Painstik into your hand. Kill your own Vic with a self-seeded dilemma, and Painstik him. Your Vic will reactivate, but your opponent cannot report their own Vic.

Single-Card Strategies

There are a variety of individual cards that can play a role in helping you slow down an opponent’s Vic Fontaine jumpstart. None of these are sure-fire Vic stoppers. Each can help in some way if used well. Note that several of the suggestions below involve playing interrupts. Of course, if you’re going to combat a Vic jumpstart with an interrupt, you must have that interrupt in your opening hand. You’ll also need to be prepared to defend those interrupts against Amanda Rogers. (Nobody ever promised that stopping a dedicated Vic Fontaine jumpstart deck would be easy.) Since several of these cards can be helpful against variety of decks types (whether or not they use Vic), you might consider using a “cocktail” of these strategies no matter what you expect from your opponents.

Brain Drain and/or Small Oversight. Either of these interrupts can remove Vic’s special skill for a turn, buying you extra time to get your own game plan going.

Computer Crash. If your opponent is not seeding Quark’s Isolinear Rods, you can slow their Vic jumpstart by a turn using this event. Of course, your opponent knows this possibility very well, and it is pretty unlikely that you will be able to catch your opponent unawares with Computer Crash.

Containment Field. A number of Vic Fontaine jumpstart strategies depend on multiple special downloads. Using Containment Field can help combat those particular strategies by forcing your opponent to choose between fewer downloads or lost turns.

Docking Procedures. If your opponent is depending on a ship’s holodeck to activate Vic Fontaine, you may be able to prevent that ship from leaving its outpost using Docking Procedures. The ship and its crew — including those personnel your opponent intended to use to hit self-seeded dilemmas — will be stopped and unable to participate in mission attempts. This will not stop Vic from using his download if opponent’s personnel get stopped at that location, but opponent will need to find another way to encounter the self-seeds.

Energy Vortex. To get Vic Fontaine into play first turn, your opponent will need to play a Holodeck Door from hand to download Vic, or will need to play Vic from hand. In either case, you can send that card back to their hand with Energy Vortex, and buy yourself a Vic-free turn.