Magic: The Gathering is set to boldly go where no card game has gone before with its upcoming "Universes Beyond" expansion, featuring the iconic Star Trek franchise. The set, slated for release on November 13, aims to translate the character-focused narratives and moral dilemmas of Star Trek into the strategic gameplay of Magic.
Principal game designer Gavin Verhey and senior editor Matt Tabak, both self-proclaimed Trekkies, discussed the design challenges and triumphs of merging these two beloved universes. A primary hurdle was adapting Star Trek's emphasis on dialogue and ethical quandaries to Magic's traditionally combat-centric mechanics. "With Star Trek, we have a franchise that is more about talking, moral dilemmas, and character situations, rather than fighting," Verhey explained. "There is fighting, stuff blows up and spacecraft shoot lasers at each other, but it’s a lot more about the other stuff."
To accommodate this, the design team has developed new mechanics and leaned into existing ones that support thoughtful play. Verhey highlighted the "Dilemma" mechanic, which grants benefits when players cast modal spells offering different resolution choices. This mechanic is designed to be backward-compatible with a wide range of existing modal cards in Magic, ensuring it has lasting impact beyond the Star Trek set. "I really wanted something that lets you look at all the modal cards... and realize that Dilemma cards work with all of these," Verhey stated.
While the set will feature more aggressive strategies, exemplified by Klingon-themed cards, the core design philosophy leans towards engine-building and sustained play, mirroring Star Trek's narrative style. Verhey and Tabak expressed particular excitement for a Q card, aiming to capture the character's distinctive "Q-ness."
Interestingly, the development of the Star Trek set ran parallel to Magic's in-universe "Edge of Eternities" expansion, which also featured space-faring elements. Both sets initially developed their own spacecraft mechanics, but the teams eventually collaborated to consolidate into a single, unified spacecraft mechanic for Magic's future space-themed sets.
Ensuring authenticity required deep knowledge of the Star Trek franchise. Tabak, whose pre-Wizards of the Coast career included working at the Star Trek: The Experience attraction in Las Vegas, brought extensive firsthand experience with the fandom. "It was like walking onto the Deep Space Nine promenade," Tabak recalled. "I got to talk to people about their fandom, it helped mold my own, and it paid off when I got to marry it and my love of Magic and bring it all together."
Despite this deep immersion, some niche references were deemed too obscure for inclusion, though one particular nod to an early '90s VCR game, initially cut, later appeared in official Star Trek media, much to Tabak's vindication. The design team believes the set will serve as a rich tapestry of Easter eggs, appealing to both dedicated Star Trek fans and newcomers to Magic: The Gathering.