Magic: The Gathering continues to explore the far reaches of crossovers, with a stop by some strange new worlds in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek set. Wizards of the Coast is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the iconic science fiction franchise with a Magic set that explores every entry in the series. No frontier is going to be left without exploration!
Wizards of the Coast is really doing its homework to capture as much of the spirit of Star Trek as possible – from the Original Series to the modern-day Paramount+ incarnations. Just like other Universes Beyond sets, characters, settings, and other iconography are clearly incorporated into every aspect of the design. But in Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek, mechanical design is the clearest way the set communicates what is so special about the franchise.
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Most obviously, Spacecraft returns from 2025’s Edge of Eternities to represent the vast amount of starships that make up the most iconic part of Star Trek. The USS Enterprise–D, Galaxy-Class card is an excellent example, taking either the first or second ship a fan would think of when hearing “Enterprise” (depending on how old they are) and creating a reliable card engine with beautiful art. Spacecraft also gets a special schematic frame that simulates the ship’s status on a monitor from the bridge.
U.S.S. Enterprise–D, Galaxy-Class | 3 Colorless Mana
Legendary Artifact – Spacecraft
Whenever one or more charge counters are put on U.S.S. Enterprise-D for the first time each turn, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
Station (Tap another creature you control: Put charge counters equal to its power on this Spacecraft. Station only as a sorcery. It’s an artifact creature at 7+.)
7+ Charge Counters: Flying, vigilance
4/5
While Spacecraft are evocative in general, their use in Edge of Eternities leaves a little bit to be desired. It’s a mechanic that veers conservative in gameplay. As a result, Spacecraft have not made much of a splash across formats, save for Commander decks dedicated to them.
The Enterprise–D suggests that Star Trek will push the line a bit on the mechanics. For the cost of any creature with 1 or more power being tapped, the Enterprise–D gives that player an additional card each turn. Extra card advantage at that consistency is likely worth that trade, even if it is restricted to the player’s own turn.
Naturally, the Captains of these starships will also feature prominently in the Magic the Gathering x Star Trek set. In the main set, Captains Kirk and Janeway get mono-color cards that capture something special about their leadership in their respective series.
They also get a special variant new to the Star Trek set: autograph cards. These headliner cards are full art and textless, save for a field that captures an autograph from that character’s actor. That’s right – real signatures. There are only about 200 for each of the seven headliner characters, and not all of them are captains.
Mechanically, these captains are promising in terms of gameplay potential. In the case of James T. Kirk, his quick thinking and unyielding nature are embodied in a red card that offers players a choice every turn.
Captain James T. Kirk | 2 Colorless Mana, 1 Red Mana
Legendary Creature – Human Officer
Whenever Captain Kirk enters or attacks, choose one. If you have no cards in hand, choose one or more instead.
- Discard a card, then draw a card.
- Create a 1/1 red Officer creature token.
- Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
2/2
Kirk is a great example of Magic‘s ability to adapt a character into gameplay. The card highlights Kirk’s leadership in each decision, culminating in a Kobayashi Maru moment where, instead of being out of options, he creates all of them. And yes, being out of cards means the player does not discard anything when drawing. Honestly, the discard is nice all on its own, possibly giving Black/Red discard Standard decks a new heavy hitter.
On the flip side, the mono-green Captain Kathryn Janeway highlights the long journey of the Star Trek: Voyager crew. She gets explored as a cameo mechanic, giving players more lands or powering up each creature as they enter.
Captain Kathryn Janeway | 3 Colorless Mana, 1 Green Mana
Legendary Creature – Human Officer
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
Whenever Captain Janeway or another creature you control enters, that creature explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it’s a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
2/3
Explore is a solid mechanic that does a good job of evoking the sense of trying to find the way home that sits at the center of Voyager‘s narrative. An extra land drop per turn is also no slouch, especially for landfall decks in Commander and double for Badgermole Cub fans in Standard. She may pair particularly well Finalwith Fantasy‘s Tifa Lockhart and her own power doubling when a land enters.
Star Trek doesn’t have as much standard action as many properties’ universes do. Universes Beyond takes advantage of it. That creates a bit of a challenge for a game with an entire phase of play called “combat.” While not even the Federation can avoid conflict completely, mechanics that reward decision-making and coalition-building are also going to feature in the set.
Spells with multiple options, generally referred to as modal spells, now have a different game action label: dilemma. Similar to crimes from Outlaws in Thunder Junction, dilemmas are not cards in and of themselves, but a game action that is taken – in this case, choosing modes for a spell or ability.
For example, making a choice on the above James T. Kirk card would be a “facing a dilemma” and could trigger a card that cares about doing so. WOTC isn’t going so far as to discard modal as shorthand for cards with choices, but dilemma would work to differentiate these effects from Modal Double Face Cards from sets like Marvel Super Heroes.
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek set beckons in a new frontier.
Both the Federation and the Borg get some mechanics that want multiple creatures. Federation appears as an ability word that checks for the number of non-Borg creatures the player controls to provide a payoff. The more creatures, the more value proposition. Meanwhile, the Borg can assimilate creatures from the graveyard into their hordes and then give all Artifact creatures each other’s effects.
These designs make a very strong case for Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek as a set, but most promising so far is that these early card looks are not particularly low on the mana curve. Much like Marvel Super Heroes, cards seem to be less aggressively costed, which will eventually help slow the pace of Standard gameplay.
Currently, the format is in the vice grip of one- to two-mana cards, and even if the gameplay isn’t broken, it is very fast. The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek set is the last set prior to the next Standard rotation, so its release will hopefully bring a new frontier to the format.
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek set is getting the full product release suite when it releases in November. In addition to the full Standard set, players can expect four commander decks: with two dedicated to the Federation (one for the Original Star Trek and one for the ’90s era of shows), one focusing on Klingons, and one starring the Borg.
Other products that are now common fare will be in this release: Draft Night, a Beginner Box, and Bundles. Two scene boxes – which feature a connected image across all the special promo cards – will also be in the release.
Notably, one scene box will feature the Kelvin timeline created by JJ Abrams. WOTC has indicated that, besides this one scene box and some bonus sheet reprints, the controversial reboot timeline won’t show up too much. Put down the pitchforks, everyone.
There’s still no exact date for Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek beyond November this year. For now, players can look forward to the rest of the year, including a crossover with The Hobbit and the story capstone Reality Fracture.
Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek set will release in stores and on MTG Arena in November 2026.
