In Parts 1 and 2 of Dilemma Theory, Rom discussed the two basic types of dilemmas and popular combos and orders of arrangement. Today in Part 3 of the Dilemma Theory subject we move on to one of my more favorite
aspects of the game: Chaos Theory.
    First off, what exactly is Chaos Theory?  Chaos Theory is a simple premise that flows from the basic point of dilemmas themselves: to stop your opponent from completing missions. Those of us who believe in Chaos Theory believe dilemmas are only as effective as they are unexpected. Therefore, a dilemma combo may not be effective if your opponent suspects the next card in the arrangement. Subsequently, it may be to the benefit of the player to play a random assortment of dilemmas that individually have the ability to stop an opponent on any given occasion. Further, if your opponent knows that you are not playing specific combos in your dilemma set then you gain a psychological advantage over your opponent.
    Now of course there have been some problems with this. Unfortunately with the rise of scan cards and special abilities that allow your opponent to glance at, or discard dilemmas; Chaos Theory was not viable because many people would not attempt a mission until they believed they could get through the dilemmas with relative ease or were sure there was nothing there that would harm their away team. But now that there are several referee cards regulating scans as well as cards like the 62nd rule which benefit those who do not use scans, mission attempts are a little more unexpected.
    The best way to show this through a couple examples.  Let’s consider a rather predictable dilemma set we’ve all seen numerous times. Let’s say you are attempting for the first time and you have no knowledge of what lies in waiting. It is a Federation away team and has a broad range of skills. You first encounter Unscientific Method and you are forced to sacrifice a Science Personnel but you continue on and encounter Hippocratic Oath, now right away this should tip you off to something. At any time you have the right to check the number of remaining cards seeded under a location and if Hippocratic Oath is staring you in the face after an Unscientific Method, its an almost guaranteed tip-off that Scientific Method is next. So in this case I sacrifice a Medical and know right away that next when I encounter Scientific Method I can use McCoy to discard it and finish the attempt. No surprises here whatsoever and by the time you’ve seen the second card you know what to expect, it's an anti-Science combo and extremely popular.
    Now consider the following that I seeded under a planet mission in my last tournament. Armus – Skin of Evil (Guaranteed to kill something) then Security Precautions (Rarely used) then Chula: The Dice and ending with Q. This combo generated completely at random worked very effectively and actually was the difference in my game. The opponent in question watched me as I seeded my planet dilemmas, then my space and then shuffled my P/S dilemmas together with three Q-Flash doorways and dealt them under missions in no particular order. The result is Chaos.  The key to Chaos Theory is to seed a high number of P/S dilemmas and to do so randomly to give the effect that their placement does not matter; that it is arbitrary. It induces a sense of fear in the opponent and forces them to consider mission attempts more carefully or to risk scanning the location and face nasty consequences at the hands of Q the Referee (it downloads Scanner Interference or Panel Overload). Not to mention the presence of a Q-Flash Side deck which can cause absolute havoc with an away team when used properly.

Consider the following; it is a list of the dilemmas I used in my last Chaos Theory deck:
Q- Flash X 3
Security Precautions
Armus Skin of Evil
Hologram Ruse
The Sheliak
Chula: The Dice X 2
In the Pale Moonlight
Q
Lethean Telepathic Attack
Skullduggery
Outpost Raid
Dangerous Liaisons
Cardassian Trap
Chula: The Lights
Dead End
Friendly Fire
Maglock
Navigational Hazards
Drumhead

        Note that there were only 3 Space dilemmas and 4 planet dilemmas in that mix, the rest were P/S or Doorways that seed as dilemmas, 15 of them. All with relatively difficult conditions of passage or death attached. Seeded randomly to cause havoc. Chaos Theory is not for everyone and many will tell you it never works, but I’ve used it many times and it can be very helpful in some tight situations particularly during a stretch between sets where dilemma sets become predictable and somewhat boring. But Chaos Theory is only as effective as it is surprising and therefore the same sets may not work twice in a row. As with any form of dilemma combos what works for one person may not work for another and what works in one region may be totally useless in another, but that may be one of the things that works toward your advantage is that using Chaos Theory from
time to time creates combos you may have never thought of yourself and also allows you to put your opponent off guard.
Good luck and good hunting.
 

Britt Bisson