Welcome to the overview of the latest ST2E Strategy-Notes
You will find the latest 15 Strategy-Notes here (order desc by publishing date).
Notes on the Multiplayer Team Tournament - Part 2
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user thsch and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Sep 24th, 2010.
Using a straight solver in a Multiplayer Tournament sounds dangerous, taking into account that in the worst case you have to face two bloodthirsty, hunting, assimilating and sabotaging opponents. And believe me, if you just combine two of your best single-player solvers, it is! On the other hand, if you prepare for the possibilities this format has to offer, you can survive (and win).
Playing in any kind of Team Tournament means you have to rely on your teammate if you want to win. Playing in a Multiplayer Team Tournament also means that you can rely on him or her if you face an obstacle you cannot handle on your own. Thus, one of the most important points to keep in mind when choosing affiliations is not only to combine their strengths, but also to cover each other's weaknesses.
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...Notes on the Multiplayer Team Tournament - Part 1
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user zippercommander and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Sep 22nd, 2010.
This year, a great format will celebrate its premiere at the World Championship – the Multiplayer Team Tournament. Maybe some of you already enjoyed a game of multiplayer together with some friends, but this new format will combine the fun of multiplayer sessions with the responsibility of a team competition.
Two players will form a team and will play against another team of two players at one table. The winning conditions can only be fulfilled by both players of a team, so there is a great variety of ways to victory. On the surface, the possibilities include two straight solvers (very boring), two interactive decks (whether capture, battle, assimilation, sabotage – it’s your choice) or a smart combination.
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...2010 2nd Annual Worlds Prediction Show
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user Hoss-Drone and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Sep 3rd, 2010.
Recently, Nathan talked about traditions in the game. Well every tradition starts with a first time and as far as I'm concerned, I started a new tradition of writing an article predicting the decks that I thought have the best chance of taking worlds a little more than a year ago.
I'll give the same (top 5) caveats for this article as I did for the previous article:
- I am not predicting any one particular deck will win. I'm simply stating that based on my observation of the current meta, which decks are currently the strongest, all things being equal.
- Individual skill and the specifics of which cards are in the deck mean more than the deck and will have a greater impact than the deck. However, its still true that a deck can carry a player (or lose for that player) in specific instances.
- I'm basing my opinions on decks I’ve personally seen played in front of me, played myself, have seen a deck list with results that impressed me, or am anticipating doing well after Peak Performance.
- The decks I link are either the exact deck I’m referring to or a close approximation of the deck that would do well. I usually imply or openly state this fact.
- If I knock on a deck that doesn’t mean it cannot or will not do well, I just don't think any builds I've seen up till now can get it done. If you build a better version then good for you and good luck.
Now that's out of the way, I get to spring the surprise. This article will not just be about the decks like last year. I'm also going to make some wild predictions about who might show up with each deck and I will ALSO make a prediction of my Top 5 contenders to win worlds. My Worlds Fantasy Team, if you will.
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...The EC in numbers - The Meta Charts
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user thsch at Nov 16th, 2008.
(with assistance from Sebastian Kirstein and Tobias Rausmann)
Two days, three tournaments, thirty-four players, seventy-two decks, a total of 978 played cards. Here are the 22 that have been used the most:
20. Chula: Pick One to Save Two
We start with one of the oldest cards in the Top 20. Simple but useful: Remove one personnel from the attempt or stops three. More or less the little brother of Hard Time. (0.71 copies per deck)
19. Gorgan
I was a Staarfleet player for a year or so. You really learn to hate that card when you play Staarfleet! Now I am playing Dominion. And you really start to love good old Gorgan when you play Dominion (or Borg). And since a bunch of people played these affiliations at the EC, nobody should be surprised to see Gorgan in the Top 20. But will it stay there now that Reyga is available? (0.74 copies per deck)
18. Old Differences
Two stops and only one overcome dilemma. And all that for (usually) three counters. Well, great card. (0.76 copies per deck)
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...The Gamma Files – Winners don't play Distress Call
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user thsch.
Last time we spoke about the most played cards in Europe, but it is not the quantity of copies of a card used that will count in Potsdam, it is the quality. So which cards have proven that they have the quality to be in a winning deck? And which ones make a losing deck? Today we will have a look into the differences between the Top 3 decks and the rest. Which cards appear mostly in winning decks? And are there cards were the only advice could be to not play them if you want to win?
Let's start with At What Cost?. It is included (in average) 1.4 times in each of the Top 3 decks but only 0.7 times in the non-Top 3 decks. Is it because lower ranked players are afraid of spending ressources on a bonus point engine? Or do they just not own that card? When speaking about At What Cost? we also should have a look at the counters against it, which brings us to Grav-Plating Trap. The, in my opinion, best event destruction in the game was used 0.7 times in each Top 3 deck and only 0.1 time by the rest.
But let's have a look at the dilemmas. As Skeleton Crew was the most played dilemma it is not surprising that it is strong in Top 3 (1.8) as well as non-Top 3 decks (1.2), but still the difference is significant. The same is true for Hard Time (1.7 vs. 1.1), but here the reason (at least for the German decks) is easy: It is nearly impossible to find a Hard Time for trade!
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...The Gamma Files – The Meta Charts
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user thsch.
With the European Championship only a few days away, it is about time to prepare the decks to face the finest in European Trek play. But prepare against what? What is played in Europe, what will you have to face in Potsdam?Let's open the Gamma Files and take a look into the decks used at the highest ranked tournaments we had in Europe so far to answer these questions. Collecting every available Decklist from the Regionals gives us a total of 40.5 Decks to work with. Beeing more precise the data is from all (or nearly all) the decks from London, Tilburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg, and Berlin plus the winning decks from Cork, Östersund and Klagenfurt (OK, only the draw deck from Klagenfurt, so that is where the half deck came from). Sounds a little German biased, but face it, the Europeans take place in Germany. So if you want to win you have to beat a lot of Germans. Better prepare for them.
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...The Original Series: Top 5 cards
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user RedDwarf and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Jul 22nd, 2008.
Here it is. The long-awaited (by me, at least) end to the 2008 top five series. Over the last 15 weeks, these articles have highlighted what I think are the top cards each affiliation and sub-affiliation has to offer. It started off with a daunting schedule lasting almost four months, and I'm pleased to say that it is now over. While some affiliations were easier to write for than others, I enjoyed the experience, and would like to think that I learned a thing or two while researching them. I dutifully wrote down every deck idea I had while looking at the cards, and now I just need about twenty tournaments to try them all out. I hope you were also inspired to try something new.See the rest of this Strategy-Note...
Know Your Rules: Anatomy of a Ferengi Card
This Strategy-Note article was written by Brad DeFruiter and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at May 28th, 2008.
What does it mean to be a loyal subject of the Ferengi? Let me list things that you may or may not know about the design of the Ferengi:
- The Ferengi are skill-heavy and attribute-light.
- The Ferengi like to stockpile things.
- The Ferengi are able to convert assets to other assets.
- The Ferengi should be fun.
For Cardassia: Anatomy of a Cardassian Card
This Strategy-Note article was written by Brad DeFruiter and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Apr 30th, 2008.
What does it mean to be a Cardassian? Let me list things that you may or may not know about the design of the Cardassians:
- The Cardassians create a lot of waste. This is why they have so many costs and effects that discard cards from hand.
- The Cardassians are the best affiliation at taking captives.
- The Cardassians have more short-term thinking cards. They want things now, not down the road.
We Are the Borg: Anatomy of a Borg Card
This Strategy-Note article was written by Brad DeFruiter and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Apr 23rd, 2008.
What does it mean to be Borg? Let me list things that you may or may not know about the design of the Borg:
- The Borg are greedy. They want your personnel, your events, and they even want to attempt the same kind of missions you attempt.
- The Borg are in total control of their hive and masters of their own deck. This is why they have the ability to download and manipulate their deck so much.
- The Borg are attribute light. They often need their numbers.
Anatomy of a Bajoran Card
This Strategy-Note article was written by Brad DeFruiter and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Apr 16th, 2008.
What does it mean to be a Bajoran? Let me list things that you may or may not know about the design of the Bajorans:
- Bajorans do so much with the discard pile to represent their ability to make the most of what they have. They also go there to represent their ties with the past.
- Bajorans have so much Anthropology because of their large amount of religious-type characters.
- Bajorans like to support one another. This is why they have so many personnel that boost each other.
- Bajorans should not do a lot of card drawing. Getting cards from the discard pile is often their version of card drawing.
- “Bad guy” or “evil” Bajorans remove cards in the discard pile from the game to get effects, while other Bajorans will place cards there, count cards there, or bring cards from the discard pile back to hand.
Mastermind Drafting - Tips for the Dangerous Mission draft
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user garetjax at Nov 15th, 2007.
The Dangerous Mission sealed is different from other sealed formats, because you don't get a playable deck supplied, but instead have to get your deck working while drafting the cards.
So you better pay attention during the draft. To scrab together a deck with winning possibilities you should keep in mind some details concerning the different card types.
1. Missions
Since the fixed cards only supply you with one mission, a second mission is obligatory to be able to get to the winning conditions of 70 points and both a space and a planet mission. The planet mission in the Starfleet set can get you 40 points, so you need only a 30-pointer space mission. The other two sets each need another 35-pointer of the right sort. Other missions with more or less points should be ignored, since bonus points are hard to get and additional points will probably not of any use. If you happen to see a headquarters mission, fetch it, if it works with the personnal you drafted.
2. DilemmasSee the rest of this Strategy-Note...
Mercenary Draft - There is no loyalty in the universe
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user thsch and was published first on "STCCG-Turnier (stccg-turnier.de)".
By Thomas Schneider
Let's start with the rules: Mercenary Draft will be played using the Dangerous Mission Draft rules (using one Starter without Rares and four packs of Reflections 2.0) plus some small, minor additions:
- Every personnel gets the additional game text: "When this personnel is stopped by a dilemma, choose an opponent and place this personnel at his or her headquarters mission, That opponent now commands this personnel.
- You own every card in your deck, hand, discard pile, dilemma pile, core, under or above your missions, every dilemma that you are facing and every personnel, equipment and ships you currently command and damage markers on your ships. After the game you keep all cards you are currently owning.
Fast, faster, Voyager
This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user Chairman Nilva.
"Dropping the Voyager at Caretaker's Array with Janeway and Chakotay aboard". A phrase heard at every other tourney since the appearance of Captain's Log and - thus - the Voyager affiliation.
The older players among us will remember the time when Voyager came out in First Edition and the whole game was turned upside down - all the elder Alpha powers becomming unplayable seemingly over night. This mistake has not been repeated in Second Edition.
Despite being one of the most powerful affiliations in the game besides TNG-Fed, DS9-Fed, Starfleet, the Borg and since the recent expansion the Romulans with their mass discard via Gal Gath' thong, the Voyager affiliation can be defeated by any other affiliation. At least if the dilemma pile can compensate the Voyager speed advantage.
See the rest of this Strategy-Note...Dilemmas - why bother?
This Strategy-Note article was written by Stefan Slaby and was published first on "openCards".
When Jaglom asked me to write an article about the Austrian metagame, I had a really hard time, settling on which topic to cover. On the one hand, while I’m one of Austria’s top players, I didn’t simply want to write an article about my successful decks (which would have been a eulogy to the Borg, probably), but I wanted to find some strong pattern to the decks that fare best on Austrian tournaments. On the other hand I didn’t really see some speciality to our most successful decks.
But after reminiscing a few years of tournaments, I found one pattern that has been evolving since Necessary Evil, and has been essential to many otherwise totally different tournament-winning decks in Austria. I don’t really think it’s something special about the Austrian metagame, but it is my best shot. I will call it DILEMMA AVOIDANCE.
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