First Edition Rules Updates

by Charlie Plaine, Acting First Edition Rules Master

11th June 2012

Today's update makes one addition and two corrections to the OTF Ban List, and adds a rules update to the personnel assimilation rules via the Current Rulings Document (CRD). These updates take effect immediately for all First Edition tournaments.

OTF Ban List Changes
With today's update, we have corrected the spelling of Horga'hn and removed the recently updated Relics of the Chase, which was inadvertently left on the ban list in the previous update.

However, the more significant news is the addition of Time Travel Pod to the OTF Ban List. This change was precipitated by a six-month study of the environment and discussion by the Rules Committee and not by recent forum activity. While the Rules Committee - and the entire CC - respect and welcome player feedback, it is highly unlikely action will be taken from such feedback alone.

The decision to ban Time Travel Pod has been a long time coming and is being made to protect the competitive environment as we prepare for Continental and World Championships. The fear that deck design will polarize around this card is legitimate and the limited amount of countermeasures for this strategy only serve to exacerbate the problem. Thus, we have added this card to the ban list to eliminate it from OTF play.

Assimilating Former Drones
With today's update to the CRD, the Rules Committee has clarified how to handle subcommand icons on personnel when they are assimilated by the Borg. The full procedure is spelled out in the update, but the rule of thumb is that if a personnel has subcommand icon(s) when they are assimilated, they retain them and lose all other staffing; otherwise, the existing conversion procedure is used.

The First Edition Rules Committee is scheduled to release rules updates on the first Monday of each month, if necessary. This update, as always, takes effect immediately.