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Major Rakal's Romulan Review #72: Tomalak (03/21/1999) |
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Aefvadh! My last couple of reviews have been on brand-new Romulan cards from The Dominion expansion. But looking back over the cards I have reviewed in the past, I see that there are quite a few older (premiere) Romulans that I have overlooked, mainly because there wasn't a whole lot to say about them. The Dominion, however, has given a few boosts to some of those "forgotten" cards. Let's look at one of them, Picard's nemesis at Galorndon Core and other places... TOMALAK
Ho, hum. For such an interesting character in a number of TNG episodes, poor Tomalak sure got the shaft on his card. Good heavens, even Sela was better than this. The uncommon Tebok was actually an improvement over Tomalak, losing 1 INTEGRITY (still at a safe 5) in exchange for an added Navigation. Even the [AU] version, Commander Tomalak, didn't add anything except for 1 INTEGRITY and the [AU] icon itself (and lost the matching commander status). Nevertheless, Tomalak has almost always had a place in my decks, for several reasons: because he was one of the few Romulans with a respectable INTEGRITY (i.e., Firestorm-proof), because his Diplomacy was usually needed to ensure enough to pass the ubiquitous Shakas when Dathon was on the bottom of my deck, and because he didn't have Treachery (and could benefit from D’Tan's INTEGRITY boost). I even built a Romulan Diplomacy deck once using both Tomalak and Commander Tomalak - solving Wormhole Negotiations with the Diplomacy x5 requirement instead of the Treachery x4, much to my opponent's astonishment. And have you ever seen a Romulan Q bypass deck? The Tomalaks were an important part of mine. However, more recently, Sirol's and Ruwon's additional skills have made Tomalak's Diplomacy + Leadership seem pretty anemic, and Senator Vreenak just leaves everyone in the dust. So where does that leave Tomalak? There are still reasons to use him, some old and some new. First, Tomalak is the only Romulan who is the matching commander for more than one ship. One is the powerful Decius, the most easily staffed of the [AU] capital ships (only one [AU] icon required) and the only Romulan ship with a holodeck. If you need its special qualities, download Tomalak with Ready Room Door and you're set for both of the ship enhancers. Even more important, the second ship he can command is the [univ] D’deridex. Close in stats to the "named" warbirds, the universal ship can be downloaded on your first turn to a Spacedoor-equipped outpost. Follow that up with the Ready Room Door download andyou're well on your way to a staffed capital ship that's eligible for hefty attribute boosts with the right cards. Second, he's an OFFICER. With the exception of Sirol, most of the other good Diplomacy personnel are V.I.P.s. While V.I.P.s have their own advantages, they can't pass Maglocks or use such useful Equipment cards as Medical and Engineering Kits, and can't initiate battle unless they have Leadership (most don't). Finally, Tomalak got two specific boosters in The Dominion. One is the ability to report for free at the Office of the Proconsul. If you intend to use this headquarters as a backup to your outpost anyway, why not make use of the personnel you can report for free? The other is the first mission solvable by a single, named Romulan. Investigate Coup is worth 30 points (immune to assimilation) and will make a fine addition to a Romulan Diplomacy deck which will probably include Tomalak anyway. I'm not putting Tomalak in mothballs any time soon. The Major's Combos:
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