Martok
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| Martok |
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Wow! It has been a while. Since my last update we have seen a lot. The end of Deep Space Nine, then deaths of several characters and a peek at Blaze of Glory via Orgins '99. In the wake of the end of Deep Space Nine I thought I would do this review in honor of the new Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, Martok.
Well for STCCG he is not a Chancellor yet but he is an imposing Klingon that will find his way into every Klingon deck that is worth its salt and most that are not. Let us take a look at what makes Martok such a great addition to the Klingon Empire in The Dominion expansion to STCCG.
First off he has a good mix of skills to solve standard missions. Honor, Officer and Leadership are found on the majority of Klingon attemptable missions. He any three other Klingons with Integrity of 6 solves Investigate Disturbance. Martok and any one of the following, Kang, K'nera, Madred, Zon and Ty Kajada solve Investigate Incursion, with Kang and the Lukura likely being in a K'Vort armada Deck. He and Ch'Pok along with 4 other Klingons with INTEGRITY of 8 many of which you will be using anyway solves Pegasus Search and Study "Hole in Space". Wow a 85 points with all required skills covered on two Klingons for a possible 2 mission win even with the new event "The Big Picture" just throw in some bonus points. Martok and one AMS Honor Personnel solve Reported Activity since there are several take your pick. He and a Treachery personnel solve the universal mission Search for Weapons. Use Ch'Pok again or any of several Klingons with Treachery one of which is an AMS. He and Coutu or Solkar solve Gault alone. With Navigation x2 he and a Computer Skill solves Secret Salvage, Our old buddy Ch'Pok works again or maybe Narik as an AMS to help commandeer Empok Nor. Again with Ch'Pok or another Klingon with Biology he solves A Good Place to Die and Fever Emergency. With STRENGTH of 9 he is a good candidate for Brute Force especially with that special download of the D'k Tagh which gives each Klingon +1 STRENGTH, just don't forget to bring Worf Son of Mogh to Throw you over for Brute Force. Cloaked Mission can be solved by Martok and a Diplomacy Klingon. Team him up with Morka or Yeto to solve Explore Black Cluster. Reopen dig with Nu'Daq for 25 easy points. With Yeto and Morka you have a great combo for a Navigate Plasma Storms/Study Badlands Deck.
Perhaps you have already seen it but Team Martok up with Ch'Pok for the Klingon version of the Dynamic Duo. They can solve Search for Weapons, Secret Salvage, A Good Place to Die, Cloaked Mission and Fever Emergency all on their own. And with Study "Hole in Space" and Pegasus Search you have a space line that is balanced, has the potential for a 2 Mission win and fends off "The Big Picture". With only two personnel that cover all the required skills on 7 missions you will have lots of red shirts now that there will be a counter to Scans in Blaze of Glory. Holy teamwork Batman! Blow up your opponents ships and facilities and then use all those matching commanders as dilemma fodder and send in Martok and his buddy Ch'Pok to rake in the points. Holy blood bath Batman. Blam! Splat! Pow!
If you use Arbiter of Succession for the 10 bonus points you may end up using Martok as your new leader. With a STRENGTH of 9 all but the heartiest of warriors will be defeated if they have eyes on leading the Klingon Empire. Fek'lhr, Koral, Sisters of Duras and Worf Son of Mogh can defeat him and Gowron, Kargan, Mogh, and T'Kar having to settle for a stalemate. After all when was the last time you saw Fek'lhr or Koral in a deck? He also qualifies for the Bonus points for the Klingon Death Yell and benefits from Qapla'!
All of this is before telling you why Martok should be in every Klingon Affiliation deck. The reason I am sure is obvious to most of you is that last skill of his. Martok is the primary tactician for the Klingon Empire and it is easy now to see why. His bonus of plus two to each of you Klingon ships at his location is a force to be reckoned with. The bonus applies from the largest ships such as the I.K.C. Chang down to the universal K'Vort and includes the Cha'Joh as long as it is in Klingon mode. Just because the Sisters of Duras and Martok can't be in the same away team doesn't mean they can't fight in the same armada. When Blaze of Glory hits the stores there will be 7 ships that can both be downloaded to a Klingon Empok Nor with matching commanders, Rotarran, Pagh, Hegh'ta, Cha'Joh, Lukura, K'Ratak, Buruk all of which get Martok's bonus. With the Rotarran in front as a flagship your enemies will tremble in fear. Want a little more protection for the leader of the fleet? No problem just place him on the I.K.C. Negh'var. With weapons of 10 and shields of 9 he will command your fleet in safety, especially since he is also a matching commander to it. If you use Captain's Log, and who wouldn't, even the Borg will be afraid of your armada. With the new battle side deck your K'Vort armada will soon rule the alpha quadrant. After all the K'Vort is the mainstay of the Klingon Imperial Fleet. Since he is the matching commander of two ships he will even quicker to get into play.
As we can see Martok is a very flexible character who has a place in even the most unusual Klingon decks. He solves mission, can earn bonus points and is handy in both personal battle as well as in ship to ship combat. If you are playing Klingon and he is not in your deck well you will probably find your self in Sto-Vo-Kor sooner than you had planned.
Qapla'!
Koloth
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Koloth. This page last updated on November 23, 1999. |
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