by PJ Bolin
Apex Insiders! Welcome again to another of my articles! Today, I will be reviewing the Star Trek Away Team: The Original Series, and giving my opinions on what to look for when playing Sealed. First and foremost, nothing in this set is more than 100 points, keep that in mind when you open your boosters. You will very likely be playing 5-7 pieces on your build, and there is nothing wrong with that! Second, you should probably abandon the idea of playing a Themed Team. While there are many pieces that share keywords throughout the set, there are enough to break theme quite simply when you are trying to fill your force. Third, let’s look at the pieces (please note that the pieces I select are not the ONLY ones you should look for, there are plenty of other solid pieces that I will not be mentioning.)
001 Romulan Centurion:
Very simple piece here, Sidestep, Perplex and 6-Range for 25 points. This guy will likely be an inclusion in every team that opens him.
006 Lt. Kyle
Not only will this guy see a ton of play in constructed, he will also be an immediate inclusion in most Sealed teams. 25 points for Sidestep and TK. Nothing else to add there, just incredibly solid for what he does.
007 Ensign Chekov
Running Shot, Precision Strike, Energy Shield/Deflection, Prob. All for 45 points. He has a measly 5-Range, but that isn’t too big of an issue. Being one of the few Probs in the set, this is another must play.
012 Tribbles
I just wanted to mention this. Tribbles are awful in sealed, don’t play them, even if you have 5 points to spare, just don’t.
016 Mr. Scott
This guy is very interesting. If you have no need to use objects on your force, this guy is an excellent way to utilize them. By stockpiling objects into him, he can use multiple Perplexes in a turn. MOVE OVER Uni-Mind, MR. SCOTT IS HERE. All kidding aside, multiple Perplexes in a sealed format is quite good. 5 clicks deep for 50 points is a good investment, with decent offensive powers toward the end of his dial.
018 The Keeper
This one is slightly deceptive. He doesn’t look as good as he actually is. 40 points gives you a Barrier piece that also has Willpower. He also has a stunning 8-Range! Sidestep allows easy advancement without receiving tokens, and also allows you to Barrier to protect your advances. Combining some Leadership with him, will be an effective way of maintaining a safety net.
021 Klingon Captain
60 points with Hypersonic! What’s not to love, other than his reasonably low combat values…but that is assisted by the amount of easily accessed Perplex. Pretty solid piece here, if you can combine him with some other Klingons, he can be borderline impossible to deal with.
022 Yeoman Rand
Token removal! Something that we do not see enough of. 25 points with Sidestep and Willpower, then she also has her excellent attack power that allows you to remove a token from someone 50 points or lower (most of this set) or 100 points or lower if they are Starfleet (again, nothing in this set is over 100). This is an absolutely incredible piece, and I firmly believe she will see play in constructed. Must play in sealed!
025 Lt. Leslie
Not much to talk about on him, but having to die twice is pretty darn good. Dial is very wysiwyg (what you see is what you get, pronounced: Whiz-ee-wig). Not many people will want to dedicate any attacks at a guy that they know they cannot easily kill, so Leslie is likely able to get a couple Energy explosion shots off before finally biting the bullet…or phaser….or giant blob….
026 Captain Kirk
As much as I think the title character has potential outside of sealed, I am not too thoroughly impressed with how they are in Sealed itself. You will pretty much never get to activate their Transporter abilities, since you will likely be playing the vast majority of the pieces that you pull. With that being said, their dials aren’t bad at all. Kirk here is one of the best attackers in this set, and comes in at a rare slot. He possesses a very strong 8 clicks, each of which have a fairly decent power combination set. This guy will likely be on every team he is opened for.
026 Klingon Commander
Leadership isn’t overly common in the set, so I would recommend taking it wherever you can get it. Especially considering that you will likely be able to utilize the extra action, seeing as you will almost definitely be playing more than 3 pieces. His dial isn’t super impressive and he only has leadership on top click. He is by no means an auto-play, but it is definitely a piece that you should consider utilizing for the Leadership.
029 Lt. Uhura
Another excellent piece in the rare slot! These are always great to see. Her “Communications Officer” trait will likely be only mildly useful in a sealed environment, HOWEVER her Perplex is phenomenal, and will always be useful. Ignoring everything but characters to utilize a Perplex is great. Play her if you get her!
030 Romulan Subcommander
50 point Prob! Mediocre values and a Prob are enough to ensure that he will see play on most teams that open him. I wish this guy was just an uncommon, though.
031 M-113 Creature
Super Senses AND Shape Change for his entire dial. Now that is just obnoxious. Not a whole heck of a lot of Outwit floating around this set, so he should always have his multiple roll-outs. His dial is fairly lackluster, but he does punish those that try to breakaway from him. He would be much more exciting if you had any character with Flight in the set…
032 Mugato
This is oddly one of the bombs of the set, in my opinion. 7 clicks of life with Toughness and reasonable values. With no move and attack, he will take some finesse to utilize, but once he is in position, whether by moving, or with a TK, he will absolutely wreak havoc on the opposing team. Hitting with a solid 3-Damage and adding an action token, OR dealing penetrating damage! Excellent package for 60/40.
035 Horta
The other winner of the sealed category. Excellent values for 100 points or 75. I prefer him at 100, since he has Impervious and 4-Damage. His low 10-Attack will need to have some help however. Horta will be an absolute MONSTER (pun totally intended) against any team that intends to be up close and personal. Factor in that he has a STOP click at the end, and this guy will end up on about every team that can.
036 Mr. Spock
Love this piece a lot. Traited Barrier is automatically something to be desired, let alone a Barrier that just deals penetrating damage because it can. Coming in at 100 points, with 7 clicks of life, he is pretty well costed. The top dial Stealth, and the Mastermind that he is toting for the first 2 clicks can really help ensure you get the walls rolling. Also, Mirror Universe TA = Mystics, so that’s always a good thing to have in a set with almost no Invincible.
039 Kor
Title character number 2 to show up on the list! Again, you likely won’t be able to fully utilize the Transporter power, due to the Sealed environment, but Kor is still worth using. 8 clicks of life and a pretty standard close combat power set is good. I think his +1 ability is what will make him worth playing. Since it’s fairly simple to plan on the fact that you will be playing more than 3 figures (as discussed earlier) adding 2 actions to your action total (that stacks with leadership) will just be golden. Another must play piece.
040 Christopher Pike
Outwit isn’t overly common in this set, and Chris here has a pretty neat one to utilize. Fairly standard dial, nothing overly spectacular, but definitely worth using if you open him.
041 Charvanek
Last, but certainly not least, we have our 3rd title character making its way into this list. She likely has the worst title abilities of the bunch, being as you can only Perplex opposing with her +1, but she also has the best dial. Another 100 point piece with 8 clicks of life! However, she has an astonishing 5 clicks of Mastermind, and 5 clicks of Prob (albeit spread out). With Sidestep to make her advances to utilize his PB, she will be a terror on the battlefield!
042 Ruk
One of the most cut and dry pieces thusfar. Sidestep, Stealth, Invuln, Super Strength, Indom and Shapechange top dial. That makes for quite the package for 75 points, and he has to robot keyword. That’s relevant because I like robots, nothing more, nothing less… Definitely worth using if you open him. He will likely do exactly what you expect. Run up and punch stuff and then die eventually, once they can get through all the power he has available.
043 Gorn
The bomb! If you open him, you SHOULD be favored to win the event! Phenomenal values, and a stupidly long dial, with innate healing capabilities. His dial is very plain, but it will take miracles to chew through this guy while also dealing with the remaining parts of their team.
044 Trelane
Another must play piece if you open it. Comboing him with Yeoman Rand will make for a disgusting amount of re-roll capabilities. 4 clicks for 50 points is typically awful, but he does come packing a STOP click, and a die to change your opponents attack rolls, so he should typically be fairly safe.
045 Shahna
A whopping 25 points as a super rare! Isn’t that a little depressing? Well, don’t be down if you open her, because she is great for her points! 4 clicks deep with a pretty solid dial for close combat. Handing out Perplex to another teammate is something that would be very useful when paired with the right friends!
046 Yarnek
Another solid piece in the super rare slot. He is awkwardly a dedicated support piece that may end up benefitting your opponent. However, he will not die very easily, as he has 5 clicks of Invincible. Holding Empower and enhancement, Yarnek will be great to move around in formations at either point value.
Chases
Not going to dive into details on the chases. They are painfully obvious to be the best pieces in the set. If you open one, play it, and then fill in the rest of the team. None of them are bad, they all outclass the rest of the set (with a couple small exceptions).
Well guys, that’s it for my Star Trek Away Team: The Original Series sealed primer! I hope you enjoyed it! I look forward to bringing more content to you guys whenever possible.
