What's da rumpus?

by Joeri Hoste

Everyone's private eye needs no introduction and no doubt he'll be giving "mission solving" a whole new meaning. First things first though; let's take a look first at his entire holoprogram.

Flexibility is a key factor to any solid deck these days, which is clearly reflected in the increasing average deck size since the last few expansions. However, flexibility shouldn't go at the expense of your deck's consistency and focus. Contingency cards cluttering up your deck and hand won't do you any good and that's where Holoprogram: The Office Of Dixon Hill comes in. It effectively increases your potential to play cards that would usually cost you your cardplay and offers an additional card draw as icing on the cake. By the same token, it provides a means to bluff useless cards out of your hand in return for a five point bonus. Put those two features together and you just found a way to easily streamline and manipulate that "bigger" deck. It's a win-win situation either way.

Dix's program revolves around the main two bad guys, Felix Leech and Cyrus Redblock. The program itself lets you download Leech (instead of a card draw), who can call on his man Cyrus if the going gets tough. Felix Leech is a worthy addition to any deck on his own accord, being able to bar the use of classifications by any opposing personnel present. Advantages due to massive amounts of equipment or even potential for personnel battle may all go out the window for your opponents if Felix pays their crews or away teams a visit. Cyrus Redblock is the key to The Office Of Dixon Hill and that's the reason why you probably shouldn't wait for your opponent to attack you so Felix Leech can download him. Holodeck Door is a very flexible card that accelerates the effectiveness of every holoprogram at next to no cost and there's no reason why Dix's Office would work any other way.

Getting Cyrus Redblock out to request "the item" in your first turn will put your opponents in a tight spot from moment go. In the current metagame every point counts, and card draws often turn into downloads so letting you play "the item" won't even seem that bad of an option to you opponent. Being able to play cards such as Handshake and Masaka Transformations more easily will only give you better access to that card you really need. Combine that with another mechanism that provides extra card plays and draws, such as Delta Quadrant Spatial Scission, and you'll be leaving opponents in the settling dust of your tracks.

Exploring the world of Dixon Hill further, we needn't go farther than the man himself. He'll crack any case in his sleep. Whatever the requirements, e.g., skills, attributes, special game text (such as Patrol Neutral Zone, Diplomatic Conference, Corner Enemy Ship...), once per game Dixon Hill takes it home. Your opponent will be getting a swift introduction as Dix pops out his business card to ice personnel or temporarily clog up the reporting of personnel. Put Dix together with Carlos and you've got some of the finest discard pile manipulation the game has ever seen, drawing cards from whichever pile you see fit. Add All Threes and Data, Keep Dealing and you're efficiently selecting which cards you draw.

Here's a sample deck that makes use of all of the above gameplay, combined with a very aggressive Hirogen strategy to quickly take control of the game. I've added in some dilemmas that fit well with Cyrus Redblock's very own special skill, since random selection kills never hurt anyone but your opponent, right? Even Nicki The Nose is in there in case you feel like slaughtering up to 100 Holos. It's not tweaked, tried, and tested, but will make the advantages of The Office Of Dixon Hill perfectly clear. The Big Goodbye for now and have fun on the holodeck!

November 30, 2001