Magic's Star Trek set so far: what we like, what we don't, and what it costs

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek reaches stores on 13 November. Prereleases have been running since 6 November, MTG Arena got the set on 10 November, and the pre-order market has had a few weeks to make up its mind. So before Friday, here's where we've landed: what we like, what we're less sure about, and what people are paying.

The short version

• We like the design. The mechanics play like episodes, and Wizards took the crew seriously: Data is an Android, a creature type Magic didn't have until this set, and the federation mechanic grew out of that argument.
• We're less sure about the launch. Wizards cancelled the Beginner Box, the box built to teach new players, and Commander decks in North America may land after release day.
• The money is in the captains. On 10 November three of the four dearest printings were Spock, Picard and Kirk in showcase surge foil, led by Mr. Spock at $299.98.
• Pre-orders have cooled. Nearly everything sealed cost less on 10 November than on 25 October, and the Commander decks, the Bundle, Draft Night and both Scene Boxes sold for less than Wizards' prices. The Beam Me Up Bundle went the other way.

What we like

It takes the people seriously

The best story about this set is a rules argument. Wizards' Crystal Frasier wrote about a question that took a few meetings: what creature type is Lieutenant Commander Data? Construct and Robot were both on the table, but Data calls himself an android, so the team made him one. "Now, Magic does have an Android creature type." The set has around 373 differently named creature cards, and the team gave each people its own type rather than lumping them together, because, in their words, nobody in Star Trek is an "alien." (Making all Vulcans Elves was suggested. It did not go well.)

That pile of new creature types became a mechanic. Federation cards reward a crew made of different peoples, so Starfleet Academy makes more mana the more kinds of creature you have. That's a mechanic that only makes sense in Star Trek, which is exactly what a crossover set should be for. Meet the man himself: Lieutenant Commander Data, and in the Commander decks, Data, Exploring Humanity.

The mechanics play like episodes

• Beam me up: an instant or sorcery you can cast again from your graveyard for its beam me up cost, if you also send one of your creatures back to your hand. The transporter, as a rules mechanic. Try Energize.
• Assimilate: take a creature (or bring one back from a graveyard) with a +1/+1 counter, and it becomes a Borg artifact creature. Resistance is, as advertised, futile. Try The Best of Both Worlds.
• Face a dilemma: pays off every time you choose a mode on a spell or ability, so every "choose one" card is a small Starfleet decision. Try Elim Garak, Simple Tailor.
• Federation: counts the creature types among your non-Borg creatures. A crew of Humans, Vulcans, Klingons and an Android is the point. Try Starfleet Academy.
• Strange new worlds: counts your differently named lands, so exploring beats playing ten Forests. Try The Traveler.
• Battlefront: counts how many opponents you attacked this turn, a Klingon mechanic made for a four-player Commander table. Try Martok, Hero of the Empire.
• Seek out: triggers on the second card you draw each turn. Try Beverly Crusher, Ship's Doctor.
• Station and Spacecraft (returning): the Enterprise starts as an artifact you charge up with your crew before it flies. Try U.S.S. Enterprise-A, Free Spirit.

Landfall and Planet lands come back too (Earth, Sector 001, Qo'noS). And it all counts: the main set is legal in Standard, Pioneer and Modern, not just Commander.

The scenes

Some of the borderless cards join up into one big picture. There are four in the boosters: Unimatrix Zero from Voyager (six cards, by Gal Or), Deep Space Find (nine cards of Deep Space Nine, by Marija Tiurina), Mirror, Mirror from the original series (six cards, by Mark Spears) and Showdown at Sector 001, Data facing Locutus (four cards, by Nicky Barkla). Two Scene Boxes hold six foil scene cards each: Divergent Timeline, the Kelvin-timeline crew, and Enterprise-Q, whose Q, Your Illustrious Host Wizards pitches as a five-color Faerie typal commander. A nine-card Deep Space Nine panorama is a very good reason to buy a binder page.

What we're less sure about

• No Beginner Box. Wizards cancelled it in September, citing delays in production, logistics and shipping: "This product has been canceled in all regions." Star Trek has a lot of fans who have never played Magic, and the box built to teach them won't exist. We wrote up what to buy a new player instead.
• Commander decks may be late. Wizards' delay notice for North America: "North America Commander decks are delayed and may arrive after the tabletop release date." Play Boosters and Prerelease Packs are on time.
• A lot of boxes. Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, two kinds of Bundle, Draft Night, two Scene Boxes, four Commander decks in two editions each, and a Secret Lair Superdrop on top. If you're shopping for a Star Trek fan who doesn't play, it's a lot to sort through. Our guide to every product sorts it.

What people are paying

These are TCGplayer prices from pre-orders and the first sales, so treat them as early: 1,002 of the 1,162 Star Trek printings in our records had a price on 10 November, against 315 on 2 November and 72 on 25 October.

Three things stand out. The captains carry the set: the showcase surge foils of Spock, Picard and Kirk are three of the top four (the fourth is a Stardates Sheoldred), and the signed headliner versions, signed by Star Trek actors, haven't had a price yet. The ten LCARS shock lands, whose frames look like the Enterprise's computer screens, ran $38.55 to $84.99 in surge foil (eight of the ten had a surge foil price), and surge foils only come in Collector Boosters. And a common, Malfunctioning Holodeck, was $39.98 in surge foil.

Some prices have already moved a long way. The Stardates Sheoldred, the Apocalypse was $249.99 in foil on 25 October and $187.36 on 10 November; the Stardates Kenrith fell from $250.00 to $108.32 in eight days. Going the other way, the borderless foil Locutus of Borg, a Commander-set card, went from $20.00 to $50.18, and the showcase foil Captain Jean-Luc Picard from $32.50 to $66.25.

Sealed: mostly cheaper than Wizards' prices

On 10 November single packs still cost more than Wizards' price, and the Beam Me Up Bundle, the one product that rose, sold for half again its price. Most of the rest has slid since late October, and the Bundle, Draft Night and both Scene Boxes sold for less than Wizards asks.

The Commander decks

Four decks, each led by a famous face, each in a regular and a Collector's Edition. All four regular decks sold for less than Wizards' $74.99 on 10 November.

The Collector's Editions have moved most: the Klingon Fury one was $274.35 on 25 October and $115.86 on 10 November. For what's in each deck and which to pick, see our Commander guide.

What we're watching on Friday

• Whether the Commander decks reach North American stores on release day.
• Where prices settle once boxes get opened: today's are from pre-orders, and every card's page on our site shows the latest market price.
• MagicCon: Atlanta and the World Championship run 13 to 15 November, the set's first big weekend in public.

If you'd rather skip the boosters entirely, the Secret Lair Superdrop has been on sale since 9 November, and the whole set is on our Star Trek page.

Dates, Wizards' prices, the treatments, the four decks, the delays and the Beginner Box cancellation are from Wizards' Star Trek pages; the mechanics and legality from the Star Trek Release Notes; the creature-type story from Wizards' "IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations"; the scenes from "All the Scene Cards from Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek". Prices are TCGplayer's: figures given for 10 November 2026, 2 November or 25 October are that day's, and the card prices under the pictures update daily. What we like and don't is our opinion.