Wesley's STCCG card of the day #347

Hi, folks,

sorry for the latest drop in COTD frequency but setting up the STCCG Online stuff has kept me busier than I'd like it. Anyway, it's working now (although I already had to make a harsh ruling against a misbehaved player), so here I am again. (Addicts should carefully check for withdrawal symptoms before reading this issue and consider taking a small dosage first...)

MONA LISA

Artifact, rare QC.
Use as Equipment card. If destroyed, the player directly causing the destruction (if any) loses [-25] points. (Not duplicatable.)
"Priceless original oil painting by ancient Earth scientist Da Vinci. Stolen from the Louvre in 2243. Recovered from the collection of Kivas Fajo in 2366."
Yes, a beautiful card. I'll give it that much. But that's about it. It might even have made for a good Event or Equipment, but as an Artifact ? Artifacts are supposed to be powerful and this one is not.

While a 25 point loss is severe, you'll have to consider the circumstances under which it will take effect. You will have to get your opponent to destroy the Mona Lisa. That means either it will have to be the unfortunate target of a Disruptor Overload or it will have to be aboard some ship or outpost that is being destroyed.

Let's take the ship / outpost thing first. To get any effect from the Artifact, you'll have to play against a battle deck. We all know how common battle decks are. And when someone plays them, they are out for a very quick destruction of your outpost or crew-laden ship in order to attempt a few missions after that with their slower-than-average solving capability. So once on the ship (or even Outpost), the Mona Lisa actually poses a threat to this kind of deck, especially in a tournament where the difference between a 110-50 win and an 85-50 win is crucial. However the trouble is you'll need the Mona Lisa very early to get a good use out of it. And there's the Artifact problem again. You just don't usually have 3rd turn Artifacts (except with the Q's Planet strategy which works surprisingly often...) and if you do, you'd probably want a Gift Box or Horga'hn.

And the Anti-Disruptor Overload effect ? Yes, it might discourage your opponent from playing that card if you're using an equipment-heavy deck. But Equipment-dependent decks are rare enough that you won't usually see more than one Overload against you (and that one probably from a Q's Tent). And in this case I'd rather Palor my Equipment than wasting my time with the Mona Lisa.

And last try to do something cool: If your opponent plays with "Are these truly your friends. Brother?", put a Mona Lisa in your Q's Tent. Draw it and find a way to discard it. Then hit a Q-Flash and hope for the best...

Favorite combo(s):
Ratings for : MONA LISA 

Wesley's rating:                3.0
Allen's rating:                 3.5
Cole's rating:                  6.5
Data's rating:                  7.4 
Drew's rating:                  7.7
Gowron's rating:                7.3
Hal's rating:                   9.0
Jack's rating:                  5.9
Mot's rating:                   5.5
Nanite's rating:                1.0
Nog's rating:                   8.5
Nouwa's rating:                 6.0
Picarde's rating:               4.5
Q's rating:                     6.0
Ranger's rating:                4.9
Rothspar's rating:              6.0
Tebok's rating:                 6.5
Tony's rating:                  5.0
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AVERAGE RATING:                 5.8
Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: crusher@kiss.de

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LLAP,

Wesley Crusher
Temporarily immortal STCCG Lord

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