STCCG (1E) Tutorial Open Format Seed Phase (Part 3 of 4) (Dilemmas) v1.1 (5/26/2009)

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas During the Dilemma sub-phase, we primarily seed Dilemmas (duh) – A Dilemma is an obstacle that your opponent must overcome before he can solve a Mission

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas During the Dilemma sub-phase, we primarily seed Dilemmas (duh) – A Dilemma is an obstacle that your opponent must overcome before he can solve a Mission We can also seed Artifacts – Artifacts are cards that gives you powerful abilities; they must be first earned by solving Missions before you can use them

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas During the Dilemma sub-phase, we primarily seed Dilemmas (duh) – A Dilemma is an obstacle that your opponent must overcome before he can solve a Mission We can also seed Artifacts – Artifacts are cards that gives you powerful abilities; they must be first earned by solving Missions before you can use them We can also seed cards that allow seeding during this phase in their game text Here’s an example of a Doorway that “Seeds like a dilemma;” hence, it seeds during the Dilemma sub-phase.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas During the Dilemma sub-phase, we primarily seed Dilemmas (duh) – A Dilemma is an obstacle that your opponent must overcome before he can solve a Mission We can also seed Artifacts – Artifacts are cards that gives you powerful abilities; they must be first earned by solving Missions before you can use them We can also seed cards that allow seeding during this phase in their game text Here’s an example of a Facility (a Station) that seeds during the Dilemma phase.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas Each Dilemma and Artifact “seeds” face down underneath a Mission location. Other cards that seed during the Dilemma sub-phase may or may not seed face down underneath a Mission, depending on their game text

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas Typically, you will want to seed your Dilemmas underneath your opponent’s Missions, and seed your Artifacts underneath your own Missions – You are not limited to this strategy, however

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas Let’s assume for the moment that you only have Dilemmas and Artifacts to seed. – This means that you should have 30 total Dilemmas and Artifacts Remember, there is a 30-card limit to your Seed deck Also remember, Missions and Sites seed “for free,” so they do not count against your 30-card limit Let’s also continue to assume that you won the coin toss before the Seed phase began.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas There are some specific rules for seeding Dilemmas and Artifacts – Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already seeded there. Thus, when you attempt a Mission during the Play phase, you will encounter the bottom seed card – the last card that was seeded – first. (Much more on this later). – Dilemmas with a Planet icon, and Artifacts, seed underneath any Mission with a Planet icon. – Dilemmas with a Space icon, and Artifacts who game text specifically allows it, seed underneath any Mission with a Space icon.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas There are some specific rules for seeding Dilemmas and Artifacts (cont.) – Dilemmas with a Space/Planet Icon may seed underneath Planet or Space Missions. – You may not seed more than one copy of any card under the same Mission. – You may seed as many different Dilemmas as you like under each Mission, but only one Artifact Some cards, like Cryosatellite or Orb Negotiations, allow exceptions to this rule (we’ll take a look at those later) If you illegally seed two or more Artifacts at the same location, all of your Artifacts there are considered mis-seeded.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas There are some specific rules for seeding Dilemmas and Artifacts – Some game text allows you to seed Personnel or Equipment beneath Missions. Like Dilemmas and Artifacts, these cards are seeded face down, and are earned when you solve the Mission. – You may seed Q-Icon Dilemmas under Missions only if you have previously seeded the card Beware Of Q, or if the card’s game text allows for it to be seeded (e.g., Hide And Seek). Don’t worry, we’ll get to these later, too.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas There are some specific rules for seeding Dilemmas and Artifacts (cont.) – Any cards seeded under Missions in a manner other than described previously are considered mis-seeds and are placed out-of-play upon discovery (that is, during a mission attempt, when these seed cards are encountered ). – In addition to accidental mis-seeds, a player might deliberately mis-seed planet dilemmas under a space Mission, or non-seed cards, such as Tactic cards, under a Mission, as a bluff. Note that if you reveal your own mis-seeded cards during a Mission or scouting attempt, you may not complete and score points from that Mission, or any Objective targeting it.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas Whew! And you thought the Mission phase was complicated. Let’s go over these Dilemma phase rules, one at a time.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” Let’s assume that the current spaceline just consists of two missions: A Good Day To Live is your Mission. It is a Planet Mission, denoted by this icon. Characterize Neutrino Emissions is your opponent’s Mission. It is a Space Mission, denoted by this icon.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” The first Dilemma you decide to seed is Emergency Conversion. This icon indicates that it only legally seeds underneath Space Missions.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” Place your Dilemma underneath your opponent’s Mission, face down. On his turn, your opponent does the same with his Seed card, whatever it may be.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” With the first round of seeding complete, here’s what the spaceline looks like. Here’s the next Dilemma you decide to seed, Gravimetric Distortion. Like our previous Dilemma, this one is space-only.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” Like before, we slide the cards underneath, face down.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” With the second round of seeding complete, here’s what the spaceline looks like. Here’s the final dilemma you decide to seed, Hazardous Duty. Unlike our previous dilemmas, which were Space-only, this one is Planet/Space. This means that it can legally seed underneath Planet and Space Missions. Let’s do one more round.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” Like before, we slide the cards underneath, face down.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” With the third round of seeding complete, here’s what the spaceline looks like.

The Seed Phase “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” Let’s talk about seed order. Recall that we seeded our Dilemmas underneath our opponent’s mission in “reverse” order. Emergency Conversion was seeded first… Followed by Gravimetric Distortion… Followed by Hazardous Duty. That means that Emergency Conversion is this card here… Gravimetric Distortion is this card here… And Hazardous Duty is this card here.

The Seed Phase “Whenever you seed a card beneath a Mission, that card always goes on the bottom of any other cards already stacked there.” When our opponent attempts Characterize Neutrio Emissions, the first card he will encounter will be the bottommost one on the stack. That means he’ll first encounter Hazardous Duty… Followed by Gravimetric Distortion… Followed by Emergency Conversion. Hazardous Duty Gravimetric Distortion Emergency Conversion Seed order can be very confusing. Hopefully now you understand what it means.

The Seed Phase “Dilemmas with a Planet icon, and Artifacts, seed underneath any Mission with a Planet icon.” Now let’s look at a number of situations that could cause a mis-seed. Remember, revealing a mis- seeded card can have all sorts of side effects. Our example Mission is Khitomer Research, a Planet Mission. Horta may legally seed at this Mission, because it has a Planet icon. The Genesis Device may legally seed at this Mission, because it is an Artifact. Emergency Conversion, however, has a Space icon, and so would be considered a mis-seed when encountered. As a result, it would be placed out-of-play immediately, without any of its game text taking effect.

The Seed Phase “Dilemmas with a Space icon, and Artifacts who game text specifically allows it, seed underneath any Mission with a Space icon.” Our example Mission is Pegasus Search, a Space Mission. Ankari “Spirits” may legally seed underneath this Mission, because it has a Space icon. Phased Cloaking Device is an Artifact that may legally seed underneath this Space Mission, because it specifically says so in its game text. Volcanic Eruption has a Planet icon, and so it would be considered a mis-seed when revealed. The Genesis Device would also be considered a mis-seed, since it’s an Artifact, and has no special game text allowing it to seed underneath Space Missions.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Dilemmas with a Space/Planet Icon may seed underneath Planet or Space Missions.” Here are a few examples of Dilemmas with Space/Planet icons. Space/Planet Dilemmas can seed underneath Space or Planet Missions, no problemo. As a consequence, they’re very versatile.

The Seed Phase “You may seed as many different Dilemmas as you like under each Mission, but only one Artifact” When seeding Dilemmas, you can’t legally seed more than one copy of the same Dilemma underneath a Mission So, any thoughts you might have had about seeding 4 copies of Armus underneath every of your opponent’s Planet Missions, you can check those at the door. When encountered, all copies of Armus beyond the first would be considered duplicates, and thus, would be considered mis-seeds, and thus, would be placed out-of-play without taking effect. So, be sure to mix up your Dilemmas – it’s good strategy, and it’s the rules. I’m going to eat you, Commander Riker

The Seed Phase “You may seed as many different Dilemmas as you like under each Mission, but only one Artifact” The rules for seeding Artifacts are even more restrictive than the ones for seeding Dilemmas. You can only seed one Artifact at a Mission. That’s it, one, uno, ein, ich, un, that’s it. So, any thoughts you might have had about seeding both The Genesis Device and the Tantalus Field at the same mission, you can check those at the door too. If you seed two or more Artifacts at the same Mission, ALL of your Artifacts are considered mis-seeded, and are placed out-of-play upon discovery. Ouch, babe. The moral of the story – if you want to seed Artifacts, seed one, and only one. Of course, there are a few exceptions…

The Seed Phase “You may seed as many different Dilemmas as you like under each Mission, but only one Artifact” Cards with game text can override this rule (similar to how the Mission Space overrides the “no-insert” rule, described previously) For example, the Mission Orb Negotiations allows multiple Orb Artifacts to seed at its location. So, at this Mission, you could seed the Orb of Prophecy and Change, the Orb of Wisdom, and the Orb of Time, as an example. And everything would still be nice and legal and kosher. Of course, when your opponent sees you seeding lots of cards underneath your own Mission, he might plop a load of Dilemmas down there to stop you.

The Seed Phase “Some game text allows you to seed Personnel or Equipment beneath Missions. Like Dilemmas and Artifacts, these cards are seeded face down, and are earned when you solve the Mission.” Here’s an example of a Mission that allows you to seed Personnel underneath it. Let’s discuss the keyword earned for a moment. To earn something (be it an Artifact, or Personnel, or Equipment, etc.) means that you must first solve the Mission the item is seeded underneath. Just because you encounter an Artifact during a Mission attempt doesn’t mean you’ve earned it. You have to solve the Mission first. Once you do, then the Artifact is yours – you’ve earned it.

The Seed Phase “You may seed Q-Icon Dilemmas under Missions only if you have previously seeded the card Beware Of Q, or if the card’s game text allows for it to be seeded (e.g., Hide And Seek).” Beware of Q is a special Objective card that allows you to seed Q-Icon Dilemmas as if they were regular Space/Planet dilemmas. However, Beware of Q would allow a Q-Icon Dilemma like I Tried To Warn You to seed as if it were a regular Space/Planet dilemma. Normally, a Q-Icon Dilemma can only be encountered as part of a Q-Flash (remember the Q-Continuum side deck you saw earlier)?

The Seed Phase “You may seed Q-Icon Dilemmas under Missions only if you have previously seeded the card Beware Of Q, or if the card’s game text allows for it to be seeded (e.g., Hide And Seek).” Hide and Seek is another special Q-Icon card. It has special game text that allows it to be seeded like a regular Space/Planet Dilemma.

The Seed Phase “In addition to accidental mis-seeds, a player might deliberately mis-seed planet dilemmas under a space Mission, or non- seed cards, such as Tactic cards, under a Mission, as a bluff.” Let’s say your opponent’s Missions look like this (oriented towards you for clarity): You did not anticipate your opponent playing with so many Planet missions. The only dilemmas you have left in your Seed deck are Space dilemmas. After seeding Dilemmas underneath 5 of his Missions, you realize you have a problem: You decide to bluff, and seed your Space dilemma underneath Agricultural Assessment. Hopefully, it will be enough to deter your opponent from attempting it. The downside is that if your opponent does attempt this Mission, the dilemma will be considered a mis-seed and placed out-of-play.

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas “Note that if you reveal your own mis- seeded cards during a Mission or scouting attempt, you may not complete and score points from that Mission, or any Objective targeting it.” This rule is designed to prevent you from deliberately mis-seeding (e.g., seeding Space dilemmas and an Artifact underneath your opponent’s Planet mission, then solving the Mission to earn the Artifact.) Nobody likes a cheater. Don’t do this, ever. If you do, word will spread like wildfire, and no one will play with you ever again. Mmmm-kay?

The Seed Phase - Dilemmas The Dilemma sub-phase is the most complex portion of the Seed phase. – There is much strategy involved in seeding your cards in the proper order (“reverse” order, as discussed previously), and in trying to ascertain where your opponent might be seeding Artifacts. – Depending on how you have constructed your Dilemmas, you might be forced to resort to bluffing to cover all of your opponent’s Missions. Upon completion of the Dilemma sub-phase, we can move onto the Facility sub-phase.