Note from Major Rakal: A couple of weeks ago, after the umpteenth post on the Star Trek CCG gameplay message board asking how to get this or that card out on the first turn, guaranteed, I half-jokingly asked if anyone wanted to write a strategy article on that topic. Within an hour or so, I had this from Lorne Kates...

HOW TO GET CARD X OUT ON THE FIRST TURN

by Lorne Kates
05/08/02

Peeking at the next card, getting an all important artifact, harnessing particles, finding God. What do they all have in common? They're all viable strategies in the Star Trek CCG. But how do you get your game-winning-100-to-nothing-best-in-all-the-universes-uber-strategy to work for you before your opponent does something nasty (like winning before you can)? Simple. Get your strategy, and the cards you need to do it, out on your first turn, each and every time.

"But how do I do this?" you ask. And you all do, as anyone who has read the Star Trek Gameplay Message Board can tell you. Let's take a look at some strategies.

Playing By Numbers

In the days before seeding all these neat cards (in fact, before all these neat cards existed), there really was only one way to make sure (for the most part) that the card you wanted was in your opening hand, and that was to play with multiple copies it. Every Star Trek game begins with drawing a hand of seven cards. If that card is in your hand, that means there should be six cards in your hand that aren't the one you want. So, mathematically speaking, if you stocked your deck with one copy of that card for every six cards that aren't it, you can almost guarantee that you'll draw it in your opening hand. Statistically, it works. In fact, since the advent of Q's Tent, you can stock it in your tent instead and stock one Q's Tent for every six non-Q's Tent cards. That way you can fill your Q's Tent with many cards you may need turn one, depending on how the rest of your hand looks.

Will <Insert Card Name Here> Please Report For Duty?

It has been my experience that the card that someone wants on the first turn is usually a personnel card (and even more specifically, a card downloaded or used by said personnel). Since we don't have the luxury of seeding our personnel as in a Warp Speed tournament, let's look at some other ways you can download someone on the first turn.

HQ: Defend Homeworld – One of my favorites of the "Discard to download" cards, this will let you download any one SECURITY personnel. That means they can have SECURITY either as a classification or as a skill. Does the personnel you are looking for have SECURITY, such as Admiral Leyton (HQ: Secure Homeworld), Overseer Odo (Process Ore), or even Lore (just because he's Lore). If so, then this may be the best answer for you. As a second function, you can also download any HQ card (except Return Orb To Bajor), but since most HQ cards I've seen used allow themselves to be seeded, I don't see much of a point.

Quark's Isolinear Rods – This card allows you to download a personnel with Computer Skill x2 who isn't an OFFICER, even if you are under the influence of Computer Crash! There are quite the host of these computer users. 10 and 01 will nullify any Computer Crash, Quark comes with his tons of skills and a mini cloaking device, and Mr. Scott will keep your ships flying.

1st Rule of Acquisition – Although this card only downloads to your hand, take a look at what you get: one Ferengi VIP and/or one Gold-Pressed Latinum. Since a good deal of Ferengi VIPs are Naguses and hence report for free to the Tower of Commerce, it is just as good as downloading into play. The Gold-Pressed Latinum can be reported later, even for free to Ishka. Or, if you're not in a Ferengi mood, don't forget about the dual-personnel, dual-affiliation The Trois. They're VIP, and they're Ferengi who can convert into Federation. What good could a multi-affiliation VIP (Diplomatic Conference) Empath (Cardassian Trap) who can download a card to save themselves be good for? Hmm.

Organ Theft – Do you need a Vidiian downloaded? If so, just have Organ Theft seeded. Use one of the above methods to get a Vidiian and a Harvester in play, and prey on one of your other personnel present. Need personnel? Assign Mission Specialist and Assign Support Personnel can get you quick, expendable donors.

Summary

If you want a card out on the first turn, there is usually a way to do it. Though there are very few seedable cards that directly download, by name, the card you're looking for, the trick it to look for the roundabout route. Is there another card you can seed that will download who you are looking for? Is the personnel you want a SECURITY, Ferengi VIP, non-OFFICER Computer Skill x2? Are there any other cards that allow you to download the type of card they are? (Halkan Council downloads I.S.S. Enterprise which downloads James Tiberius Kirk which downloads Tantalus Field.) Can they be downloaded to a Nor? If not, can you live with having them out on the second or third turn with a good card drawing engine? Or can you stock multiple copies of your card (or Q's Tent) and hope for the best? And if not, is this card truly worth making your whole deck so dependent on it that it won't work without it?