This is the first installment of a series of reviews on Trouble with Tribble (TwT) cards. I intend to do each one a few days after it's first revealed on the website, to allow time for more in-depth thought instead of mere first impressions.

Editor's Note: These were originally posted to the mailing list. Editor's comments are added were new cards revealed after the review was written affect the card in question.

The format I'll be using is one of analyzing each aspect of the card, providing comments on each of its various facets.

Starting with the classification and skills, it's readily apparent that he's yet another Federation dual-MEDICAL, following in the distinguished footsteps of Beverly Crusher (both Premiere and First Contact) and Julian Bashir (There's Pulaski, too, but her anti-beaming restriction and lack of support skills has failed to make her a worthy successor to the others). Of course, they each have their various benefits and disadvantages, but we'll come to those in due time. There has definitely been a precedent for dual-MEDICAL personnel to be in wide use, for several reasons: dilemmas that require multiple MEDICAL, such as Aphasia Device; mission requirements, although this is less common; and for Genetronic Replicator, which used to be more common but is still quite powerful. Naturally, the other dual-MEDs fulfill this need just as well as McCoy, but they start to differ somewhat (but not as much as one expects) in the skills. McCoy has double Exobiology and Biology; Bashir and the Crushers have a single helping of each. While this may seem important for Odo's "Cousin," in many decks it won't be that important. After all, you're not likely to be redshirting somebody this useful, so you would probably have another Exobiology in the away team, such as Data, Jadzia Dax, Altovar, Salia, another doctor, or even the mission specialist Dr. La Forge who is an excellent dilemma-busting specialist (SCIENCE for Scientific Method, Exobiology for mission requirements and dilemmas) On the other hand, it is in such a deck that he is quite powerful, if used only when need be. Dr. McCoy is a very big boost to AMS, PNZ, or other decks that aim to get through dilemmas as soon as possible, especially if a player is rich (or lucky) enough to obtain several of these, making them more expendable. His help to PNZ comes more in his special skill, capable of getting through Hippocratic Oaths, Aphasia Devices, Tarellian Plague Ships, or any other MEDICAL-requiring nasties. AMS will significantly be aided by an Exo x2 (in case Dr. La Forge is killed or needs to be held back so his bonus points will be ensured for solving the mission) and the anti-MEDICAL skill. It's that ability to nullify MEDICAL dilemmas that really makes this personnel stand out. It'll be strong in any mission-solving deck, even though with his two MEDICAL there's few dilemmas that require more... instead, the skill will be used more often than not to take out Hippocratic Oaths (a la Goran'agar) and Tarellian Plague Ships, dilemmas that remove MEDICAL. It also counters (somewhat) the abusive strategy of tripping DNA Clues under each of your opponent's missions with Hippocratic Oath (with Aid Fugitives) and Scientific Method underneath, reducing a nearly insurmountable set of dilemmas to a two-turn wait courtesy of the good doctor. I imagine MEDICAL-deprivation will not be seen very frequently after TwT's release, because between him and Goran'agar, a quarter of the affiliations can nullify Hippocratic Oath, the lynchpin of such a strategy. The Biology's not of much importance, seeing as how the other dual doctors share it as well, but it still is worthy of mention, most specifically for Aphasia Device or Federation medical missions like Evaluate Terraforming or Plague Planet. His special download is also (for the moment) rather useless. Sure, there's I'm a Doctor, Not a Doorstop, but there's easier ways of stopping personnel battle that are more versatile; for example, stocking lots of Kevins against Invasive Beam-In, etc.

So, there's this dual-doctor with a strong (although not as strong as at first glance) special skill... what's to keep the other ones useful? Well, Julian's got that third MEDICAL, which keeps him in the running for Doctor of Choice in a Federation Deck; First Contact Bev has a very nice special download, considering all the SCIENCE in decks nowadays for Scientific Method. As for the original Bev? That's where the rest of the things come into play. First, he's only got a staff icon instead of Command, although with all the other strong Command personnel -- way too many to list -- this is hardly needed. However, it does limit his ability to be an "emergency" personnel that needs to be rushed to the main crew ASAP, because the only fast Fed ships that can't be destroyed via direct hit from a beefed-up K'Vort require a command icon. Devidian Door is another, probably better, option for reporting him late in the game. Another point: he's Alternate Universe. This may on the surface appear to be a liability, as if the STP's are discarded or the AU Door Revolv-ed, it would be impossible to report him. Actually, it is more of a strength. Seeding two STPs (or seeding one and Palor-ing it later) is never a bad idea, and STP is where this AU icon becomes a huge strength. Imagine STP-dropping the Pasteur with this guy and a few others on it! In terms of MEDICAL, you'd be nigh untouchable. He's got the Original Series icon, the actual mechanic of which is still unknown but has been hinted to enable certain Equipment cards. And there's that tribble icon, which is incredibly (but pleasantly) silly-looking and still cracks me up each time I see it. I like it! As for the attributes, he's identical with the premiere Bev, who by this point in the game's history is hardly used at all already, being overshadowed by her First Contact persona and then a certain genetically-engineered Bashir, and now, Dr. McCoy.

Editor's Note: We now have seen some of those equipment and know that they add more skills…always useful!

The final verdict: Good, but not broken; a worthy complement to Bashir and FC Crusher (imagine all three together... on the Pasteur... :-) ) that will be particularly strong used in multiple in an AMS or PNZ deck. It will have an impact on the metagame more than it should, as only Federation decks are likely to make use of this card, and it will be unavailable to many players who can't or do not wish to expend the money to obtain this card. Nevertheless, I expect to see a lot fewer MEDICAL dilemmas come release day.

Next: Dominion Battleship

Steve 'Sergei Rachmaninoff' Boyles