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. The big bad(ish) of The Trouble with Tribbles...
PICTURE: Really odd verdigris and bronze shades dominate this TOS image, but what is principally remembered is the terrible early Klingon uniform. Yuck. Also, a hypocritically smiling Koloth would have been more in character. They didn't have that much to go on, but they did have better. (Still, they CGed Korax out of the image.) A 2.9.
LORE: The lore takes a little hit from the long game text, but it still does well for itself. First, there's mention of matching commander status which works better than it does for the modern Koloth. Then, we get the back story. Good, good. Finally, a little joke about Koloth and Kirk calling each other "my dear captain so-and-so" throughout the episode. Funny stuff even if you might at first scratch your head at it. A strong 3.9 here.
TREK SENSE: All the icons make sense, that's certain, but the skills may be a little harder to find in the episode. Diplomacy's the clearest: Though his politeness with Captain Kirk was obvious posturing (and they both knew it), he still demonstrated more diplomatic finesse than most Klingons. We also know that a distinguished diplomatic career was awaiting him from his appearance on Deep Space 9. The Anthropology may be because he knew how to interact with humans. The Science... Well, if they are somehow drawing a connection between Koloth and Sherman's Planet, it could be argued that he knew something about agriculture or more generally, about planetary ecologies. As for the special skill, I'm of two minds. Taken out of context, yes, it makes sense that a period ship (from the TOS era) would function better if Klingons from that same period were aboard. A 21st-Century human would have no trouble driving, I dunno, a Toyota, but might have difficulty getting a steamcar or even a Model T to start. Unfortunately, that seems to be a characteristic of the SHIP, not its captain, and I'm not entirely sure how he confers that ability on the Gr'oth. It's not Captain's Log (that's its own card), though it might be a kind of inspirational bonus. Using that perspective, Koloth doesn't boost the ship, but the crew. They staff it better because of his guidance. That's a better justification than the first one I gave because that one was somewhat redundant (the ship already requires TOS staffing to function). That leaves us with attributes. Integrity is a bit high seeing as he seemed to be aware of the grain poisoning (from his expression when Arne Darvin was caught). Cunning and Strength look fine, though they don't represent my opinion of early Klingons as portrayed in the episode ;-). To sum up, everything's justified, but I had to work much too much to get there. A 3.5 then.
STOCKABILITY: Though not a version of the Koloth persona, he can still fit in a Blood Oath deck. Blood Oath will download the Gr'oth, and then the ship can download him immediately after. With Crew Reassignment, you can later fill the ship with AU Klingons (not just OS ones), though he's all you need to staff it. Its attributes are a low 6-6-5, but he automatically adds +1, and with a Log, a Plaque and 2 more OS personnel, he'll bring it up to 11-12-11. Whoa, mama! Of course, the danger with this is that if you lose him, that ship becomes a liability. Aside from the ship enhancement, Captain Koloth also provides two classifications and two skills besides. OFFICER and SCIENCE are both good, particularly the latter. The Diplomacy is less rare, but always useful, and the Anthropology is VERY rare in the Empire, yet is featured on three 40-point missions they can attempt. You can throw in some OS equipment to give him even more ability. A Classic Disruptor will afford him SECURITY, and Agonizers will raise that 6 INTEGRITY to higher levels. I think the Blood Oath gang will take that support ship after all, but you may just as easily opt for a Sherman's Peak-centered deck... A 3.9 in any case.
TOTAL: 14.2 (71%) As we'll find out one day, a % point ahead of his older self.
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