After a yearlong hiatus the Vulcan Review is back.  For those of you who don’t remember the previous two articles, I’ll do a re-cap of my goal: To enlighten and inform the STCCG masses about the intricacies and subtleties of playing a Vulcan deck.  Yes, there is much more to this deck-archetype than at first meets the eye.

    First order of business is to overview what the past year has brought our resident Vulcan-ophiles.  The Trouble with Tribbles brought us Mr. Spock and Mirror Mirror gave us his counterpart First Officer Spock, along with Mr. Tuvok.  (Both Spocks are excellent personnel for a not quite so obvious reason).  And most recently in Voyager we have been graced by two stranded Vulcans, Tuvok and Vorik.

    These 5 Vulcans bolster the somewhat measly skill-selection of their Vulcan-compatriots.  Apparently modern day alpha quadrant Vulcans favor the studies of Science and VIP-ness.  Well, not these guys.  First Officer Spock and Mr. Spock add the very highly sought after skill of Officer.  Tuvok adds the bonus of the highly desired Security.  His Mirror counterpart brings along an oft-overlooked skill of Medical and Vorik rounds it out with a healthy dose of Engineer.  What more could you ask for?

    So yes, quite a few choice personnel have landed in our binders.  But that is not nearly the extent of the Vulcan goodness we have received.  Arguably the best additions to the Vulcan deck have come in the form of interrupts and other support cards.  Such cards as “Vulcan ‘Death Grip’” and “Live Long and Prosper” can turn a mediocre Vulcan away team into a dilemma busting, Next Emanation-avoiding, threat to be reckoned with.

    Of course there are other cards that can more subtly help a Vulcan deck, such as Temporal-Micro wormhole and Divert Power.  Temporal-Micro Wormhole can finally let the Vulcan reach his dream of including all Vulcans in one deck (What, Tallera won’t work with the Federation?  Well, send her through that mini-wormhole a few times and we’ll see if she’s singing a different tune).

    Vulcans also have a distinct advantage over every other affiliation that could possibly be played.  Two words: Horta what?  Yep, with the heavy abundance of Mindmeld, Vulcans have little to fear from an otherwise deadly dilemma.

    So, what’s this I hear?  You’re complaining because I’ve only given a cursory look at all these cards and you want a more in-depth analysis?  Well, you’re in luck, because that’s just what I have in store for the next article.

Until then,

General Chang

Next Article: The Good, The Bad, and The Revolutionary or How I found a use for Stefan DeSeve