Flashback: Cooking Some Steaks

by Ross Fertel, Second Edition Brand Manager

15th September 2017

The Spotlight series looks at specific factions one at a time outside the clutter of other cards. But we can't forget that all cards some in sets, giving us a chance to look back at them and see what they provided some time ago. Think of it as a miniseries of sorts, but we'll take the time to look back at the spotlight from a different point of view. We'll continue with a one of a kind set.

As cards were being revealed for Raise the Stakes, it slowly became clear that…

Never mind that. A ninety card sxpansion! Double the size and double the fun. The committee kept it a secret up through the release, which meant that there had to be two versions of cards for those spoiled early due to the collector's number. There was even a bit of a slip up when William Ross was revealed as commander of the Bellerophon but there was no slot for the ship.

What goodness came out of this set? Well, for one, the Delta Quadrant Klingons were introduced. It would take time, and a smattering of more cards, for them to become loved, but this was a great way to inject some life into an already powerful affiliation. Like TNG, they are very hard to design for as they have been on the top since the start of the game. The Delta Quadrant Klingons were designed in such a manner that they worked well with each other, and in the Delta Quadrant obviously, but didn't stack with the existing strengths that the affiliation possessed. They were only better in the Delta Quadrant and are able to pull off some really nice tricks from discounts to dilemma cheating. It opened the door to them and was previously the playground of the Borg and Voyager. This new group was strong out of the gate and have been added to over the years making them even better.

The 'artifact' personnel, those who get a price discount after the appropriate mission is solved, are completed with this set, something that just didn't appear in Deciphers final set, meaning no one was left out of that party. Several mission required six personnel of group as opposed to the usual three, making them even more culturally enforced and enhanced. And of course, the 22^nd century Vulcans make a debut and focus on higher point missions. Normally, those require an investment of time, which you won't have against speed decks, but they and a few other key cards in this set help make up for that deficiency. Suddenly, there were incentives to use higher point missions and not fear a quick opponent as much.

Casual Recursion, He Wasn't Nice, Miner Revolt, Occupational Hazards, Unfair Terms, Well Prepared Defenses, so many classic dilemma staples come from this set. Bridge Officers Test remains a great dilemma cheater, and Kira “Lela” Nerys stands out in an already crowded field of Kiras. Admiral Janeway provides her former crew with a blowout of useful skills, especially if you have patience while Admiral Ross even adds to his impressive resume. P'Tol gives the cost reduction a Romulan twist to the formula and A. G. Robinson is there to help the fledgling Starfleet get out on its own accord.

This was the first, and so far only, double expansion for the Virtual era and for the third set, added a lot of new cards to a limited pool. It was well on the way to creating the Academy format and shine the spotlight on where we were and where we would be going.

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