A Page of Bashirs

by Ross Fertel, Unmanipulated

21st April 2025

As a card game group, the number nine holds a special reverence for us. It is the number of cards on a 'page' and there are display pages that are designed to hold exactly that number of cards. Almost every set has a version of prior cards, usually a main opening credits regular. When we get nine versions of a personnel, ship, mission or equipment, we have a full page.

Imagine someone collecting each version as they come out. With the release of Realm of Fear, we have a ninth version of Julian Bashir. Let's take a look at this first page of that personnel.

Our initial Bashir came in the very first set, Second Edition. Like many medical mains, he has a means of helping save your personnel from the clutches of death, though the cost is high. You need to both stop him and discard a card from hand. At a cost of four, the “Frontier” Physician could save someone in a pinch. Even after all these years and sets, this version is the most popular for Deep Space Nine.

The second set, Energize, introduced the Maquis as a faction, along with some darker versions of personnel, including Julian Bashir, “Unnatural Freak.” He matched the previous version in many ways, ultimately costing one counter less, but could discard two cards from hand to gain Treachery for the turn. Being able to selectively gain a skill was invaluable, but this version never caught on like the original.

These Are The Voyages would focus on The Original Series and have a subtheme of the Deep Space Nine cast as they were thrown back in time. Julian Bashir, Medical Staffer could put a personnel from your discard pile under your draw deck. If that sounds like a great deal, the opponent can do the same afterwards. Like all Deep Space Nine visitors, he could outright play to an Original Series ship. While this Bashir has been used in Deep Space Nine decks, he has been used mainly in those for the Original Series.

Alternate Universes would be the focus of the next set, In a Mirror Darkly. We would get our most expensive Bashir yet, the Rebel Captain who would have the skills to match. At a cost of six, he is expensive but has a discount of three for each headquarters an opponent has in play. Usually he will cost three, but you might luck fortunately or otherwise into a free version or at full price. With thousands of versions in decks, this is certainly the most popular.

Personnel who work with each other would be formally called teams and the set Unity gave us one for Deep Space Nine. All subtitled Vastly Outnumbered, they needed a way to get an Assault or Maneuver in the opponent's core, of which they had a few ways to do so. Julian Bashir, Vastly Outnumbered would allow you to prevent kills at times with a cost of discarding a card. This version can be used for the ability but is mainly in decks as a less expensive Bashir.

Return to Grace, we would get Julian Bashir, Nostalgic Doctor. He would help save a personnel but at a discard of the same without the future icon. Still, he had some good medical related skills for the deck as well.

>Just as Bashir would walk onto the Next Generation soundstage and bond with Data, Shattered Mirror would have a Visiting Colleague who gets extra engineering related skills when present with an Android. Since there are tons of Datas in the decks in general, this is viable even outside the also popular Android deck in particular. He is not always included but fits in with the decks well enough.

The 2024 Organized Play Promos would give us a second Non-Aligned version. The theme would be personnel who have a printed cost of two and the Displaced Doctor would give you a peek at a dilemma with some help.

All this brings us to Realm of Fear, the latest set. There is a subtheme of Intelligence, and it was through Bashir's eyes that we met Section 31. The Man of Principle is someone you want in an Earth based deck as he can prevent a kill turning it into a stop. You will need to stop him, meaning there are costs to activating his ability, but preventing a kill is always a good thing since you do not have to worry about retrieving them from the discard pile or the like. He has some medical related skills and the high cunning we have come to expect. By no means is he an auto include, but he fills in a lot of holes for the deck overall.

That takes us through the first nine versions of Julian Bashir for Second Edition. Like most Chief Medical Officer mains, he keeps people healthy, and his genetic enhancements give him strong Cunning. More often than not, he can keep your personnel safe in some fashion. Who knows the next main to get a full page of cards!

Let us know in the forum thread linked below who is your favorite Bashir thus far.

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