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. Our final card from 11001001 is two-sided...
PICTURE: The first flip card was très très cool when it came out, and still is today. Simple in design, the only difference between the two sides of the card is the open or closed door, on the old (old? I meant "classic") mushroom-configuration station. The blue planet behind the facility adds to the composition (following the station's curves) and color palette (staying in the blues, but contrasting through its lightness). And those runway lights are kinda neat. Design alone pushes this card to a high score of 4.7.
LORE: N/A (score will be adjusted accordingly)
TREK SENSE: More than just a door, this card represents space, space to put your ships inside an outpost. That's why I think it was a good move to require we play the doorway in the seed phase (not that they had a choice without the normal card backing). You can't build an interior hangar on a whim during the game, so the outpost must have one already. When the door is open, Shields are lowered. Excellent, since there's a gaping hole in the outpost wall! And opening the door has three main functions. 1) You can overhaul a ship. It must be empty to get dismantled and sent back to your hand. I say dismantled, but since you can play the ship again, it simply gets extensive repairs, maybe a refit while in the hangar. The fact that overhauling a ship somehow nullifies Static Warp Bubble hurts Spacedoor a little because of that Event's dubious Trek Sense, but it at least implies that the Warp Bubble was aboard a ship (unlike the totally absurd "on table") - it goes away like any other card played on your ship. 2) You can download Spacedock here. What else is that hangar, if not an interior spacedock? Redundant? Not entirely. It means you can install equipment allowing you to work faster and on different classes of ships. 3) You can download (launch) a universal ship from here. Only universals, because the named ships have a backstory that has them launched already. The universals are just getting started. Then the door is closed (just a mechanical application, and maybe door controls should be at will, but it's a minor point) and the Shields get back to normal (no more hole). You can't close this doorway with another card since it's already closed. The mirroring of Red Alert is explainable (though a little strained) because outposts are often listening posts and information centers. If you know your opponent is on Red Alert, then something's brewing. The outpost that hears of it first goes on Red Alert too, trying to match and counter whatever the other side is planning to do. And this only lasts while the door is closed because opening it actually reduces Shields, which isn't a smart thing to do when a Red Alert is called. Re-opening the door is possible by discarding a card from hand. Cards in hand representing cards at your outpost not yet "activated" (at least the personnel, equipment and ships), one leaving (even for the discard pile... say, early retirement) would require you to open the doors. A lot of thought went into this one, as looking at each step reveals. An effort worth 4.4.
SEEDABILITY: Worth it if only for the ship-downloading ability. I've been in too many games where all the ships found themselves at the bottom of the draw deck and all you could do was maybe attempt the planet mission at your outpost. No longer. Spacedoor brings you closer to an early start by allowing you to download a ship on the first turn. Only universals, yes, but you'll note that's all the Bajorans and Dominion have, and the Borg aren't far from it. Cheap K'Vort armadas are also based on universal ships. It's not entirely compatible with Captain's Log decks (except for the Bajorans), but even those can use an early ship. Add missions requiring universal ships (like the universal Test Propulsion Systems), and you've got yourself a deck theme. The other functions are mostly counters to abusive cards, or flavoring. For example, downloading a Spacedock helps Trek Sense and makes that little-seen card a little more usable, but could be useful if you're using a lot of Non-Aligned ships that can't be repaired at an aligned outpost, or repair aligned ships at a Husnock outpost, admittedly the least affected by the -8 to SHIELDS (outside of Borgdom). Overhauling a ship could be used to recycle a ship if you have more than one location that reports ships (two outposts, a Nor, or through some other mechanic), or to get rid of dilemmas played on ships that just won't go away. It'll also nullify that annoying Static Warp Bubble affecting you. You can always report the ship next turn. Note that all this is in place of your card play, so it's not overpowered, but it is useful. Once done, your SHIELDS get back to normal (might be a reason to suddenly overhaul a ship when you see enemy ships bearing down), but you still get advantages. Namely, if your opponent is using Red Alert, you don't need to also play it to benefit from its effects. Your opponent might be quick to nullify your own Red Alert as soon as it hits the table, but are they ready to do the same to theirs? And that overhauled ship can suddenly be re-reported along with a ton of other cards in a single turn. You can reactivate your former abilities by discarding a card at the end of your turn (maybe that useless overhauled shuttle?). A lot of little perks, but its main gist is getting a ship when you need one. A cool 4.4.
TOTAL: 18 (90%) A strong showing for this double-card. (Only 45% per side? Outrageous!) ;-)
Comments