The Blood-Dimmed Tide is Loosed

DUKAT: To the conquerors of the Federation.

WEYOUN: Aren't you being a bit premature?

DUKAT: I don't think so. Not with twenty-eight hundred Dominion ships waiting to come through that wormhole.

WEYOUN: Those ships aren't going to be here for another five hours, and need I remind you a lot can happen in that amount of time.

DUKAT: Tell me, Weyoun, have you ever been diagnosed as anhedonic?

WEYOUN: You think I'm incapable of experiencing joy just because I'm cautious?

DUKAT: We didn't defeat the Federation by being cautious.

WEYOUN: We haven't defeated it yet. And even if we do, it's only the beginning. Holding on to a prize as vast as the Federation isn't going to be easy. It's going to require an enormous number of ships, a massive occupation army and constant vigilance.

Phase II has had several successes but perhaps its greatest success was the revitalization of Terok Nor as a playable faction with a unique ability to attack an opponent’s dilemma pile. The possibility of doing so appeared way back in Raise the Stakes with Tenuous Alliance. However, without cards to support the mechanic and no way to benefit from having the dilemmas removed, the card remained binder fodder – if cool binder fodder – for 5 years. Then, Balance of Terror (BoT) was released and Terok Nor got play it hadn’t seen since the heady early days of Ruling Council two-mission win decks. Weyoun, Shrewd Strategist builds on the Phase II theme established in BoT and makes a new variation on the theme possible.

Post-BoT, and post Ruling Council eratta, most Terok Nor decks tend fall into one of three categories, which are each played to varying degrees of success. There’s Terok Nor dissident mill decks, which can work great if no one sees them coming – these don’t rely on dilemma mill at all. Then there’s solvers, which mill just enough to get some of the benefit to power cards like Dukat, Dominion Puppet, Edan'Atal, or Untapped Influence. Then, there’s the full War of Attrition + Undermined Defenses deck that works towards getting the critical 10 dilemmas removed from the game and then excludes all personnel from random selection for that miracle two or three-mission turn. And while none of the deck-types listed above, except for this deck which benefited immensely from the element of surprise, have ever won a major event, several have finished on the podium, including this one, and this one, and they’re fun to play.

This new Weyoun continues that tradition, and doesn’t disappoint. Weyoun, Shrewd Strategist works well in slimmer versions of War of Attrition decks, if you don’t mind sacrificing the download. But, since many of these decks feature draw decks in the 60-80 card-size midrange solver category, losing the ability to find the cards you need can be a real risk. On the other hand, the added speed of a 2-cost personnel with a might make up for that loss in the right build. But, where this Weyoun can really shine is in the post-Phase II solver. His skills may not be well aligned to some of the more popular missions – he doesn’t get you anywhere with Penetrate Enemy Lines or Survey New World, and his strength is too low to make him a viable option for Betazed, Occupy Homeworld. However, he does retain his Leadership, and his 2 Treachery will help with Kressari Rendevous if that’s your thing. What this crafty Vorta brings to the table is his ability to begin engagements to remove a dilemma from the game for each one you win.

By itself, this ability is novel, and having a 2-cost Weyoun might be worth an include in the solver deck to stay ahead of an opponent. But, paired with cards like The Dominion Will Prevail and Delta Pavonis, Secure Expansion that one engagement can get three cards placed under your non-HQ missions and one card removed from the game. That’s for each engagement won. If you can get two ships in play, you can have him out winning engagements while your other ship’s team, perhaps led by any of the incarnations of his despotic Cardassian counterpart, can be out attempting and taking full advantage of the carnage. The mill mechanic can be further supported by Damar, Resourceful Supervisor, Inevitable Triumph, Kira Nerys, Grudging Ally, Rayva, Bureaucratic Ally and Revok, Eager Ally which should all help when it comes time to complete the occupation of Betazed! Inevitable Triumph can also preserves some control that really helps the War of Attrition deck while Kira could give the a few extra counters to really jumpstart a turn. A dilemma pile for this deck would do well to support engagements by slowing an opponent down with walls that damage their ships. Crippling Strike in the draw deck could support this mechanic. While a deck like this might have worked to limited degree in the past, Zero Hour’s new Weyoun and Delta Pavonis really bring the idea together. So, go forth and make the Alpha Quadrant yours. Loose the blood-dimmed tide!

An example of what this deck might look is included here.