Wesley's STCCG card of the day #230


Hi, folks, when I recently did a really lousy card (I think it was Romulan Ambush), Q enhanced his (low) rating with a 'if you go on like this, next time you'll be asking opinions on Brain Drain' comment. Of course, people just should know better than tempting me. And omnipotent beings should know that twice. So now you know who is to blame for this COTD:

BRAIN DRAIN

Interrupt, uncommon AU.
Removes all skills and CUNNING from any one personnel for the rest of this turn OR Doubles effects of Interphasic Plasma Ceatures. AU Icon.
"In Lt. Commander Data's dream, his perception of the leech-like interphasic creatures aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise was symbolized by the surreal actions of his friends."
(BTW: Q's reply on my rating request: "Ha. :)" Whatever this means.)

This was an absolutely lousy card. Was. With the old timing rules there was no affecting away teams once your opponent has started a mission. But now of course, you can just interfere in between two Dilemmas (and you'd better know what you seeded where as you'll need this knowledge soon). You got some nasty Dilemma that normally can be overcome. Like a Barclay's Disease. Unfortunately your oh-so-well placed Female's love interest failed to get your opponent's Vekor, so he still has a SCIENCE and can pass. Unless you pull your Brain Drain and suddenly make Vekor an empty shell without any grey mass in her head. No SCIENCE, no passing Barclay's... Too bad! And do not forget your opponent cannot do anything about it except Amanda'ing your Brain Drain - you get to choose which one is affected.

Other neat little applications include removing the one Leadership needed for a battle (if your opponent has no OFFICERs present) or getting rid of a Diplomat when your opponent tries to escape from a Borg ship through a Q-Net.

The thing missing from this card is that it does not remove the classification. If this worked, you could hit with a lot more Dilemmas than otherwise as most of them do count more classifications than skills. Getting rid of a pesky ENGINEER or MEDICAL in the right moment could prove beneficial...

And the other function? Double Interphasic Plasma Creatures. [Insert a 2 minute gap here while I scramble for my FAQ file to look up whether that was effect or condition - ah, it's effect.] So you can lower the Strength rating of affected personnel by 4 instead of 2. Which might sometimes prove handy. If you do something that requires Strength later on. So if you plan on doing this, you'd better use Chalnoths, Nausicaans or Rebel Encounters. Or Rogue Borg. Or plain Away team battles. Otherwise it's not really useful.

An average card with incredible surprise value. But a little tricky to use efficiently and you need a good memory to make sure your Dilemmas are what you think they are.


Favorite combo(s): - Brain Drain + Zaldan or Cardassian Trap. Good effects and a skill drain will help you a lot around here.
Ratings for : BRAIN DRAIN

Wesley's rating:                5.501
Cole's rating:                  4.5
Data's rating:                  7.5
Jack's rating:                  6.3
John's rating:                  7.5
Q's rating:                     6.5
Ray's rating:                   7.9
Richard's rating:               6.5
Tony's rating:                  6.0
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AVERAGE RATING:                 6.5

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LLAP,

Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord

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