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 an AU card, but still from the transwarp experiments in WNOHGB...
PICTURE: Ooh, look at all the pretty colors! The picture was taken from "Where No One Has Gone Before", when the Enterprise, under the Traveller's power, warped uncontrollably to another galaxy. I sometimes wonder why this was the icon chosen to represent special Premium cards. It's nice and distinctive alright, but are Premiums meant to represent "distortions" in the rules or in the expansion schedule? Yeah that could be it. I'd like to know what the designers were thinking. Doesn't affect the score in any case, which I squarely place at 3.
LORE: They really went all out, didn't they? At least it gives more of an explanation for Trek sense than the picture does... The title is the kind of thing that will keep this card from becoming a special download. ;-) A 2.5.
TREK SENSE: Let's immediately put the "snapshot" on the shelf, since the Traveller's moving the ship has absolutely nothing to do with the game text, or almost none. Let's concentrate instead on the lore, which talks about time effects being caused by spatial distortions (space and time being connected in Einstein's model). The card allows a ship to encounter such a distortion and, while the rest of the universe proceeds apace (one turn per player, execution of orders limited by "stopping" and Range), this ship (and attended Away Teams) has a little more time. Time is distorted in this instance so that a crew can accomplish twice as much as another in "normal space/time". The warping may be due to the ship's warp core itself, so I'm not too concerned about this not being played on an entire spaceline location, but there are other concerns. For example, if the ship is surrounded by the distortion, is the planet-side Away Team? If the answer is yes, what about opposing Away Teams at the exact same place? Or on a Nor, if that's where the Away Team is? Temporal mechanics give me headaches too... At least, the rulings specify that this creates an extension of your turn, and not a hiccup extra turn during your opponent's, which supports the above theory. In good conscience, can't go above a 3.6.
STOCKABILITY: In the old days, before FAQs and Current Rulings, we used to give our ships extra moves during our opponent's turn all the time (it's an Interrupt!!!), which was useful, but led to more and more debates on the timing rules. These days, the card is less useful, but where speed if often the issue, restoring your ship's RANGE or unstopping its Away Team can still prove beneficial. You could hedge out your opponent at a crucial moment. Some examples: Perhaps you want to get far on the spaceline, and don't want to stay at a vulnerable position while your opponent has their turn. Finish a mission now rather than later, etc. For those who like to play with Alien Parasites and the like, it can give you an extra move with your opponent's vessel, and twice as many chances for mischief. It unstops an Away Team that just failed Q while the Sheliak are bearing down. It unstops Away Team(s) that have invasively beamed aboard an opponent's ship and need to get back on theirs for their Ketracel White. It gives a ship that extra Range needed to get away from a looming armada. Or if you need to get in an extra attack this turn against your opponent you can play Distortion and put some good Tactics on their ship/facility. It can be used to shed Cytherians faster. It'll unstop you after a lone Rogue Borg Mercenary comes calling. There are a hundred reasons to stock this one. Saved more than one player on the tournament scene, I hear. A 4.8.
TOTAL: 13.9 (69.5%) Found its way into most of my decks, somehow. Can't be because of the lore.
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