[BCSWowbagger]

...once again, I'm stealing topics from 2E.

I want your beginner-level 1E decks!

Beginner-level decks are stronger than starters. They are reasonably competitive at tournaments -- they won't always win (what does?), but they've got at least a shot at coming in 1st or 2nd.

And they don't do anything very complicated. These are decks you could print out and hand to somebody who is new to the game, who has only ever played with starters before (if that), and who is ready to try his hand at the "real" game without doing any actual deckbuilding.

I am sure there are already a ton of these "beginner decks" already out there. We just need to collect them into a nice big bucket where we can share them with newbies. Some criteria:

* The deck should be OTF.

* The deck can be Complete or Block; please note which.

* The deck should be relatively balanced. (Some battle is fine, but it should also be able to solve missions.)

* The deck should have a proven track record. There must be at least one sanctioned tournament where this deck was played and won at least 2 games (don't care if it was MW or FW, but it has to have won twice in the same event). Both wins must be against players who logged their decks on the TrekCC site. (This screens out a lot of bad decks that otherwise would be included. For example, a deck that got two wins at GenCon against new players whom we never heard from again, but otherwise lost.)

* Double check and make sure the deck hasn't been gutted by errata. A lot of my old TNG decks don't work anymore because of the changes to Attention All Hands.

* The deck should seed at least 18 dilemmas (including cards that seed like dilemmas and Shades of Gray cards).

* If the deck needs to move between quadrants (or do any other fancy moves), make a note about how the deck does it.

* No Borg, no Nors, no time locations (including The Celestial Temple), no Q-icon cards, no Tribbles. I love 'em, but they're too complicated for newbies.

* Maximum 1 Artifact, and it can't be Receptacle Stones.

* Ultimately I would like to see a wide variety of affiliations and decktypes represented here.

* Bonus points if the deck includes suggested dilemma combos.

Here's a short list to start:

Lean Mean TNG Fed Scientific Diplomacy (v4.6 by Ken Tufts; netdecked for the win by Shane Brierly) (OTF) (instructional article)



I Don't Want To Battle (by Michael Van Breeman)



Too Illegit To Quit (v1.1 by Ken Tufts) (OTF) (instructional article)



The Neutral Zone is Our Domain (v2.1 by Ben Johnson / mindmage) (OTF)

Romulan Chess (v4.7 by Matt Hayes / karonofborg13) (OTF) (instructional article)

We Are Back (by Chris Deitz / Proconsul Neral) (OTF) (how-to guide here) (independently confirmed it's a decent deck)



TNG Borg and Droids (v4 by Justin Kaufman / CrimsonRavage) (OTF; must swap out In The Zone)

Warlord (Or: The War Council Seeks the Stone of Gol) (by James Heaney) (instructional article)




Bajor for Bajorans. And some Ferengi. And a Klingon. And someone who is secretly a Trill. (by Matthew Zinno) (instructional article)



Cardassian Concealed Carry (vNACC by Jason Tang / Pants o.t. Tal Shiar) (updated 2017) (OTF)



Aussie Worlds (by Amber van Breeman / Marquetry) (OTF)



Sf Stolen From A Space Scotsman 1.6 (by Ken Tufts) (OTF)



A Vulcan Hello (by Rouge Shindler) (instructional article) (don't forget to switch out the Quantum Incursions and any other banned cards!)



Maquis DS9 (by Bruce Parrish) (Block-DS9)

BONUS: if you're feeling confident about Borg Rules
Borgasmic (by Paddy Tye / KazonPADD) (instructional article) (OTF)

Send me more decks and I will add them to the list! Once we've got a large enough list, boom, major recruitment resource.

P.S. Don't forget Pazuzu's thread where he's gathered all the CC Starter Decks, plus a couple other Starters that are simpler (if less competitive) than those gathered here.

[Worf Son of Mogh]

HaHa I was about to post my FED deck for you but you already have it...

Hum... Actually my illegit Klingons at the base are maybe in the right area for this, there are tricks you can then grow in to with the deck to use it even better... Take a look and see if you can figure it out, maybe copy it and add some deck notes to it as I never have.
Link: https://www.trekcc.org/1e/decklists/ind ... ckID=12338

This Deck Amber Played is not bad for people that want a strong DQ deck with a bit of a hirogen flavor to it.
Link: https://www.trekcc.org/1e/decklists/ind ... ckID=12267
Not sure if it's simple enough for your target ideas but I'll let you take a look and see what you think.

[Mogor]

HaHa I was about to post my FED deck for you but you already have it...

Hum... Actually my illegit Klingons at the base are maybe in the right area for this, there are tricks you can then grow in to with the deck to use it even better... Take a look and see if you can figure it out, maybe copy it and add some deck notes to it as I never have.
Link: https://www.trekcc.org/1e/decklists/ind ... ckID=12338

This Deck Amber Played is not bad for people that want a strong DQ deck with a bit of a hirogen flavor to it.
Link: https://www.trekcc.org/1e/decklists/ind ... ckID=12267
Not sure if it's simple enough for your target ideas but I'll let you take a look and see what you think.

I can vouch for the fed deck

[chompers]

Lean Mean TNG Fed Scientific Diplomacy (v4.6 by Ken Tufts; netdecked for the win by Shane Brierly) (OTF)

Shane missed the first two games at worlds 2015 and then went 3-1 with this deck. Only his second ever 1E tournament. It says a lot about the deck (and also the player).

[BCSWowbagger]

Both Illegit and Amber's deck look solid and very straightforward to me. (At least as straightforward as an Hirogen deck is capable of being.) They obviously performed well! Added!

I'm curious what the tricks are in Illegit.

[sexecutioner]

For my next Borg article I'm trying to develop a Borg starter deck. (This, along with alcohol, is the main reason the next article is taking so long)

My challenge is to make a Borg deck worthy of this.

[Worf Son of Mogh]

Both Illegit and Amber's deck look solid and very straightforward to me. (At least as straightforward as an Hirogen deck is capable of being.) They obviously performed well! Added!

I'm curious what the tricks are in Illegit.

Knowing when to use Anya to Sala to bust dilemma's, using OEP to get the key people to then have for the next free play off of CM draws, knowing exactly which draws to covert to which DL's for equipment/OEP personal-ships/ref cards, tossing androids to handshakes because you can get them back with cyber expert, knowing exactly what to give androids so they will get targeted by certain dilemmas as the most cunning etc.(hint they should almost always be medical and androgynous). Stuff like that, that you grow in to with experience.
The big part that is tricky is knowing each turn exactly which draws to convert to which Downloads that's the kind of play choices that let you REALLY excel with the deck but there is no set rules for them it really depends on the how the game is going.

[Mogor]

For my next Borg article I'm trying to develop a Borg starter deck. (This, along with alcohol, is the main reason the next article is taking so long)

My challenge is to make a Borg deck worthy of this.

Let me know when it's done and I'll test it for you since I've never played Borg along with a large list of other deck types. I should be a decent test

[BCSWowbagger]

My challenge is to make a Borg deck worthy of this.

If you pull this off, I will give you a dollar/pound/euro/scotsbuck (currency of the future nation!) next time I see you.

Those are some great notes, WSOM.

[HoodieDM]

I still have my decks posted in regards to Borg starters and Fed Ent-E starters:

Borg Starter Deck

Federation Enterprise-E Starter Deck

And I've started on DQ Starter Decks as well.

~D

[edgeofhearing]

[1E-TNG] [Rom]

The Neutral Zone is Our Domain (v2.1 by Ben Johnson / mindmage) (OTF)

Romulan Chess (v4.7 by Matt Hayes / karonofborg13) (OTF)

[1E-TNG] [NA]

TNG Borg and Droids (v4 by Justin Kaufman / CrimsonRavage) (OTF; must swap out In The Zone)

Just a note; I agree that these are good beginner decks, but it should be noted that Always a Chess Game and Followers of the One do not need to be placed in (and take up space in) the Q's Tent. On the other hand, doing so seems common in this play group, and (though I have not confirmed it) I suspect that they do it to make things simpler for new players (ie, "if you're looking to download something, look in the tent first!").

[mindmage]

So can any of those download cards come from outside the game?

[Boon of Bolian]

Officially not, though it is common use to put them there in the deckbuilder to make it more clear what is downloaded. Technically they are part of the draw deck, but never put there so you don't shuffle them in or need a reshuffle.

[HoodieDM]

So can any of those download cards come from outside the game?

Officially not, though it is common use to put them there in the deckbuilder to make it more clear what is downloaded. Technically they are part of the draw deck, but never put there so you don't shuffle them in or need a reshuffle.

Correct. If you were to make an official decklist for say a Regional or higher event, I'd recommend putting the card in the "Draw Deck" section or if you want to waste the space in your Q's Tent Side Deck, but otherwise, most of the time people don't shuffle the cards in when setting up. It saves time and time is your friend in 1E

~D

[jadziadax8]

Thread necro!

I would like to use these decks for the Spotlight Series 1E n00b decks. If other people know of more good beginner decks, could you add them in? Also, if one of these decks is yours, do I have permission to write about it?