Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Most Q-cards come from the Q-Continuum expansion, but here's one they thought up much later...
PICTURE: That's a distinctive color scheme, you don't often get apple green in this game, not in such quantities. Since Q colored himself in this transformation, it's cool that the entire card would "color" itself too. It's also a rare look at what another actor would have looked like as Data. A creepy and fun 3.6.
LORE: A bit of a quicky, which only seems to refer to the Riker connection in the game text, but the idea that androids "think fast" is hidden in there (though not picked up on in the game text). Reaches 3.4 with very few words.
TREK SENSE: The first possible effect on a personnel has little to do with the time Q took Data's place, but nothing here is beyond Q's powers, quite the contrary. In the same episode, "Hide and Q", Q did "threaten" to make Data human. What if he had? According to this card, Data's Strength would have been a more normal 8. That's fine, as it normalizes him with humans. Mechanical Strength appears to be a +4 bonus once you determine physical strength and fighting ability. Anyway, if Q can turn an android into flesh and blood, he can certainly turn a humanoid into an android (simply reverse-engineer the change). I'm a tad surprised Cunning remains the same after the change, because it seems like computing power is a function of Cunning, but maybe Q-type androids (yeah, you're no Soong-type) keep their minds fairly intact. The second choice of consequence models what happened in the pic, but its most obvious problem is not targeting an android by necessity. It's not a big one since Q could impersonate anyone in your crew this way. What happens is, Q shows up, and you're left wondering where the real personnel has gone. Answer: it's metaphorically at Q's Planet until solved. Ok, though not as satisfying as if you had had to encounter the dilemma there. And is Q uninterested in the Borg? I don't know why Q2 doesn't get involved in this one, to tell you the truth, though the two actual nullifiers make sense. If Q is Mortal, then the omnipotent Q can't be torturing your crew, and since, in the relevant episode, it was Riker who dispelled the effect, he gets to do so here. We'll just have to imagine he's been given Q powers for the duration, and that this dilemma is part and parcel of his "testing". Some very interesting stuff that gets a 4.
STOCKABILITY: This is an excellent one, well worth the wait for more Q cards. As with most Q-dilemmas, it's actually better seeded as part of a combo thanks to Beware of Q than randomized into a Q-Continuum side-deck. The card has three distinct effects. First, you can reduce an opposing android's effectiveness drastically by making it human. The target's STRENGTH drops by 4, stifling its battling abilities, and it's no longer considered an android, so this is a good one in a combo to protect any dilemma nullified BY an android. It also kills decks that use an immense amount of universal Soong-Type Androids, since all copies of the card would become human, anywhere in play. STRENGTH 6 personnel with Youth and Computer Skill? Yuck. Cravic and Pralor Units in the DQ are also covered, as are Exocomps (should be worth a Parallax Arguers rating of "cool"). Of course, all your opponent needs to do is allow that target (former) android to be killed to dispel the whole thing, but that won't help as they run headlong into the next dilemma. You could also turn a personnel INTO an android. Why would you want to give your opponent extra STRENGTH? Well, how about to make sure an android-targeting dilemma hits? The best is Android Nightmares which will kill a personnel right then and there (3 if you also seeded Interphasic Plasma Creatures), but Shot in the Back, Chinese Finger Puzzle and System-Wide Cascade Failure will also be effective. If you happen to also be using a copy of the new android card, you gain an android! You could also self-seed Q-Type Android to make your OWN android. Send down a universal (or batch of universals) on the mission attempt, forcing your opponent to select one of them, and of course all copies of that card become androids. Your opponent just gave you an army of androids. Pick a universal with high STRENGTH, and it could be quite the assault team. Just make sure Q's Planet isn't on the table, left unsolved, or your opponent will probably be leaning in that direction. Finally, you could use the card to send a personnel to the underside of Q's Planet, which must be solved in order to release it. If you're the one that does so, you can still capture the personnel. Q2 won't help here, but there are a couple of ways to counter the dilemma. One is Mortal Q which certainly shouldn't happen unless you actually gave your opponent the personnel. Another is any version of Riker, which is a possibility (there's even a Non-Aligned version). And of course, the Borg are immune to this (even with the first couple effects, species is irrelevant to them). Lots of flexibility, makes some dilemmas more useful in combos, useful as a self-seed (but not covered by Writ)... an excellent and fun 4.5.
TOTAL: 15.5 (77.5%) It pays to be witty when designing cards.
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