Wizards of the Coast has offered a first glimpse at its upcoming Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond set themed around Star Trek, detailing four Commander decks designed to let players engage in epic conflicts from across the franchise's extensive history. These decks blend familiar Magic mechanics with new abilities inspired by the Star Trek universe.
The "We Are the Borg" deck, an Esper (white-blue-black) strategy, will be led by the Borg Queen. It introduces a new mechanic called Assimilate, which allows players to place an opponent's creature onto the battlefield under their own control, transforming it into a Borg artifact creature with an additional +1/+1 counter. Principal game designer Gavin Verhey noted on the WeeklyMTG stream that the Assimilate mechanic was so fitting for the Borg's iconic nature that it was incorporated beyond just the Commander decks.
The Borg's playstyle is described as akin to artifact creatures like Slivers, providing benefits to all artifact creatures on the battlefield as they are integrated into the Collective. While specific Commander cards were not fully revealed, a version of the Borg Queen in a separate Black Welcome Deck grants all controlled artifact creatures +2/+0 and assimilates a creature from an opponent's graveyard upon entering play. This mechanic, while using a graveyard for defeated creatures, captures the essence of the Borg's assimilation process.
Fans of the Klingon Empire will find the "Klingon Fury" deck, a Mardu (red-white-black) build led by Worf, Chief of Security aboard the Enterprise. This deck is designed to be aggressive, with cards that impact the entire battlefield. Meanwhile, the "Landing Party" deck, a Bant (green-white-blue) composition led by Spock, will draw inspiration from the original Star Trek series and its 1960s aesthetic. This deck focuses on the landfall mechanic, which triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under a player's control, and is expected to utilize Lander tokens previously introduced in the "Edge of Eternities" set.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard will lead the "Federation Fleet" deck, a Jeskai (blue-red-white) strategy that emphasizes card draw and the deployment of spacecraft. The Star Trek set will feature multiple versions of the iconic Enterprise, alongside other Federation vessels like Voyager. The set has also introduced spacecraft as a card type, following its debut in "Edge of Eternities."
All four Commander decks, including regular and collector's editions, are scheduled for release on November 13. Further reveals from the Star Trek set are anticipated on July 17 during MagicCon: Amsterdam.