[MidnightLich]

Welcome to today's First Edition Friday Question, where you get a chance to answer questions that will help shape the future of First Edition. I did miss last Friday because I was on vacation to Disneyland; however, I posted the question late so feel free to answer if you haven't.

Here's a list of all of my previous Friday Questions:

11 OCT 2019: Which TNG main character needs a new card?
4 OCT 2019: Which Star Trek story needs more cards?
27 SEP 2019: How many points should [SPOILER] be worth?
20 SEP 2019: Which rules always confuse you?
13 SEP 2019: What do you think of [SPOILER]?
6 SEP 2019: Which card needs an alternate image (AI)?
30 AUG 2019: Which characteristic needs love?

Today I want to know about First Edition expansions. There have been almost seventy (70) different products, depending on how you count. Some aren't really expansions in the traditional sense, but I don't want to limit anyone and their ability to weigh in.

Which First Edition product is your favorite? Why?

Your reasons can be as varied as the stars, but I want to know which expansion or product is your favorite. Maybe it's the product that has your favorite card, or was the first booster pack you opened. Did you get your first ultra rare in The Borg and that's why it's your favorite? Whatever the reason, I want to know your favorite expansion and I equally want to know why it's your favorite.

That's this week's question. Which First Edition product is your favorite? Everything from Premiere (which isn't an "expansion" since it was the base game) through The Cage is eligible, including odd products like the Away Team Pack. If it's your favorite, tell us, and tell us why!

Have a great weekend! Are you making Halloween costume plans? Don't forget I'm sitting for Office Hours on Sunday morning at 9 AM Pacific time. I hope to see you there!

-crp

[Se7enofMine]

Gah ... this is a tough one.

First Contact or The Dominion.

I know, I know. Im cheating. But those are my two favourite affiliations and I honestly couldn't pick just one.

[AllenGould]

For the game overall, I'd have to point to Deep Space 9.

For personal reasons, my fav will always be Trouble With Tribbles.

[JeBuS]

1. 2-Player Introductory Game - It was my first product and it did a good job of introducing the game.
2. First Contact - Borg got my best friend and first opponent into the game.
3. Blaze of Glory - Tactics

[jjh]

Premiere.

It was my first CCG and a series I love. Getting Data or the Enterprise was an Event.

Good times.

[Resistance-is-futile]

All good things

1. Great playable cards
2. Great collectible value
3. Closed broken links decipher nearly forgot about

[jadziadax8]

I think Blaze of Glory is probably my favorite expansion. This may be because it's the first one that came out after I started playing, so the first box of boosters I ever bought. It could be because I pulled one foil and two non-foil Jadzias from that box. It could be the gorgeous foils or the powerful strategies, but definitely a favorite, even though I don't like battle all that much.

[Rachmaninoff]

This is a tough one! A few highlights for me:

Decipher products:

• First Contact -- COMPLETELY changed the game and largely for the better. From relaxing the 60-card deck size limit (causing the most impactful changes in deck design philosophy in the game's history), to turning the metagame upside down (Mirror Image, Intermix Ratio, TLMBDH were the first bullets with real teeth), to introducing new mechanics (downloading, probing, the Borg!)
  
  I remember reading over the First Contact rules sheet when the expansion first came out, and my jaw dropping further and further with each paragraph. The expansion literally rebooted the game.
• Official Tournament Sealed Deck -- Card-for-card the highest-quality product Decipher ever produced, and a masterpiece of design. In just 20 cards, Decipher ensured that virtually any collection of Premiere/AU cards would be playable (even including the Tama in case you stumbled upon a Particle Scattering Field!) and balanced (Spacedoor and Open Diplomatic Relations preventing a stray Red Alert! or The Devil from ruining your day). The cards are equally useful in Constructed, even more than two decades later, and still range from playable to ubiquitous. Only one of them had any real balance issues (Space-Time Portal), and it was easy to fix.
  
  In terms of quality, balance, and economy, no other 1E product comes close.
• Blaze of Glory -- A good expansion, but more so than the specific product this era was my favorite time to be playing the game. Without straining too hard, you could make a competitive deck with any affiliation, and the game pace was perfect (none of the monotonous "Sito Jaxa reporting for duty, now your turn" Premiere days, and crazy 30-minute first turn Hexany wins were still far away)

CC products:

My relationship to the game is very different now. I'm not an active player, but still like seeing new cards and thinking of strategies. So I get most excited by expansions which either tickle my nostalgia bone, or by cards like Gold! that are fun puzzles (now how would I build a deck around THAT?) With that in mind my favorite products are

• Shades of Gray: great way to bring old cards out of the binder
• The Next Generation: ditto, although maybe went a bit too far
• 20th Anniversary Collection: each card really feels like it could have come from those expansions
• Cold Front: A lot of creative cards like Distant Control, Disrupted Continuum, Holographic Camouflage, We Are the Metrons. Admittedly over the power curve, but as an inactive player that bothered me less than it would otherwise.

[Orbin]

Mine is Q Continuum because of Q's Tent and the Romulans and Soon-Type Android.

Q's Tent revolutionized the game making it much easier to ensure you get what you need when you need it (at the cost of, at that time, one card draw).

Sirol, Taris, and Telok gave a huge jump to the power level of the Romulans, and they became my favourite affiliation after this set.

Soon-Type Android was a nice attribute personnel that could fill any classification and could be played FOR FREE, which at the time was super crazy powerful!

- James M

[TyKajada]

.

Decipher:

OTSD
great playability, good cards for the purpose, such a great way to get players into the game and a great way to play sealed tournaments
on top of that you get an affiliation box, cool


CC:

The Next Generation
Fantastic set to invigorate the use of the at time underpowered TNG crew(s) and cards.
The idea to use cards like The Continuing Mission to download themed incidents and tie them to personnel/ships with certain property logos is imho a masterpiece by the CC.
The power level of these is a different topic, but the idea is simply great.

to all

[BCSWowbagger]

The Next Generation reintroduced me to this wonderful game, pulled it back to its roots (while still being thoroughly modern), and contained some remarkably good ideas.

Am I seriously the only one so far whose favorite expansion is virtual? Probably all of my top 3 are virtual, followed by All Good Things.

[Se7enofMine]

The Next Generation reintroduced me to this wonderful game, pulled it back to its roots (while still being thoroughly modern), and contained some remarkably good ideas.

Am I seriously the only one so far whose favorite expansion is virtual? Probably all of my top 3 are virtual, followed by All Good Things.

Ya know, it's funny .. when I read Charlie's question, physical expansions were at the forefront. It didn't occur to me to include virtual. That's pretty shitty of me, considering the site we are on.

[Discovery rox]

otsd

its the only way to have a completely playable and fun game out of a single box. games can be interseting and competitive without richer people having the advantage. you get to see and use cards that you would never play otherwise. a lot of the premium cards are also very usable in normal constructed games. the boxes are very pretty and functional. and the old premiere and au packs are so cheap you can even play otsds like there brand new if you keep the 20 premium cards, over and over.

all of my favorite in game stories have been generated by otsd games over the yeras

[JeBuS]

otsd

its the only way to have a completely playable and fun game out of a single box. games can be interseting and competitive without richer people having the advantage. you get to see and use cards that you would never play otherwise. a lot of the premium cards are also very usable in normal constructed games. the boxes are very pretty and functional. and the old premiere and au packs are so cheap you can even play otsds like there brand new if you keep the 20 premium cards, over and over.

all of my favorite in game stories have been generated by otsd games over the yeras

I have had 3 tournament experiences using a single OTSD box where I was incapable of completing more than 1 mission due to the card pool being complete garbage. The OTSD set cards don't cure that.

[Armus]

otsd

its the only way to have a completely playable and fun game out of a single box. games can be interseting and competitive without richer people having the advantage. you get to see and use cards that you would never play otherwise. a lot of the premium cards are also very usable in normal constructed games. the boxes are very pretty and functional. and the old premiere and au packs are so cheap you can even play otsds like there brand new if you keep the 20 premium cards, over and over.

all of my favorite in game stories have been generated by otsd games over the yeras

I have had 3 tournament experiences using a single OTSD box where I was incapable of completing more than 1 mission due to the card pool being complete garbage. The OTSD set cards don't cure that.

Is that true even after accounting for Reflection Therapy (and Suna's easy access to it?)

That dial a skill tech has won me more than a few sealed deck games over the years.