Magic: The Gathering® | Star Trek™ Release Notes
Wizards of the Coast has detailed the release notes for the upcoming Star Trek crossover set, introducing brand-new mechanics alongside returning favorites. Players and collectors will find full rules breakdowns for new keyword abilities, legal format breakdowns, and card interactions.
- Star Trek main set cards (TRK) enter Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Commander, and beyond.
- Commander cards (TRC) are legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage formats.
- Introduces new mechanics: Beam Me Up, Assimilate, Dilemma, Federation, Strange New Worlds, Battlefront, and Seek Out.
- Features the return of classic exploration mechanics Landfall and Planet lands.
Standard Legality and Format Breakdown
The upcoming release brings the Star Trek universe into Magic: The Gathering across multiple competitive and casual formats. Primary set cards featuring the TRK expansion code will be legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and Commander upon release. This addition joins a robust Standard environment alongside expansions like Wilds of Eldraine, Bloomburrow, and Aetherdrift.
Supplemental products for the release follow distinct format rules. Commander-specific cards with the TRC set code are legal in Vintage, Legacy, and Commander, while reprints maintain their existing format legalities. Meanwhile, special Stardates cards bearing the SDS set code share format legality with any previously printed card of the same name.
Graveyard Spells and Borg Conversions
The Beam Me Up mechanic allows players to cast select instant and sorcery spells directly from their graveyard. Spells like Energize and There's Coffee in that Nebula can be cast for an alternate Beam Me Up cost by bouncing a creature you control back to its owner's hand. Regardless of whether the spell resolves or is countered, it is exiled immediately upon leaving the stack.
Opponents face the threat of mechanical conversion through the Assimilate keyword action. Spells like The Best of Both Worlds and enchantments such as Death Is Irrelevant force target creatures or graveyard creature cards to become Borg artifact creatures under your control. Assimilated permanents lose their original creature types and gain a +1/+1 counter, though non-creature types like land subtypes remain intact on cards like Dryad Arbor.
Modal Spells and Diversity Payoffs
Strategic choices take center stage with cards that trigger whenever you face a dilemma. Spells and abilities with bulleted options trigger these payoffs the moment a player chooses their modes. Legendary creatures such as Elim Garak, Simple Tailor and Jett Reno, Problem Solver reward players for casting modal spells, putting their abilities onto the stack before the original spell resolves.
Building a diverse crew unlocks powerful scaling effects through the Federation ability word. Lands like Starfleet Academy count the total number of distinct creature types among your non-Borg creatures to generate substantial mana. Borg creatures are excluded from this count unless a non-Borg creature on your battlefield shares that exact same type.
Exploration and Military Tactics
Navigating the stars rewards varied landbases and card draw. The strange new worlds ability word powers up cards like The Traveler and Branching Timeline based on the number of uniquely named lands under your control. Meanwhile, the seek out mechanic triggers whenever you draw your second card in a single turn, providing benefits through legendary creatures like Beverly Crusher, Ship's Doctor and Rom and Leeta, Unlikely Pair.
Aggressive battle strategies rely on the battlefront ability word, which scales based on how many distinct opponents you attacked during the turn. Powerful plays like Martok, Hero of the Empire and Own the Day reward spreading your attacks across multiple players, even if those opponents leave the game later in the turn. The classic Landfall mechanic also returns on cards like Planetary Patrol and Jake Sisko, War Correspondent to reward playing lands.
