Split Second

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

20th November 2014

The inspiration for a card can come from anywhere. Perhaps you're playing a game with friends, or in a tournament, and you think of a cool new concept. Or you're watching a favorite episode and realize there's a perfect story to match up with an idea you already have. Sometimes you set out to create a specific character; other times, you want to create a card to stop a particular trick. It's not too frequent, at least in my experience, that a card is inspired by it's image; after all, images are usually the last piece of the picture. But for at least one card in The 20th Anniversary Collection the image was everything.

Split Second, the card associated with the Temporal-themed Fractured Time, started out with it's image - a ping-pong ball frozen in mid-air. In fact, here is the exact pitch I received:

What do you call that shot?
Image: 7/9 scanning the frozen ping-pong ball (VOY: "Relativity")
Gametext: Temporal. Dunno what else, really... just brainstorming what I thought'd make an interesting temporal event...

The idea for the card popped into my head almost immediately - the card represented time being frozen, and requiring your personnel to figure out how (and why). I'd been looking for a place to put an "anti-Kirk" card, and I thought the mechanic paired fairly nicely with the story. The original version also prevented dilemmas from having their requirements changed, but that proved too harsh. And other than a pass by the Rules Team, this card remained unchanged until it was given its final title from the Creative team. (As a personal note, I'm happy to see the play test title ended up as the card's lore.)

So what good is Split Second? Well, I think it's pretty darn good. It can put a stop to Kirk, Reyga, Donatra, and even Assess Contamination, if those are problems for you and your dilemma piles. It gives a chance for some of the skill-less piles to see some play by giving them a small measure of protection. It's not a card that will fit in every deck (those should be rare), but it is a powerful card with a lot of potential to swing the game.

Below you will find a Temporal-themed deck that features one of my favorite combos with Split Second: combining it with Coordinated Counterattack. This pair of events means that you can't "cheat" (gain skills) versus my dilemmas, and you can't prevent them - you have to slog through them the hard way. To make it extra difficult, the dilemma pile leans on Dignitaries and Witnesses as your end game stopper; the deck includes Temporal Incursion to allow you to flip the pile and keep replaying it. Legacy fits in well with the almost all-skill based dilemma pile for your early game stops.

The deck is a little big, but don't forget about the natural drawing power of Earth (Lush and Beautiful Home). As a little extra drawing, Historical Monitor can provide a lot of draws, especially once you use James T. Kirk (Highly-Decorated Commander) to download two of your Temporal events. Feel free to modify the deck to your liking, and give it a try! Or, build your own decks with Split Second and share it on the forums. We love to hear feedback, good and bad, about new cards, and the cards in The 20th Anniversary Collection are no different! No matter how you use Split Second, I hope all your shots are as interesting as the one depicted here. Live long and prosper!

Discuss this article in this thread.

This deck is currently eligible for the following family or families of achievements:

• Original Series Player
• No Time to Argue About Time
• Unbroken I
• No Crutches I
• Crew Quarters: Original Series
• No Crutches II

Decklist

Hide Deck Stats

Dilemma Deck Total Dilemmas 26 Space 4 (15%) Cost 1 1 Cost 2 2 Cost 3 1 Planet 4 (15%) Cost 1 1 Cost 2 1 Cost 3 2 Dual 18 (69%) Cost 1 1 Cost 2 3 Cost 3 4 Cost 4 10 Total Dilemma Deck cost 76

Draw Deck Total Draw Deck 56 Event 15 (27%) Cost 0 3 Cost 1 5 Cost 2 2 Cost 3 5 Interrupt 3 (5%) Personnel 34 (61%) Cost 1 8 Cost 2 13 Cost 3 6 Cost 4 7 Ship 4 (7%) Cost 3 2 Cost 5 2 Total Draw Deck cost 120

Skills Count Skill # Missions # Personnel 1x 2x 3x Total Acquisition 0 1 1 Anthropology 2 8 2 10 Archaeology 0 8 8 Astrometrics 1 8 8 Biology 0 5 1 6 Diplomacy 0 6 6 Engineer 2 9 1 10 Exobiology 1 6 6 Geology 0 3 3 Honor 0 7 1 8 Intelligence 0 2 2 Law 0 1 1 Leadership 1 9 9 Medical 0 4 1 5 Navigation 0 8 8 Officer 0 13 13 Physics 1 7 7 Programming 1 5 5 Science 1 5 1 6 Security 1 8 1 9 Telepathy 0 1 1 Transporters 1 4 1 5 Treachery 2 4 3 7 Icons Count Icon # Personnel % Personnel Staffing Icons Command Star 16 47.06 % Staff Star 17 50.00 % Faction Icons Deep Space Nine 4 11.76 % Earth 3 8.82 % Original Series 26 76.47 % Temporal Icons Alternate Universe 2 5.88 % Future 4 11.76 % Past 26 76.47 % Keyword Count Keyword # Cards Admiral 1 Commander: U.S.S. Constellation 1 Commander: U.S.S. Enterprise 2 Commander: U.S.S. Enterprise-B 1 Commander: U.S.S. Excelsior 1 Commander: U.S.S. Exeter 1 Genetically Enhanced 1 Host 1 Nebula 2 Q 4 Region: Delphic Expanse 1 Region: Sector 001 1 Temporal 15 Thief 2