Some strategies against the Gal Gath’thong

This Strategy-Note article was written by openCards user KaiserK at May 11th, 2007.

During the last few weeks, a new deck type has caused quite a stir in the STCCG community. I’m sure that by now almost everybody knows that the “thong” deck so many players are talking about has nothing to do with Borat’s infamous piece of clothing. Although our ‘thong is green as well, it has a distinct Romulan (rather than Kazakh) flavour. Of course, it’s the Gal Gath’thong, both a rare and an archive foil from the most recent expansion.

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the discussions on most of the STCCG-related message boards, here’s a quick overview of what this deck does: The Gal Gath’thong allows you to make your opponent discard 2 cards from hand whenever you move the ship from one of his or her missions. The only requirement is to have the commander of the ship (usually Keras, but the chameloid Martia and Khan Singh, Bold Man also work as backup) aboard. In combination with Keras’ gametext, the new event Plasma Energy Weapon, or other cards like for example Holographic Hoax, you can make sure your opponent has at least some cards in hand while it is your turn. You can then discard these cards simply by moving your ship around. With cheap Range boosters like Inspiring Leader, The Reman Mines, etc. it’s quite easy to make your ship Range 12 or more, and thus make your opponent discard at least six cards per turn without much of an effort. Combined with a killer dilemma pile and assassins, this deck can eliminate enough resources of a standard 50-card deck to achieve a lock-out.

Here’s a very basic example of what such a ‘thong deck can look like:

Missions

Romulus, Seat of Power
Supervise Dilithium Mine
Survey New World
Study Cometary Cloud
Investigate Destruction

Dilemmas

Keep in mind that this is by no means the best approach to a ‘thong deck that has seen play this tournament season. In fact, it was an 11th hour decision to build this deck, and I didn’t even find the time or opportunity to play a practice game. Be assured that there are more talented players than myself out there, with more efficient, more refined versions of this green menace.

I played this deck at the Bavarian Regional Championships on April 15, and went undefeated, locking out each of my opponents with little effort. Only one player was able to put enough personnel into play, and keep some of them alive, to complete a mission. Successful, yes. Fun to play, hardly. Fun to play against – most certainly not.

Although some player groups have self-imposed “gentlemen’s agreements” not to play this type of deck at their local events, this will probably not keep people from taking the ‘thong to the big events this year. The judges have assured us that they are keeping an eye on the development of the situation (this is not necessarily exclusively about the win/loss records of this deck-type, but also about the growing number of reports of so-called “negative playing experiences”); nevertheless, until there is an erratum, which might or might not happen, we all have to deal with this situation and try to make the best of it. Gentlemen’s agreements can only do so much, and at a tournament with more than 40 players, like the European Championship will be, there will be no such agreement.

Therefore, if you are worried about the ‘thong being a major factor at the EC 2007 in Berlin, you will have to adjust your game. Here are some suggestions that might help you against the Past Romulans and their ride.

Increase your deck size!

Take a look at your average deck. Count the number of cards. Now take away 35 of those cards at random. That’s about the number of cards the ‘thong can discard during an average game (if you have a Range 1 mission, or two missions in the same Region, that number can be much higher). Now, take out some of the remaining personnel, say, about 10. That’s the number that will die to killer dilemmas or assassins. Do you still have enough personnel left in play to complete your missions?

Decks that run around 50 cards will already have a hard time against ‘thong decks, so if that’s about the size you usually play, think about increasing it by some 20 cards. You will still have to discard lots, but with a bigger deck you can delay the deck-out for a few more turns, and you will be able to put more personnel into play. Hopefully enough to survive the dilemma onslaught.

Adjust your play style!

Next time you play a game of Trek, make notes of how many cards you hold in hand at the end of each of your turns. Against a ‘thong deck, from turn 3 onwards, you will have to discard at least 4 of those cards.

Be prepared to say bye-bye to your previous strategy of holding certain cards in hand until you need them. You will most likely not get the chance to play them. In a game against the ‘thong, play as many of your cards from hand as you can each turn. Try to have an empty hand at the end of your turn. When you draw a card, play it immediately if you can. Some of your events, and more so interrupts, will only be useful in specific situations. Do not play those cards, but choose to discard them, and spend the counters on getting more personnel and a ship in play.

Change your mission selection!

There is no maximum range, but usually the ‘thong will be on Range 12 (printed range 7, Inspiring Leader +2, The Reman Mines +3). That’s enough to fly 3 times from one Range 2 mission to another, and will result in 6 discards per turn. Thanks to Keras and Plasma Energy Weapon, the ‘thong player can make sure you will have that number of cards in hand each turn.

You can’t change the Range of your headquarters mission, but you are free to look for other missions you can attempt. If you were able to find a decent mission selection that consists of four attemptable Range 3+ missions, you will limit your opponent to 4 discards per turn (unless they increase their Range to 15 by using Astrometrics Labs x2, Quantum Slipstream Drive). Don’t underestimate this! Increasing the Range it takes to fly between your missions will buy you a few more precious turns to draw & play personnel! Now, granted, a mission selection of All Threes, rangewise, is almost impossible to build, but if you’re desperate to slow down a ‘thong deck, this option might be worth a shot. Don’t forget the Genesis Planet, a planet mission with Range 4 that’s open to any affiliation. At the very least, avoid Range 1 or Region: xyz mission.

Stock more ships!

As was said earlier, once its engine is set up and running the ‘thong will basically force you to play what you draw. Unless you can play a ship during your first two or three turns, there’s a good chance your opponent will force you to download them, and will then discard them with the ‘thong.

It’s vitally important to get a ship on the table as soon as possible. If you don’t have one in your opening hand, you will be forced to draw for one, which will result in fewer counters you can spend on playing personnel, and in more cards in your hand that your opponent can discard. Stock an extra ship, or two, or three. Make some test draws. How often do you get a ship in your opening hand? If you have 1 ship (or a card that can download one, for example, generic events like Condition Red or How Would You like a Trip to Romulus?, or affiliation-specific personnel like Leyton) for every 6 other cards, you should be on the safe side.
Also, take a look at the cost of your ships. Remember that unless you have a ship in your hand at the start of your turn, which will not happen too often, you will have to draw it first. This makes it very difficult to play ships that have a high cost, so think about adding some low-cost ships.

Adjust your personnel selection!

Of course, there are lots of personnel that work together really well; in fact, some decks rely on a certain super crew that can complete all of their missions. Nice idea, but it won’t be much help when the only place that super crew is together is your discard pile.

When you have to play what you draw, you should make sure that every card you draw is of help to your primary goal of solving missions. Beggars can’t be choosers, and if you just can’t draw into that one key personnel before all copies of it are discarded, you’d better have a contingency plan. Try to create a high redundancy of skills, icons, attributes, and maybe even keywords in your deck. No skill that is required by the missions you plan to solve should be on only 3 or 4 personnel. Instead, shift your focus from a small number of absolutely necessary key personnel to a crowd of (preferably non-unique) personnel with similar skills, including non-aligned guys. Ideally, any given combination of 7 or 8 personnel you put into play should be able to staff one of your ships, and complete at least two of your missions.

Of course, none of these suggestions is good enough to guarantee a win against a well-versed ‘thong player, but if you’re trying to prepare against a ‘thong deck, you should think about applying them to your decks and play style. Naturally, you will make yourself more vulnerable to other deck types, but that’s one of the core elements of trading card games: you simply cannot tech against everything. And that’s what makes this game so much fun.

One final remark: You will have noticed that none of my suggestions deal with any specific cards. I am well aware that all the affiliations have some way of counter to the ‘thong strategy, in addition to generic counter/back-up cards like Amanda Rogers or Salvaging the Wreckage. The reason why I’ve not mentioned things like TatV Bashir, First-Hand Experience, etc., is that, in my opinion, specific counter cards are not the best weapon against the ‘thong discard strategy. As part of your draw deck, they are potentially vulnerable to the Keras/’thong engine, and are therefore likely to be discarded before you can use them. That is why I’ve kept to generic suggestions in this article.

I would also like to thank everyone on the teamjersey.net message boards for joining the ‘thong discussion and telling their opinions and experiences!