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. And our final card from "The Dauphin"...
PICTURE: Some blur occasioned by movement (the background lines agree with it, so it looks fine), but regardless, the image does its job. It's fearsome, and not as hokey as the same scene in the episode. A B-movie 3.4.
LORE: Workman-like. I've never thought much of the title, so its reappearance in the lore leaves me equally cold. The rest is very specific to the episode and doesn't really help with other situations. A 3 should do.
TREK SENSE: The card basically represents a "form" a shape-shifter might take. It's a combat form, whether Anya's monster or Laas's sword-arm, and adds +6 to the shifter's Strength. Any infiltrator who takes such a form is naturally exposed ("Hey, was Kira always this hairy?"). For some reason the shifter cannot keep this form for long, perhaps because of the energy expended, or maybe because it just isn't practical outside of combat. It's got a countdown. Of course, if you morph into another form, this one goes away. My main question with this interrupt isn't about the speed of the morph (suspends play), which shows it to be reactive just like in the show. No, it's about the suitability of this form for shifters other than allasomorphs. We've seen such a chameloid form, so it's fine for Martia. Changelings are another matter, though I've shown that Laas might count, but he's not really part of the "culture". Odo's also outside, but I can only really call the Berserk Changeling a "Guardian", and he wasn't in control then. Would Founders actually use this tactic? What makes me say "yes" (as in, "there are always extenuating circumstances") is the tentacle form on Strike Three, though that form has a card already. So I'd have to call the interrupt enough of a success for a 3.9.
STOCKABILITY: Not a bad shape-shift card, it gives your shifter an excellent STRENGTH boost for 2 turns, with which to fight personnel battles, encounter dilemmas or solve missions. Shifters already have pretty good STRENGTH scores, so the extra +6 should put them in a position to at least stun their adversary, possibly mortally wound them. Throw in Strike Three to stun 3 personnel at the start of the battle to make sure you win the overall battle. Better yet, spring a surprise on your opponent by turning an innocuous Tricorder into a shifter with In the Bag, then Strike Three, then play The Guardian. It's fun to use many shape-shifting cards, isn't it? But watch out, they're not downloadable by applicable personnel, so it's rarely all that simple. The Guardian is the equivalent of 2 Disruptor Rifles that only work on a single personnel and only for 2 turns. When I put it that way, it doesn't look so good for anything but surprising your opponent, or turning infiltrators into killing machines. That last one's not bad. Oh, and Odo can't use hand weapons, so he'll need something like this. A 3.5.
TOTAL: 13.8 (69%) A guarded opinion.
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