Matthew Dougherty, Misguided Admiral

Matthew Dougherty has four skills and costs four - not really a bargain, even when you add in his Admiral keyword. Sure he has Treachery, a rare skill among Federation types, along with standards Diplomacy, Officer and Leadership. He is meager to say the least at Integrity 3, Cunning 6, and Strength 5. So what makes him so much fun at parties?

Matthew Dougherty's real power lies in his game text, which allows you to destroy one of your fully staffed Earth or Next Generation ships to make the rest of your personnel attributes plus three (until the end of your turn). Suddenly, a crew of low-attribute weenies can become a powerful force. Losing a staffed ship is still a big deal, however. You don't want to blow-up a ship with Data, Pinocchio, or James T. Kirk, Living Legend aboard. However, it is not such a difficult sacrifice to make with a ship full of low-cost Cadets. You could load a few aboard an Excelsior and send it off to that great space graveyard.

You could even combine Matthew Dougherty's boost with Leonard H. McCoy, Remarkable Man before you have completed a mission for a plus-five boost to your personnel's attributes. More than likely, however, by the time you can use Matthew Dougherty's text, you will have completed a mission. The strategy behind this card is really a late game one. If you use this card, do not wait until you can use him to start attempting missions. Ideally you would want to be able to go after your final mission with a minimum number of personnel. Another great thing is that the attribute boost lasts all turn. If you still have multiple missions to attempt, you can go for all of them in one shot. Finally, this boost to attributes applies at all times - even during combat - so if you are being harassed by a battle-crazy opponent, you can beef-up your team, hopefully avoiding further deaths. In the end, I like this card because it goes beyond the normal. It takes planning to use, and with proper set-up, can be a powerful card in your next deck.