Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek — Everything You Need to Know

Release Date: 13 November 2026
Prerelease: 6–12 November 2026
MTG Arena Release: 10 November 2026

Magic: The Gathering is heading into the final frontier.

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek brings 60 years of Star Trek into Magic, drawing characters, ships, locations and memorable moments from across the franchise rather than focusing on any single series or era.

From Kirk and Spock to Picard, Janeway, Seven of Nine and the Borg, the set combines familiar Star Trek themes with new Magic mechanics, special card treatments and four dedicated Commander decks.

The tabletop set officially releases on 13 November 2026, with Prerelease events beginning a week earlier on 6 November.

Star Trek Across Generations

One of the biggest things to know about the set is its scope.

Rather than being based solely on The Original Series or The Next Generation, Wizards of the Coast has described Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek as a celebration of the franchise's 60-year history.

That allows the set to bring together characters and stories that would normally exist decades apart.

Wizards has already revealed cards featuring familiar names such as Captain James T. Kirk, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Seven of Nine and the Borg Queen, alongside iconic spacecraft such as the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.

For longtime Star Trek fans, much of the fun is likely to come from seeing how particular characters, episodes and ideas have been translated into Magic cards.

A Full Magic Set — Not Just a Crossover Side Product

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek uses three main set codes:

TRK — the main Star Trek set
TRC — Star Trek Commander
SDS — Stardates cards

The main TRK set is legal across Magic's regular formats, including Standard. The Commander and Stardates cards follow their own legality rules, primarily entering Commander, Legacy and Vintage unless the underlying card is already legal elsewhere.

Play Boosters are also designed for both Draft and Sealed, so this is a complete Limited environment rather than simply a collection of crossover cards.

New Mechanic: Assimilate

It would be difficult to make a Star Trek set without the Borg, and Wizards has given them a mechanic of their own.

Assimilate allows you to gain control of a creature or put a creature card onto the battlefield under your control. That creature receives a +1/+1 counter, becomes a Borg artifact creature, and loses its other creature types.

In other words, creatures can quite literally be assimilated into the Collective.

It is a particularly thematic way of translating the Borg into Magic: instead of simply destroying opposing creatures, Borg strategies can turn them into part of your own force.

Resistance, as they say, may be futile.

Face a Dilemma

Star Trek's captains are constantly faced with difficult decisions, and that idea appears mechanically through face a dilemma.

A player faces a dilemma whenever they choose one or more modes for a spell or ability. Certain cards then reward or react to that choice.

Modal cards have been part of Magic for years, but Star Trek gives that familiar decision-making an additional mechanical identity.

It's a fitting concept for a franchise built around command decisions, competing priorities and the occasional impossible choice.

Federation

The federation ability word represents one of Star Trek's central themes: bringing together people and species with very different backgrounds.

Federation abilities care about the number of creature types among non-Borg creatures you control.

That naturally encourages decks built around varied crews rather than armies of identical creatures — particularly appropriate for Starfleet.

Spacecraft Return

Ships are obviously a major part of Star Trek, and Magic's Spacecraft and station mechanics return for the set.

Spacecraft begin as artifacts. Players can add charge counters to them through station abilities, gradually unlocking additional abilities and, in some cases, turning the Spacecraft into creatures.

That gives Wizards a natural way to represent vessels such as the U.S.S. Enterprise-D without simply treating every starship as a conventional creature.

Expect spacecraft to be a major part of the set both mechanically and visually.

LCARS Cards and Shock Lands

One of the set's most distinctive showcase treatments takes inspiration from LCARS — the Library Computer Access and Retrieval System used throughout Star Trek.

These cards use a frame inspired by Starfleet's computer interfaces.

Wizards has announced 29 LCARS-frame cards, along with special LCARS versions of all ten shock lands.

That means the set includes Star Trek treatments of:

Breeding Pool
Blood Crypt
Godless Shrine
Hallowed Fountain
Overgrown Tomb
Sacred Foundry
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Temple Garden
Watery Grave

For players as well as collectors, the inclusion of the complete shock-land cycle is one of the more notable parts of the release.

Stardates

Stardates take existing Magic cards and reinterpret them through moments and characters from Star Trek.

There are 30 Stardates cards in the release. These retain the underlying Magic card mechanically but receive new Star Trek artwork and presentation.

One revealed example is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, represented through the Star Trek interpretation Khan, Engineered Evil.

Stardates can appear in Play Boosters and Collector Boosters, with traditional foil Stardates appearing in Collector Boosters.

For existing Magic players, these are an interesting bridge between established cards and the Star Trek universe.

Classic Enterprise Cards

Not every special treatment uses Star Trek's futuristic computer aesthetic.

The Classic Enterprise treatment takes inspiration from vintage Star Trek posters, using a more painterly style and a dedicated frame reminiscent of the visual identity surrounding The Original Series.

There are 24 Classic Enterprise cards in the set.

It provides a very different look from LCARS and helps distinguish the older Star Trek era within a set spanning several generations of the franchise.

Scene Cards

Scene cards return as another way of showcasing memorable Star Trek moments.

Individual borderless cards fit together to create a larger piece of artwork, effectively allowing players to assemble an entire scene across several cards.

There are 25 Scene cards appearing across Play and Collector Boosters, while two dedicated Scene Boxes have also been announced:

Enterprise-Q
Divergent Timeline

Each Scene Box contains six traditional foil borderless scene cards, six corresponding art cards, three Play Boosters and a display easel.

Actual Actor-Signed Magic Cards

One of the most unusual additions to the set is a series of genuinely autographed cards.

Wizards has produced seven different signed Headliner cards, each physically signed by the Star Trek actor who portrayed the character.

These are not printed or reproduced signatures. According to Wizards, the cards were printed and then individually signed before being randomly inserted into Collector Boosters.

Approximately 250 copies of each signed card exist. The signed cards are English-language cards, although they can appear inside Collector Boosters of any language.

It is a type of collectible Magic has rarely explored and one of the most distinctive elements of the Star Trek release.

Four Star Trek Commander Decks

Commander players are getting four complete preconstructed decks:

Federation Fleet
Landing Party
Klingon Fury
We Are the Borg

Each is a ready-to-play 100-card Commander deck containing 32 new-to-Magic cards, alongside a borderless foil face commander.

Collector's Edition versions of the four decks are also being released, with the decks presented in surge foil.

The themes give players several very different entry points into Star Trek Commander — from Federation crews to Klingons and, naturally, the Borg Collective.

What Products Are Being Released?

The Star Trek range includes several different ways to experience the set.

Play Boosters are the standard booster for opening packs, building decks and playing Draft or Sealed. Each Play Booster contains 14 Magic cards. Booster displays contain 30 packs.

Collector Boosters focus more heavily on foils, alternate treatments, extended-art cards and other special versions. They are also the only boosters in which the actor-signed Headliner cards can appear.

Commander Decks provide four ready-to-play 100-card decks: Federation Fleet, Landing Party, Klingon Fury and We Are the Borg.

Collector's Edition Commander Decks provide versions of those same decks presented in surge foil.

Bundles contain Play Boosters, basic lands, a promotional card, an oversized Spindown life counter and card storage.

The Beam Me Up Bundle combines Play Boosters with a Collector Booster and includes two special Spacecraft promo cards featuring schematic-style treatments.

Draft Night contains the boosters, lands and tokens required for a self-contained drafting session, together with a Collector Booster.

Scene Boxes are available in Enterprise-Q and Divergent Timeline versions and centre around six-card panoramic scenes.

Prerelease Packs contain six Play Boosters together with a traditional foil rare or mythic rare, deck box and Spindown die. TCGplayer's current product listing likewise identifies the Prerelease Pack as the product intended for players' first opportunity to build and play with the new set.

A Note on the Beginner Box

A Star Trek Beginner Box was originally announced alongside the rest of the product range.

However, Wizards of the Coast confirmed on 21 September 2026 that the Beginner Box has been cancelled worldwide because of production, logistics and shipping delays.

Wizards has stated that the cancellation does not affect the other Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek products.

You may therefore still see the Beginner Box mentioned on older articles or retailer listings, but it is no longer part of the release.

When Does Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Release?

For tabletop players, the main dates are:

6–12 November 2026 — Prerelease
10 November 2026 — MTG Arena release
13 November 2026 — Worldwide tabletop release

Wizards will also support the set with Commander events and the Magic Presents: To Boldly Go play programme following launch.

Final Thoughts

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek looks less like Star Trek simply being placed on Magic cards and more like an attempt to translate the franchise into Magic's mechanics.

The Borg assimilate opposing creatures. Diverse Federation crews are rewarded for working together. Players face dilemmas. Starships have to be crewed and brought online. Even the card frames draw directly from Star Trek's visual history.

At the same time, the set covers a remarkably broad part of Star Trek's history, with characters, ships and stories spanning multiple generations.

Whether you're coming to the set as a Magic player, a Commander player, a Star Trek fan, or some combination of the three, there should be plenty to explore when Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek releases on 13 November 2026.

Tavern Games is taking preorders for the Star Trek Play Booster Display, the Collector Booster Display and the Beam Me Up Bundle. Collect them at our Balestier shop or get them delivered. See all Star Trek products.

Sources: Wizards of the Coast / Magic: The Gathering official Star Trek product pages and Collecting Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek: A First Look, together with current TCGplayer product information. Information is current as of 30 September 2026.