Or: "It's the end of the game as we know it--and I feel ill"
On July 22nd (in Australia, July 21st for others), Wood Elf announced that he had pulled a U.S.S. Defiant from a box of DS9. Others backed up his story the next day. This card is reputedly white bordered with the "promo" expansion icon. Its text is as follows:
U.S.S. Defiant [Class not stated] 2 Command Stars Cloaking Device, Tractor Beam (cannot carry ships aboard except shuttlepods) NX-74205. Built to battle Borg. Recommssioned to oppose the Dominion. First ship to test ablative armour and quantum torpedoes. Captained by Benjamin Sisko. Range 8 Weapons 10 Shields 9
This is, to put it bluntly, one of the (if not the) most horrifying ships in the ST:CCG. Lets look at why:
No Retreat, No Surrender: This version of the U.S.S. Defiant is quite possibly the most terrifying combat ship in the game. For two command stars (easily available on the first turn with AMS) you get no less than 10 Weapons, and all the Range you need to use them. With the new three-way treaty and multiple Defiants in a deck, you can be assured of having a death-dealing monstrosity on the first turn. Let's see how that plays out:
Player 1: "Report Defiant. Use Ready Room Door to download Defiant Dedication Plaque. Move towards your outpost. Your turn."
Player 2: "Report I.K.C. Hegh'ta. My two mission specialists get aboard. They attempt...And are stopped by Lack Of Preparation. [Looks at Defiant] Oh, my Lord..."
Player 1: "Defiant moves to your outpost location and attacks. Hegh'ta is damaged. Your turn."
At this point, Player 2 has no realistic options. Almost any ships he plays will be vulnerable to the Defiant--and will, therefore, be battered mercilessly as soon as they leave the outpost (say, to attempt a mission). This means that Player 2 can:
A: Not leave the outpost. Since you can no longer attempt missions from the outpost, Player 2 cannot score points. Player 1 has all the time in the world to win.
B: Leave the outpost. The ship he leaves in will almost surely be attacked by a "Plaqued" Defiant. If he goes too far, the now-damaged ship will be unable to get home before it is destroyed. Even if the ship is not stopped by dilemmas (and you can have a lot more dilemmas now that missions don't count against your 30-card limit), Mission Debriefing will ensure that that ship doesn't get home. The odds of Player 2 getting enough points from these "suicide missions" to win before Player 1 does is slim, indeed.
C: Go after the Defiant. Please, tell the crew another one, they need to laugh after all this. Even with a Spacedoor and Ams, it will be difficult to build up a force capable of scoring a direct hit, which is what you will need to do. The four turns taken building up an armada of K'Vort-class ships for the purpose will be all Player 1 needs to win, if he has a tournament-caliber deck.
Let's See The Cardassians Process *This* : Of course, the U.S.S. Defiant only gets worse in a DS9-only setting. Without a Spacedoor/AMS combo to supply combat vessels, or the Borg who have Cubes, the U.S.S. Defiant simply has no competition.
"How Do I Compete With *This*? : DS9 was supposed to bring new players into the game. However, what will those new players see now? The scenario above. Is this the ST:CCG we want to show newbies? A game where you can't even leave your outpost/station/etc. for fear of destruction?
But, oh, look at that horrible limitation!
Well, This Just Balances It All Out, Doesn't It: The U.S.S. Defiant can't carry ships bigger than a shuttlepod. Put simply, this is meaningless. Since this Defiant is best used as a first-turn line-holding vessel, it simply doesn't need to be hauling shuttles about.
Final Analysis: Put simply, this may well be the best ship in the ST:CCG. It is extremely powerful, ridiculously easy to crew, and has no major limitations. The crew of the Spacedock can only hope that this Defiant is, in fact, a prank...
