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. Not every TOS episode spawned cards, so we're already up to What Are Little Girls Made Of?
PICTURE: Aside from Michael Strong's resemblance to George W. Bush, there's nothing particularly special about the image. It is taken from the point at which Korby realizes he's not quite human anymore (mentally, that is). The color palette is one of those TOS rainbows, but again, unremarkable. For a good choice of moment, I'll call it a 3.5. (CG note: Nurse Chapel edited from shot.)
LORE: Though "archaeological medicine" is a nebulous science at best, the title in quotation marks is of welcome interest. His story is told in a few short phrases, but it's well written, and it comes to calling him an android rather naturally. A nice 3.6.
TREK SENSE: Dr. Korby is an android, as we never actually saw him as a human on the show, and that's fine. Being a "medical archaeologist" gives him both Medical and Archaeology. Computer Skill is required to operate the alien android machine and program the androids, and since he IS building androids, Cybernetics makes sense. Of course, one could debate the question since the machine seemed to do all the work, but it doesn't negate the idea that Korby could make use of the card Cybernetics Expertise to allow androids to report for duty. Plus, there's always the programming aspect. The special download of Scorched Hand is cute, since like Data in First Contact, he gets his android hand's skin burnt off, but of course, Scorched Hand is so conceptual that it hardly makes ANYTHING BUT conceptual sense. Attributes are well, um, attributed, with middling Integrity focusing on his willingness to take over the Enterprise tempered by anguish over turning himself into a monster, the high Cunning of a scientist of his caliber, and the high Strength of an android built to still function humanly (not superhumanly). Good stuff for the most part at an even 4.
STOCKABILITY: An OS-only deck need not go without androids thanks to Korby and Ruk (come back next week), and with Cybernetics Expertise, Ruk can be reported for free to Korby's side. Of course, that's a step down from the pre-Expertise rules, since he was able to do this without card support before. Now, it's inefficient to play an Incident for a single free report. Still, outside of OS-only, Korby can become a good Non-Aligned Cyberneticist (against Borg Servo too). MEDICAL is a great classification, and his skill selection is very odd for it, which is a good thing. Archaeology is a deck archetype for a few affiliations, and can be used at The Guardian of Forever; Computer Skill is always good; and just being an android is useful for passing dilemmas (and can be used with some support cards). The OS icon allows Korby to add to his skills via Classic equipment as well. As for the special download, Scorched Hand isn't a bad one, but isn't an excellent one either. Middle of the road, then, for a card that you could suddenly snap into play to take advantage of your opponent's large hand (or even your own if you're really good at deck manipulation). Korby sets himself up to be a 3.7.
TOTAL: 14.8 (74%) A strange, but interesting choice for an OS android.
Comments