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. This one didn't get a review in the original Rolodex, so here we go...
PICTURE: The Traveler fading in and out of reality (but feels mostly "out") in a pretty busy, not to say messy, engineering backdrop. It suffers from the dreaded TNG beige and I find it pretty ugly. Just 1.8 from me.
LORE: As the player's guide that came out after the Premier Set mentions, the coloned title suggests there would be other Traveler cards, perhaps creating a small family of cards that could then be referred to in bulk, There are Traveler PERSONNEL cards, but no more events written in this way. So a big meh on that score. The very basic lore isn't much more exciting. Hits that middle 3.
TREK SENSE: Back to the player's guide on this one... They note that the Traveler's zen outlook creates a positive effect, as if that explained anything. In reality, this is a very mechanical card, and therefore greatly abstracted from the concept used to represent it. Because it doesn't really mean the Traveler is aboard your ship because it affects your entire "side" (or if played on opponent, theirs). You may or may not have The Traveler as a crewmember to make this happen, and if you DO, the effect on an opponent then becomes particularly suspect. Thematically, the transcending of space and especially TIME makes the latter go by faster, as represented by resources coming into hand more quickly. Not that he had any such effect on the Enterprise. The ship did move faster, but it shouldn't be getting more resources that way, just ignoring Range when moving. So it's a good thing there's a second effect - nullifying Static Warp Bubble, just as he did in Remember Me. His native control of warped space makes him remove and prevent such a thing from happening, even if it was a little more involved than that on the show. Static War Bubble is also an abstract mechanical card, but one that hedges closer to the episode's events, so it helps the points along to a 1.2.
STOCKABILITY: A kind of bread and butter card from Premiere stocked in many speed decks. If your strategy uses lots of quick reporting to ships or stations, and fewer-than-normal, high-point mission solves (for example), you just want to get the required cards in your hand as quickly as possible, and then into play (so Red Alert is almost a requirement, watch out for those Yellow Alerts). The game doesn't have a whole lot of large hand nerfing (Static Warp Bubble is no use here), but one is built in: The game ends when any player's deck runs out of cards. That's the value of playing it on an opponent, to force them to empty their deck when you have more points than they do. Never mind the 100-point victory, just wait them out. Mirror Image will make it work for BOTH you and your opponent, if you want to run both strategies. It can also be used on combination with the Thought Fire dilemma. It might kill a number of personnel if Transcendence affects the player (but not as many as you think or hope). Regular opponents tired of your speed decks might also start seeding it against YOU. So you can see how it might be risky to yourself. Static Warp Bubble protection is a worthy effect, but you don't stock The Traveler for that reason, not when Kevin Uxbridge is more universal. (And note that having The Traveler in play would mean YOU couldn't attack your opponent with a Bubble.) This is a very powerful card that could easily be considered broken, but you could easily be hoisted on your own petard here. A 4.2.
TOTAL: 10.2 (51%) It's not all about game play.
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