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TwT Card Review #9 - Odo
by Sergei Rachmaninoff Odo (#90, R)
So, we've now got a second persona of our favorite shapeshifter. Most notable among the changes to this version are his loss of Bajoran affiliation, and the change to human species. He's lost a few points of STRENGTH, but can use hand weapons to compensate for this; his Computer Skill and Honor have been downgraded to just a single dosage of each, and he's forgotten his Law. He's gained a special download (although we don't know what it does just yet) and is now a CIVILIAN, but can no longer "stop" Quark. His staffing icon has also been downgraded, from the more versatile command to merely staff. These are the most obvious changes, so it's a good place to start. Odo's now Nonaligned instead of Bajoran. OK, so he's now accessible to all the affiliations, although the question is: has he been downgraded so much that he's no longer a worthwhile inclusion in decks of other affiliations? His lower STRENGTH is not a major concern, as seven is still an adequate amount, plus hand weapons (which are more popular recently thanks to Empok Nor downloads, Latinum swapping, more Smackdown decks, etc.) can boost him right back to (or even above) his Bajoran self. The staffing icon's not as important either, due to the vast quantity of Command personnel available to all affiliations (of course, I've been surprised before when I use that logic to build decks, only to find I only have one or two Command personnel in an entire deck and a good number of ships that require it, so it always pays to double-check to make sure you've got plenty of command). Ultimately, it will be his skill set that determines his usefulness. He's a double SECURITY, which can be quite valuable in these days of Berserk Changelings, Dangerous Liaisons, etc. Of course, one advantage the original Odo had in dealing with Berserk Changelings is that he could redshirt through them, with the dilemma being discarded for lack of a target. However, dual SECURITY are becoming more and more popular these days, and you don't really need more than one (Federation AMS decks might want to stock him though, as they'll need all the double SECURITY they can get because they only have one mission specialist with SECURITY). You'll also want another double SECURITY if you're really paranoid about Captured, although these decks usually have plenty of hand weapons as well. For traditional decks, though, the question is a lot more difficult. For the Feds, both George Primmin and Luther Sloan are usually better than this Odo. I'd take Primmin's Biology to Odo's CIVILIAN and Honor any day; as for their special skills, we'll have to see the Classic Communicator before making that decision. Similarly, I'd rather have Sloan's double Section 31, Treachery, and special skill to Odo's CIVILIAN. For Klingons, Worf Son of Mogh is usually better; for Bajorans, "their" Odo is better (except for Colonies, which will be discussed below), and the Dominion will prefer the easier quadrant reporting (plus the possibility of playing him for free at The Great Link) for Odo Founder. I'm not sure right off hand if the other affiliations have double SECURITY personnel, but the other one that all affiliations have access to right now is Madred. Although it's easy to pass Madred off as a specialty personnel only good in capturing decks, his skill selection rivals this Odo's. OFFICER (and one with STRENGTH > 6) compared to Computer Skill and Honor. Neither one's particularly stellar, but I'd probably say that Madred still has an edge here for Maglocks in space and Punishment Boxes/Crises on planets, or Hazardous Duty anywhere. On the other hand, Computer Skill is more useful for mission requirements; but the counter to this is that Narik is a downloadable mission specialist who can also get you five extra points for those missions, or that Computer Skill is common enough that Odo's isn't really needed. Ferengi Ingenuity isn't seen much, and neither is Access Denied. "Pup" would be the only serious Computer Skill dilemma around, but even that's weak with Scans and extra ships to redshirt with (or sending in a ship with just staffing to dodge the sure-to-follow Abandon Ship!). The Honor is actually more of a detriment than a benefit unless your missions need it (and few non-Klingon missions do, and the Klingons already have plenty of it). This is mainly for Reflection Therapy, but it'll also make it more difficult to pass Worshipers, or if used with Cardies, limits his effectiveness at Bioweapon Ruse. OK, so he's useful as a backup double SECURITY, or good if you need more Computer Skill or Honor and already have plenty of strong OFFICERs. Let's see how the other big difference affects this balance -- his species change from changeling to human. Without any doubt, this is a minus. The only positive thing about this is that it's harder for him to be hit by Hate Crime or Angry Mob, but those dilemmas are by no means commonly seen. Other than that, his species change has hurt him considerably. For one, nonsensical as it may seem, he's now vulnerable to timeline disruption via Stop First Contact. SFC decks aren't as uncommon as they used to be, due to the speed in staffing cubes and Population 9 Billion -- All Borg. Also, he can no longer morph. No more reporting him for free with In the Bag, no more huge advantage in personnel battle with Strike Three or The Guardian, etc. But the biggest loss here in my opinion is his increased difficulty with dilemmas. No more automatic passage of Founder Secrets for him, which was one of the strongest things about his earlier persona, valuable enough for Dan Allman to stock at Federation/Bajoran treaty just for Odo and an Interceptor in his deck which placed second at the World Championships. (Well, his ease in helping to pass Berserk Changeling didn't hurt either.) Of course, if nothing else, he's a 9 INTEGRITY first-turn downloadable (via Defend Homeworld) personnel, which would be a strong asset to Q-Bypass decks, but with Q the Referee making Bypassing a much more risky proposal, this isn't particularly strong either. The CIVILIAN's useful for Colony, but again, with QtR enabling a quick download of Wake of the Borg (and the coming emergence of super-paranoid decks) and their low SHIELDS and the strength of personnel battle decks, I wouldn't rely on Colonies for too many points. He can also be downloaded with Runabout Search; but he's not as useful then. If you've already solved a mission, then you most likely have the capability to solve another. He provides an extra targe... er, backup for dilemmas, but I liken it much to Mineral Survey: drawing cards after you have enough personnel to beat dilemmas isn't as useful as it is when you're still drawing personnel for beating dilemmas. It's not a bad thing to have, and a good idea if he's in your deck and you don't already have him in play when you solve Runabout Search, but that alone isn't going to put him in any of my decks. The final verdict: It'll all come down to the Classic Communicator. He's an Original Series personnel, but also a CIVILIAN, so I don't know if he'll be able to benefit from it or not. Regardless, this is the deciding point for the nonaligned Odo. He's about as good as a Madred in most decks... and you don't see Madred very often. Personally, I think Decipher downgraded him a bit too much, but it's tricky to decide what they *couldn't* have taken off. Leaving him with double Computer Skill would make Captured/Prisoner Exchange extremely powerful, as you've got a double SECURITY, QIR-able, usable after you're done, hand weapon potential user personnel. The extra Honor wouldn't really help much. Leaving him with Law, though, would make him considerably more useful, as it's still one of the rarer skills in the game. Maybe a special skill should have been added, perhaps related to The Great Link, or tied in to the storyline of Trials in Tribble-ations more than just his download. Of course, the extra downgrade might be necessary if Classic Communicator turns out to be very strong, so it'll all hinge on that... Next: Classic Tricorder Steve "Sergei Rachmaninoff" Boyles 
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