Executive Authorization (#4, R)
Planet Dilemma
Icons: Trouble with Tribbles
Before Benjamin Sisko and Admiral Leyton could implement extreme security measures on Earth in 2372, they had to obtain authorization from Federation President Jaresh-Inyo.
To get past requires a President, High Council Leader, General, Legate, Chancellor, Proconsul, Chairman, Intendant, Minister, Kai, Founder, Nagus, Governor, Queen, counterpart, or PADD.

Although there's so many ways to pass this dilemma -- so many that they couldn't fit the regular "ORs" onto the card -- many decks will often be stalled for a little bit while they get the necessary personnel.  The reason?  Most of these personnel are V.I.P.s with little use elsewhere, so many players will stock them in Q's Tent in case of Executive Authorization: in general, they're not worth stocking in multiple so you are guaranteed to draw one; however, if this dilemma pops up, you *need* them.  There's no way around it (unless playing Borg) unless you've got one of those.

I'll start by listing the personnel that *can* pass this dilemma (a big thank you to Major Rakal for her ranks and titles list):

President: Jaresh-Inyo. High Council Leader: Gowron, K'mpec General: General Hazar, General Krim, Martok, Martok Founder, Movar, Thot Gor, Thot Pran, Velal Legate: Broca, Legate Damar, Parn, Tekeny Ghemor, Turrel Chancellor: Marouk Proconsul: Neral Chairman: Nilva, Senator Vreenak, Koval Intendant: none Minister: First Minister Shakaar, Jaro Essa, Minister Rozahn Kai: Kai Opaka, Kai Winn Founder: Bashir Founder, Founder, Founder Leader, Kira Founder, Krajensky Founder, Leyton Founder, Lovok Founder, Martok Founder, O'Brien Founder, Odo Founder Nagus: Grand Nagus Gint, Grand Nagus Zek, Krax (if you have no other nagus in play) Governor: Governor Worf, Torak, Vagh Queen: Borg Queen Counterpart: Bareil of Borg, Dukat of Borg, Gowron of Borg, Locutus of Borg, Tomalak of Borg, any counterpart you've assimilated PADD: Bajoran PADD, Cardassian PADD, Dominion PADD, Engineering PADD, Federation PADD, Ferengi PADD, Klingon PADD, Medical PADD, Romulan PADD, Science PADD

That's a lot of different ways, but you don't see too many of those personnel in the average deck.  Note that the Dominion (and the Borg, to a lesser extent) are virtually immune to this dilemma, as they will include the necessary personnel almost by default.  Just like In the Pale Moonlight and Founder Secret, Executive Authorization is no problem for a Dominion deck as they almost all will be using multiple Founders.  Similarly, almost every Borg player who has them will use the Queen, and often one of her counterparts as well.  (Or, if all else fails, it can be Adapt-ed through.)

Dominion and Borg aside, which personnel can you expect to see?  Jaresh-Inyo occasionally; General Krim, Martok, and Velal see frequent play, as does Legate Damar.  Nilva's often used for a Painstik-proof Writ man, and Vreenak and Koval find their way into almost any Romulan deck.  First Minister Shakaar's a nearly automatic inclusion for Bajoran decks, and either of the Kais is decent as well.  Similarly, Naguses are easy to find, especially with the 1st Rule download.

Note that the Romulans shouldn't have a hard time with this either, as Vreenak, Koval, and Velal are fixtures in many Romulan decks, plus the occasional Movar in a heavy HQ deck.

Another thing to note is, on the list of commonly used personnel that pass this dilemma, only one or two exists for most affiliations.  That means the odds of drawing it are significantly less, and that there's a greater chance that all of them will be killed by dilemmas, battle, etc.

One last thing about the personnel needed to do this: a large number can be downloaded by either Assign Support Personnel or Defend Homeworld -- one of the advantages to not using the ASP or DH download right off the bat. Unless there's a specific personnel I'm after (such as Lore if playing RBM, Koval if playing Tal Shiar, Velal or Cretak if playing battle) I find the better course is to wait and see what dilemmas require.  If you use your DH first turn on Lore and then run into a dilemma like this, you may be waiting around for a turn or two; on the other hand, if you save the DH, there's a good chance you can grab one of the needed personnel.

Whew.  Now that that's over with, let's see if we can combo this dilemma effectively.  What are some of the common features among the listed personnel?  Low STRENGTH is one of them, so you can often pick one off with a Common Thief (or get a shot at the PADD).  With this comes the ever-present quandary about how to order dilemmas:  Filter/Killer - Wall to try to keep the opponent from passing the wall; or Wall - Filter/Killer to ensure that there's somebody good to kill off.  For example, you can order the combo Common Thief - Executive Authorization, hoping that your opponent will have one of the valuable personnel in the Away Team for you to nab. However, there's no guarantee that he won't attempt the mission *without* the necessary personnel, thus wasting the Thief on a different purpose.  If you do it the other way, you ensure that one of the V.I.P.s (or a PADD) can be selected, but you've let your opponent through the wall.

One potentially profitable (albeit risky) way to take advantage of this dilemma is to seed multiples of the Executive Authorization - killer of choice combo.  For example, if the only way your opponent can pass this is with Jaresh-Inyo, and you pick him off, your opponent will be hurting until he can get him back.  And the risk?  If your opponent's playing Romulan, Dominion, or Borg, he'll walk right through your combos.  Focusing dilemmas, while intensifying the effect *if it works,* also carries the risk that your opponent will have an excess of the required personnel and waltz right through all your dilemmas.  Also, it's planet-only, so a space-themed deck may only encounter one (if any) Executive Authorization all game long.

Also, there is one Interrupt "counter" to this card: Going to the Top. There's a lot of overlap between the ranks downloadable by G3T and required by Executive Authorization, so this is an easy way to get the necessary personnel.

The final verdict: I realize I haven't made much of a point in this review, so I'll try to wrap things up here.  This dilemma is often a good stopper for a turn or two.  Don't rely on holding back your opponent for too long, and don't overuse it -- Romulans and Borg are two of the most popular affiliations right now.  It can combo well with killers, but I haven't experimented around with it enough to say for certain how effective it is. Will I use it?  Sometimes.  Personally, I'd never put more than one in a deck given the variety of good walls out there.  But it's definitely useful... the latest of Decipher's attempts to try to get us to use Neral and PADDs.  Sorry, not quite enough.  Too many useful personnel alternatives.

Next, new Empok Nor dilemma #1: Ferengi Infestation

Steve "Sergei Rachmaninoff" Boyles