Which McCoy is the Real McCoy?

Now that the mirror universe has introduced us to Leonard H. McCoy, Fiendish Physician, Original Series players will have a tough choice when deciding which version to add to their decks. While the original (non-mirror universe) Leonard H. McCoy, Chief Medical Officer allowed players to retrieve two overcome dilemmas from beneath an opponent's mission, the new (mirror universe) McCoy allows players to name and kill any personnel they like.

Both upgrade abilities offer different ways to slow your opponent down. The original McCoy forces your opponent to waste time overcoming dilemmas that will not stay overcome, while the new McCoy forces your opponent to deal with the sudden loss of important personnel (assuming you make a good choice when naming that personnel!). The version of McCoy you pick will likely depend upon your play style. If you like to play several dilemmas to stop every mission attempt, then the original McCoy will be the one of you. If you like to filter certain skills from your opponent's personnel, then this new McCoy will be a great help.

Like the original McCoy, the new McCoy can also be played multiple times during the same game. Altovar, Vindictive Criminal, and Pavel A. Chekov, Young Navigator may be the obvious choices for returning McCoy to hand, but there are other methods to consider as well. The missions Survey New World and Treat Plague Ship, and the event Necessary Evil, all offer creative ways to remove McCoy from play so that you can play another copy. You just need to be aware that these latter methods do not return McCoy to your hand, so you'll need to have a duplicate in hand in order to play him again the following turn.

When comparing skills and attributes, the new McCoy gains Science and a second Biology over the original McCoy. To balance these out though, the new McCoy loses the Honor and 3 Integrity of the original. Of all these differences, it is the Science skill that will likely make the greatest impact. Unknown Microorganism, the bane of many-a-player, will be easily overcome by the new McCoy's Biology, Medical and Science. The lower Integrity may also be an inconvenience when facing Gomtuu Shock Wave, but Standard Punishment should counteract this problem.

So which McCoy is the real McCoy? That's tough to answer. Both could be included in different decks, but which one will see play more often? My gut says the new Mirror McCoy is the real McCoy. What does your gut say?