Deep Space 9 week: Top 5 cards

by James "RedDwarf" Hoskin, Staff Writer

6th May 2008

While looking over my old decks for this introduction, I was surprised to find that I have never actually used Mouth of the Wormhole (Deep Space 9) as the only headquarters mission in a deck. I have used it several times in combination with another headquarters, but never by itself. I suspect this is because of my fondness for James T. Kirk (Living Legend), and being able to play him and DS9-icon personnel to Earth (Home of Starfleet Command) instead. Not to worry though, I can still play favorites. Here, in no particular order, are my Deep Space 9 top five cards:

Confessions in the Pale Moonlight
The first decent "cheater" card in the game. Prior to the release of Energize, you could gain skills from other personnel while facing a dilemma, but you were out of luck if you didn't have a personnel with the skill you needed. That all changed with Confessions in the Pale Moonlight, however, as it allowed a DS9 Treachery personnel to gain a skill of your choice. Even though you were limited to giving the skill to either Benjamin Sisko (Man of Resolve) or Julian Bashir ("Unnatural Freak"), this event suddenly made several skill-based dilemmas a lot riskier to play. Later on, once The Rite of Emergence was released, it also became one half of a powerful skill-gaining duo.

Krim (Thoughtful Tactician)
This personnel, released in Necessary Evil, would probably make my top five list even without his ability. He only costs two counters to play. He has a Command icon. He has the General keyword. He is the corresponding Commander of the Talnot, and he has decent skills and attributes. However, it is his ability that really pushes him out of the pack of honorable mentions. Once you have completed a mission, you can lose 5 points and stop Krim to name any dilemma. Your opponent must then take all copies of that dilemma from their pile and place them under your completed mission. This is perfect if you are playing a deck with a particular weakness to one or two popular dilemmas. It is even better when combined with Ohhhh! Nothing Happened!.

Bustling with Activity
This is one of those The Next Generation-type cards that can help all players. When you play a personnel at Mouth of the Wormhole (either Deep Space 9 or Terok Nor), each player can discard a card from hand to download a personnel of the same affiliation as the played personnel. If your opponent is playing with personnel from certain affiliations, they might be able to take advantage of this, but that shouldn't matter because you can build your deck to guarantee you take a greater advantage. By selecting which personnel you download and play, you can handpick the personnel you are going to use for your initial mission attempts. Whether you need Benjamin Sisko (The Emissary of the Prophets) to help overcome Gomtuu Shock Wave, or Rom (Diagnostic and Repair Technician) to help overcome Where No One Has Gone Before, you can use this event to kick start your deck.

Kurn (Bajoran Security Officer)
Kurn makes this list for two reasons: First, he is the only Bajoran-affiliation Klingon; and second, I couldn't fit him in my Bajoran top five. If you have a penchant for Combat, Kurn's species means that both Bajoran- and Deep Space 9-based decks can take advantage of the Bat'leth. If you combine Just Like Old Times and Day Kannu (Field Colonel), you can score 20 points from one combat. You can then use each Bat'leth to force your opponent to discard a card from hand before using Kurn's ability to kill a random personnel. If you manage to do this just twice in a game, then you'll be hindering your opponent while at the same time setting up your two-mission win.

Walk the Line
This card was only recently released, but because it can prevent personnel from being stopped by dilemmas, it resulted in an immediate inclusion on my list. Aside from encouraging you to include both Bajoran DS9 personnel and Federation DS9 personnel in your deck, I think it is a very simple card that could make a big difference in a game. It may even encourage me to build a deck based around Mouth of the Wormhole (Deep Space 9)!

Honorable mentions go to cards that didn't quite make my top five. This week, Medical Teams gets a nod for giving your killed personnel a second chance at life, while Jadzia Dax (Problem Solver) is highlighted for doing the same thing for your discarded events. The final honorable mention must go to the actual headquarters mission. With a span of one, it has to be one of the best two headquarters (the other being Terok Nor!) in the game.

Which cards would you pick in your Deep Space 9 top five? Let us know on the message boards here.