Wesley's STCCG card of the day #58

Hi, folks,

it seems everybody is on holiday, at least most of my raters are... So I had to delay this issue a little bit in order to give you at least a few ratings to go with this Warp Pack card:

COUNTERMANDA

Interrupt, common AU/WP.
Nullifies Telepathic Alien Kidnappers OR if opponent just played Res-Q or Palor Toff, suspend that action, look through opponent's discard pile and put any three cards out-of-play.
"A Federation student intern when she discovered her true identity as a Q, Amanda took a dim view of the over-manipulative use of power upon other species."
This card was obviously designed to be a catch-all combo counter. Besides the clumsy name (which doesn't sound Trek-like at all) it weakens or nullifies the key cards in two of the most annoying STCCG combos, which are the Alien Probe / TAK and the Palor Toff / Betazoid Gift Box combo.

It also introduces a few new rules, namely the concept of having cards out-of-play and suspending an interrupt action, the former of which has been suggested by Decipher earlier on concerning mis-seeded artifacts.

For a card designed to help beginners play better it is IMHO way too complex to understand and use. Actually this is a card that requires lots of playing skill to use correctly.

Although Countermanda is definitely inferior to Kev Uxbridge in terms of overall power, it has several advantages. First of all, she is not vulnerable to Q2, but to Amanda Rogers. An opponent will think twice before wasting an Amanda on this card, whereas Q2's are often played without second thoughts as their scope is much more limited. Secondly, Countermanda is the only card to completely deny your opponent the further use of a card, all others leave chances of regrowth. Third, it can essentially counter any regrowth attempt.

Another not-so-obvious advantage applies when playing restricted decks (not more than * of one card in each deck), especially if that * means 1. You can add a Countermanda to these decks in order to save yourself a valuable Kevin when countering a TAK or Res-Q.

The main problem with this card occurs when using it to remove cards from the discard pile. The choice which cards to remove is one of the most difficult to make in the entire game, unless you see a game-breaking card right away. Fortunately you are allowed some margin of error in this decision by being allowed to remove three cards. Still however, beginners will have a tough time using this card until they are really familiar with strategies and deck design.

Final evaluation: This is a card that is very limited and incredibly versatile at the same time. In the hands of an experienced player it can be devastating or at least very annoying. In the hands of a beginner, it is not that strong, as the extra choice in this card is hard to make. A definite YES for all re- stricted decks, as long as the restriction is 1 or 2. I am not that sure about using her in unrestricted decks, when I can have 4 Kevins and 2 or 3 Amandas instead.

Favorite combo(s):
Ratings for : COUNTERMANDA 

Wesley's rating:                8.0
Allen Castaban's rating:        9.5
Habib's rating:                 8.0
Jeff's rating:                  ---
Jason's rating:                 7.0
Tim's rating:                   9.5
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AVERAGE RATING:                 8.4
Hiya, I'd either need a few new raters or the old ones returning from their holidays. So if you want to rate cards, drop a mail and include ratings for Scotty, Pi and Neutral Outpost right away. (1=low 10=high).

Please direct all email concerning card of the day to: blohmer@pips11.informatik.uni-mannheim.de

LLAP,

Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord

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