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. Wait, where are 100 and 1,000 Tribbles?! Those cards only feature images from DS9's Trials and Tribble-ations, so we can't address them now! Even 10,000 Tribbles only has one TOS version out of three...
PICTURE 1 [Go]: Most Tribble cards unfortunately have a large amount of blur, which is too bad, and I'm not even sure why this one does. It doesn't look like much of a close-up, though perhaps watching the episode again might prove me wrong. It doesn't look like there are any more Tribbles than on the 1,000 Tribbles card (this is true of all three pics), but the danger is more evident because our heroes are looking for the Tribble Bomb. All the tricorders also go well with the idea of requiring Exobiology to attempt missions here. The connection to the Tribble icon is there, though not very persuasive. It hinges on Sisko telling his crew to "Go" and get it done... maybe. A 3.6.
LORE: N/A (score will be adjusted accordingly)
TREK SENSE: Following the same pattern, which isn't too mathematical, but is close enough I suppose, 10,000 Tribbles breed from 1,000 (the previous numbered card). When 10,000 Tribbles gum up the works, they become such a dilemma-like nuisance that affiliation leaders put 2 Exobiology on the case. We've got to find a way to stop their reproduction cycle! The effect on probing is more iffy however. The idea may be that there are so many Tribbles, you can't see well enough to probe, but that's very conceptual. Still, the basic idea that they impede any kind of work is sound, so it's a mix. A good job here, though it plays fast and loose at the end. A 3.6.
STOCKABILITY: Well, I must say there are fewer uses for the 10,000 furballs, but they pack a pretty hard punch so that doesn't matter much. First, it breeds from 1,000 Tribbles, making it 3 steps from the reportable 10 Tribbles. It's a long way to go, but a good mix of 100s, 1,000s and 10,000s means a real headache for your opponent: 1,000 kills a skill, and both 100 and 10,000 REQUIRE more skills be present. Exobiology isn't the first-listed as often as Leadership, but it's a rarer skill, so it's just as bad. It's almost like a portable Odo's Cousin. Players are stocking multiple Exobiology more and more since quite a few dilemmas are requiring them now, but an unprepared player will be... well, unprepared. Have you noticed most Exobiology missions only require one shot of the skill? Really though, the nastiest thing about this dilemma is the anti-probing effect. This will drive the Borg mad!!! Imagine having to abandon a Cube because it's just too infested to be able to probe for your objectives. The Borg have no choice BUT to probe to score points. This seems a bit unfair to them, but really boosts the usefulness of this Tribble card. For non-Borg opponents, it'll harm the popular Visit Cochrane Memorial strategy, just drop them on Earth. At Quark's Bar, it'll kill your Ferengi opponent's Dabo. Sniper also goes down. For the odd among you, Tribbles aren't all bad. Carrying 10,000 Tribbles will protect you from the Badlands, and up to a point, from Protection Racket. Hey, you don't need Exobiology to make cargo runs through the plasma storms! The card only works with one Trouble card, but counters the Bajoran version of Ore Processing (there are currently few such counters). Just drop them off at the Shrine (and infesting a Nor has other uses, especially in propagating the plague to ships), and that's one card management engine down. Counters so many things (including the Borg's only means of winning the game!), I can't give it under 4.5.
TOTAL: Go-15.6 (78%); Poison-15.46 (77.33%); Rescue-14.69 (73.47%) Really close together... I guess 'cuz there are so many. ;-)
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