Wesley's STCCG card of the day #278


Hi, folks,

Finally we get to the one card that was for long deemed lost (COTD veterans - real veterans - will still know the tale of the lost number 13... Nobody had it and it wasn't before #90 or so that the original turned up again. Anyway, here's the new version:

Classic COTD #13

KURLAN NAISKOS

Artifact, rare.
Place in hand until played on any ship as an Event card. If ship has all 7 personnel types aboard, its RANGE, WEAPONS and SHIELDS are tripled. (Not cumulative.)
"Statues which open to reveal a multitude of similar but smaller figurines inside, representing the belief that each person is a community of individual voices and desires."

The ultimate "My ship is bigger than your ship" tool. While it was always impressive (think of a 27/24/27 Enterprise), the various expansion cards have turned this Artifact into a card that requires a pocket calculator. Even if I try for the minimal crew and don't use duplicates of any card, I can get truly epic proportions:

Let's start with the I.K.C. Hegh'ta. Put four persons aboard: Kurn, Governor Worf, Kareen Brianon (QC, if you didn't notice, she has ENGINEER now; they updated the card) and Vekor. 8/7/7 and it flies. Add one each of Captain's Log, Nutational and Metaphasic shields, Bynars' Weapon Enhancement, Data's Head and Plasmadyne Relay. 12/14/18. With the Naiskos you can get this up to 36/42/54. Not big enough? Throw in a Transwarp Conduit and Data Laughing and you get to 84/48/60. Hmm. Still can't kill a Borg ship in a single shot. Okay. Try a treaty. Throw out Kurn and the Hegh'ta, instead use Tomalak and the Decius. 96/54/63. Help! (BTW, the only way to get the Naiskos benefit with four crew and still use the Captain's Log. You can freely choose the OFFICER and the corresponding ship, but the other three are mandatory.)

Other ways to get your Naiskos benefit with 4 crew:

And that's it. I tried to find all 7 possibilities, but SECURITY can't yet be singled out as the only V.I.P. with a secondary classification yet is Governor Worf. Maybe QC will fix this as easily as they fixed the other holes.

As you see, whenever we talk Naiskos, we have a huge lot of cards involved. The minimum is one for the ship, four crew and the Naiskos itself. Six cards of which usually three to four have a secondary use (CIVILIANs and VIPs are not yet really useful, even the few that have a secondary classification). So practically you're using 2 1/2 extra cards to get the additional battle value of 2 ships (plus less vulnerability). As the 2 extra ships would each need crew, we're talking 4, 6 or even 8 cards here. So 2 to 3 isn't bad. If your goal is battle value of course. That means the Naiskos is great in any battle oriented deck, but not as useful in a mission deck unless you just care for its also pretty powerful speed effect.

And for the Naiskos freaks among you, here's a challenge: Up there I built a ship that could fly at 96 for a turn. Can anyone of you break the Warp 100 barrier? Remember, only one of each card and only 4 crew. QC cards are permissible ;-)


Favorite combo(s):

- 96/54/63. It's so insane even if it takes 16 cards to play it. Warp 96 and eliminating Borg ships with a single trigger press...
- Kurlan Naiskos on a Gomtuu. Better than any Q-Net ;-)


Ratings for : KURLAN NAISKOS

Wesley's rating:                7.0
Allen's rating:                 9.3
Cole's rating:                  8.5
Data's rating:                  8.5
Drew's rating:                  9.9
Gowron's rating:                9.5
Hal's rating:                   9.8
Jack's rating:                  7.5
Lakanta's rating:               9.0
Nanite's rating:               10.0
Nouwa's rating:                 9.5
Picarde's rating:               8.5
Q's rating:                     7.0
Ranger's rating:                9.6
Ray's rating:                   9.2
Tania's rating:                 9.5
Tony's rating:                  9.9
Wa'Qah's rating:                9.0
----------------------          
AVERAGE RATING:                 8.5

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LLAP,

Wesley Crusher, the new STCCG Lord

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