What a Card: Drag Net

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. More Q effects from Farpoint, but this time, not a Q-card...

EXPANSION: Q-Continuum

PICTURE: A flashy picture, but one I have problems with. In a sense, it's not Decipher's fault, but I'm not above criticizing Paramount for their role in what makes a card any good ;-). Why was the moving Q-Net pictured as a ball of colorful energy? Why didn't it look like a sphere made of Q-Net links? Like I said, the problem lies with the show's creators, not the card's. Unless... The ball of energy is actually a manifestation of Q himself, pursuing the Enterprise, playing a cat and mouse game. It's not the Net at all. Q simply creates a Net at whatever point he catches up to the ship, but that glowing ball is him. So it could be there is no such thing as a Drag Net. NOW, it becomes a problem with the card's design. Tongue-in-cheek aside, it's not the best picture. A 2.4.

LORE: The lore supports the moving net idea over the Q manifestation theory. Doesn't go all that well with the game text as we will see. Nice pun in the title though. Average: 3.

TREK SENSE: Ok, it gives Q-Nets the further ability to move around. The show supports this (in fact, we could have cards that do anything at all as long as the letter Q was on there). Unlike the show though, the Net doesn't follow a ship. 1) It could be moving around all by its lonesome (why would it though? Q needs someone to pick on). 2) It can't catch up to a ship with any kind of decent RANGE, as "one location" isn't that far away. Perhaps as a Q-icon card, they could have made it a little more accurate. Built on a strong premise, but lacks the finer points of what was seen on the show. A 3.2.

STOCKABILITY: Bah. While Q-Nets are useful, they're not as useful as they once were. Diplomacy is often included in decks if only to pass Shaka and such. The Feds will fly through a Q-Net as if it were Kleenex, and the other affiliations generally have access to some fine diplomats as well. So adding the ability to change the Q-Net's location is only as strong as the Q-Net's weakest link. If you get it to stick though, you can reap a number of rewards. Careful timing and strategy can keep enemy ships in pollution heavy territories (Gaps, Tetryon Fields, Warp Rifts), dangerous Badlands or out of a Quadrant (by blockading the Wormhole). While all of these may work with Q-Net alone, Drag Net gives you the flexibility you need to react to your opponent's decisions. Say a crucial ship gets separated from its Diplomacy personnel, your Q-Net(s) can move in and trap that ship. Its doable, but not a sure-shot. Overall, a 3.

TOTAL: 11.6 (58%) Speaking of dragging...

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