It takes a little time sometimes

At first glance, not every new card in an expansion set jumps out at you. Quark, Little Green Man is probably one of those cards. Granted, the subtitle is a little humorous, especially if you're familiar with the Deep Space Nine episode it comes from, but otherwise this version of Quark isn't much to speak about.

Sure, he's got the useful skills of Anthropology and Physics, and of course he the harder-to-find-in-other-affiliations skill Acquisition. But, Acquisition isn't that rare amongst Ferengi affiliated personnel. Also, attributes of Integrity 4, Cunning 6 and Strength 4 are nothing to write home about.

But you see, this little green man takes some time to get good. Specifically, he takes "past" to get good -- as in the "past" icon. If he's present with a Past-icon personnel, Quark becomes an Integrity 5, Cunning 7, Strength 5 personnel with six skills (one of them a double helping of Acquisition) and he still only costs 2 counters. So, just include some Non-Aligned Past personnel in your Ferengi deck (like Silik, Chameleon or maybe Malik, Devious Augment from To Boldly Go) and ta-daah! Quark is better than ever.

Mind you, Quark gains Diplomacy and Treachery as his other skill boosts, so perhaps including him in a Deep Space Nine deck wouldn't be a bad idea either – note he does have the necessary reporting icon for that Celestial Temple.

And let's not forget that this version of Quark is the Commander of his own starship. Commander status is nothing to sneeze at in the Captain's Log set.

If you time it right, when you play this Quark, your opponent will be the only one green – green with envy!