Star Trek Commander precon guide: Which deck earns the captain's chair?
Wizards printed four Star Trek Commander decks, and only one of them is green. That one is the deck I'd beam home first.
Each Star Trek Commander precon hits shelves November 13th at $74.99, with 32 new-to-Magic cards per deck. I went through all four official decklists card by card, checked every commander against Scryfall, and ranked them by two things: what you get for your money, and how well each deck plays straight out of the shrink wrap. We have a new decklist layout, plus the cards worth keeping and the first swaps I'd make!
Which Star Trek Commander precon should you buy?
Buy Landing Party first, then We Are the Borg, then Klingon Fury, with Federation Fleet a distant fourth.
Landing Party (Bant, led by Commander Spock): landfall and lands matter
We Are the Borg (Esper, led by The Borg Queen): artifact creatures and stolen creatures
Klingon Fury (Mardu, led by Worf, Defiant Commander): go-wide aggro
Federation Fleet (Jeskai, led by Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary): card draw and Spacecraft
That order holds whether you shop for reprints or for wins. Wargamer's reprint-value breakdown landed on the exact same four-deck order, which is a rare moment where the spreadsheet crowd and the kitchen-table crowd agree on something.
Every deck also ships with a backup legend. In two of the four, the backup is the better commander. Keep reading before you sleeve anything.
Landing Party is the deck to beat
Landing Party is the strongest Star Trek Commander precon out of the box because Commander Spock turns your land drops into free spells.
Spock is a five-mana 3/5. Whenever he enters or attacks, you reveal the top card of your library. If its mana value is equal to or less than the number of differently named lands you control, you cast it for free. If it's a land, you can drop it onto the battlefield tapped. If the card is still sitting on top when the dust settles, you draw it. Every branch of that tree ends with you up a card. Spock would call it logical.
Rules gotcha: "differently named" means your eight basics only count as three names. Wizards clearly knew it, because the deck runs 32 nonbasic lands. Every Snarl and Temple in the list raises Spock's free-spell ceiling by one.
Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is the backup. He has vigilance, gives Spacecraft creatures you control +3/+3, and fetches a basic land or Starship Enterprise from your library or graveyard whenever he enters or attacks. Second gotcha: Spacecraft are only creatures once they're stationed, and Starship Enterprise needs 16 charge counters. Its landfall trigger adds four per land, so you're four land drops from a flying card-draw machine. Until then, Kirk's anthem is pumping nothing. Spock stays in the chair.
The cards to keep: Exploration, Guardian Project, Sea of Clouds and Ancient Greenwarden. Those four would justify the box on their own, and Mutavault, Lotus Cobra, Tireless Tracker, and Heroic Intervention are riding along as a bonus.
Easiest upgrades: add Ephemerate, which blinks Spock for a second Strange New World trigger and then does it again on rebound. Add Oracle of Mul Daya for an extra land each turn played straight off the top. Cut Reality Shift and Harmonize to make room.
Is We Are the Borg worth it?
We Are the Borg is worth it, and the main reason is that Locutus of Borg is a better commander than the Queen on the box.
The Borg Queen costs seven mana. She gives artifact creatures you control +2/+2, herself included, so she's effectively a 6/6. Whenever she enters or attacks, an opponent exiles cards off the top of their library until they hit a creature card, and you assimilate it. Assimilate puts that card onto the battlefield under your control with a +1/+1 counter as a Borg artifact creature, and it loses its other creature types.
Time to translate the product copy. Wizards' own decklist blurb says the Queen pulls creatures from your opponents' graveyards. Her card says library. The graveyard version is Borg Queen, Perfection Manifest, a different card from the black Welcome Deck. Resistance is futile; reading the Oracle text is optional, apparently, even at Wizards. One more gotcha: a creature she steals on attack enters after attackers are declared, so it doesn't join that swing.
Locutus costs four. He's a 3/3 with lifelink, and he gives every artifact creature you control "whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, create a 1/1 colorless Borg artifact creature token." The tokens are artifact creatures too, so they carry the same trigger. That's a snowball that starts rolling on turn four instead of turn seven, and the Queen still lives in the deck as a top-end finisher.
The cards to keep: Skullclamp, Toxic Deluge, The Immortal Sun, and Tempered Steel.
Easiest upgrades: Etherium Sculptor is the most-added card on EDHREC's We Are the Borg page at 36% of decks, and it knocks one mana off every artifact spell you cast. Swords to Plowshares is the other easy add. Cut Thoughtcast and Wayfarer's Bauble.
Klingon Fury wants Kor in the captain's chair
Klingon Fury plays better with Kor, Cause of Vengeance in the command zone than with Worf.
Worf, Defiant Commander costs five. He brings a 2/1 red Klingon Warrior token with haste, and his battlefront ability exiles the top card of your library for each opponent you attacked that turn. You can play those cards until the end of your next turn. Hit all three opponents, and that's three cards. Hit one, and it's one, and anything you can't play by the end of your next turn is gone for good. Worf rewards you for declaring war on the whole table, which is very Klingon and very bad for your life total.
Kor costs four. Whenever you attack, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, you draw a card, then Klingons and Warriors you control get +2/+2 until end of turn. The deck's Klingon Warrior tokens count twice over, and Kor draws on every attack no matter who you swing at. A turn faster and a card every combat, with no need to make three enemies at once. Easy call.
My biggest worry about this precon is when you want to take it apart. A lot of the cards depend on the Klingon subtype, which, unless they do another Star Trek set, will die here. If you plan on keeping it together, then it works. It will have a relatively low scrap level, however.
The cards to keep: Vindicate, Shared Animosity, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Ruinous Ultimatum.
Easiest upgrades: Adeline, Resplendent Cathar makes a token for each opponent every time you attack, which is free sacrifice fodder for Kor. Skullclamp turns a 1/1 Tribble token into two cards the moment you equip it. Cut Talisman of Indulgence and Mind Stone; a curve this aggressive doesn't need six mana rocks.
Why does Federation Fleet finish last?
Federation Fleet finishes last because Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary asks for a narrow build, and the reprints don't carry the price tag.
Picard is a four-mana 2/4. He draws you a card whenever another historic permanent with mana value 3 or greater enters under your control, and historic means artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas. Here's the gotcha: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mind Stone, and the three Talismans are all artifacts with mana value 1 or 2. None of them draw a thing. Picard wants his tea Earl Grey, hot, and his permanents at three mana or more.
His second ability, Seek Out, triggers when you draw your second card each turn: a +1/+1 counter on another creature and two charge counters on a Spacecraft. That's why Howling Mine is in the list. Your own draw step trips it with no help.
Captain Janeway, Endgame is the aggressive backup. Whenever one or more Officers you control deal combat damage to a player, you draw a card and make a 1/1 red Officer. She can also make herself unblockable for 2 and tap an untapped creature you control. She's fun. She's also a 3/3 for four, leading a deck built for Picard.
The cards to keep: Cryptic Command, Supreme Verdict, Fractured Identity, and Swords to Plowshares. Good cards, just a thinner stack than the other three decks offer.
Easiest upgrades: Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain draws a card whenever you cast a historic spell, at any mana value, which patches Picard's blind spot. Nerdsnack's EDHREC sample has her in 58% of early Picard builds. Archivist of Oghma draws you cards on opponents' turns, so seek out fires when it's not your turn. Cut Thrill of Possibility and Negate.
Beam up Landing Party before Commander Party
Here's my prediction: Landing Party is the first of these four to sell above its $74.99 MSRP, and it happens fast. It's the only green deck in the set; it carries the best reprint package, and landfall has been a Commander crowd favorite for years. That's the sneaker-drop pattern: the colorway everyone already wears sells out first.
The first official place to play these is Commander Party, which runs November 20th to 26th. Preorder Landing Party from your LGS now, and grab We Are the Borg second if you want a deck that rewards upgrading. If you've been reading my Reality Fracture MTG preview, you already know how quickly the good stuff from a fall release dries up.
Star Trek Commander precon FAQ
What are the four Star Trek Commander precons?
The four Star Trek Commander precons are Landing Party (green-white-blue, led by Commander Spock), We Are the Borg (white-blue-black, led by The Borg Queen), Klingon Fury (red-white-black, led by Worf, Defiant Commander) and Federation Fleet (blue-red-white, led by Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary).
When do the Star Trek Commander precons release?
The Star Trek Commander precons release on November 13th, 2026, alongside the Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek set. Prerelease events run November 6th to 12th.
How much does a Star Trek Commander precon cost?
Each Star Trek Commander precon has an MSRP of $74.99 in the United States. Retailer prices vary, and the most popular decks often sell above MSRP after release.
Which Star Trek Commander precon is the best?
Landing Party is the best Star Trek Commander precon. It has the strongest reprints, including Exploration, Guardian Project and Sea of Clouds, and Commander Spock generates card advantage every time he enters or attacks.
What does The Borg Queen's assimilate ability do?
The Borg Queen makes a target opponent exile cards from the top of their library until they exile a creature card, then assimilates it. Assimilate puts that card onto the battlefield under your control with a +1/+1 counter as a Borg artifact creature that loses its other creature types.
Is Kor or Worf the better commander for Klingon Fury?
Kor, Cause of Vengeance is the better commander for Klingon Fury. Kor costs one less mana than Worf, draws a card on every attack when you sacrifice a creature, and gives Klingons and Warriors +2/+2 without requiring you to attack every opponent.
What comes in a Star Trek Commander deck?
Each Star Trek Commander deck includes a 100-card ready-to-play deck with a traditional foil borderless face commander, 32 new-to-Magic cards, 10 double-sided tokens, a reference card and a deck box.
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