Magic: The Gathering is set to launch its ambitious crossover with Star Trek on November 13, promising a substantial release with complex card interactions. This new "Universes Beyond" set, designed to commemorate Star Trek's 60th anniversary, incorporates new mechanics such as "Beam Me Up," "Face a Dilemma," and "Assimilate." The set draws art and characters from across the Star Trek franchise, from its 1960s origins to more recent series like "Strange New Worlds."
New Mechanics Unveiled
The "Beam Me Up" keyword ability allows players to retrieve instant and sorcery cards from their graveyard by returning a creature to their hand, enabling a second casting of spells and utilizing "enters the battlefield" effects. "Face a Dilemma" is a modal mechanic where choosing an option from a list triggers certain card actions. An example is the "Kobayashi Maru Scenario" enchantment, which presents players with a choice at the beginning of their upkeep, including options to return a creature to hand, draw cards, create officer tokens, or even lose the game.
The "Federation" ability encourages players to include a variety of Star Trek races in their decks, excluding the Borg. Cards with this ability, like Captain Jonathan Archer, can boost a creature's power and toughness based on the number of non-Borg creatures a player controls, emphasizing interspecies unity.
Unique Card Design and Art
"Strange New Worlds" is a mechanic that defines a card's power and toughness based on the number of differently named lands a player controls. This applies to cards like Captain Pike, Fullness of Time, whose stats are dynamically set by the player's land diversity.
"Spacecraft" and "Station" introduce a new layer of complexity. These start as artifact cards but can transform into artifact creatures. This transformation requires tapping untapped creatures, whose power is then added as counters to the Spacecraft. Once a threshold is met over one or more turns, the Spacecraft becomes a creature with its own abilities, such as the U.S.S. Discovery gaining Flying and becoming a 5/5, or the Borg Cube becoming a 6/6 with a similar ability.
"Assimilate" is a mechanic focused on the Borg, allowing players to take control of an opponent's creature, add a +1/+1 token, and integrate it into their own forces.
Special Art Variants
The set will feature several unique art treatments. "Signed Headliners" are collector's items, with 250 copies of each card hand-signed by the actor depicted. "Borderless Stardate" cards highlight pivotal moments in Star Trek history, while "LCARS Frame Cards" present variant art with the iconic computer interface borders. "Classic Enterprise" cards offer a retro aesthetic, and "Schematics" showcase spacecraft designs.
In addition to these, the set includes Borderless Lands, Extended Arts, Klingon designs, promos, and Commander cards, notably featuring Data's cat, Spot. Pre-release events for the Star Trek set begin November 6, with the full launch scheduled for November 13.