Now that the spoiler list is out, I'm going to go back and start reviewing the cards I skipped along the way.  First up this time around is one of the cards without which this set wouldn't be complete,

Arne Darvin (#77, R)
Klingon Personnel
Icons: Staff, Alternate Universe, Federation Infiltrator, Trouble with
Tribbles, Original Series
Klingon saboteur.  Disguised undercover operative. Assistant to Nilz Baris on Deep Space Station K-7.
CIVILIAN
- Treachery     - Klingon Intelligence  - Biology - If on K-7, allows you to draw one card every turn   that any [Klg] or opponent's [Fed] card reports here.
INTEGRITY 3     CUNNING 6               STRENGTH 6

Lots and lots of icons.  That's the first thing that crossed my mind about this guy.  There's only room for about one more!  Let's hope they're good...

Anyway, for once I'll cut right to the chase and say that this guy had better not be going into your deck for his regular skills.  CIVILIAN, Treachery, Klingon Intelligence, Biology.  Hey, not bad, right?  Wrong.  If you need those skills, there's a much, much better choice... Etana Jol! Yep, the forgotten Premiere non-aligned.  She keeps the Treachery and Biology, and swaps CIVILIAN and the oxymor... er, Klingon Intelligence :-) for the much better SCIENCE.  I'd rather have SCIENCE than CIVILIAN and Klingon Intelligence any day, especially a SCIENCE that's immune to Unscientific Method and can be downloaded with Assign Support Personnel. About the only use for Klingon Intelligence is Espionage Mission (which isn't really a good Klingon mission anyway, as there's no way to download, play for free, or protect the needed Espionage card to attempt it, so if you don't draw it or it gets Uxed, you've lost a mission) and getting an extra Leadership from HQ: Defensive Measures.  Leadership should never be a problem in a Klingon deck.  Maybe a second Leadership for commandeering Empok Nor first or second turn (the ol' Gorath/Atul + QIR/Quark Son of Keldar + HQ:DM trick) without fear of Friendly Fire, but with Oops! and Ferengi Infestation out, early Empok commandeering is by no means reliable, and it's better to use the downloadable Atul instead of this guy.

So, with only mediocre attributes, the things that'll earn this guy a slot in my deck will be either his icons or his special skill.  Let's take a look...

That special skill.  It only works once every turn, so there's no cheesing with Devidian Door.  No Devidian Darvin decks, sorry.  Anyway, the effect of this guy is to add a lot of speed to an Original Series-themed deck... and even more if your opponent is playing one, too.  The easy free-reports and special downloads on Original Series cards make Original Series-heavy decks definitely a strong archetype.  Might as well draw more cards to play for free next turn, right?  QtR/Temporal Vortex and you're in the present with almost no loss in speed.  This guy's harder to knock off than Morn, as well, plus there's no requirement to be unopposed.  Simply stick this guy on K-7 and keep him alive, and there's almost nothing  (only Klim Dokachin comes to mind) your opponent can do to shut down this mechanic (of course, you have to be conservative with things that prohibit your card drawing, such as Ops-downloads or Tents).  However, I'd never put this guy in my draw deck for that use.  If I'm drawing cards, I want to get him out ASAP.  Once you've already drawn half your deck and played a dozen personnel, drawing even more cards isn't nearly as valuable.  Since there's no easy way to download him (Defend Homeworld for Kang, play Kor/Dax/Koloth, download Blood Oath, then download the Gr'oth, then use its download for Darvin is all I see), the best option is to place him in Q's Tent.  Although it'll cost you a card draw to Tent for him, you'll more than make it up in succeeding turns with your [OS] card plays, and it increases the probability you'll be able to start the drawing more quickly.

You can also use that special skill defensively, as a "magic bullet" for an opponent's OS deck.  (Instead of hindering the opponent's plans, his plans help yours.)  He even reports for free to K-7, and will work regardless of whether your opponent is doing Klingon OS or Fed OS.  Again, this Darvin's a Tent man if this is your strategy.  Since he can't be downloaded with Q the Referee and it's no use if you draw him in the bottom half of your deck, Q's Tent is again the ideal place for him as a defensive card.

So, what about those icons?  Staff, Original Series, not much to say about these.  He can't benefit from half of the Classic equipment, but can be downloaded with the Gr'oth and can staff it.  His [AU] icon doesn't help him as much as it does better personnel, for even though he can be STP-dropped, he still isn't very useful skill-wise (even though you can STP-drop Mickey D., that doesn't make him a good personnel) unless you're using his special skill, in which case you can't count on drawing him for the STP -- and he already reports for free at K-7 anyway.

But, he is a Federation infiltrator.  And, since he's not impersonating anybody, there's no chance of him being exposed by your opponent having a persona of him.  Unfortunately, he's not the best of infiltrators.  His CIVILIAN classification keeps him from Issuing Secret Orders, and your opponent could probably care less if you use Counterintelligence to subtract CIVILIAN, Treachery, and Klingon Intelligence from his skills.  Biology would be the only key one (for Aphasia Device), but since your opponent's playing Federation, there's a good chance he's got McCoy out as well, who'll simply zap it away.  (Not to mention that there's so much good (and easily obtainable) Biology: Bashir (either one), FC Crusher, Classic Medical Tricorder, and the Defend Homeworld-able Roga Danar.  Your opponent probably wouldn't miss the loss of his so-so attributes, either.  He could Dial Martok for Murder, but that's about it.  (And with only 10 STRENGTH, that eliminates many of the better potential targets: androids, Roga, etc.)

Furthermore, your opponent can ditch Darvin (or any infiltrator, for that matter) once there's three places his personnel can exist, such as an outpost with two ships docked there.  He can start splitting his crew in half, forcing the infiltrator to choose one crew or the other, while continually combining the rest of his crew into one place, until eventually the infiltrator's stuck with just one of them.  This sounds confusing, but really works.  Here's an example.  I have Picard, Data, Worf, Riker, and Troi on my Federation outpost with the Enterprise and Defiant docked.  You are infiltrating with Bashir Founder.  I move Picard and Data to the Enterprise.  The infiltrator can choose to either follow them or stay with the other three on the outpost.  Let's say he chooses to stay with Worf, Riker, and Troi.  Now, I move Riker and Troi to the Defiant.  Again, Bashir Founder can either go onto the Defiant or stay on the outpost.  Let's say he goes onto the Defiant.  Now, your opponent walks Riker back to the outpost. Whatever the infiltrator chooses to do, he'll be stuck with either Riker or Troi, and the rest of the personnel can beam to the Enterprise and leave, free of Bashir Founder.  And all of the choices in the above example are arbitrary.  As long as there's three places for your personnel to exist (for example, a planet and two ships in orbit would work), regardless of the infiltrator's choices, your opponent can quickly leave, keeping the infiltrator behind with one of his personnel.

As an infiltrator, he's rather weak.  About all for him to do is Dial Martok, but your opponent can ditch him even before you have a chance to do this.

But there is one sneaky trick dealing with his infiltration... To protect him if your opponent's playing Federation and you're using your opponent's Federation OS personnel for card draws.  If your opponent plays Kirk and threatens to kill Darvin to stop your card draws, infiltrate!  (Yes, this can be done on your opponent's turn).  Unless he's exposed by something odd like Caught Red-Handed, your opponent cannot kill him without a great deal of trouble.

The final verdict: A definite Tent card, regardless of your plans with him. If you're playing an OS deck, you want him ASAP.  Ditto if your opponent is; why not let him provide you with free draws?  And as for his infiltration?  If you're using it, it's more for a defensive use than an offensive one.  You'll be doing it for protection mostly... about all you can do with him on the offensive side is Dial Martok for Murder, and that's if your opponent doesn't ditch him. A surprisingly mediocre card for one of the key characters in the episode that gave the expansion its name.

Next, another old one: 1,000 Tribbles

Steve "Sergei Rachmaninoff" Boyles