Cards that just seem lacking?

[lda_JoeButNotConfusor]

There are a lot of cards that my group always just pass up, and I'm wondering if they're legitimately bad, or there are more to them than what we see.

#1: Qol. +4 XP, once? For the price of a +3 XP commander? His stats aren't even big enough for you to want him around.

#2: Par Lenor. His ability is certainly unique, and I like it. But again, why not just have a +3 XP commander, so you can buy the card right away rather than putting it on hold? I don't think he's ever been picked up by anybody. You also only get him every 3-4 turns, so you have to get lucky that something good is out for you to lock.

#3: System Improvements. Great if you've gathered a lot of ensigns to trash. But by then you've probably already lost. You're not buying new cards just to throw them away, so its only useful mostly for starting hand cards, which you can trash anyway if you have a total bum hand early on. Seems like its only in there for the Borg.

#4: Natasha Yar. I don't think much needs to be said. Worf's ability is cir****tantial enough already. The only thing she has going for her is a lot of the best maneuvers are 5 cost, and you have 4 3 cost ones at the start. I think she'll get a special note in that it looks like awesome maneuvers like Engage are coming, and she might be paying off when she gets a new deck to play in.

#5: Sela. Sela isn't bad at all, but I don't think she's worth the cost. You get a weaker version of L. Troi's ability for 2 cost more, and only gain a couple attack for it.

#6: Romulans in general. Feds have all sorts of cool abilities. Klingons have great attack, and interestingly, awesome deck-manipulating abilities. Ferengi have really good stats for some reason, though their abilities are sometimes lacking. Romulans have... not much. A few manipulations of the top of your deck, but nothing terribly exciting.

#7: Geordi. I think I'll take Shields, use any leftover xp on a turn I don't have him, and be happy with it. I'm probably not drawing a War or a damaging event anyway.

[qurgh]

I love trying to use the cards in new ways and there are very few that I think are bad. Here is my take on the cards you mentioned. I've used everyone of these at some point:

1. I've used him. You get XP and you can trash him, great if you want to keep your deck small.

2. Great early in the game for blocking others from getting sensor scan or peak performance. Very useful in a big multiplayer game where good cards are searched away quickly.

3. Great against the Duras family and for shrinking your deck. I usually buy one every game at some point, so I can quickly reduce my deck down to 8 or 9 cards, trashing the crap I was forced to buy so I could stay in the game while searching for better stuff.

4. Again, very good in multiplayer or if you focus on maneuvers. Having both her and worf in a deck and your upgrading something every turn. When your done you can trash them.

5. Sela is great in combo with the Trois. You can destroy someone's hand with those 3. Add in Q and you can ruin everyone's hands in multiplayer. Sela is a favorite in my group, she's either bought or searched right away.

6. The roms are a little lacking, but they have some decent diplomacy and combo well with other stuff, like data, B Crusher.

7. I'd take Geordi over shields for the heal, but then I try and get rid of all my XP makers once I have the cards to put down 6 to 8 diplomacy a turn (I use system improvments to get rid of them all, then something like peak performance or Yar to upgrade system improvements).

[Sprenger]

Qol - He is a good card to pick up early game. It enables you to buy a Picard or 9 cost card much faster without having to load your deck with Commanders.

System improvements - is a must in borg mode. Without it you will fail 90% of the time.

[Saibrock]

Worf's ability is cir****tantial enough already.

I like how the censor made this statement a lot dirtier than you ever intended.

[Raoul]

The cards that strike me as most dubious are Shields, Impulse, Warp Speed and Evasive Manuevers. I've never really wanted to buy any of them, and I've rarely missed having any of them. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

[Jademona]

The cards that strike me as most dubious are Shields, Impulse, Warp Speed and Evasive Maneuvers. I've never really wanted to buy any of them, and I've rarely missed having any of them. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

The starter cards are supposed to be weak. Barring my ability to make a draw deck or a battle deck, I just buy maneuvers. You can win without 8 point characters in your deck if you have the right maneuvers and 5 point characters.

[Raoul]

I know the starting cards are weak, but there are definitely times where I have said, "Great, I'm glad I have this Phasers because it means I win this battle." or "I'm glad I have this Tricorder because I need to search out two things this turn or because it gives me enough Diplomacy to win this mission/acquire this ship."

I have not ever said "Thank goodness I have Evasive Maneuvers," or yet seen someone play it for value. And I don't anticipate doing so.

Mostly it gets pitched to Diagnostic Check, trashed or given to another player.

[qurgh]

I've been glad to have an evasive maneuvers in my hand before, especially if someone flips a war near the start of the game. The shields it gives have often saved me from being destroyed (or made me a less interesting target because I can avoid 2 damage) and has allowed me to win a number of battles (especially if I have phasers as well).

[ZedRyk]

When I first started playing, I noticed that a few of the cards were worthless and I avoided them like the plague, most notably, Systems Improvements. Since I've been playing more often, I've come into a few different playing strategies, where EVERY card can be useful, as long as they're played properly and sometimes in conjunction with other cards. To me, it just depends on how you're playing for that round.

[TribbleStew]

System Improvements is a double edged sword. Obviously its worth its weight in gold against the borg.
And during an explore game, it CAN be the same.

With this card, the difference between a noob and a pro is knowing if your deck needs scaling down.
If you dont need it... then IT IS worthless for you.

Also, one danger in this card is this: So many times ive NEEDED it, bought it, then... the only time i draw it is after a shuffle! (no cards in my discard pile to trash!) FAIL! Now i have a dead, worthless card in my hand.

However, the feeling of having only premium cards in a 8 card deck is well worth the times that ive failed with this card. It is a much safer strategy to avoid this card and simply upgrade lame cards to mighty ones. But if you cant get your hands on any upgrading cards (and that happens), then we can be thankful of System improvements.