Welcome to another edition of my Decks on a Budget series. As the title
of the article suggests, this month we will be covering a Cardassian
Process Ore deck. The underlying deck that I am discussing this month
won a "DS9-ONLY" tourney in my hometown late last month. Most of the ideas
in the deck are quite valid for regular constructed decks, and I will also
be making some comments regarding things that can be done with this style
of deck for regular constructed play.
Seed Deck (30+12)
As always, missions are of utmost importance, and should be chosen second, after affiliation(s). Cardassians have a set of missions that use an extreme focus, so using them comes naturally after looking through their missions.
Missions (6)
Establish Station
Kressari Rendezvous
Study Plasma Storms
Study Plasma Storms
Study Plasma Storms
Study Plasma Storms
Because we are processing ore, we will have to include a Nor, along with several sites for use there. These sites were chosen to work well with the personnel selected for the missions. Only one personel card in my deck cannot report to the Nor. Never underestimate the power of being able to use the Ops download either. Ops allows you to pick the exact people you want, at the minor cost of your regular card play and card draw.
Sites (6)
Ops
Infirmary
Security Office
Promenade Shops
Docking Ports
Ore Processing Unit
Now we'll need to decide what non-dilemmas we need. These include our Nor, and an outpost for back-up duty. For regular constructed play, the HQ: Defensive Measures cards are much less important, and one or both should be pulled for a Q's Tent, a Crash or an extra dilemma.
Non-dilemmas (6)
Nor
Cardassian Outpost
Computer Crash
Computer Crash
HQ: Defensive Measures
HQ: Defensive Measures
This leaves us with about 24 spots remaining. As always, I'll leave the dilemmas up to you, as they should be left up to individual play-style and what cards you have.
Dilemmas (24)
Now, on to the Draw Deck!
Draw Deck (41)
With ore processing, we have a much better chance of being able to get exactly what we need, and with Ops, we can get it exactly when we need it. This allows us to choose a few people that we always want with us when attempting missions, and find them quickly. I have chosen a group of 9 personel, all downloadable with Ops, to use for mission attempts. This group was especially designed not only to beat the missions, but also to beat dilemmas I expected to find there.
Keep in mind that there is a lack of targeted killers in DS9, so if you are playing in regular constructed environment, you may need more crew to get the mix of skills you'll want. For example, I have only 1 science personel (Jural) in this crew, and only 2 scientists (a second Jural) in the deck. For regular constructed play, this strategy would fall to the common "Unscientific Method/Yuta/Barclay's Protomorphosis Disease" dilemma combo.
You may also want remember that your Cardassians will be stopped by the "Cardassian Trap" dilemma, and be unable to pass it. It is strongly suggested that you either add in a few non-Cardassians to trigger the trap, or some Empathy to bypass it.
There are 2 rares in the group, but they were in there simply because I had them. They could easily be replaced by other personel.
Core Crew (9)
Jural
Ari
Dukat
Entek
Derell
Ghoren x2
Perak x2
After choosing the people you want to do missions with, you need to choose some people to protect your Nor, and to keep processing after you've left with your core crew. Again, the rares here really are not needed, and are more there because I had them.
Other Crew (10)
Sakonna
Dakol x2
Ghoren
Derell
Jural
Tekeny Ghemor
Ari
Elim Garak
Perak
One important part of all decks remains. The question you should be asking now, is "How do I get my people from my Nor to the missions?" Well here's how:
Equipment and Ships (9)
Cardassian Disruptor x2
Cardassian Disruptor Rifle x3
Prakesh
Xepolite Freighter x3
Since we are playing an Ore Processing deck here, we need something to process. For a DS9-ONLY deck, there is a distinct lack of cards that can help you greatly, or hurt your opponent greatly. If this deck were a regular constructed deck, you'd probably want to process Wormholes or Rogue Borg Mercenaries, both of which harm your opponent, or Distortion of Space-Time Continuum or Transwarp Conduit, both of which help you.
The Baseball is here mostly because this was a DS9-ONLY deck, and I expected to see Nors in most decks.
Events and Interrupts (12)
Automated Security System
Weapons Locker x2
Baseball
Docking Procedures x3
Extraordinary Methods
Reclamation
Smoke Bomb x2
Time to Reconsider
And of course, you've probably noticed that we're still missing one card. The card that brings it all together...
Objective (1)
Process Ore
And now, a few things to remember when processing ore:
1) Remember that the card draws associated with processing are optional....
when you are running low on cards, don't draw any more than you will need.
2) Regenerate is good... If you use quite a few interrupts, you discard
pile can and will fill up quickly. Regenerate is a good way to get lots
of cards back into your draw deck, and it will soon be back into your draw
deck itself.
3) Small decks are still good... ore processing seems to tempt people
to expand their draw decks. Most traditional decks have 30-35 card decks,
ore processing allows you to expand that number, but you shouldn't go wild.
my deck had 41 cards, and that seemed about right to me.
4) As always, any attempt to play this deck as is, often will result
in a loss... make sure you understand how the deck works, and fix it to
your play style, and local environment.
5) If you like the deck, let me know! I'm always looking for ideas,
and would love to hear what you've done with this deck ;)