Mot's Useless Card Review #50: Empathic Echo

This dilemma was wildly popular in Las Vegas this year, showing up in both Todd Soper and David Bowling's top finishing decks. (In multiple, no less!) What did this "useless" card do to capture everyone's attention?

Nothing. Actually, it's what the 12/96 FAQ did to it. It was in that document that the elements of dilemmas (including targets, triggers, and conditions) were first defined. It is important to remember this very important rule about interpreting dilemmas: if the trigger is absent, the dilemma is discarded; the absence of a target, however, will not necessarily result in the same.

Empathic Echo has no "if" clause, no trigger. It has a set of conditions ("unless SECURITY and MEDICAL present") and a consequence for failing to meet those conditions ("One personnel with Empathy present is killed"). It is important to distinguish that Empathy is a target here, not a trigger. Just because you don't have Empathy doesn't mean you pass the dilemma. In fact, since the phrase "discard dilemma" does not appear on this card, you have to overcome the conditions listed whether Empathy is present or not. (For a full explanation on how and why this works, I refer you to Major Rakal's Dilemma Facts.)

In simpler terms, Empathic Echo is a "wall" dilemma. One can interpret it as reading: "Away Team may not continue unless SECURITY and MEDICAL present. Also, one personnel with Empathy is killed if present." What's more, even if an empath is killed, the dilemma will go back under the mission, remaining there until it is overcome with SECURITY and MEDICAL.

And that's why it was so popular at the Championships. I doubt if one Empath was killed by an Empathic Echo all weekend. I guarantee you, however, that several dozen "red-shirters" were frustrated by it. The single most popular strategy of the event was to use outposts at space locations to quickly red-shirt away dilemmas, clearing the way for a full crew on a nearby ship. I used this, David used this, Todd used this, and so did nearly all of the finalists I played on Sunday.

Shaka When the Walls Fell was not a fully effective counter to this strategy. Every outpost red-shirter knows Shaka is a threat, and so nearly every Q’s Tent in Vegas had a Dathon for coverage. Shaka provided a one turn delay for your opponent while they Tented for Dathon, and rarely anything more.

Empathic Echo was a different story. Suddenly, your outpost team had to consist of at least two personnel, two good personnel, personnel you might not necessarily be able to Tent for. When your strategy is centered on red-shirting from outposts, being forced to commit two personnel to such a sacrifice is not part of the plan. What if the next dilemma is a Barclay’s Protomorphosis Disease? You'll lose both people. But what if you also commit a SCIENCE to the attempt, and the next dilemma turns out to be an Outpost Raid? Now your opponent can pick off your best two people!

It turns out that Empathic Echo is actually one of the best anti-redshirt dilemmas around. It's the set-up for a number of great one-two punches. Best of all, it works at both space and planet locations.

And who knows, you might even occasionally kill an Empath with it... ;-)