In this guide, I'll explain some basic and general deck-building principles
to construct a standard speed deck.  I'll take this opportunity to provide
a disclaimer: decks created with this step-by-step plan will be good decks
that will win a good portion of its games, but probably will not win a
tournament for you.  To win a tournament (at least here in Bolarus IX),
a deck has to be unorthodox.  I'll also take this moment to expound upon a
personal belief of mine against just copying another deck posted anywhere
card-for-card.  While the deck may be powerful, odds are you don't know every
single nuance, backup, or purpose in the deck, so therefore you can't perform
as well with it (generally).  I have nothing against copying deck ARCHETYPES,
as long as you remember that they're just that -- basic ideas.  Also, I will
restrict my discussion to non-Borg decks, as they play so differently that
that should remain for another review.

Also note that the pronoun "he" references a player of either gender when
referring to your opponent.  Using "s/he" is awkward and space-consuming,
and this document is big enough already.  I meant no offense to either gender
by doing so; it is merely in the interest of conserving space and maintaining
sentence flow.  Any protests can be taken to the language-regulating officials.

Anyway, I've rambled enough, so on to step one.
 

STEP ONE: Choose a deck idea

This may seem obvious and trivial, but this is the key portion of constructing
decks.  Your deck idea needs to consider many possibilities and facets of the
game, but these are ones you should always think about:  Will the mission
selection enable you to use the fewest personnel possible?  Is it fast enough
to compete with most other decks?  Is it able to account for some of your
opponents' strategies?  What happens if I play a similar deck? and so on.
Some popular deck themes currently are Romulan Treachery/Archaeology, Patrol
Neutral Zone, Klingon Diphole, and Federation or Klingon Two-Mission.  Some
more unorthodox (or, to some, "cheap" and "degenerate") ideas are Vacation,
Visit Cochrane Memorial, Black Hole, Colony, Holo-, and most prominently,
Thought Fire/Brain Drain decks.  Any of these can, if developed properly,
work very well, but this article will focus mainly on more mainstream decks,
due to their ease in explaining and the large amount of commonality between
them.
 

STEP TWO: Choose missions

Almost always do this first -- before personnel, before anything except
thinking of an idea.  An ideal mission selection consists of as few skills
as possible.  Realistically, you should shoot for 5 skills or under (six at
the very most).  Of course, you can cut this number down by only selecting
"key" missions and using the rest as bluffs, but there is a large element of
risk in this strategy due to fewer number of missions you plan to complete.
As for the number of planet or space missions chosen, almost any combination
except 5/1 (or 1/5) will work.  Balancing Act is rarely seen (even at a
Regional I played a 6-planet deck and never encountered an Act), but your
local play environment may impact your decisions.  Just remember that in the
twelve decks played in the World Championships 1998 Semi-Final Round, not a
single Balancing Act was to be found.  3/3 is a good mix to disguise which
your main focus is on (when playing 4/2s, usually whichever you have 4 of are
your key missions), and 6/0 can really cut down on dilemma-ing, but 5/1 IMHO
just stinks.  You're already vulnerable to Balancing Act (and I see I Tried
To Warn You even less than Balancing Act) and do not necessarily enjoy the
same protection as 6/0.  OK, how about some concrete examples?  A good
selection would be Covert Installation, Strategic Diversion, Expose Covert
Supply, Sarthong Plunder, Plunder Site, and Iconia Investigation (the mission
selection of many of my decks).  The only skills required are Treachery,
Archaeology, Computer Skill, Leadership (which almost doesn't count due to
the number of strong personnel with it) and ENGINEER (ditto).  Also, it is
six-planet, usually negating about 10-20% of your opponent's dilemmas.  An
example of a poor mission selection is Investigate "Shattered Space,"
Investigate Anomaly, Pegasus Search, Quash Conspiracy, Paxan "Wormhole,"
and Investigate Incursion.  While this is six-space (removing about 15-25%
of dilemmas), the skill overlap is virtually nonexistent.  Leadership
is used three times, but that's about it.  I can guarantee you that you will
have a lot of trouble getting the personnel you need onto the table anywhere
near as quickly as a deck with the first mission selection.  Other ways
of making tighter mission selections is by the usage of objectives such as
Subjugate Planet, which will be explained in detail below.  Another factor
to consider is the point values of the missions.  Typically, a deck needs
three missions to win, but two-mission decks are often much more powerful,
due to a 33% reduction in the number of dilemmas faced.  Obviously, there is
more risk in two-mission decks, and, if stolen, the penalties are much
greater, but they have proven themselves to be effective (just look at the
'97 World Championships) if constructed skillfully, and in contemporary
STCCG, it is often quite possible to disguise your two-mission goal due to
point-enhancers such as AMS and Barclay's Protomorphosis Disease.  One last,
final point that often gets glazed over is the span on your missions.  To
some degree or another, this should dictate the ships used.  With lots of 4s
and 5s, a 9-range ship will benefit you tremendously while slowing your
opponent down significantly.  However, with more 3s, a slightly slower but
more powerful ship may do you better.  Decide how you want to (remember, this
guide provides recommendations and nothing more) but it may be worth your
while to consider this.
 

STEP THREE:  Fill out the rest of your seed deck.

3A: FACILITIES.

 Often the simplest choice, but also an important one.
Generally, one outpost will suffice, but two will provide backup (as well as
providing large amounts of frustration to a Black Hole deck) in case the
original is destroyed or, in the case of Treaty decks, the Treaty is
destroyed.  The Husnock outpost is more specialized and I generally bypass
it for one of the affiliated ones, but don't think it's a bad card.  It just
isn't as general-purpose as the traditional ones.  Nors have great
benefits, but also carry great risks.  Also, to be effective (i.e., to have
any benefits over an outpost) you must devote a significant portion of your
deck to Nor defense... and every now and then an Anti-Nor deck pops up.
Headquarters do nicely if your other missions happen to have SECURITY and
Leadership requirements (think HQ: Secure Homeworld), but also carry a
significant risk.  An astute Borg player will head right for it with a
pre-assimilated EFC counterpart, possibly depriving you of many of your
personnel if Assimilate Homeworld is completed early.  A Borg player will
also derive even more benefits if Earth is assimilated, due to the local
popularity of Population 9 Billion -- All Borg.  Also, in many decks, a
Headquarters will have little advantage over a standard outpost.  For
example, if my Romulan deck has very few personnel that can benefit from
Office of the Proconsul, I'd probably just go with a standard Rommie outpost,
garnering an extra mission (or seed slot, because HQ:SM is no longer needed.)
 

3B: DOORWAYS.

Here some decisions have to be made.  Typically, I include
four doorways: Q's Tent, a Spacedoor, and two Space-Time Portals.  I'll do
a brief rundown of the various seedable doorways:  AU Door - I almost always
bypass it for a Space-Time Portal with its additional uses, but some decks
(TF/BD, for example) need to play multiple [AU] icon cards per turn.
Q's Tent - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use (well, OK, there are a few good decks w/o
one, but in general this is a necessity), Q-Flash - I'd say skip it, and come
back to it after dilemmas if you have plenty of room, Space-Time Portal -
another ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use card, even in multiple.  Most good decks
have at least one, I try to put in two, and I've even seen successful decks
with three or four.  They (just like Goddess of Empathy) are extremely
versatile defense cards.  Spacedoor - I just use it so as to reduce the number
of ships needed in my deck to replace them or just leave them out entirely.

3C: OBJECTIVES.

The number of seedable objectives available to a non-Borg
player is still quite significant.  I'll do a brief run-down of them; in
most of my decks I usually only include an Assign Mission Specialists, or
maybe a HQ: Secure Homeworld if I'm using a Headquarters.  Anyway, here's
the listing:

Assign Mission Specialists - If playing a typical deck, yet another ALWAYS
ALWAYS ALWAYS use card.  Any two-for-one deal is always good.  It's even
better if you can pick the two AND get them out without using a single card
play.  If you seed it and your opponent doesn't, you've basically got a
two-turn advantage over him/her.  (Can we say Black Lotus?)  Which specialists
should you download?  Now's the time to pick them.  I typically go for the
two most numerous requirements on my missions, which means I score bonus
points (which never hurt) on most of my missions, in addition to needing to
devote fewer personnel to skills.  Another option is to download two
personnel with obscure skills needed to pass dilemmas, or to gain two needed
classifications.  I prefer to go with mission skills, because I can use the extra
slots for personnel to solve dilemmas, which may or may not show up, while my
missions *always* will be there.

Visit Cochrane Memorial - Here, the choice is simple.  If playing a VCM deck,
obviously, use it.  However, VCM draw decks follow different guidelines than
traditional decks, so while the seed deck discussion may be valid, the
draw deck discussion will probably not be.  If not going for a VCM deck,
you may want to still consider it if a large portion of your deck consists of
successful probes.  Todd Soper and Ken Tufts used it (in the Remodulation
deck of Worlds 98 fame) although no equipment existed in the deck, as  it
enabled them to quickly cycle through their entire deck in a matter of
turns.  If you do use it, though, remember to keep the ratio of successful
probes as high as possible, and make sure you can get an early ENGINEER.

Open Diplomatic Relations - Treaty decks rock. Combining the best personnel
of two affiliations... Crusher meets Kitrik, Telek R'Mor meets Spock, Dukat
meets Sisko... contains enormous advantages.  You also double the mission
selection available, making tighter decks possible.  What's the downside?
The necessity of the Treaty itself.  While ODR does allow one to be seeded,
it will cost two seed slots (one for ODR and one for the treaty), and a
Devil and Palor Toff will ruin your day.  So, if your theme could be greatly
strengthened by a treaty, go for it (especially if the treaty does not need
ODR to be seeded, such as the Fed/Baj and Rom/Car ones.)  However, most of
my decks would derive a benefit small enough that it would not justify two
seed slots to combine them.

Beware of Q - Hmmm.  Hmmm.  You can either gain access to many of the
powerful Q-dilemmas (such as Fightin' Words) -- a good thing, or be able to
replace your dilemma that your opponent overcame with a Q-Flash -- also a
good thing.  What's the catch?  You've got to devote quite a bit of your deck to it.
You'll need multiple Q-Flashes in your deck to feed its second function, or
need multiple Q-Dilemmas in your seed deck to justify its usage.  I usually
put it in the tentative deck plan, but it often gets bumped in favor of an
additional dilemma or hidden agenda.

Explore Gamma Quadrant - Forget it.  Its main use is to make up for AMS points
that the Bajorans and Cardassians lack.  To get any benefit, you've got to
go all the way out to the GQ and back... and for five points.  Sure, you get
some card draws, but usually, by the time I have solved a mission, I already
have most of the cards I need, so it would not be as vital as, say, a Kivas
in my opening hand.  Again, if it fits your theme and you've got the room, go
for it, but I have never used this card or seen it used.

File Mission Report - Ditto.  Basically, it's a one-shot AMS that works for
any personnel.  However, that personnel needs to be at a Nor, and I've got
better uses for that one seed slot.  Like a point dilemma under my mission
so I score even more points without even having to solve the mission or be
at a site.  Moreover, the point dilemma will also discourage stealing, AND
I can use multiple (different) dilemmas per mission location.  So, while
FMR does have some slight benefits over using point dilemmas, they're never
applicable enough in my decks to justify using it.

HQ: Defensive Measures, Operate Wormhole Relays - This pair of magic bullets
will probably be more of a metagame decision than anything else.  If you're
worried about mission stealers, I'd go for Fair Play unless you need
protection for high-point or universal missions.  I don't generally use the
specific magic bullets for Interrupt-based strategies, because a Goddess of
Empathy backed up with a few Q2s will do wonders to shut down cheese.

HQ: Secure Homeworld, Subjugate Planet - These two can, if used in
multiple, really tighten a deck.  My multiple-HQ:SM/Treaty deck was able to
solve three missions using the exact same requirements; in essence, they
become universal missions with higher point values (generally, universal
missions have lower point values because once you do one, you can do
another).  Subjugate Planet allows a Dominion deck to stay in the GQ, and
even do well with Colonies. (Colony Preps, anyone?)  If I'm using a
Headquarters, I usually include these cards with them, because I'm already
using my homeworld.  Just remember that using them now incurs a significant
risk.

Navigate Plasma Storms - See VCM; just replace "VCM deck" with "Badlands deck"
and you've got pretty much the same story.

Plans of the Tal Shiar, Plans of the Obsidian Order - Plans decks have always
seemed boring to me, but they can be very effective.  Just beware of Fair
Play and HQ:DM!  If you do use them, a Nor would justify itself as you could
use the Ops downloads to quickly get the needed personnel.  As always,
Reflection Therapy is your best friend in a stealer.  Again, stealers are
too unorthodox to be covered in depth here, so if you're trying to construct
one, this is not the place to look.

Engage Cloak - Ouch!  Try this: Use AMS to get two Klingon leaders out.
Turn 1: Turn over Spacedoor (or report a K'vort-class ship); put a leader
on it, and move it to Engage Cloak.  Turn 2: Repeat.  You now have at least
12 weapons worth ready to spring at a moment's notice.  Each turn your
opponent waits is 8 RANGE less that the safe zone will be comprised of.
Support this strategy with some Computer Crash and Energy Vortex to delay
reporting of ships, and you can start wreaking some havoc whenever your
opponent ends his turn with a ship far from the outpost.  In a battle deck,
this works wonders.  However, I would seriously question its place in a
speed deck, as solving missions quickly generally does not involve cloaking
and waiting for your opponent.

Establish Dominion Foothold - If a Dominion player, this is almost a staple
card if you're planning an Alpha Quadrant invasion.  FIVE equipment?
Two Ketracel-White and three Disruptor Rifles could spell doom.  On top of
this, you also get an outpost and ten points...  Construct Depot x3 +
Establish Dominion Foothold = 100 points without fear of mission stealers,
plus a good battle backup.

Issue Secret Orders - If you are planning an infiltration strategy, this is
a significant booster - make your opponent run into all of your nasty dilemma
combos, especially the ones he's not prepared for. :-)  Then again, I don't
see many infiltration decks, so it's just binder fodder for me.  (Then again,
while writing this, I've found some good uses for infiltration, so I might
reconsider my judgment...)

3D: EVENTS and OTHER SEEDABLE CARDS.

Ah, Hidden Agendas... the mystery cards, the ultimate plot twists... will
that be a Crash I'm turning over or an Engage Cloak?  All Objective HAs have
already been covered, so I'll limit this discussion to those of events.

Mirror Image - A metagame card, although Kivas and RA are still prominent
enough to warrant its inclusion in almost any deck.

Mission Debriefing - If playing an attack deck, this can buy you crucial turns,
although in many decks it will only hurt you.  (Although it will [somewhat] balance
Pulaski's restriction...)

The Line Must Be Drawn Here - Yet another decision based on
metagaming and the importance of your events and interrupts.  If they're vitally
needed, TLMBDH can be your savior. If not, it's just a burden.

Computer Crash - The bane of many a Borg opponent, this card is definitely worth
including if you have the room.  It's high up on my list, right next to Mirror Image, for
inclusion in my decks. It's almost never useless, and the odds of my opponent
getting a 10 and 01 out is almost nil, because putting it in the Tent would
be worthless.  AGAINST Borg, however, this card is useless, due to the
prevalence of the Complink Drone, used if just for speeding up Cube decks.

Treaty: Romulan/Cardassian - This treaty is purely evil.  Picture this: Your
opponent is about to attempt one of your missions when he sees you smiling
and tapping a hidden agenda.  What does he think?  He could think you're
trying to goad him into doing the mission, only to reveal Fair Play.  He
could think you're trying to goad him into NOT attempting it, trying your
hardest to fabricate a Fair Play.  Either way, he's got some heavy thinking
to do... and imagine his surprise when he decides not to go for it, and you
swoop in to the lightly-seeded mission... and then reveal the Treaty.
Seriously, the two affiliations do work well together, and the seedability of
the Treaty means it's always worth considering.

Fair Play - I rarely (if ever) use it because of the BAS (Balancing Act Syndrome).
The threat of it is enough to discourage its use; and I rely on other players using it
to ward off mission stealers.  But if mission stealers are prominent in your area,
this can be worth your while to include.

Invasive Beam-In - For me I need to seed it, because the distribution in my
Dominion box was abnormal (12 Eris, ONE Invasive Beam-In, and ONE
Young Jem'Hadar in the whole box.)  Seeding it also means
that you can free up a deck slot -- always a good thing.  And, as with all
HAs, it carries that mystique about it... is that a Treaty or a Crash?
Unfortunately, battle decks are not covered here (maybe later?), and so
cards like Invasive Beam-In usually just end up using space.

Sisko 197 Subroutine - Garbage.  Any deck that's serious about commandeering
your Nor (those you really have to prepare for) have multiple Computer Skill in
their decks anyway, to try to commandeer it first-turn.  It may slow your
opponent down for a few turns, time for you to initiate a counter-attack,
but it rarely prevents him from stealing your Nor.

As for non-Event miscellaneous cards, that currently includes personnel
and ships.  I almost never seed personnel cards, as I'd prefer to use the
slots for dilemmas or hidden agendas.  Really: is the seeded Jabara really
more beneficial than another Computer Crash or Dead End?  Seeding the Husnock
Ship I can see; if using a Husnock outpost, I often use it in lieu of a
Spacedoor, so I never question a seeded Husnock -- unless, of course, that
player uses tons of high-span missions, which will severely penalize the
sluggish Husnock while your opponent zips around in his 13-RANGE Pasteur.

3E: ARTIFACTS and DILEMMAS

In my modern decks I rarely use artifacts, substituting them with dilemmas.
However, several artifacts definitely do warrant inclusion in many decks.
Most pointedly are the Betazoid Gift Box and Horga'hn; if you can get either
of these before your opponent can, you've basically won the game.  Thought
Maker isn't bad either, unless you can't get it out early.  Interphase
Generator would be worthwhile if (a) you are playing with Pegasus Search or
(b) enough people in your area use Pegasus Search soas to make it worthwhile
if combined with its dilemma-busting ability.  All the dilemmas that the
Generator overcomes can be overcome with normal personnel and a Genetronic
Replicator, however -- personnel that also contribute attributes,
classifications, and skills and an event that's more general-purpose.  If
playing a deck that uses a lot of probing, Orb of Prophecy and Change may
be worth considering.  The other artifacts each have nifty and interesting
uses, but rarely are worth taking up a valuable seed slot.

Now, on to dilemmas, the last but most important phase.  I placed this step
last because the number of dilemmas you include is probably related to the
number of other seed cards you want to use.  I almost always try to have
18 slots for dilemmas, meaning three-card combos per mission.  Usually I
strive for around twenty, which is a good balance between dilemmas and other
cards for me.  When I make dilemmas, I try to make two planet combos, two
space combos, and two combos that will work at either planet or space.  The
key point here is to BE FLEXIBLE.  What if your opponent sneaks a 6-planet or
6-space?  OK, if you want to, include a Balancing Act.  But you'll still need
to be prepared to do so rearranging of your combos.  You may also need to
rearrange them after seeing your opponent's mission selection -- if you use
Shaka to accumulate personnel for filters and killers and your opponent is
playing mostly Diplomacy missions, for example, you may want to do some
reorganization.  An easy way to increase flexibility is to use more Space/
Planet dilemmas.  If you can make viable dilemma combos that use less than
one half of the combo for mission-specific dilemmas, that's definitely a
good sign.  What are some combos that I use?

Planet Combos:
Hologram Ruse + The Sheliak + Chula: The Chandra + Q
Edo Probe + Blended + Shaka, When the Walls Fell

Space Combos:
Make Us Go + Birth of "Junior" + Cytherians
Make Us Go + Theta-Radiation Poisoning + Cytherians
Maglock + Borg Ship + Cytherians (although this uses three space-only
dilemmas, it's usually worth it in terms of risk)
Vole Infestation + Rhetorical Question (with Beware of Q seeded) + Cytherians

Either Combos:
Hippocratic Oath or Unscientific Method + Common Thief + Yuta + Barclay's
Protomorphosis Disease
Hippocratic Oath + Fightin' Words (with Beware of Q) + Framed for Murder +
Shaka, When the Walls Fell

Remember, these are only recommendations, and need to be metagamed to your
area and personal playing style.

Another factor to be considered is, if all possible, minimized duplication.
This is mainly to protect yourself from the wrath of an Adapt-heavy Borg
player.

Whew!  We're finally done with the seed deck!
 

STEP FOUR: Selecting personnel

The variety of personnel needed in modern ST:CCG to overcome dilemmas is
mind-boggling.  Every attempt should be made, however, to focus your
personnel, using a maximum of 10-15 in the draw deck.  That should be plenty,
because with decks like the kind this article discusses, smaller is almost
always better.  I'll say that again:  smaller is almost always better.  If
you can get your deck down to 30-32 cards, that's ideal.  Most of my decks
usually are in the range of 30-35 cards, and it's done me well in tournaments.
The reason for this lies in statistics, but I'll discuss that more in step 5.

What are some general guidelines for your personnel?  If possible, try to
use three personnel with a skill that's on one of your missions, with an
additional personnel for every two more times it's listed.  For example, if
your missions have a total amount of 7 Diplomacy, Empathy, and 2 Leadership,
a good number to shoot for is 6 (3 + 6 / 2) Diplomacy, 3 (3 + 0 / 2) Empathy,
and 3-4 (3 + 1 / 2) Leadership.  These will only be approximate figures, but
work well as guidelines.  Here's where the advantage of a tight mission
selection comes into play -- what's easier to try to do?  8 Diplomacy, 4
Leadership and 6 Honor or 3 Stellar Cartography, 4 Astrophysics, 3 Empathy,
3 Leadership, 4 Anthropology and 3 Geology?  Obviously, the former, because
(a) combinations of those three skills are quite frequent and (b) out of
a randomly selected group of five personnel in a deck, the first group would
have a much higher probability of being able to solve a mission.

Other skills needed:  3 each of ENGINEER, MEDICAL, SCIENCE, and SECURITY,
plus one or two OFFICERS (more with STRENGTH > 5 if playing with space.)
If you're using space missions, you'll want a higher concentration of
ENGINEERs as well.  You'll also want 2 Diplomacy for Shaka, 1-2 Empathy for
numerous dilemmas, 2 Leadership for Q and some Dominion dilemmas, a SECURITY
or OFFICER android or Genetronic Replicator (in events) for Shot in the Back,
somebody with Law or a way to get Biology + CUNNING > 9 for Framed for Murder,
and multiple Exobiology (and Geology if playing planets.), plus more
depending on your local metagame!  Whew!  That's a lot to build for, but with
a tight mission selection, it shouldn't be impossible to do with about 13 or 14 personnel.
 

STEP FIVE: Selecting the rest of your draw deck

5A: SHIPS.

In decks such as the ones described in this article, speed is
probably the most important factor.  Generally staffing is not a problem;
however, it is never a bad idea to include one or two ships with few or no
staffing requirements, to act as a shuttle or backup if the main ship is
destroyed.  For the Federation, good ships would include the U.S.S.
Enterprise, Galaxy, Odyssey, and Pasteur for the main ship with the
Yangtzee Kiang or Flaxian Scout Vessel for a backup.  For Klingon mission
solvers, I'd recommend the Qu'Vat, Bortas, or perhaps the Chang/Fek'lhr combo.
For backup ships, there is no dearth for Klingons - the Hegh'ta and Rotarran
are both excellent ships for their staffing.  For Romulans, the choice is
also clear -- the Terix or (if your deck has plenty of Tal Shiar) the
D'deridex Advanced.  The Devoras and Khazara are also decent mission-solving
ships; the Pi and T'Pau are so-so backup ships.  For Bajoran mission decks,
the Assault Vessel is the only real choice (unless you need a freighter for
a mission), and the Bajoran Scout Vessel is the only real backup choice.
However, if playing a Bajor- (or other) Region deck, the Interceptor begins
to shine -- however, cards like Cytherians or Wormholes will give you fits
as you are forced to move back to the region with a pitifully slow 5 range.
As for Cardassians, I'd recommend a non-aligned ship -- the Xepolite Freighter.
It can report for free to Docking Ports. It's a freighter. It's the only
Cardie ship with 9 range.  AND it only requires two personnel two staff it.
It's perfect for mission-solving decks, especially those supplemented with a
Nor (never a bad idea.)  Ignore the Cardassian shuttle and go right for the
Flaxian Scout Vessel for your small ships -- yes, both ships could quite
possibly be non-aligned.  However, this ignores one key point -- Spacedoor.
Spacedoor was IMHO one of the best cards Decipher ever made.  It eliminated
part of the game's luck factor, making skill more important.  It is balanced
(you use up your card play, and must discard a card to re-use it, plus you
are restricted to ships that are generally weaker)  It promotes the usage
of underused cards.  Because it features prominently in my decks, I usually
put the big mission solver (unique) in the draw deck, with two universal
ships in the Tent.  One will be the universal version of the mission solver's
class (e.g., U.S.S. Galaxy instead of the Enterprise), and the other will be
a universal minimal staffing ship.  For the Feds, that spells Runabout.
For any affiliation, the Flaxian Scout is also a very serious consideration,
except maybe when playing Romulan (who have a 9-range no-staffing universal
ship)  I have developed a program (MS-DOS/Windows 3.x/ Windows 9x only --
sorry, Mac users) that will list the ships in order of a preference you
select.  Each ship attribute is rated from 0-10, you select the importance of
each one, and then all ships are listed in order of total "score," or a
value calculated from the importance you place on each attribute.  Note
however that staffing requirements are not taken into consideration, nor are
special abilities, because they are (a) subjective and (b) their value widely
varies from deck to deck (e.g., the 3 [AU] on the Future Enterprise will be
tough for most decks, but a Space-Time Portal deck will have no problem).
If you are interested, just email me. ([email protected])  It's freeware -
you have no obligation to pay me in any way. It's not very sophisticated,
but it works.

5B: EQUIPMENT.

Up until DS9, almost no equipment was included at all in
non-VCM decks.  Maybe a Starfleet Type II or Medical Tricorder to be
downloaded, but that was about it.  In contemporary ST:CCG, however, at least
1-2 equipment is mandatory in almost every deck.  Why?  Here are just a few
reasons: Common Thief:  A major OUCH unless you have equipment to get rid of.
Even with Caught Red-Handed, it's a powerful dilemma.  Founder Secret: It'll
just make this wall dilemma a bit easier to pass, whether a tricorder or hand
weapon to boost strength.  Berserk Changeling: 3 SECURITY is possible for
some decks, but for many decks two hand weapons is the better choice.  Vole
Infestation: Again, a hand weapon is your only likely defense against this
card which combo-s viciously with many other dilemmas.  The Dominion itself--
they need the White for Jem'Hadar, and non-Dominion player may want hand
weapons in case of Dominion attack.  So with all the choices to choose from,
what to pick?  If playing with personnel who can download equipment, those
equipment cards are definitely higher priority (yet must still be evaluated.)
Kits and PADDs can enhance classification personnel;  I prefer the Medical
Tricorder because (a) Beverly Crusher (FC) can download it. and (b) it counts
as a tricorder for Founder Secret.  However, depending on your personnel mix,
Medical Kit, Science Kit, and Science PADD may be more important.  Look at
your personnel:  If you already have 3 or 4 of every important classification
that can be equipment-added (ENGINEER, MEDICAL, and SCIENCE), I'd go with
a hand weapon or two (phaser rifles if available.)  If not, I'd put in either
one skill-enhancing equipment or a hand weapon.  Plasmadyne Relays aren't
bad either, and can be added in later if room is available.  If playing
Dominion, I generally go with seeding two Ketracel-White and one Jem'Hadar
Birthing Chamber at the outpost, and keeping about two-three extra White in
the deck.  Use plenty of Vorta and Remote Supply Depots (with Establish
Dominion Foothold) to conserve your white, using only what you need.

5C: EVENTS.

With such a broad selection of events to choose from, the list
must in some way be narrowed down.  Here are a few goals of event cards in
my speed decks:  (1) It increases my speed.  Never a bad thing.  (2) It slows
down my opponent.  Not as important in speed decks, but shouldn't be forgotten.
(3) Magic bullets to cheese strategies.  While other functions are definitely
available, in speed decks those are the primary three.  In general, I put
cards of categories (1) and (2) in my draw deck, with those of (3) in my
Tent.  What are some examples?  Kivas Fajo - Collector, The Traveler:
Transcendence, and Red Alert! are all excellent examples of principle (1).
For (2), Static Warp Bubble, Dixon Hill's Business Card (event function),
Klim Dokachin, and Yellow Alert are excellent examples.  For (3), I
generally use just one card (but in multiple) -- Goddess of Empathy.  I can't
stress how much the Goddess, backed up with Q2s, can do.  Here's just a
brief list of what it can protect you against: Energy Vortex ship deprivation
decks, players who love to Scan, Incoming Messages, Q-bypass decks (they
can't nullify your Q2s with Amandas), Rogue Borg, Temporal Rift, Subspace
Schism, The Devil, Wormhole, Thought Fire/Brain Drain, Thine Own Self
(although with the new ruling, less popular), Wrong Door, Adapts, Scorched
Hand, Remodulation, and Strike Three.  While obviously it would be impractical
to include enough Goddesses to completely lock out Interrupts, two or three
in the deck with one being in the Tent is generally sufficient to get them
out at crucial times -- such as when you are attempting missions.  The sheer
blocking power of the Goddess never ceases to amaze me, and, like Kevin and
Amanda, only grows more useful with each expansion.  Note that not only
cheese is stopped: ALL of your opponent's interrupts are basically locked out.
(Hopefully, you planned ahead and knew that you didn't need to play any in
the next two turns).  I also put a few other strategy-blockers in my Tent --
an Anti-Time Anomaly in case all else fails and all my personnel are in
trouble -- it wipes the board and gives me a chance to use Regenerate.
Regenerate is another card that is an ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use card.  I've
always advocated that its first letter should be changed to a 'D!'  It's
really, really broken.  Two or three Regenerates with loads of Kivas mean
you can cycle through your deck endlessly.  Including your counters.  And
any dead personnel.  I've often frustrated my opponent when, after all of my
personnel had been killed after a vicious dilemma combo, Regenerate - Kivas -
Kivas, and in four turns, they're all back.  (My Red Alert! was already in
play.)  Plus, when your draw deck gets really small, the recursion opportunities
are in themselves broken.  You can endlessly recycle cards such as Temporal
Rift -- meaning one ship is out of the game until your opponent can get his
hands on a counter.

5D: INTERRUPTS.

While the possibilities of interrupts are truly endless due
to their sheer numbers, unfortunately most are impractical for these decks,
whose aim is pure efficiency.  To me, that means restriction to Kevin
Uxbridge, Q2, and Palor Toff - Alien Trader, with Amanda Rogers, Wrong Door,
and scans close contenders.  Generally, I use 2-3 Kevin, 3 Q2, 3 Palor, 1
Amanda, and 2 scans; occasionally Wrong Door.  Others to possibly use are
Distortion of Space/Time Continuum and Transwarp Conduit as they increase
speed, but generally I find that I do not have enough room for them.

5E: DOORWAYS.

What to include?  Alternate Universe Door -- unless you're
paranoid about both Computer Crash and Temporal Rifts, I'd say stuff it in
your Tent instead.  Devidian Door -- useful albeit risky card.  It's one of
those borderline cards to me -- if I have an extra slot or two I'll use it
but it's generally not one of my first choices.  Manheim's Dimensional Door --
back when decks were much more similar, this could make sense, but you'd have
a hard time justifying it to me today.  Q's Tent -- ahhh... THE doorway to
use.  I usually include 3-5 Q's Tents in my draw deck, to ensure frequent
access.  Q-Flash -- unless playing a heavy Beware of Q strategy, I wouldn't
put this in the draw deck.  Launch Portal -- Nope.  It *might* protect you
from an attack, but IMHO you should be out-speeding them or playing Hugh if
from a Borg Ship.  Ready Room Door -- if you play with several Captain's
Order cards or several ship/matching commander pairs, this can drastically
increase your speed and therefore warrants inclusion.  In many decks, however,
it won't.  Temporal Vortex -- Put it in your Tent.  You can almost always
get access to it, and it's another line of defense against the still-recurring
Wormhole/Montana Missile Complex stratagem, which has seen a resurgence in
popularity due to the frequent traffic in both quadrants.  Black Hole --
This is a very touchy issue -- many players are very emotional about this
card, either being fervent supporters or believing in its extreme evil essence.
I'll avoid it by arguing that in conventional decks, it has no place because
of the large setup needed to use it to maximum efficiency (multiple Anti-Time
Anomalies and Rogue Borg, etc.) Space-Time Portal -- seed 'em.  Airlock --
Unless battle is popular in your area, forget it.  Bajoran Wormhole -- if
Black Hole decks give you the willies, this card is your savior.  It is an
unnulifiable means of destroying the Black Hole -- the only catch is that
unless you're playing a Gamma strategy, it's often a wasted card.  Secret
Compartment -- what are you doing on your opponent's ship anyway?  In general,
the only doorways I put in the draw deck are some Q's Tents.  Maybe a
Temporal Vortex from time to time, but almost always just Tents.

5F: OTHER CARDS

As for objectives, I'll cut to the heart of the matter and say that in
speed decks, the only ones belonging in the draw deck are Reflection
Therapies and maybe extra Assign Mission Specialists.  All the others are
better suited to the Tent or to being seeded, or are just plain pointless
in a deck whose goal is to solve missions as quickly as possible, which is
all that this guide is specialized in.

Wow!  Done with the draw deck.  In general, I find that it should be about
one-third to one-half personnel, with one ship, one or two equipment, about
four doorways, five or six events, and the remainder interrupts.
 

STEP SIX: Construction of side decks

6A: Q'S TENT

What are the Tent strategies employed in conventional decks?  Generally, they
have four or five cards that you *want* or *need* to get out early; the
remainder being magic bullets or "just in case" cards.  For example, in a
speed deck, want/need cards would be things such as The Traveler: Transcendence
and Red Alert!.  Others might be copies of vital personnel, or cards such
as Scans or ships.  What magic bullets would I invest in?  First on your
list should be Goddess of Empathy.  I'd supplement it with an Alternate
Universe Door (and Ben Maxwell or Tallus if playing Fed or Rom to steal PNZs
on turn one), Revolving Door, and maybe an I.P. Scanner or Thermal Deflectors.
Other "just in case" cards would include such things as Dathon for Shaka WTWF,
Kivas Fajo or Kathleen Tonell in case of Primitive Culture, Suna/Reflection
Therapy for any needed skill; perhaps some hand weapons if you run up against
an attacker.  If you can, put at least one dilemma in here, to prevent your
opponent from scoring a very cheap artifact from Q's Planet.  I prefer either
Dead End, Arms Deal, or Alien Parasites, hoping to try to swoop in and take
the artifact myself.

6B: Q-FLASH

There are a myriad of strategies concerning the Flash!  It is also the only
way your opponent will continue to face additional non-Artifact seed cards
if he accomplishes a successful Q bypass.  What should go in here?  In priority,
this is the order I choose cards from.

1.  Fightin' Words.  Without a doubt the best Q-Continuum card in the game.
It is a killer before Shaka, as almost all Diplomacy personnel that are used
have it as a third, fourth, fifth or sixth skill.

2. Hide and Seek.  Another big hitter before a dilemma; sort of a
modified Chula: The Chandra that only counts as 1/x of a seed card, where x
is the number of cards in your Continuum.

3. Penalty Box.  Still as good as ever, the pumped-up Armus that works at planets
and space and cannot be avoided by a Genetronic Replicator is nothing to laugh at.

4. Mandarin Bailiff.  No harm can result from this card.  Either you score points and
your opponent loses points, or you gain a captive.

5. Scottish Setter.  Removing a classification is also a very powerful ability.  If your
opponent encounters these five cards, there is very little he could do about ensuing
dilemmas... such as maybe Barclay's Disease or a Sheliak/Q combo, or maybe even an
Aphasia Device if you're lucky.

6. Picard's Artificial Heart.  Somewhat limited as your opponent needs to use
STRENGTH -- but numerous missions and dilemmas require it, and if you stock the Heart,
make sure to include STRENGTH-targeting dilemmas (such as Dal'Rok) and maybe have a
supplemental battle strategy in case your mission solving attempts are thwarted.

7.  Into the Breach.  Against an armada deck, this card is a lifesaver.

8.  Door-Net.  Your opponent has to close a doorway.  Never any harm there.

9. Rhetorical Question.  This requires some setup, but can be utterly devastating if
followed by dilemmas like Cytherians.

10. Guilty - Provisionally.  Either stop an attack or kill somebody.  Again, your opponent faces
a true dilemma -- a choice between two evils.  Other Q-cards can be used to customize your
side deck, but these are some cards I'd warn away from: Dr. Q, Medicine Entity (rarely useful),
Lemon-Aid (you don't plan to be behind in a speed deck), Subsection Q, Paragraph 10
(you're likely to have a large hand), The Issue Is Patriotism (you're not trying to initiate battle!),
and The Higher... The Q-er.  This may seem strange, but I have a rationale for that.
However, this document is long enough as it is, so e-mail me for it if you
want it -- it's fairly long. ([email protected])
 

STEP SEVEN: Playtesting

This is an important part, as it shows how viable your decks are.  I often
start by playing solitaire; just laying out my missions with a [univ] Space
between each, randomly seeding dilemma combos under the missions (obviously
keeping combos together), and seeing how quickly I can win.  I consider a
speed deck successful if, with no opponent, it can win in ten turns or less.
I can often hone some of my decks down to less than seven turns, but that's
more risky and requires a large amount of playing experience to judge how to
do so.

If multiple (at least ten) solitaire games prove successful (they don't take
long), then you can move on to playing it with a friend.  If irregular in
their success, I'd go back through and make some modifications -- usually,
removing excess cards, moving closer to the magic 30 does wonders for a deck's
speed.  When playing with a friend, you should tell your friend ahead of time
what you're doing, so that he can offer friendly advice about how to improve
it.  Of course, if you've discovered some super-degenerate ultra-broken
strategy you're planning to use in a Regional or at Worlds, then keeping it
secret may be to your advantage.  If you do so, it just means you'll have to
test it even harder and more rigorously than if you want to test it against an
actual player, and you still might not equal the depth of playing with a real
person.

AN EXAMPLE:

"What?  After all this, an example?"

"Yes.  What better way to see what I'm getting at?"

STEP ONE: Choose a deck idea.

For this example, I'll choose a favorite archetype of mine -- the Romulan
Treachery/Archaeology speed deck.  It works well, fast, and has a very tight
mission selection available.

STEP TWO: Choose missions.

I'll select Expose Covert Supply, Iconia Investigation, Plunder Site,
Sarthong Plunder, Strategic Diversion, and Intelligence Operation.  The
Founder homeworld is there just in case I get sent to the Gamma Quadrant.  I
don't regularly intend to complete it, so the skills won't be accented as
much in the deck, but I'll make sure they're included.  The rest all require
only Treachery, Computer Skill, Archaeology, and Navigation to complete, and
the entire selection is six-planet, negating many dilemmas.

STEP THREE: Fill out the rest of your seed deck

3A: FACILITIES.  All this deck needs in one outpost, so I'll use the Romulan
one. (1 card used)

3B: DOORWAYS.  I'll use one Q's Tent, a Spacedoor, and two Space-Time Portals
for general-purpose usage.  (4 cards here; 5 total)

3C: OBJECTIVES.  Only one objective must be seeded for this deck: Assign
Mission Specialist. (1 card here; 6 total)

3D: EVENTS and OTHER SEEDABLE CARDS.  I'll pass on these.  (A sub-theme of
this deck that I'm introducing as I go along [yes, that's allowed] is to
stock up high on dilemmas and be very stringent about other seed cards)

3E: DILEMMAS and ARTIFACTS.  Since I'm trying to maximize my dilemma
allowance, I'll forgo the luxury of artifacts and stick to dilemmas.  My
dilemmas will have a theme (always a good idea) of trying to drain points
from my opponent.  I'll focus on Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + two
stoppers for points.  Here are the combos:

Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Blended + Shaka, When the Walls Fell
Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Punishment Box + Crisis
Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Maglock + Borg Ship
Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Vole Infestation + Abandon Ship!
Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Framed for Murder + Shaka, WTWF
Edo Probe + The Higher... the Fewer + Dal'Rok + Dead End

These aren't my best combos BTW; I'm merely giving an example of how to
construct dilemmas around a theme.  I also am aware that this leaves the
door wide open for the Borg -- however, I am also counting on the fact that
my six-planet array frustrates a Borg player anticipating a quick steal.

(24 cards used, 30 total)

STEP FOUR: Selecting personnel

According to my formula, I'll need 3 + 6/2 = 3+3 = 6 Treachery, 3 + 3/2 =
4.5 = 4 Archaeology, 3 + 0/2 = 3 Computer Skill, and 3 + 1/2 (weighting
Intelligence Operation half as much as the other missions) = 4 Navigation.
For the aforementioned I.O., I'll just use one Anthropology (in the deck
anyway for Primitive Culture) and one Tal Shiar.

Add this to other requirements, and I need 6 Treachery, 4 Archaeology, 4
Navigation, 3 Computer Skill, 3 ENGINEER, 3 MEDICAL, 3 SCIENCE, 3 SECURITY,
2 OFFICER, 2 Diplomacy, 2 Empathy, 2 Leadership, 2 Exobiology, plus one each
of Geology, Law, Anthropology, Tal Shiar, CIVILIAN, and an android.  That's
a lot to cover, but, as you will see, the skill overlap makes it actually
quite easy.

Let's take care of the Treachery first.  Galen, Lore, Sirol, Vakis, Tallera,
and Taul provide a total of six.  Galen and Taul already have Archaeology;
add to these Baran and Taris to get four.  Navigation: Galen and Sirol have
two; I'll put in Selveth which will bring me "close enough" for my purposes,
because one source of Navigation requirements is merely a backup.  I already
have the needed Computer Skill from Galen, Lore, and Tallera; 2 ENGINEER
from Lore, Sirol, and the third from the inclusion of T'Rul.  2 MEDICAL
from Vakis and Taris; I'll add Vekor for the third.  Vekor, Galen, and
Tallera make for 3 SCIENCE (two of whom are immune to Unscientific Method),
and I've got the SECURITY from Lore, Tallera, T'Rul, and Taul.  2 OFFICER
is already present from Sirol and Taris.  For Diplomacy I'll use Coutu (I
need high INTEGRIY for Q) and Maques, who also meets the requirement of 2
Empathy.  2 Leadership is easily attained from Galen and Lore; 2 Exobiology
comes from Baran and Coutu.  Geology from Vekor, Tal Shiar from Vakis,
CIVILIAN from Coutu, and the android Lore mean that the only thing left is
Law and Anthropology.  Senator Vreenak has both.  Here's the final
personnel rundown: Galen, Lore, Sirol, Vakis, Tallera, Taul, Baran, Taris,
Selveth, T'Rul, Vekor, Maques, Coutu, Senator Vreenak.  14 personnel
who can meet just about any contingency in the game.  But what if I want
to cut this down a bit?  Hmmm... since two of my scientists are immune to
Unscientific Method, I'll replace Vekor with the mission specialist Takket.
To score bonus points, I'll use Parem in place of Coutu.  I still have
CIVILIAN from Lore, Diplomacy from Vreenak/Maques, and Exobiology from Takket;
I only lose the INTEGRITY, which I'll make up for by the addition of 3 Q2s.
This leaves a grand total of fourteen personnel, two of whom are mission
specialists.  Since I try to stay under twelve personnel in the draw deck,
I'll move Selveth and Maques, who are more "just in case" cards than anything
else, to the Tent.  (12 cards in draw deck, 2 in Q's Tent)

STEP FIVE: Selecting the rest of your draw deck

5A: SHIPS.  I'll use the Terix in the draw deck, with the D'deridex and
Scout Vessel in the Tent. (13 cards in draw deck, 4 in Q's Tent)

5B: EQUIPMENT.  A Science Kit makes up for the lost SCIENCE, and a Romulan
Disruptor strengthens my personnel.  In case I need a second weapon, I'll
put another Disruptor in the Tent.  (15 cards in draw deck, 5 in Q's Tent)

5C: EVENTS. Four Kivas, two Goddess of Empathy, one Traveler, one Red Alert
and one Regenerate (can be Palor-ed) will suffice.  (24 cards in draw deck,
5 in Q's Tent)

5D: INTERRUPTS. 1 Amanda, 2 Kevin, 3 Palor, and 3 Q2 make for a total of
33 cards in the draw deck.

5E: DOORWAYS: The addition of four Tents brings this deck up to 37 cards (35
if you don't count the two mission specialists.)  This is still a bit large,
and if this were to be a serious tournament deck, I'd do some thinning down,
but I'll leave that up to you if you want to continue to use this idea.

5F: No other cards.

STEP SIX: Constructing side decks.

6A: Q's Tent:  I've already got a Romulan Disruptor, D'deridex, Scout Vessel,
Selveth, and Maques, meaning eight slots are left.  I'll fill them with Suna,
Reflection Therapy, Alternate Universe Door, Regenerate, Revolving Door,
Palor Toff - Alien Trader, an Arms Deal, and Red Alert!.  Note that I wasn't
able to squeeze in some of the cards I would have liked to use, such as scans.
If I really wanted the scans, I'd evaluate the remainder of my deck and do
some swapping, but I'll leave it at this for this example.

6B: No flash.

Here's the final decklist (not by far the best deck ever built, but it's a
good starting point that will win a good share of games.)

Mission (6)
Expose Covert Supply
Iconia Investigation
Intelligence Operation
Plunder Site
Sarthong Plunder
Strategic Diversion

Seed Deck (30)

Doorway (4)
Q's Tent
Space-Time Portal x2
Spacedoor

Facility (1)
Romulan

Objective (1)
Assign Mission Specialists

Dilemma (24)
Abandon Ship!
Blended
Borg Ship
Crisis
Dal'Rok
Dead End
Edo Probe x6
Framed for Murder
Maglock
Punishment Box
Shaka, When the Walls Fell x2
The Higher... the Fewer x6
Vole Infestation

Draw Deck (37)

Personnel (12)
Baran
Galen
Lore
Parem
Senator Vreenak
Sirol
T'Rul
Takket
Tallera
Taris
Taul
Vakis

Ship (1)
Terix

Equipment (2)
Romulan Disruptor
Science PADD

Doorway (4)
Q's Tent x4

Event (9)
Goddess of Empathy x2
Kivas Fajo - Collector x4
Red Alert!
Regenerate
The Traveler: Transcendence

Interrupt (9)
Amanda Rogers
Kevin Uxbridge x2
Palor Toff - Alien Trader x3
Q2 x3
 

Q's Tent (13)
Alternate Universe Door
Arms Deal
D'deridex
Maques
Palor Toff - Alien Trader
Red Alert!
Reflection Therapy
Regenerate
Revolving Door
Romulan Disruptor
Scout Vessel
Selveth
Suna

I hope this was productive; any feedback is gladly welcome
                    -- Steve Boyles AKA Col. Lovok