Wesley's STCCG card of the day #253

Hi, folks,

here's another "poor man's rare card substitute":

CONUNDRUM

Dilemma, Space, common AU.
Unless Integrity >40, this ship must do nothing but chase (at normal speed) and attack one of your opponent's ships (your choice). Discard Dilemma.
"In 2368, U.S.S. Enterprise personnel were given amnesia by Satarrans, who then attempted to trick the crew into attacking Lysian ships and a Lysian command station."

With some playing skill, you can turn this card into a Cytherians that is much worse than the real thing (for the one hitting it, natch). The prime prerequisite for this killer combo is having WNOHGB in play and having exactly one ship. A decent range on that ship helps. When your opponent cannot overcome Conundrum, move to one end of the spaceline and maybe do a mission or two there. Then, just before your opponent arrives, wrap around to the other end, continue your mission business and wait for your opponent to make his way back. If the ship is well laden with important crew your opponent might as well concede unless he somehow gets to nullify your WNOHGB. Best thing here: only commons involved! Anyone can do it!

Second try? Sure. But now you'll need something more expensive. Like a Future Enterprise. Unless your opponent has a Shield enhancer, the FE shoots everything except a Husnock to bits, as you can be sure you'll get two attack rounds (your opponent's and yours). Again, make sure your FE is the only ship in play and leave a leader aboard so you can shoot. You can even move towards your opponent to speed up the inevitable. Again, great effect.

Number three: Use it as a Federation attack excuse. If you have a Wartime Conditions in your deck, this is the opportunity to play it. Just make sure your ship's defensive values are good enough to survive the initial attack. Combines well with the previous usage, BTW. Again (though not as vital), it is a good idea to deny your opponent the choice by having just one ship in play.

Eh, only one ship in play? Sure, isn't there a card called "Auto-destruct sequence?" Just evacuate the ship after you pressed the button and if you can, do it in a situation where it counts. Helps increasing the net benefit.

Or, if you want to be nasty, just use Temporal Rift on the ship you don't want your opponent to attack. Then help him spanning the distance a little faster by coming his way and painting a bullseye on your saucer section.

And getting his Integrity to 40 or less? C'mon, you read COTD, don't you? You should find a few ways to do it in these articles.

The card just has one big flaw: It does nearly nothing on its own. You almost always need a clever (and sometimes hard to pull off) combo. Hrmph. Except for one case, though: Seed it, hit it yourself (with the FE and Integrity <40), speed off, choose whatever target you want to eliminate. Better that IM:Attack Authorization or Wartime Conditions. The trouble is just it'll cost you several turns to chase. And two more to attack. Might be too slow.

Favorite combo(s):

- Conundrum + WNOHGB + any ship. Better than destroying and just as effective.

Ratings for : CONUNDRUM

Wesley's rating:                7.5
Cole's rating:                  7.0
Conner's rating:                5.5
Data's rating:                  5.0
Hal's rating:                   9.2
Jack's rating:                  7.1
Nanite's rating:                9.0
Nouwa's rating:                 5.0
Q's rating:                     7.5
Ranger's rating:                5.5
Ray's rating:                   5.1
Rothspar's rating:              ---
Tania's rating:                 5.5
Tony's rating:                  8.0
----------------------          
AVERAGE RATING:                 6.5

Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: crusher@kiss.de

Visit the Web Pages!

http://www.worldonline.nl/~ldp/COTD.html
(for best indexing - all cards crosslinked)

http://wizlink.iserver.com/conner/stccg/COTD.html (great Graphics, plus the strategy webboard)

With all back issues from #1 up to today !

LLAP,

Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord

"A couple of lightyears can't keep good friends apart"