March Madness 2025 - Round of 32

by Charlie Plaine, Director of First Edition

12th March 2025

Welcome back to March Madness 2025! Half of the Decipher-era underperforming cards have been sent packing. But the remaining 32 cards remain, licking their wounds, and are ready to face off against new opponents. We had an average of 89.75 votes per poll, which wasn't quite enough to earn double prize draws. However, I've decided to add a second threshold where we'll increase the prizes by 150% if we hit 80 average votes. That means we'll draw 6 names from this week's polls when we draw prizes at the end of the competition.

Let's take a look at the results from Round 1:

Cards You Never Play

• (1) Airlock made sure (16) Wesley Gets the Point would remain pointless, 65-31.
• (8) Empathic Echo failed to hold water against (9) Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, falling 51-45.
• (5) Berlingoff Rasumssen failed to resist (12) Omega Directive in a 51-45 upset.
• (4) U.S.S. Enterprise-C couldn't progress against (13) Q's Planet, falling 56-40.
• In the 4th consecutive upset, (6) Burial Ground lost ground to (11) John Doe, 57-39.
• (3) Saltah'na Clock kept time against (14) Receptacle Stones, winning 53-43.
• (7) Commander Charvanek got lost on patrol against (10) Install Autonomic Systems Parasite in a 54-42 upset.
• (2) Council of Warriors held out against a late-game rally to defeat (15) Secret Compartment, 52-44.

Cards That Missed the Mark

• In spite of trailing early, (1) Zalkonian Storage Capsule ripped (16) The Mask of Korgano clean off in a 46-43 victory.
• The (8) Breen CRM114 turned their backs on (9) Discommendation, 49-40.
• (5) Riker Wil couldn't get the message against (12) Incoming Message: Attack Authorization in a 48-41 upset.
• (4) Jera played through the (13) Klingon Painstik, winning 51-38.
• In a game right down to the wire, (6) The Emperor's New Cloak fell by a single vote to (11) Holoprogram: Deadwood, 45-44.
• (3) Coalescent Organism lost cohesion against (14) Morgan Bateson in a 46-43 upset.
• (7) Tomek grounded (10) Hawk in a close win, 46-43.
• (2) Benjamin Maxwell pulled a phoenix and came back to life, eeking out a 1 point win against (15) Chain Reaction Ricochet, 45-44.

Cards That Don't Come Out of the Binder

• (1) Canar put the hood on (16) Robert DeSoto in a 54-33 win.
• (8) Worshiper kept the faith to win against (9) Bendii Syndrome, winning 48-39.
• (5) Manheim's Dimensional Door ended the 12th seed upsets, closing the door on (12) DNA Metamorphosis, 55-32.
• In a back-and-forth battle, right down to the buzzer, (4) Maman Picard was upset by (13) Echo Papa 607 Killer Drone, 44-43.
• (6) Red Alert! froze up and lost to (11) Cryosatellite in a 50-37 rout.
• (3) Dathon couldn't hold a candle to (14) Howard Heirloom Candle in a 45-42 upset.
• (7) Terraforming Station dominated (10) Common Thief in an impressive 71-16 victory.
• (2) Impassable Door proved to be very passable, losing to (15) Picard's Artificial Heart, 48-39.

Cards That Don't Feel Right

• (1) Warp Core Breach put hands on (16) Seize Wesley, 54-33.
• (8) Edo Vessel put (9) File Mission Report in the trash with a 55-32 win.
• (5) Alternate Universe Door failed to open and was upset by (12) Prepare Assault Teams, 54-33.
• (4) Plexing forced (13) Starry Night to tap out, winning 45-42.
• (6) Countermanda couldn't counter the strong offence of (11) I.P. Scanner, losing 58-29 in an upset.
• In another last-second match, (3) Fractal Encryption Code struck out against (14) Baseball in a 44-43 upset.
• (7) Lethean Telepathic Attack avoided the schemes of (10) Gegis, holding out to win 46-41.
• (2) Assimilate This! skillfully negotiated against (15) Hostage Trade, winning 52-35.

Now, it's time to vote in the next 2 polls:

Vote in the Left Bracket

Vote in the Right Bracket

Here are a few featured matches in Round 2:

Left Bracket - Game #36 - (10) Install Autonomic Systems Parasite vs. (2) Council of Warriors
The battle of the difficult to use Objectives. Council of Warriors earned its high seed by virtue of being nominated multiple times. But the Klingon-themed objective won its Round 1 match by a smaller margin than its Dominion Infiltrator-themed counterpart. Can IASP sabotage the wisdom provided by CoW?

Left Bracket - Game #40 - (7) Tomek vs. (2) Benjamin Maxwell
Another battle of the card types, this time personnel. Tomek has long been suggested as a card due for a better/more accurate version. Benjamin Maxwell played a big role in the story of beloved character Miles O'Brien. Both cards were given high-res versions in Premiere Remastered, but which one will move forward for the chance at yet another revisit?

Right Bracket - Game #44- (7) Terraforming Station vs. (15) Picard's Artificial Heart
Terraforming Station is a weird and quirky card coming off an absolutely dominating performance in the 1st round. Picard's Artificial Heart, an equally weird and quirky card, is fresh off a shocking upset of the #2 seed in the "Cards That Don't Come Out of the Binder" bracket. Will the Q-uirky Artifact continue to impress, or is the demand for a Terraforming remaster too strong?

Right Bracket - Game #45- (1) Warp Core Breach vs. (8) Edo Vessel
Both of these cards won by similar margins in their first round game. Does that make them evenly matched? Will the allure of a remastered Warp Core Breach be able to draw the hearts of voters? And will it be enough to keep Edo Vessel, the only ship remaining in our bracket, from taking off?

Now it's up to you. Remember, you can vote in each match based on any criteria you like - the choice is literally yours. Good luck and have fun! Voting will be open until 11 AM Pacific on Monday, March 17th. And don't forget to join the discussion on our Gameplay (1E) forum to speculate on what might happen next!

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