Secrets of The Nth Degree

by Ross Fertel, Second Edition Brand Manager

26th October 2017

With each of the cards in The Nth Degree, there are stories. Some are interesting, some are not. Here are some things that stick out in my mind as I look over the set. While your mileage may vary, enjoy these fun little bits.

Ekoor – This guy is extraordinary. What makes him stand out? The fact that he doesn't. See, every other personnel and ship are those that you know. They stick out as being a main, a recurring character, a prominently featured guest star, even the guardian of Gre'thor. If you have even a moderate knowledge of Trek lore, you know who they are. But Ekoor? He's just some random guy and it turns out that he's the only one in the set. Sometimes, you stand out in you're the only ordinary one.

Keevan – An equipment with a personnel's title? How did that happen, you ask. It was as simple as making a personnel with an equipment's ability when word came that this was not a personnel, it was an equipment. A card template change later and you have this unique occurrence.

Miles O'Brien – This card just got better as more departments worked on it. Put your fingers over the picture and lore for a second. You can tell what the card is. It doesn't need flavor text for you to know what's going on with a nervous Miles O'Brien trying to settle into his role as Sirah. Then Creative came in and added the subtitle and lore, making it even better by fleshing out the story beats. Then Art came along giving us an awesome image, making it better than that. My favorite card of the set, he is very useful in the Bajoran roster continuing the tradition of an off color main.

Molly O'Brien – Would we ever get her in her toddler form? Probably not as there is even a bit of a stretch with Jake Sisko! There's apparently an age limit to personnel. The best we could have hoped for was an event, but we all know how well the Porthos event worked out. But here we have an adult Molly and she sure is fun to have around.

Molly O'Brien - One card, two stories. I made a big deal last time about how after over a hundred products in three games, there were still episodes that were untouched. That's the case here, but with a twist. I'll never be able to say that about Deep Space Nine again because with this card, every single episode of that series has been mined in some form. Super huge thanks to your on Creative team for finishing out one of the series.

One – An eight cost personnel? Expensive, but worth it. This is more than any other card in the game asks for without having some sort of built in cost reduction and I'll be interested to see who plays with it. Have fun with the extremes this guy has to offer.

Reginald Barclay – Yep, that is a whole heck of a lot of skills. Oddly enough, he started out as having one of every skill in the game. He wasn't alone in this; Seven started out as a card that had every keyword in the game. These didn't last the whole way through, obviously, but they were early entries into the extremes theme found in this set. Speaking of Seven …

Seven of Nine – Crazy Seven wasn't always Crazy Seven. She started out as Crazy Data, courtesy of Masks. Originally, he had no skills, but every single keyword a personnel could have in the game. The testers used him as a cheap way to get a ten cunning personnel into play. This went against what the card was supposed to be used for, so it got a bit of a makeover and you see the results.

Universal Translator – Interesting. This card is unassuming and a nice, simple card. It has all the potential to be the card of the set. Everyone can use it and it has potential to really upset the competition. I'm really excited to see how the community embraces this card. One year from now, this can be in five decks or a hundred decks and neither will surprise me.

Last but certainly not least, this would not have been possible without a dedicated army of volunteers working behind the scenes, from rules, who got an early look at the set due to the extreme theme, to the playtesters, who were quick to point out cards that didn't fit in the game, to the proofreaders, who keep things consistent to the art team, who put amazing images on the cards and made an awesome piece of pack art.

The Nth Degree is legal tomorrow. Enjoy.

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