Mot's Useless Card Review #85: Energy Vortex

Star Wars fans may recognize this card, the original "It Can Wait."

This Trek version of the card isn't quite as popular as its Wars counterparts. Far from useless, however, you might think of Energy Vortex as the companion for Goddess of Empathy. Where the Goddess locks out Interrupt cards for a turn, Energy Vortex can lock out any non-Interrupt card until next turn. And there's a wide variety of things you can do in even a single turn.

The personnel your opponent is about to steal your mission with can be forced back into their hand. What's more, they'll have tipped their hand as to where they're going. You can very likely make it there first with your extra turn. Speaking of blocking personnel - that lone Computer Skill personnel trying to commandeer your station away from you on the first turn would be a good Vortex target. How many different Computer Skill personnel will your opponent be able to report to your station on the first turn?

How about Vortexing the Montana Missile Complex just after your opponent retrieved it from their Q’s Tent? One turn may not seem like much of a reprieve from a field trip, but what if you've got a Telepathic Alien Kidnappers in your hand? Play it and call "Time Location" on your turn, pick the right card, and you've totally shut down that strategy!

One turn can be a major delay to many of the more popular strategies out there today. To a Red Alert! abusers, one turn is an eternity. Against Thought Fire players looking to drop The Traveler: Transcendence so they can Mirror Image it to you, one turn is a major opportunity to score points without interference. It can be a powerful weapon in a ship-deprivation deck. Computer Crash will keep your opponent from downloading any ships, while Energy Vortex will keep them from playing any from their hand.

There are literally as many uses for Energy Vortex as there are cards you can target with it. So perhaps you'll consider installing a whirlpool in your deck.