Preparation

At first glance, you might dismiss this as a weaker version of Scan. Isn't it better to look at ALL cards under a mission, instead of just one? Not necessarily. You might only need to see one of the cards. Most of the good dilemmas these days come in combos. If you see that Aphasia Device, you know there's most likely a Tarellian Plague Ship behind it, or a Q behind that Sheliak, Armus behind Alien Parasites, etc. All you need to see is the first card.

The second advantage over Scan is flexibility. You would need both Scan and Full Planet Scan to cover all your missions, Preparation can look at either.

The real power of this card is its immunity to Scanner Interference. You are safe from SI's ability to seed an extra card under your mission. Yes, you need 4 classifications instead of Computer Skill x2, but you can probably get the classifications more easily, especially if you don't use a seed slot for Quark's Isolinear Rods. Scans can also take a lot more than 2 Comp Skill, you have to staff a ship too.

By the time you do that, it may have been easier to just get any 4 classifications. Being able to scan a mission without a staffed, undocked ship is the biggest advantage here. You can quickly scan your Homeworld or Outpost mission without needing to use a card play on the ship. It's also safer. There are a lot of stopper cards (like Rogue Borg Mercenaries) that can keep your ship undocked longer than it takes to Scan, leaving you vulnerable to attack. With Preparation, you only need to undock if you are ready to attempt.

And, of course, Scan is not legal in DS9-only tournaments.

Asteroid Sanctuary

Battle is certainly a popular strategy. This is a great card that can keep your ship safe for an entire turn. It's not too difficult to get 2 Navigation, especially if you're hiding at your Outpost until you're really ready to attempt missions. Yes, the card can be countered, but most battle decks stack few Amandas, favoring lots of Kevins for Q-Nets and such.

This card is also a good counter to the Borg Ship dilemma. It's easier to acquire than the rare Hugh. Compared to Temporal Vortex, it has many advantages. It's a lot more flexible; I've seen many more battle decks than Sheliak. It's not an AU card, potentially saving you a seed slot. It's a better probe than Vortex for both Visit Cochrane Memorial and Promenade Shops. Revolving Door can cause a Borg Ship to make an unexpected reappearance from a Temporal Vortex, there's no such worry with Asteroid Sanctuary. You're still stopped if you use Asteroid Sanctuary on a Borg Ship battle, but you'd be stopped if you used Hugh, too, so it makes little difference.

Unfortunately, you can't play Asteroid Sanctuary on a docked ship. (ref. 'Docking' in the glossary.) But if you have your facility's shield bonus and still need to hide from battle, you're in more trouble than you can solve with this one card.

Chris 'Rom' Brennan
Rom@wnohgb.com