A-Tent-ion: A First Edition Gift

by Jordan Leung, First Edition Brand Manager

22nd January 2013

Let's face it: if you're playing a constructed First Edition game, it's almost certain that you're using a Q's Tent. It's been played in one hundred and seventy-nine (179!) decks in the past six months. After all, it's a card with almost all upside and no downside - why wouldn't you use it?

It's a great place to store cards that you don't want to have to draw into, but as more and more downloading has been added to the game, those precious thirteen (13) slots in your Q's tent deck have been more and more in demand. It's harder and harder to justify putting a card you might need into your Q's Tent.

Well, now there is another option: Q's Tent: Civil War. This is a special gift promo that we're releasing today and making immediately printable, as part of our celebration of our Fifth Anniversary. Q's Tent: Civil War will be legal in all non-limited formats one week from today, on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013. Head on over to the promo page to download and print your copies today so you can have them ready next week!

Now that you know when and where this new card is legal, let's take a look at this new card piece by piece. First of all, the title: because it's a Q's Tent (thanks to the handy "colon rule" of First Edition), it's got a lot of properties familiar to 1E players. However, as a new card, it comes with new restrictions and new opportunities. Let's break it down:

Place one atop Q's Tent side deck (up to 13 different cards face down and up to 13 different cards face up) during the seed phase. Q's Tent is now open and in play.

By seeding this new tent, you'll gain access to the standard benefits of the original - a storage place for your thirteen (13) downloadable cards. But, this tent gives you twice the space by also allowing you to seed an additional thirteen (13) cards. This card replicates the "Referee Pile" from the Revised format, although it does still limit the number of cards you can stock.

Your other Q-related side decks are closed and cannot be opened or reopened. You may not play Q's Tent during your turn.

Getting double the storage space comes with a price, and these two lines are the first half of that cost. Using Q's Tent: Civil War means there is chaos in the Q Continuum and other Q-related resources are unavailable to you while the war rages. Sorry folks, that means you can't combine this new tent and your Q Flash side deck!

The more significant piece of this cost is that you can't play Q's Tent cards on your turn, losing the ability to play one to download the card of your choice from the tent into hand. But that's what the original tent is for, and if that is what you're looking for, Q's Tent: Civil War is not for you! (However, a sneaky player that can figure out a way to play Q's Tent on his or her opponent's turn might be able to get away with it!)

You may not begin mission attempts with less than four personnel.

Finally, the last piece of the cost: your missions require extra personnel to begin. As we know from the Voyager episode "The Q and the Grey" (from which this card's image is sourced), war in the Continuum causes havoc in our universe. As a consequence of that, crews across the universe need extra hands and eyes to accomplish their missions. If you want the extra space of this new tent, you'll have to give up "redshirt" mission attempts.

The new Q's Tent: Civil War is available for immediate download, and becomes legal in all non-limited formats on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013. This promo is our gift to the community of First Edition players as part of our Fifth Anniversary celebration, so enjoy! Head to our Gameplay (1E) forum to talk about this new card, and let us know which tent you're going to prefer!