Top picks
Hover or tap any card to read its note.
Top 5 commons
Suurok-Class Science VesselB
Three-mana spacecraft that draws on entry and becomes a 3/2 flyer at just five counters, which is easy to reach. Blue's best common by a wide margin.
Suurok-Class Science Vessel
Malfunctioning HolodeckB-
Flexible removal: exiles an opponent's nonland permanent until it leaves. Artifact removal is common in this set, but ward 2 makes it costly to answer.
Malfunctioning Holodeck
Planetary BombardmentB-
One mana for 2 damage, or 4 if a creature died this turn. Premium removal.
Planetary Bombardment
Plasma CascadeB-
Three-mana instant that deals 3 to any target, with an optional rummage on top. Premium removal at common.
Plasma Cascade
Command DecisionC+
Kills a creature with power 4 or more, or just draws a card. Trades up when it can and is never dead.
Command Decision
Top 5 uncommons
Hologram StalkerB+
Six-mana three-for-one: a 2/2, a permanent back from your graveyard, and a 3/3 when that card leaves. Can keep making 3/3s. Maybe the best uncommon.
Hologram Stalker
The Duras SistersB+
Two mana for a 3/2 that leaves a hasty 2/1. A great rate.
The Duras Sisters
Resistance Is FutileB
Two-mana kill for any non-artifact creature, or reanimate a small artifact creature. Premium removal.
Resistance Is Futile
Rutherford, Upgraded EnsignB
Finds an artifact in your top six almost every time, then adds a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a spacecraft.
Rutherford, Upgraded Ensign
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone WandererB
Puts the next two lands from your library onto the battlefield, helping landfall and land names. Station it to 8 later and it's a 3/3 flying, vigilant threat.
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone Wanderer
Archetypes
Borg artifact creaturesBlack-White
Fill your deck with artifact creatures. Most Borg payoffs also buff themselves, like slivers, so even a small board hits hard. The deck can attack early and still has huge late plays such as Borg Cube.
Signpost uncommons
Locutus, the One Who SpeaksB
Two-mana artifact lord that counts itself, or pay {W}{B} and discard it to deal 2 to a creature and gain 2. Extra legendary copies become removal.
Locutus, the One Who Speaks
Zero, Incorporeal SensateB
Three-mana lifelink 2/2 artifact that exiles the best nonland card in their hand. They can still cast it, but for 2 more, which disrupts their plan.
Zero, Incorporeal Sensate
Key commons & uncommons
Assault DroneC
At worst a four-mana 3/4, since it pumps itself. Black decks, especially black-white, usually have other artifact creatures for it to buff too.
Assault Drone
Collective DroneC
Two-mana artifact creature with power equal to your artifact creatures. Usually two power or more.
Collective Drone
Command SubadjunctB
One-mana 2/1 that gives itself and your other artifact creatures vigilance. Very cheap for its effect, and even a late copy makes your attacks much better.
Command Subadjunct
Conquest MissionD
Does nothing on its own. It only makes Borg tokens after you play more non-token artifacts.
Conquest Mission
Hive Mind CoprocessorC
Your artifact creatures can draw a card for 1 life when they hit a player. Without an artifact attacker that gets through right away, it's a blank five-mana 4/4.
Hive Mind Coprocessor
Organic Avulsion UnitC
Weak three-mana 2/3, but paying {2} to give your artifact creatures menace can turn a wide board into a surprise lethal. Too often the situation is just medium.
Organic Avulsion Unit
Resistance Is FutileB
Two-mana kill for any non-artifact creature, or reanimate a small artifact creature. Premium removal.
Resistance Is Futile
Rares & mythics that fit
Antagonist IncorporatorB+
Two-mana 2/3 that counts itself: whenever one of your artifact creatures hits a player, you may pay {1} for a 1/1 Borg. Great on turn two, a value engine later.
Antagonist Incorporator
Collation TrimatrixB
Tap three artifact creatures, even summoning-sick ones or itself, to draw a card for 1 life at instant speed. Black-white has plenty of creatures to fuel it.
Collation Trimatrix
Borg CubeA+
Affinity often cuts it to five mana or less, and it exiles a creature on entry. Stationed to 12, it alternates stealing that creature and exiling another.
Borg Cube
Crystalline EntityB
Eight-mana 7/7 flyer that destroys all nonartifact creatures when cast. A bomb effect, though some artifacts survive, and eight mana is hard to reach.
Crystalline Entity
Death Is IrrelevantC+
Assimilates the best creature from any graveyard at each of your end steps and makes artifact creatures indestructible. Huge if cast, but eight mana rarely gets there.
Death Is Irrelevant
Overflow SubmatrixA-
Three-mana 3/3 that recasts an artifact creature from your graveyard each of your turns, quickly overwhelming them. Best cast when a recast is ready that turn.
Overflow Submatrix
Primary Unimatrix AdjunctB
Gives your artifact creatures double strike, itself included. Weak stats, but it makes a big attack the turn it lands.
Primary Unimatrix Adjunct
SpacecraftWhite-Blue
Tap your creatures to station spacecraft. Look for cards that reward a creature becoming tapped, untap effects, and extra charge counters. Only white and blue have spacecraft at common, and both of them draw a card when they enter.
Signpost uncommons
Hemmer, Fixing What Is BrokenB
Solid two-mana 2/3 that loots whenever it becomes tapped, so stationing with it is pure value. Your spacecraft also have hexproof on your turn.
Hemmer, Fixing What Is Broken
Constable OdoB
Five-mana 4/3 that usually investigates twice, a three-for-one. The other mode taps a creature and puts two stun counters on it.
Constable Odo
Key commons & uncommons
Oberth-Class StarshipC+
Two-mana artifact that replaces itself with a Plains, then becomes a 2/2 flyer at six charge counters. One of white's better commons, with lots of synergy.
Oberth-Class Starship
Suurok-Class Science VesselB
Three-mana spacecraft that draws on entry and becomes a 3/2 flyer at just five counters, which is easy to reach. Blue's best common by a wide margin.
Suurok-Class Science Vessel
Rutherford, Upgraded EnsignB
Finds an artifact in your top six almost every time, then adds a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a spacecraft.
Rutherford, Upgraded Ensign
Zefram Cochrane, Warp PioneerC+
Three-mana 2/3 that lets you cast one artifact a turn off the top of your library; even one such cast pays off. Spacecraft also enter with two extra counters.
Zefram Cochrane, Warp Pioneer
Emergency Holographic CrewC
3/4 that surveils 2, or returns a spacecraft from your graveyard for a two-for-one.
Emergency Holographic Crew
Warp CoreC
Finds a basic land, then puts charge counters on spacecraft. Good fodder.
Warp Core
Brad Boimler, Eager EnsignB-
Two-mana lifelinker. Once he taps, each time you put counters on your permanents that turn, one extra is added. Boosts stationing and +1/+1 counter cards.
Brad Boimler, Eager Ensign
Jett Reno, Problem SolverC
Surveils when tapped, draws at power 4, and grows on dilemmas. Starts too small to get there often.
Jett Reno, Problem Solver
Shuttle AceD+
Five-mana 4/4 that only flies on your turn. Even full-time five-mana 4/4 flyers have been weak, and 2 life per tap does not make up for it.
Shuttle Ace
Make It SoC+
Four mana for draw two plus a 1/1 Officer, like a 1/1 that draws two on entry. The other mode untaps a permanent, for example to station twice.
Make It So
Rares & mythics that fit
Captain Jean-Luc PicardA
Three-mana anthem for your team, plus a 1/1 Officer for each creature or spacecraft you cast. Value now, an engine if it lives.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Federation ResupplyD
Tutor for an aura, equipment or spacecraft. Beam Me Up gives a second use, but it never adds to the board.
Federation Resupply
Sulu, Space SwashbucklerB+
Two-mana 2/2 first striker. Cast a spacecraft and tap him to station it, and you draw a card, so he stays useful all game even when he can't attack.
Sulu, Space Swashbuckler
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La ForgeC-
Doubles charge counters, which is great with a spacecraft already in play. Without one he's a three-mana 3/2 with no other text, and decks only run two or three ships.
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
LandfallRed-Green
Play a land, get value. Aim for two or more landfall triggers per turn: fetch effects, planet tokens, the anomalies and Unexplored Territory all help. Cards that reward the second trigger in a turn get much better here.
Signpost uncommons
Dal R'El, Augment OrphanC+
Three-mana 3/3 that ramps you into a five-drop next turn with its landfall mana. Late, it can pay {3} and sacrifice spare lands to draw.
Dal R'El, Augment Orphan
Cleveland Booker, EmpathC+
Fragile four-mana 2/2 that makes a 2/2 Worm that can't block on each landfall. Cast it before your land drop for an immediate two-for-one.
Cleveland Booker, Empath
Key commons & uncommons
Captain Michael BurnhamC+
Three-mana 3/3 trampler that pings each opponent on landfall. A solid body already, and red-green has ways to trigger it twice in a turn to grow her.
Captain Michael Burnham
Jake Sisko, War CorrespondentC+
Two-mana 2/2 with incidental lifegain on landfall. The set has enough ways to get two landfalls in a turn that it often makes a Clue too.
Jake Sisko, War Correspondent
Saurian ExplorerC
Four-mana 4/3 with weak base stats, but each landfall gives it +2/+2. Late, its {6} Planet ability triggers itself and your other landfall cards.
Saurian Explorer
Unexplored TerritoryC+
Taps for colorless or fetches a basic. Fixes and triggers landfall twice.
Unexplored Territory
Erica Ortegas, Plucky PilotD
A four-mana 3/3 haste is a poor rate, and her tap trigger does nothing unless you run landfall cards and have a land in hand.
Erica Ortegas, Plucky Pilot
Final FrontierC
Fixes, ramps and sets up double landfall turns, but adding no body hurts. Bouncing a creature to Beam Me Up is mostly a late-game play.
Final Frontier
Spatial AnomalyC+
Colorless land that later sacrifices to deal 2 to a creature and make a planet.
Spatial Anomaly
Genesis EffectC+
Five mana for 6 damage is pricey, but this instant also swaps a land for a planet, which fixes mana, triggers landfall, and adds a new land name.
Genesis Effect
David and Carol Marcus, CreatorsB-
Three-mana 1/3 that ramps and fixes with a Planet token, which also triggers landfall and adds a land name. The body blocks early attackers.
David and Carol Marcus, Creators
The Naked TimeC+
Cheap saga: a Mountain for landfall and ramp, then counters and haste for next turn's creatures. Chapter III costs a land, so sacrifice it first if you can.
The Naked Time
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone WandererB
Puts the next two lands from your library onto the battlefield, helping landfall and land names. Station it to 8 later and it's a 3/3 flying, vigilant threat.
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone Wanderer
Rares & mythics that fit
Captain Kathryn JanewayA
Every creature that enters under your control explores, even tokens, and you get an extra land drop. Decent floor as a four-mana 2/3, absurd ceiling.
Captain Kathryn Janeway
Hit It!C+
Three-mana ramp that puts a land from your top five onto the battlefield tapped and mills the rest, plus haste for your team. Real value, but no creatures.
Hit It!
Will Riker, First in the FieldB-
Four-mana 4/3 that puts two lands from your library onto the battlefield each combat, sacrificed at end step. Two landfall triggers and a one-turn mana boost.
Will Riker, First in the Field
Captain Pike, Fullness of TimeA
Each land you play off the top is effectively a free card. Often a 2/2 early, but he grows with your differently named lands into a big threat.
Captain Pike, Fullness of Time
Genesis DeviceD
Ramps once, then offers a weak land swap. Does not add to the board.
Genesis Device
Stable WormholeC
Makes a tapped Planet each turn you attack, good for ramp and landfall. But it does nothing on its own, and one Planet isn't a card's worth.
Stable Wormhole
Strange New WorldsBlue-Green
Count differently named lands, not just lands. Play three to five colors, every nonbasic and planet you can, and basics of many types. All that fixing also lets you splash the strong Strange New Worlds cards from other colors.
Signpost uncommons
The TravelerC+
Two-mana */3 with reach and vigilance whose power counts your differently named lands. Usually a 2/3 that grows later, but still mostly a plain body.
The Traveler
D'Vana Tendi, Optimistic EnsignC+
Three-mana 2/4 that untaps a land to ramp or a creature to station twice. Paying {3} to surveil 1 is a useful late-game mana sink.
D'Vana Tendi, Optimistic Ensign
Key commons & uncommons
Warp SpeedC+
Tutors a basic or Planet and makes your lands enter untapped. Later it draws two for {U}{U} plus generic mana that shrinks with land names. Key in blue-green.
Warp Speed
Ensign Pavel ChekovC+
Four-mana 1/5 that exiles the opponent's top X cards (X = your land names) and lets you play a land among them, often a new name. Whiffs when X is small.
Ensign Pavel Chekov
Cold-Blooded CrewC
Floor is a six-mana 6/6 (counters on itself) that is hard to chump, with basic landcycling as a fallback. Better in blue-green, the land-names deck.
Cold-Blooded Crew
David and Carol Marcus, CreatorsB-
Three-mana 1/3 that ramps and fixes with a Planet token, which also triggers landfall and adds a land name. The body blocks early attackers.
David and Carol Marcus, Creators
Final FrontierC
Fixes, ramps and sets up double landfall turns, but adding no body hurts. Bouncing a creature to Beam Me Up is mostly a late-game play.
Final Frontier
Rares & mythics that fit
Captain Kathryn JanewayA
Every creature that enters under your control explores, even tokens, and you get an extra land drop. Decent floor as a four-mana 2/3, absurd ceiling.
Captain Kathryn Janeway
Genesis DeviceD
Ramps once, then offers a weak land swap. Does not add to the board.
Genesis Device
Captain Pike, Fullness of TimeA
Each land you play off the top is effectively a free card. Often a 2/2 early, but he grows with your differently named lands into a big threat.
Captain Pike, Fullness of Time
Deep Space ScanF / B-
Build-around. Needs a five-color deck with many land names, since it draws one card per differently named land. Anywhere else it's a six-mana sorcery that draws too little.
Deep Space Scan
The Destruction of PraxisC / A
Build-around. Needs six or more differently named lands. Then it's a one-sided sweeper that also makes two hasty 2/1s; with fewer names it's an inconsistent sweeper.
The Destruction of Praxis
Excalbian GamemasterA
Six-mana 6/6 that makes a 1/1 Officer per differently named land (often three) and adds a +1/+1 counter whenever it or another creature of yours dies. A bomb.
Excalbian Gamemaster
Branching TimelineD
Eight mana for random permanents that enter tapped. Too slow and swingy.
Branching Timeline
Pah-WraithB+
Seven-mana 4/4 first strike, haste. When it attacks, your team gets +1/+0 for each differently named land you control, often enough to end the game.
Pah-Wraith
Seven of Nine, UnassimilatedB+
Two-mana 0/4 wall that loots every turn, playable in any deck. With five land names she draws without discarding, and with seven she can become a 7/9.
Seven of Nine, Unassimilated
DilemmasBlue-Black
A dilemma is any “choose one” spell or ability. Fill the deck with modal cards, then add payoffs that drain, draw or grow each time you choose. It plays like a control deck, and Tell Me What You See can win games by itself.
Signpost uncommons
Seven of NineC+
2/4 that draws a card whenever you face a dilemma. Clunky body, real engine.
Seven of Nine
Lore, Positronic ProvocateurC+
Three-mana 2/3 artifact creature that makes a creature unblockable with +1/+0 or surveils 2. Both modes are useful, and it triggers dilemma payoffs.
Lore, Positronic Provocateur
Key commons & uncommons
Obsidian Order OperativeC-
Sturdy 2/5 that drains 1 per dilemma. A weak payoff.
Obsidian Order Operative
Tell Me What You SeeD / B-
Build-around. Needs a deck full of modal cards. They choose: you draw a card, or they lose 4 and you surveil 1. Each dilemma can return it to your hand to cast again.
Tell Me What You See
Melkotian AdjudicatorC
2/1 flyer with vigilance that grows each time you face a dilemma. Fragile start, but dilemmas are everywhere.
Melkotian Adjudicator
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror MenaceC
A five-mana 5/4 menace is a mediocre floor, but each time you face a dilemma you can pay {B} to return him from your graveyard to hand, and dilemmas are common.
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror Menace
Jett Reno, Problem SolverC
Surveils when tapped, draws at power 4, and grows on dilemmas. Starts too small to get there often.
Jett Reno, Problem Solver
Rares & mythics that fit
Elim Garak, Simple TailorB
3/3 menace that drains 2 every time you face a dilemma. A real win condition.
Elim Garak, Simple Tailor
The CaretakerA-
Maybe the best dilemma payoff: at the end of any turn you faced one, you cast the opponent's top nonland card free. The warded 5/6 is hard to kill and takes over games.
The Caretaker
GraveyardBlack-Green
Mill and surveil to fill your graveyard, then reward cards leaving it. Beam Me Up, graveyard exile and recursion all count, so one card can set off several payoffs.
Signpost uncommons
Vash, Freelance ArchaeologistB-
Three-mana 2/4 that surveils each upkeep and draws once a turn when a card leaves your graveyard. Many cards in the set trigger it.
Vash, Freelance Archaeologist
Daniels, Temporal AgentB-
Four-mana 3/1 that returns a creature card to hand, an immediate two-for-one. That and its own graveyard ability both trigger leave-the-graveyard payoffs.
Daniels, Temporal Agent
Key commons & uncommons
BlastoneuronC+
Four-mana 2/2 flyer whose value makes up for the body: a small creature from your graveyard returns for a hasty turn, often with a useful trigger, and you drain 1.
Blastoneuron
De-evolveC+
-4/-0 and can't block, then exiles the creature at upkeep once you have seven cards in your graveyard. Weak outside graveyard decks.
De-evolve
Sylvia Tilly, Joy of DiscoveryC+
Three-mana 2/2 with surveil 2. Her combat trigger (pay {1}, exile a graveyard card: +1/+1 counter) works right away, so cast her with a spare mana.
Sylvia Tilly, Joy of Discovery
Hologram StalkerB+
Six-mana three-for-one: a 2/2, a permanent back from your graveyard, and a 3/3 when that card leaves. Can keep making 3/3s. Maybe the best uncommon.
Hologram Stalker
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror MenaceC
A five-mana 5/4 menace is a mediocre floor, but each time you face a dilemma you can pay {B} to return him from your graveyard to hand, and dilemmas are common.
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror Menace
Photosynthetic PhysicianC+
Five-mana 5/5 reach, then pay {G} to exile it from your graveyard for a 1/1, which can trigger leaves-graveyard payoffs. Still useful if milled.
Photosynthetic Physician
Storied VeteranC+
One-mana 2/1 that can come back once from your graveyard. Can't block.
Storied Veteran
Rares & mythics that fit
Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoyA-
Flash 3/2 that regrows a non-Doctor permanent for a two-for-one, or saves a creature from removal or a trade by returning it with a counter. A flexible bomb.
Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Nog, Ambitious CadetB+
Two-mana 2/2 menace that becomes a 3/4 for just {1} more, surveilling 2 when it taps. Later, {3} more lets you play lands from your graveyard, plus an extra land a turn.
Nog, Ambitious Cadet
Overflow SubmatrixA-
Three-mana 3/3 that recasts an artifact creature from your graveyard each of your turns, quickly overwhelming them. Best cast when a recast is ready that turn.
Overflow Submatrix
Sela, Tal Shiar ParadoxB-
Four-mana 3/3 that can exile from your graveyard on attack to make a tapped 2/2 Romulan. An engine with more graveyard synergy, but it can't always attack safely.
Sela, Tal Shiar Paradox
The HolodeckC+
Seven mana, then you can replay a permanent from your graveyard each turn, paying its cost. A strong engine that does nothing the turn it lands.
The Holodeck
U.S.S. Reliant, From Hell's HeartB+
Reanimates a creature with mana value 4 or less on entry and on each hit. Slow to station, but close to a bomb.
U.S.S. Reliant, From Hell's Heart
The UnicomplexB-
A better Swamp: when it enters untapped, surveil 1 or put a creature card from your graveyard on top of your library, the best mode in the cycle.
The Unicomplex
Power 8 aggroRed-White
Attack while your creatures have total power 8 or more. They do not all have to attack, so one attacker can turn the trigger on. Draft high-power creatures and team pumps to get there early.
Signpost uncommons
Kirk, Commanding OfficerB-
Three-mana 3/3 that impulse-draws whenever you attack while your board totals 8+ power. Can also pay {2} and sacrifice it to kill an artifact or enchantment.
Kirk, Commanding Officer
Worf, Honor-Bound WarriorC
Two-mana 1/1 that doubles its power when you attack with 8+ total power, and grows by tapping two artifacts or creatures at sorcery speed. Low floor and ceiling.
Worf, Honor-Bound Warrior
Key commons & uncommons
Hologram JanewayB-
Three-mana 3/3 artifact whose power helps you reach 8 total; after that, each attack adds a +1/+1 counter. Fits the artifact, counters and power-8 decks.
Hologram Janeway
La'An Noonien-Singh, SecurityC+
Four-mana 4/3 that gets you halfway to 8 total power. Once you're there, each attack stops their best blocker, which is just what aggressive red decks want.
La'An Noonien-Singh, Security
Free Borg RevolutionariesC
Big artifact creature that pumps your team on entry, which turns on power-8 triggers. Basic landcycling keeps it flexible.
Free Borg Revolutionaries
Munitions EnthusiastB-
Two-mana 3/2 trampler that pings any target when it dies. What aggro decks want.
Munitions Enthusiast
Picard, Leading by ExampleC
Solid two-drop: pay {1} and tap him at sorcery speed to give another creature +X/+X equal to his power, forcing chump blocks or big hits. Good with power 8.
Picard, Leading by Example
Sarcophagus, Ship of the DeadB-
Three mana for +1/+0 to your other creatures right away. The buff speeds up stationing it to 10 and helps you reach 8 total power.
Sarcophagus, Ship of the Dead
Targ WranglerC
Three-mana 5/3 menace. Attacking costs a nonland permanent at end step, but it blocks for free, and spare tokens or death triggers often make the cost painless.
Targ Wrangler
Test of ConvictionC
A +1/+1 counter on each of your creatures, or draw two while they draw one. Both modes are situational, but being a cheap dilemma keeps it playable.
Test of Conviction
Red Alert!D+
Team +2/+0, cheaper on defense. Needs a wide board to matter.
Red Alert!
Rares & mythics that fit
Deanna Troi, Psychic CounselB+
Every other creature that enters under your control, tokens included, gets an extra +1/+1 counter. One counter already pays her off; counter payoffs add more.
Deanna Troi, Psychic Counsel
Kira Nerys, FirebrandC+
Three-mana 4/3 trampler. The tapped-and-attacking text rarely comes up.
Kira Nerys, Firebrand
Worf, Intelligence ContractorB-
Three-mana 3/2 that steals a creature with mana value 3 or less for the turn, removing a blocker and adding an attacker. Black-red can then sacrifice it.
Worf, Intelligence Contractor
Klingon sacrificeBlack-Red
Make extra bodies, mostly Klingon tokens, and sacrifice them for value. Death triggers and “if a creature died” cards round out the deck. Most outlets say “another creature or artifact”, so clues and treasure count too.
Signpost uncommons
L'Rell, Fierce VisionaryB
Sturdy 1/4 that makes a hasty 2/1 Klingon at each of your combats, starting the turn it lands; it's sacrificed at end of turn. Free sacrifice fodder.
L'Rell, Fierce Visionary
The Duras SistersB+
Two mana for a 3/2 that leaves a hasty 2/1. A great rate.
The Duras Sisters
Key commons & uncommons
Boarding ActionC+
Two bodies from one card: a hasty 2/1 now and another later via Beam Me Up. The bounce makes the second cast awkward at times, but it's still a two-for-one.
Boarding Action
Cha'DIch InvestigatorC+
A 4/4 plus a hasty 2/1 for five mana. Good rate.
Cha'DIch Investigator
Test of IdentityC
An instant-speed Tormenting Voice that's almost always playable, plus a strong double-strike trick in Klingon-heavy decks like black-red.
Test of Identity
Dahar MasterC
Four-mana 4/3 that can sacrifice another nonland permanent on entry to deal 2 to any target. Spare tokens and sagas make good fodder, and the floor is fine.
Dahar Master
D'Ghor BloodletterC+
Sweeps away X/1s with -1/-1 to all other creatures, or makes each player sacrifice a creature. You can sacrifice the Bloodletter itself, so the edict favors you.
D'Ghor Bloodletter
Eject the Warp CoreC+
-2/-2 for two, or -6/-6 if you sacrifice an artifact or creature. Black has good fodder.
Eject the Warp Core
In the Pale MoonlightB
Saga: edict a non-token creature, investigate, then trade the clue for two 2/2s. Great board impact and value.
In the Pale Moonlight
Targ WranglerC
Three-mana 5/3 menace. Attacking costs a nonland permanent at end step, but it blocks for free, and spare tokens or death triggers often make the cost painless.
Targ Wrangler
The Naked TimeC+
Cheap saga: a Mountain for landfall and ramp, then counters and haste for next turn's creatures. Chapter III costs a land, so sacrifice it first if you can.
The Naked Time
Automated Warfare SystemD
Three-mana 2/2 flyers with no enters or death trigger are too inefficient. The attack trigger needs spare fodder and a safe attack, so it often does nothing.
Automated Warfare System
Starfleet SecurityC
One-mana 1/1 haste that investigates if it dies on your turn. Good sacrifice fodder, and an annoying attacker since killing it in combat gives you a Clue.
Starfleet Security
Battle-Scarred SurvivalistD+
1/1 menace that only grows when other creatures die. Weak on turn two and as a top-deck.
Battle-Scarred Survivalist
Sarcophagus, Ship of the DeadB-
Three mana for +1/+0 to your other creatures right away. The buff speeds up stationing it to 10 and helps you reach 8 total power.
Sarcophagus, Ship of the Dead
Vengeance MissionD
Does nothing on its own. Life loss on deaths is too slow to matter.
Vengeance Mission
Planetary BombardmentB-
One mana for 2 damage, or 4 if a creature died this turn. Premium removal.
Planetary Bombardment
Rares & mythics that fit
Gowron, Eager for BattleB+
Four-mana 3/3 with a free sacrifice outlet that wrecks combat, draws on Klingons and grows as creatures die. Weak alone, but a very high ceiling.
Gowron, Eager for Battle
D-7 Battle CruiserB+
Easy to station to 3, then it makes a hasty 2/1 each combat (sacrificed at end step). The tokens help station it to 8 for flying. Close to a bomb for two mana.
D-7 Battle Cruiser
General Chang, Cold WarriorB-
Pay {1} and sacrifice a creature, at instant speed, to put a +1/+1 counter on each Klingon. Klingons go wide, so the buff hits hard. Best in black-red.
General Chang, Cold Warrior
Khan, Vengeful HeartC+
Four-mana 5/3 that can sacrifice for two cards. Casting from exile rarely matters here.
Khan, Vengeful Heart
The Wrath of KhanA-
Good removal up front: 4 damage, or steal the creature for a turn if it survives. Then a card swap and a nontoken sacrifice make it nearly a two-for-one.
The Wrath of Khan
Worf, Intelligence ContractorB-
Three-mana 3/2 that steals a creature with mana value 3 or less for the turn, removing a blocker and adding an attacker. Black-red can then sacrifice it.
Worf, Intelligence Contractor
Grand Nagus ZekC
Three-mana 1/1 that makes treasure when creatures die. Too weak a body.
Grand Nagus Zek
Noncreature spellsBlue-Red
Payoffs trigger on any noncreature spell: instants, sorceries, enchantments, sagas, spacecraft and other artifacts. Mix cheap spells with payoffs that make tokens, deal damage or draw cards.
Signpost uncommons
Spock, Always Your FriendB-
Two-mana 2/2 that grabs a noncreature, nonland card from your top four. In a spell-heavy blue-red deck, it usually draws a card.
Spock, Always Your Friend
Gray and Adira, Forever JoinedD
Four-mana 2/3 that copies a creature for one hasty attack, but only if you cast a noncreature spell first. Too many hoops on a bad body.
Gray and Adira, Forever Joined
Key commons & uncommons
Academy InstructorB
Makes a 1/1 Officer for every noncreature spell and gets +1/+0 per Officer token. Slow to start, but it snowballs, and Beam Me Up cards trigger it twice.
Academy Instructor
Anthropological MissionD
Does nothing on entry and never adds to the board. Looting on noncreature spells is too slow to rely on.
Anthropological Mission
Cetacean OpsC-
A four-mana 3/3 is a poor start, and even one +1/+1 counter only makes it adequate. Ward 1 makes cheap removal a little less of a blowout.
Cetacean Ops
Ravenous CosmozoanC-
Six-mana 3/3 flying haste. It only feels good at three mana or less, which needs three noncreature, nonland cards in your graveyard.
Ravenous Cosmozoan
Starfleet Spanner JockeyC
Two-mana 3/3 defender that blocks well and can trade up. It can also attack on turns you cast a noncreature spell, which happens fairly often.
Starfleet Spanner Jockey
Tal Shiar AnalystC
Three-mana 3/2 that taps to deal 1 to each opponent and untaps on noncreature spells. The damage adds up in blue-red, but it dies to cheap removal.
Tal Shiar Analyst
Those Old ScientistsC
Saga that draws two and discards two, then regrows an artifact, instant or sorcery. Playable, but it never adds to the board and nets only about one card.
Those Old Scientists
Rares & mythics that fit
Lieutenant Commander DataC
Three-mana 2/2 with no immediate value. It grows when either player casts a noncreature spell and can cash counters in for cards, but starts too inefficient.
Lieutenant Commander Data
Romulan Bird-of-PreyB-
Two-mana spacecraft with hexproof until it becomes a 4/4 flyer at 8 counters. Each noncreature spell adds two, so it gets there fast enough to pay off.
Romulan Bird-of-Prey
CountersGreen-White
+1/+1 counters are the core, but most payoffs say “a counter”, so stationed spacecraft with charge counters count too. Spread counters early, then cash them in for cards, trample and hexproof.
Signpost uncommons
Phlox, Unorthodox DoctorB-
Four-mana 3/4 trampler that draws whenever one of your creatures with any counter, charge counters included, hits a player. Counters are everywhere here.
Phlox, Unorthodox Doctor
The Doctor, EMHB-
At worst a five-mana 5/5 artifact. It also adds a counter to each creature you control with any counter, stationed spacecraft included.
The Doctor, EMH
Key commons & uncommons
Brad Boimler, Eager EnsignB-
Two-mana lifelinker. Once he taps, each time you put counters on your permanents that turn, one extra is added. Boosts stationing and +1/+1 counter cards.
Brad Boimler, Eager Ensign
Dominion SupervisorC+
Three-mana 3/1 that puts a +1/+1 counter anywhere and gives trample to your creatures with counters. A quality common that improves with counter synergy.
Dominion Supervisor
Dr. McCoy, Surly SurgeonC-
Four-mana 2/2 whose shield (your other creatures with +1/+1 counters lose them instead of being destroyed) is strong, but cheap removal on him ends it.
Dr. McCoy, Surly Surgeon
Rares & mythics that fit
Deanna Troi, Psychic CounselB+
Every other creature that enters under your control, tokens included, gets an extra +1/+1 counter. One counter already pays her off; counter payoffs add more.
Deanna Troi, Psychic Counsel
Dr. Joseph M'BengaC
Incredible ceiling, but a four-mana 3/3 that does nothing alone and is a liability the turn you cast it. No help stationing Spacecraft, which aren't creatures yet.
Dr. Joseph M'Benga
Excalbian GamemasterA
Six-mana 6/6 that makes a 1/1 Officer per differently named land (often three) and adds a +1/+1 counter whenever it or another creature of yours dies. A bomb.
Excalbian Gamemaster
Jadzia Dax, Living LegacyB+
Starts as a fragile 0/1, but grows and adds more green mana each turn. Insane on turn two; drawn late, discard her to put two +1/+1 counters on a creature.
Jadzia Dax, Living Legacy
White
White’s A grades go to Picard, the Excalbian Gamemaster and the Enterprise-A, and its two Fs go to The Needs of the Many and Peace in Our Time: lovely principles, bad draft picks.
Captain Jean-Luc PicardA
Three-mana anthem for your team, plus a 1/1 Officer for each creature or spacecraft you cast. Value now, an engine if it lives.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Excalbian GamemasterA
Six-mana 6/6 that makes a 1/1 Officer per differently named land (often three) and adds a +1/+1 counter whenever it or another creature of yours dies. A bomb.
Excalbian Gamemaster
U.S.S. Enterprise-A, Free SpiritA
Makes three 1/1 Officers that get it halfway to six charge counters, then it is a warded 5/5 flying lifelinker. Killing it still leaves the tokens. A bomb.
U.S.S. Enterprise-A, Free Spirit
Antagonist IncorporatorB+
Two-mana 2/3 that counts itself: whenever one of your artifact creatures hits a player, you may pay {1} for a 1/1 Borg. Great on turn two, a value engine later.
Antagonist Incorporator
Deanna Troi, Psychic CounselB+
Every other creature that enters under your control, tokens included, gets an extra +1/+1 counter. One counter already pays her off; counter payoffs add more.
Deanna Troi, Psychic Counsel
Sulu, Space SwashbucklerB+
Two-mana 2/2 first striker. Cast a spacecraft and tap him to station it, and you draw a card, so he stays useful all game even when he can't attack.
Sulu, Space Swashbuckler
Captain Benjamin SiskoB
Two-drop that makes a 1/1 Officer at your end step for each dilemma you faced that turn. One token already pays him off, and the set has cheap dilemmas.
Captain Benjamin Sisko
Miles O'Brien, Transporter OpsB
3/3 that bounces your own creature or artifact, then draws a card at end step. Rebuying an enters trigger is a bonus.
Miles O'Brien, Transporter Ops
Primary Unimatrix AdjunctB
Gives your artifact creatures double strike, itself included. Weak stats, but it makes a big attack the turn it lands.
Primary Unimatrix Adjunct
Command SubadjunctB
One-mana 2/1 that gives itself and your other artifact creatures vigilance. Very cheap for its effect, and even a late copy makes your attacks much better.
Command Subadjunct
Rutherford, Upgraded EnsignB
Finds an artifact in your top six almost every time, then adds a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast a spacecraft.
Rutherford, Upgraded Ensign
Assembly SpecialistB-
Two artifact creatures from one two-mana card, a big deal in white's artifact decks. Bouncing it for a Beam Me Up cost lets you replay it for another token.
Assembly Specialist
Brad Boimler, Eager EnsignB-
Two-mana lifelinker. Once he taps, each time you put counters on your permanents that turn, one extra is added. Boosts stationing and +1/+1 counter cards.
Brad Boimler, Eager Ensign
Hologram JanewayB-
Three-mana 3/3 artifact whose power helps you reach 8 total; after that, each attack adds a +1/+1 counter. Fits the artifact, counters and power-8 decks.
Hologram Janeway
Malfunctioning HolodeckB-
Flexible removal: exiles an opponent's nonland permanent until it leaves. Artifact removal is common in this set, but ward 2 makes it costly to answer.
Malfunctioning Holodeck
Ghost of IllyriaC+
Four-mana 3/3 flyer that exiles another of your nonland permanents until end step. Good when that rebuys an enters trigger or restarts a saga; weak otherwise.
Ghost of Illyria
Saavik, Stoic StudentC+
Five-mana flash 2/2 that hits an opposing attacker or blocker for the number of creature types among your non-Borg creatures (at least 2). Usually a two-for-one.
Saavik, Stoic Student
The Measure of a ManC+
Exiles a nontoken creature or artifact for two turns and gives you a Clue. Sacrifice or bounce the saga before chapter III and the card never comes back.
The Measure of a Man
There's Coffee in that NebulaC+
Two-mana dig for a Plains or a cheap permanent in your top five. The Beam Me Up recast for three needs a creature to bounce, but turns it into two cards.
There's Coffee in that Nebula
U.S.S. Excelsior, Cutting EdgeC+
Kills an opponent's tapped creature on entry often enough to be a two-for-one, but eight charge counters for a 4/4 flyer takes a while.
U.S.S. Excelsior, Cutting Edge
Command DecisionC+
Kills a creature with power 4 or more, or just draws a card. Trades up when it can and is never dead.
Command Decision
Oberth-Class StarshipC+
Two-mana artifact that replaces itself with a Plains, then becomes a 2/2 flyer at six charge counters. One of white's better commons, with lots of synergy.
Oberth-Class Starship
Shields Up!C+
Cheap, flexible trick: hexproof, indestructible and a lasting +1/+1 counter. It wins combats and blanks targeted removal, even exile.
Shields Up!
70,000 Light-Years from HomeC
Efficient exile that leaves nothing on their board, but the basic land they get puts you down a card and can fix their mana. Fine, never great.
70,000 Light-Years from Home
Picard, Leading by ExampleC
Solid two-drop: pay {1} and tap him at sorcery speed to give another creature +X/+X equal to his power, forcing chump blocks or big hits. Good with power 8.
Picard, Leading by Example
Test of ConvictionC
A +1/+1 counter on each of your creatures, or draw two while they draw one. Both modes are situational, but being a cheap dilemma keeps it playable.
Test of Conviction
Una Chin-Riley, Number OneC
Five-mana 4/5 whose own power helps reach 8, then each attack gives an attacker +2/+0 and first strike. Repeatable but one-dimensional; fine, not exciting.
Una Chin-Riley, Number One
Emergency Medical HologramC
One-mana artifact creature that adds a +1/+1 counter and 1 life on entry. Weak body, but it fits both the artifact and +1/+1 counter decks.
Emergency Medical Hologram
Federation Field MedicC
Vigilant 3/2 that fits counters decks: on entry, add a +1/+1 counter to set up payoffs, or draw a card if you already control a permanent with a counter.
Federation Field Medic
Free Borg RevolutionariesC
Big artifact creature that pumps your team on entry, which turns on power-8 triggers. Basic landcycling keeps it flexible.
Free Borg Revolutionaries
Set Phasers to . . .C
One-mana instant: stun a creature or deal 3 to an attacker. Both modes are situational, but it is a cheap way to turn on dilemma payoffs.
Set Phasers to . . .
Tactical OfficerC
Okay two-drop that gets a +1/+1 counter and untaps whenever you attack while your creatures total 8+ power. The untap lets it station after combat.
Tactical Officer
Vexing DroneC
Cheap artifact 2/2 that taps a blocker on entry. Fine filler for the artifact decks.
Vexing Drone
Dr. McCoy, Surly SurgeonC-
Four-mana 2/2 whose shield (your other creatures with +1/+1 counters lose them instead of being destroyed) is strong, but cheap removal on him ends it.
Dr. McCoy, Surly Surgeon
DOT-7 Repair SquadD+
Four-mana 3/3 flyer with no enters or death trigger. Too easy to trade with or remove, even with the untap ability.
DOT-7 Repair Squad
Pet SehlatD+
Three-mana 4/3 that can't attack alone. It gets you halfway to power 8, but many cards do that with no drawback and carry power-8 payoffs of their own.
Pet Sehlat
Shuttle AceD+
Five-mana 4/4 that only flies on your turn. Even full-time five-mana 4/4 flyers have been weak, and 2 life per tap does not make up for it.
Shuttle Ace
Dr. Beverly CrusherD
Three-mana 2/2 that needs life gain to do anything, and this set has no real life-gain deck.
Dr. Beverly Crusher
Federation ResupplyD
Tutor for an aura, equipment or spacecraft. Beam Me Up gives a second use, but it never adds to the board.
Federation Resupply
Troubling TribblesD
Copies itself every upkeep, but 0/1s that can't block do nothing without buffs or sacrifice outlets.
Troubling Tribbles
Conquest MissionD
Does nothing on its own. It only makes Borg tokens after you play more non-token artifacts.
Conquest Mission
Pure EnergyD
Two +1/+1 counters now and again via Beam Me Up, but the recast means bouncing one of your creatures. Pure counter-placing cards have underperformed lately.
Pure Energy
Peace in Our TimeF
Four mana that does nothing to the board, and on each of their turns the opponent picks a free card or an attack. You will almost never reach 12 counters.
Peace in Our Time
The Needs of the ManyF
Sacrifice a creature to protect your team for one turn. Most of the time it is a dead card or a two-for-one against yourself.
The Needs of the Many
around
Two grades: normal deck / deck built for it
Andromedan AutomatonsF / B
Build-around. Needs four or more copies. One copy is unplayable and two are fine; with four, the first one fetches every other copy and the 3/1s add up to real card advantage.
Andromedan Automatons
Blue
Blue runs on Mr. Spock and The Caretaker, and its oddest build-around is the H.M.S. Bounty, which opens the same way The Voyage Home does, by going to get a whale.
Mr. Spock, Science OfficerA-
Sturdy 2/4 that turns each draw into two. Without other draw he does nothing the turn he lands, but if he survives to your next turn, you pull far ahead on cards.
Mr. Spock, Science Officer
The CaretakerA-
Maybe the best dilemma payoff: at the end of any turn you faced one, you cast the opponent's top nonland card free. The warded 5/6 is hard to kill and takes over games.
The Caretaker
Seven of Nine, UnassimilatedB+
Two-mana 0/4 wall that loots every turn, playable in any deck. With five land names she draws without discarding, and with seven she can become a 7/9.
Seven of Nine, Unassimilated
Kobayashi Maru ScenarioB
One new mode each upkeep: bounce, draw two, two 1/1s, then you lose on the fourth. The first three can carry you to a win first; bouncing or blinking it resets it.
Kobayashi Maru Scenario
Scotty, Miracle WorkerB
Gives the instants and sorceries in your graveyard Beam Me Up. Fragile, but a real value engine.
Scotty, Miracle Worker
Nyota Uhura, CommunicationsB
Three-mana 2/4 that draws when the opponent casts a spell of your chosen mana value. Pick 2 or 3 and she likely draws at least once, which is enough.
Nyota Uhura, Communications
Subcommander T'PolB
Flash 3/1 that stuns an artifact or creature, or counters an activated or triggered ability. Neither mode is worth a card alone, but she adds a body too.
Subcommander T'Pol
Wesley Crusher, Starfleet CadetB
Flash 2/2 that picks two of four modes, a weaker Cryptic Command with a body. Value from two modes is easy, and Beam Me Up lets you rebuy the trigger.
Wesley Crusher, Starfleet Cadet
Suurok-Class Science VesselB
Three-mana spacecraft that draws on entry and becomes a 3/2 flyer at just five counters, which is easy to reach. Blue's best common by a wide margin.
Suurok-Class Science Vessel
Romulan Bird-of-PreyB-
Two-mana spacecraft with hexproof until it becomes a 4/4 flyer at 8 counters. Each noncreature spell adds two, so it gets there fast enough to pay off.
Romulan Bird-of-Prey
Hoshi Sato, ExolinguistB-
Five-mana 3/3 that puts the best of your top X cards in hand, X being creature types among your non-Borg creatures. She counts her own two types, and X climbs easily.
Hoshi Sato, Exolinguist
V'Ger, the IntruderB-
Seven-mana 5/7 flyer that draws or gives their creatures -1/-0 on entry and every attack. Big threat and value engine, but it slips if the format is fast.
V'Ger, the Intruder
Gwyndala, the ProgenyC+
Two-mana 1/1 that comes wearing a free +1/+1 equipment, so effectively a 2/2. The set has few good equipment for her copy ability.
Gwyndala, the Progeny
Dominion SaboteurC+
Five-mana clone of any creature or artifact, counters included. Can copy a fully stationed spacecraft.
Dominion Saboteur
Ensign Pavel ChekovC+
Four-mana 1/5 that exiles the opponent's top X cards (X = your land names) and lets you play a land among them, often a new name. Whiffs when X is small.
Ensign Pavel Chekov
Enterprise NX-01C+
Stuns a creature on entry and stations into a 4/3 flyer with vigilance. Single-stun cards have been weak lately.
Enterprise NX-01
Test of PrioritiesC+
Surveil 2 and draw is always solid. The other mode exiles your creature until the end step, dodging removal or rebuying an enters trigger when it lines up.
Test of Priorities
Vulcan Mind-MeldC+
One mana for two of their cards while they get one of yours. Odd, but a cheap two-for-one.
Vulcan Mind-Meld
Zefram Cochrane, Warp PioneerC+
Three-mana 2/3 that lets you cast one artifact a turn off the top of your library; even one such cast pays off. Spacecraft also enter with two extra counters.
Zefram Cochrane, Warp Pioneer
Consider the Prime DirectiveC+
Soft counter, or stun a creature and draw. Neither mode is great alone, but the choice and dilemma synergy add up.
Consider the Prime Directive
Federation ProbeC+
One-mana artifact flyer with a dilemma: +1/+1 or surveil 1. Hits many synergies; one of blue's best commons.
Federation Probe
Guidance FailureC+
Blue's standard removal: an instant that puts a creature or spacecraft on top or bottom of its owner's library, their choice. One mana cheaper on an attacker.
Guidance Failure
Interstellar EffigyC+
Five-mana 4/3 artifact creature that bounces an opposing creature on entry. Adding a body while removing theirs is great tempo.
Interstellar Effigy
Make It SoC+
Four mana for draw two plus a 1/1 Officer, like a 1/1 that draws two on entry. The other mode untaps a permanent, for example to station twice.
Make It So
Lieutenant Commander DataC
Three-mana 2/2 with no immediate value. It grows when either player casts a noncreature spell and can cash counters in for cards, but starts too inefficient.
Lieutenant Commander Data
Data, New LifeC
Two-mana 0/1 that grows each time you draw. Cheap, but slow to matter and a poor top-deck.
Data, New Life
EnergizeC
Sorcery-speed bounce, twice with Beam Me Up. Triggers spell payoffs, but rarely gains a card.
Energize
Highly IllogicalC
Flexible counter: two mana stops an early two-drop, and kicked for four it counters anything. Holding up four is costly, so the cheap mode carries it.
Highly Illogical
Jett Reno, Problem SolverC
Surveils when tapped, draws at power 4, and grows on dilemmas. Starts too small to get there often.
Jett Reno, Problem Solver
Those Old ScientistsC
Saga that draws two and discards two, then regrows an artifact, instant or sorcery. Playable, but it never adds to the board and nets only about one card.
Those Old Scientists
Cloistered TelepathC
Flash two-drop that loots. Can ambush-block small attackers.
Cloistered Telepath
Emergency Holographic CrewC
3/4 that surveils 2, or returns a spacecraft from your graveyard for a two-for-one.
Emergency Holographic Crew
Humpback WhalesC
Six-mana 5/6 with vigilance and ward 2 that attacks and blocks well, or landcycle it early for a basic you lack. Also a whale for H.M.S. Bounty to tutor.
Humpback Whales
MaroonedC
One mana locks down a tapped creature or artifact, or pay three more to tap it first. It keeps its abilities, so it can still be a threat.
Marooned
Melkotian AdjudicatorC
2/1 flyer with vigilance that grows each time you face a dilemma. Fragile start, but dilemmas are everywhere.
Melkotian Adjudicator
Open CommunicationsC
Passable one-mana cantrip. The Beam Me Up recast costs three more plus a bounce, so it only nets a card cheaply when you bounce a one-drop or an enters-trigger creature.
Open Communications
Starfleet Spanner JockeyC
Two-mana 3/3 defender that blocks well and can trade up. It can also attack on turns you cast a noncreature spell, which happens fairly often.
Starfleet Spanner Jockey
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La ForgeC-
Doubles charge counters, which is great with a spacecraft already in play. Without one he's a three-mana 3/2 with no other text, and decks only run two or three ships.
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Cetacean OpsC-
A four-mana 3/3 is a poor start, and even one +1/+1 counter only makes it adequate. Ward 1 makes cheap removal a little less of a blowout.
Cetacean Ops
Suus Mahna PractitionerC-
Three-mana 3/2 that taps itself to tap a creature, cheaper with more land names. Tappers aren't what they used to be, and the weak body doesn't make up for it.
Suus Mahna Practitioner
Rules of AcquisitionD+
Five mana: steal their best permanent while they draw three, or hand them a weak one, like a 1/1 token, and draw three. Too often neither mode appeals.
Rules of Acquisition
Anthropological MissionD
Does nothing on entry and never adds to the board. Looting on noncreature spells is too slow to rely on.
Anthropological Mission
around
Two grades: normal deck / deck built for it
H.M.S. Bounty, Unlikely TimeshipC- / B+
Build-around. Needs a whale or two (Humpback Whales, Cetacean Ops) to tutor, so a hit also takes an extra turn, once per game. Without whales it's a 3/4 flyer that draws on hits.
H.M.S. Bounty, Unlikely Timeship
Cloak and PhaserF / B
Build-around. Needs four or more differently named lands, which bring it down to five mana for two 2/2s plus draw two, discard one. In a normal two-color deck it won't make the cut.
Cloak and Phaser
Deep Space ScanF / B-
Build-around. Needs a five-color deck with many land names, since it draws one card per differently named land. Anywhere else it's a six-mana sorcery that draws too little.
Deep Space Scan
Black
Black’s A- cards are Armus and Overflow Submatrix, and Death Is Irrelevant sits at C+, since eight mana turns out to be very relevant.
Armus, Skin of EvilA-
Two strong cards in one: a seven-mana 6/6 menace that makes them discard two at each of your end steps, or a three-mana instant-speed -4/-4 from your hand.
Armus, Skin of Evil
Overflow SubmatrixA-
Three-mana 3/3 that recasts an artifact creature from your graveyard each of your turns, quickly overwhelming them. Best cast when a recast is ready that turn.
Overflow Submatrix
U.S.S. Reliant, From Hell's HeartB+
Reanimates a creature with mana value 4 or less on entry and on each hit. Slow to station, but close to a bomb.
U.S.S. Reliant, From Hell's Heart
Collation TrimatrixB
Tap three artifact creatures, even summoning-sick ones or itself, to draw a card for 1 life at instant speed. Black-white has plenty of creatures to fuel it.
Collation Trimatrix
Elim Garak, Simple TailorB
3/3 menace that drains 2 every time you face a dilemma. A real win condition.
Elim Garak, Simple Tailor
Salt VampireB
Two-mana 2/2 lifelinker that exiles the best nonland card from their hand. They draw a replacement, but it is almost always worse.
Salt Vampire
In the Pale MoonlightB
Saga: edict a non-token creature, investigate, then trade the clue for two 2/2s. Great board impact and value.
In the Pale Moonlight
Resistance Is FutileB
Two-mana kill for any non-artifact creature, or reanimate a small artifact creature. Premium removal.
Resistance Is Futile
General Chang, Cold WarriorB-
Pay {1} and sacrifice a creature, at instant speed, to put a +1/+1 counter on each Klingon. Klingons go wide, so the buff hits hard. Best in black-red.
General Chang, Cold Warrior
Sela, Tal Shiar ParadoxB-
Four-mana 3/3 that can exile from your graveyard on attack to make a tapped 2/2 Romulan. An engine with more graveyard synergy, but it can't always attack safely.
Sela, Tal Shiar Paradox
Bat'lethB-
Gives -2/-2 on entry, then stays as a +2/+0 equipment. Removal plus lasting value.
Bat'leth
Commander Raffi MusikerB-
Three-mana 3/2 whose investigate mode alone is a two-for-one. The other mode exiles a graveyard card, as hate or to trigger leave-the-graveyard payoffs.
Commander Raffi Musiker
Death Is IrrelevantC+
Assimilates the best creature from any graveyard at each of your end steps and makes artifact creatures indestructible. Huge if cast, but eight mana rarely gets there.
Death Is Irrelevant
Georgiou, Terran EmperorC+
Six-mana 4/6 that draws a card at each of your end steps for 3 life and makes ten 1/1s once you're at 0 or below. If they kill her then, you lose. Wild swings.
Georgiou, Terran Emperor
Khan, Vengeful HeartC+
Four-mana 5/3 that can sacrifice for two cards. Casting from exile rarely matters here.
Khan, Vengeful Heart
BlastoneuronC+
Four-mana 2/2 flyer whose value makes up for the body: a small creature from your graveyard returns for a hasty turn, often with a useful trigger, and you drain 1.
Blastoneuron
D'Ghor BloodletterC+
Sweeps away X/1s with -1/-1 to all other creatures, or makes each player sacrifice a creature. You can sacrifice the Bloodletter itself, so the edict favors you.
D'Ghor Bloodletter
De-evolveC+
-4/-0 and can't block, then exiles the creature at upkeep once you have seven cards in your graveyard. Weak outside graveyard decks.
De-evolve
Storied VeteranC+
One-mana 2/1 that can come back once from your graveyard. Can't block.
Storied Veteran
Cha'DIch InvestigatorC+
A 4/4 plus a hasty 2/1 for five mana. Good rate.
Cha'DIch Investigator
Eject the Warp CoreC+
-2/-2 for two, or -6/-6 if you sacrifice an artifact or creature. Black has good fodder.
Eject the Warp Core
Fugitive ListenerC+
3/1 that makes the opponent discard on entry. One toughness is the drawback.
Fugitive Listener
He's Dead, JimC+
Four-mana instant kill with surveil 1. Answers anything.
He's Dead, Jim
Pattern Buffer PreservationC+
Pick one of the top two and put the other in your graveyard, then recast it for {1}{B} by bouncing a creature you control. Two cards plus graveyard setup.
Pattern Buffer Preservation
Rogue Artificial IntelligenceC+
6/5 artifact creature that gains life or surveils on entry, with basic landcycling. Fits every black deck.
Rogue Artificial Intelligence
Tenacious DroneC+
2/1 artifact creature that leaves a 1/1 Borg. Two bodies for the Borg and sacrifice decks.
Tenacious Drone
Grand Nagus ZekC
Three-mana 1/1 that makes treasure when creatures die. Too weak a body.
Grand Nagus Zek
Kai Winn, Faithless LeaderC
Two-mana 3/1 that makes them lose 3 life whenever they cast or activate the named card. Hard to name the right one unless a key card is already on the board.
Kai Winn, Faithless Leader
Collective DroneC
Two-mana artifact creature with power equal to your artifact creatures. Usually two power or more.
Collective Drone
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror MenaceC
A five-mana 5/4 menace is a mediocre floor, but each time you face a dilemma you can pay {B} to return him from your graveyard to hand, and dilemmas are common.
Gabriel Lorca, Mirror Menace
Hive Mind CoprocessorC
Your artifact creatures can draw a card for 1 life when they hit a player. Without an artifact attacker that gets through right away, it's a blank five-mana 4/4.
Hive Mind Coprocessor
Impossible ChoiceC
Kill a creature and give them two 1/1s, or draw two and both lose 2. The kill mode is rarely worth it.
Impossible Choice
Organic Avulsion UnitC
Weak three-mana 2/3, but paying {2} to give your artifact creatures menace can turn a wide board into a surprise lethal. Too often the situation is just medium.
Organic Avulsion Unit
Test of LoyaltyC
One-mana dilemma: regrow a creature, or cycle it while exiling a graveyard card, which can hate on graveyards or trigger your leave-the-graveyard payoffs.
Test of Loyalty
Assault DroneC
At worst a four-mana 3/4, since it pumps itself. Black decks, especially black-white, usually have other artifact creatures for it to buff too.
Assault Drone
Relentless DrednokC
One-drop 1/1 lifelinker that is great to buff and good fodder, since you can later pay {2}{B} to exile it from your graveyard and draw. Never quite a two-for-one.
Relentless Drednok
Stray from HistoryC
Regrow two creatures late, or strip a card early. Never touches the board.
Stray from History
Tal Shiar OperativeC
Two-mana 2/2 that can give itself deathtouch on attack, so blockers can only trade with it, or surveil 1 when the attack is safe. A repeatable dilemma.
Tal Shiar Operative
A Good Day to DieC-
One-mana +2/+0 that draws a card if the creature dies this turn. It helps a small creature trade up, but tricks that keep the creature alive are better.
A Good Day to Die
Obsidian Order OperativeC-
Sturdy 2/5 that drains 1 per dilemma. A weak payoff.
Obsidian Order Operative
Battle-Scarred SurvivalistD+
1/1 menace that only grows when other creatures die. Weak on turn two and as a top-deck.
Battle-Scarred Survivalist
Gul Dukat, Colonial PrefectD
Seven-mana 6/6 menace that doubles the opponent's life loss each turn. Win-more: it only does something when you are already hitting them.
Gul Dukat, Colonial Prefect
Vengeance MissionD
Does nothing on its own. Life loss on deaths is too slow to matter.
Vengeance Mission
Automated Warfare SystemD
Three-mana 2/2 flyers with no enters or death trigger are too inefficient. The attack trigger needs spare fodder and a safe attack, so it often does nothing.
Automated Warfare System
around
Two grades: normal deck / deck built for it
The Destruction of PraxisC / A
Build-around. Needs six or more differently named lands. Then it's a one-sided sweeper that also makes two hasty 2/1s; with fewer names it's an inconsistent sweeper.
The Destruction of Praxis
Tell Me What You SeeD / B-
Build-around. Needs a deck full of modal cards. They choose: you draw a card, or they lose 4 and you surveil 1. Each dilemma can return it to your hand to cast again.
Tell Me What You See
Red
The Wrath of Khan is red’s only A-, and Captain James T. Kirk sits at C+, which makes this the first time Khan has finished ahead.
The Wrath of KhanA-
Good removal up front: 4 damage, or steal the creature for a turn if it survives. Then a card swap and a nontoken sacrifice make it nearly a two-for-one.
The Wrath of Khan
D-7 Battle CruiserB+
Easy to station to 3, then it makes a hasty 2/1 each combat (sacrificed at end step). The tokens help station it to 8 for flying. Close to a bomb for two mana.
D-7 Battle Cruiser
Pah-WraithB+
Seven-mana 4/4 first strike, haste. When it attacks, your team gets +1/+0 for each differently named land you control, often enough to end the game.
Pah-Wraith
Tasha Yar, Out of TimeB+
Hasty 2/1 two-drop that impulse-draws when it dies. Later, {2}{R} from the graveyard makes a one-turn copy that draws again, adding up to a three-for-one.
Tasha Yar, Out of Time
Encounter the UnknownB
Two-card impulse draw, or 2 to each creature and player when that hurts them more.
Encounter the Unknown
Academy InstructorB
Makes a 1/1 Officer for every noncreature spell and gets +1/+0 per Officer token. Slow to start, but it snowballs, and Beam Me Up cards trigger it twice.
Academy Instructor
Transporter MalfunctionB
Two mana for 3 to any target is already good removal. The second shot costs six mana and a bounce, so it's a late-game play, but it can still win games.
Transporter Malfunction
Will Riker, First in the FieldB-
Four-mana 4/3 that puts two lands from your library onto the battlefield each combat, sacrificed at end step. Two landfall triggers and a one-turn mana boost.
Will Riker, First in the Field
Worf, Intelligence ContractorB-
Three-mana 3/2 that steals a creature with mana value 3 or less for the turn, removing a blocker and adding an attacker. Black-red can then sacrifice it.
Worf, Intelligence Contractor
Khaaaaaaaaaaaannn!B-
Instant that deals twice X damage for X plus one mana, so it stays efficient all game. Exiling also beats death triggers and recursive creatures.
Khaaaaaaaaaaaannn!
Munitions EnthusiastB-
Two-mana 3/2 trampler that pings any target when it dies. What aggro decks want.
Munitions Enthusiast
Sarcophagus, Ship of the DeadB-
Three mana for +1/+0 to your other creatures right away. The buff speeds up stationing it to 10 and helps you reach 8 total power.
Sarcophagus, Ship of the Dead
Planetary BombardmentB-
One mana for 2 damage, or 4 if a creature died this turn. Premium removal.
Planetary Bombardment
Plasma CascadeB-
Three-mana instant that deals 3 to any target, with an optional rummage on top. Premium removal at common.
Plasma Cascade
Captain James T. KirkC+
Three-mana 2/2 that picks a mode on entry and again on each attack. With no haste, the weak body has to survive a turn first; best as a late top-deck with an empty hand.
Captain James T. Kirk
Q, Stacking the DeckC+
4/4 that exiles a spell you can copy by exiling cards from hand. Random, but a fine body.
Q, Stacking the Deck
Beckett Mariner, Impetuous EnsignC+
Two-mana 2/1 first striker that's good on turn two. Every third time she taps, including to station, she deals 2 to each opponent, so she stays useful late.
Beckett Mariner, Impetuous Ensign
Captain Michael BurnhamC+
Three-mana 3/3 trampler that pings each opponent on landfall. A solid body already, and red-green has ways to trigger it twice in a turn to grow her.
Captain Michael Burnham
Khan, Despot by DesignC+
Five-mana 5/4 trampler that pings the opponent and each of their creatures on entry. Great against X/1s like Officer and Klingon tokens, merely fine otherwise.
Khan, Despot by Design
La'An Noonien-Singh, SecurityC+
Four-mana 4/3 that gets you halfway to 8 total power. Once you're there, each attack stops their best blocker, which is just what aggressive red decks want.
La'An Noonien-Singh, Security
The Naked TimeC+
Cheap saga: a Mountain for landfall and ramp, then counters and haste for next turn's creatures. Chapter III costs a land, so sacrifice it first if you can.
The Naked Time
Boarding ActionC+
Two bodies from one card: a hasty 2/1 now and another later via Beam Me Up. The bounce makes the second cast awkward at times, but it's still a two-for-one.
Boarding Action
Genesis EffectC+
Five mana for 6 damage is pricey, but this instant also swaps a land for a planet, which fixes mana, triggers landfall, and adds a new land name.
Genesis Effect
Reckless ImpulseC+
Two-mana impulse draw two. A good card-advantage spell.
Reckless Impulse
Savvy ProfiteerC+
Two-mana 2/1 that taps for red, and later turns spare mana into Treasure for fixing or for artifact and sacrifice synergies.
Savvy Profiteer
Silicate SurveyorC+
Five-mana 4/4 reach that impulse-draws a card on entry. The sturdy body makes it a real two-for-one, unlike flimsier creatures with this trigger.
Silicate Surveyor
Lwaxana Troi, Charming GuestC
Doubles another creature's triggers while she stays tapped. Too fiddly, and it misses enters triggers.
Lwaxana Troi, Charming Guest
Targ WranglerC
Three-mana 5/3 menace. Attacking costs a nonland permanent at end step, but it blocks for free, and spare tokens or death triggers often make the cost painless.
Targ Wrangler
Test of IdentityC
An instant-speed Tormenting Voice that's almost always playable, plus a strong double-strike trick in Klingon-heavy decks like black-red.
Test of Identity
Dahar MasterC
Four-mana 4/3 that can sacrifice another nonland permanent on entry to deal 2 to any target. Spare tokens and sagas make good fodder, and the floor is fine.
Dahar Master
Perils of the PastC
+3/+2 trick or Shatter. This set has enough artifacts to main-deck it.
Perils of the Past
Planetary PatrolC
2/2 that attacks as a 3/3 on landfall turns. Fine aggressive filler.
Planetary Patrol
Starfleet SecurityC
One-mana 1/1 haste that investigates if it dies on your turn. Good sacrifice fodder, and an annoying attacker since killing it in combat gives you a Clue.
Starfleet Security
Tal Shiar AnalystC
Three-mana 3/2 that taps to deal 1 to each opponent and untaps on noncreature spells. The damage adds up in blue-red, but it dies to cheap removal.
Tal Shiar Analyst
Ravenous CosmozoanC-
Six-mana 3/3 flying haste. It only feels good at three mana or less, which needs three noncreature, nonland cards in your graveyard.
Ravenous Cosmozoan
Cantankerous CaptainC-
2/3 that pumps a creature each combat and sometimes gives menace. Low floor and low ceiling.
Cantankerous Captain
HortaC-
Big trampler with basic landcycling and nothing else. The weakest of the landcyclers.
Horta
Red Alert!D+
Team +2/+0, cheaper on defense. Needs a wide board to matter.
Red Alert!
Captain's TutelageD+
Flash aura: first strike now, +2/+0 for good. Wins a combat, but doesn't stop removal.
Captain's Tutelage
Quark, Humble ProprietorD
Makes a Treasure every upkeep, but you can't sacrifice them while Quark lives. Cashing them in means losing him, and late game you rarely need the mana.
Quark, Humble Proprietor
Dominion InfiltrationD
Copy their creatures for one turn. You will copy mediocre cards most of the time.
Dominion Infiltration
Erica Ortegas, Plucky PilotD
A four-mana 3/3 haste is a poor rate, and her tap trigger does nothing unless you run landfall cards and have a land in hand.
Erica Ortegas, Plucky Pilot
Exploratory MissionD
Four-mana enchantment that does nothing up front. Each land then exiles a card you can only play that turn, and missed land drops leave it blank.
Exploratory Mission
Infinite DiversityF
Costs nine mana, then needs a strong instant or sorcery in your graveyard and many creature types. Often you can't cast it, or the copies aren't worth it.
Infinite Diversity
Brazen BluffF
The opponent always picks the option that hurts them less, so you usually just lose a card.
Brazen Bluff
Green
Green has more A grades than any other color (Janeway, Pike, Holo-Engineer, the Discovery and Bones), and Dathon and Picard at El-Adrel lands a D+: Shaka, when the walls fell.
Captain Kathryn JanewayA
Every creature that enters under your control explores, even tokens, and you get an extra land drop. Decent floor as a four-mana 2/3, absurd ceiling.
Captain Kathryn Janeway
Captain Pike, Fullness of TimeA
Each land you play off the top is effectively a free card. Often a 2/2 early, but he grows with your differently named lands into a big threat.
Captain Pike, Fullness of Time
Holo-EngineerA
Two 3/3s for four mana, and every token you make becomes a 3/3. Possibly an A+.
Holo-Engineer
U.S.S. Discovery, at Black AlertA
Discover 5 on entry is a two-for-one up front. Station it to 6 and it becomes a 5/5 flyer that discovers again on every attack. A bomb.
U.S.S. Discovery, at Black Alert
Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoyA-
Flash 3/2 that regrows a non-Doctor permanent for a two-for-one, or saves a creature from removal or a trade by returning it with a counter. A flexible bomb.
Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Jadzia Dax, Living LegacyB+
Starts as a fragile 0/1, but grows and adds more green mana each turn. Insane on turn two; drawn late, discard her to put two +1/+1 counters on a creature.
Jadzia Dax, Living Legacy
Captain Jonathan ArcherB+
A 3/3 plus a 1/1 for three is already strong. His sorcery-speed pump is +3/+3 with just him and the dog, so the opponent often has to chump.
Captain Jonathan Archer
Hologram StalkerB+
Six-mana three-for-one: a 2/2, a permanent back from your graveyard, and a 3/3 when that card leaves. Can keep making 3/3s. Maybe the best uncommon.
Hologram Stalker
MACO Strike TeamB
One-drop that makes a 1/1 every time the opponent targets your creatures. Punishes removal.
MACO Strike Team
Amok TimeB
Saga: fight, gain 3, then regrow a creature. Removal plus a card for three mana.
Amok Time
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone WandererB
Puts the next two lands from your library onto the battlefield, helping landfall and land names. Station it to 8 later and it's a 3/3 flying, vigilant threat.
U.S.S. Voyager, Lone Wanderer
Rok-Tahk, Budding ScientistB-
Six-mana 5/5 plus an indestructible 0/1 blocker; the bodies are most of the value. Your creatures tapping for {G}{G} rarely matters without mana sinks.
Rok-Tahk, Budding Scientist
David and Carol Marcus, CreatorsB-
Three-mana 1/3 that ramps and fixes with a Planet token, which also triggers landfall and adds a land name. The body blocks early attackers.
David and Carol Marcus, Creators
Adversary by AlgorithmC+
A 3/3 for three, then another for four via Beam Me Up. It's worse than flashback, since you must bounce a creature, but two bodies from one card is still good.
Adversary by Algorithm
Culber and Stamets, Star-CrossedC+
Four-mana 3/4 that adds a +1/+1 counter or two mana. The counter mode is the usual pick.
Culber and Stamets, Star-Crossed
Jake Sisko, War CorrespondentC+
Two-mana 2/2 with incidental lifegain on landfall. The set has enough ways to get two landfalls in a turn that it often makes a Clue too.
Jake Sisko, War Correspondent
MugatoC+
Five-mana 6/6 with reach, vigilance and deathtouch. Reach and vigilance make it hard to attack through, and deathtouch punishes gang blocks.
Mugato
Neelix, Moral SupportC+
Two-mana 1/1 that brings its own Food to grow itself. Lifegain isn't a big theme, but gain lands and other Food cards give it extra triggers.
Neelix, Moral Support
Saru, UnthreatenedC+
Flash 3/2 that gives another creature hexproof for the turn. Great when held to blank a removal spell, weaker when you must cast it just for a body.
Saru, Unthreatened
Sylvia Tilly, Joy of DiscoveryC+
Three-mana 2/2 with surveil 2. Her combat trigger (pay {1}, exile a graveyard card: +1/+1 counter) works right away, so cast her with a spare mana.
Sylvia Tilly, Joy of Discovery
Syndicate LiquidatorsC+
Five-mana 4/4 trampler that is miserable without landfall. Cast it before your land drop so it acts like an enters trigger for two +1/+1 counters.
Syndicate Liquidators
Test of CourageC+
Cheap instant answer to an artifact or enchantment with MV 3 or less, and this set has many targets. The other mode exiles a graveyard card and gains 2.
Test of Courage
Warp SpeedC+
Tutors a basic or Planet and makes your lands enter untapped. Later it draws two for {U}{U} plus generic mana that shrinks with land names. Key in blue-green.
Warp Speed
Common GoalC+
Bite removal that can use two of your creatures on one of theirs, so blowouts are less likely. Sorcery speed makes a safe window harder to find.
Common Goal
Dominion SupervisorC+
Three-mana 3/1 that puts a +1/+1 counter anywhere and gives trample to your creatures with counters. A quality common that improves with counter synergy.
Dominion Supervisor
First ContactC+
Instant mill four and keep a permanent: a proven two-mana play, best in black-green. Triggers leaves-graveyard payoffs; gains 2 if it's your first spell.
First Contact
MoopsyC+
One-mana deathtouch that can gain reach. Trades up and pairs with fight spells.
Moopsy
Photosynthetic PhysicianC+
Five-mana 5/5 reach, then pay {G} to exile it from your graveyard for a 1/1, which can trigger leaves-graveyard payoffs. Still useful if milled.
Photosynthetic Physician
Temporal ConquerorC+
2/3 that mills three and returns a land, or makes a treasure. A card plus graveyard fuel.
Temporal Conqueror
XenobotanistC+
Two-mana 1/3 that taps for any color. Ramp and fixing.
Xenobotanist
Dr. Joseph M'BengaC
Incredible ceiling, but a four-mana 3/3 that does nothing alone and is a liability the turn you cast it. No help stationing Spacecraft, which aren't creatures yet.
Dr. Joseph M'Benga
Stable WormholeC
Makes a tapped Planet each turn you attack, good for ramp and landfall. But it does nothing on its own, and one Planet isn't a card's worth.
Stable Wormhole
Species 8472C
Six-mana 7/5 that gains life equal to your land names. A bit clunky, but passable anywhere and scary against the black-white Borg deck.
Species 8472
Support MissionC
Does nothing on its own, but a +1/+1 counter on each creature that enters pays off after two or three triggers. Tokens help reach the five-counter upgrade.
Support Mission
Astute TerraformerC
Passable two-mana 2/2 early. Later it can pump to a 4/4 for the turn, sometimes for free once you control enough differently named lands.
Astute Terraformer
Cold-Blooded CrewC
Floor is a six-mana 6/6 (counters on itself) that is hard to chump, with basic landcycling as a fallback. Better in blue-green, the land-names deck.
Cold-Blooded Crew
Dominion Assault ForceC
4/4 vigilance that exiles a graveyard card or surveils. Fine body, two small upsides.
Dominion Assault Force
Final FrontierC
Fixes, ramps and sets up double landfall turns, but adding no body hurts. Bouncing a creature to Beam Me Up is mostly a late-game play.
Final Frontier
I'm a Doctor, Not a . . .C
One-mana +2/+2 that untaps the creature, with +1/+1 staying as a counter. Best used as pseudo-vigilance; as an ambush trick on blocks it is risky.
I'm a Doctor, Not a . . .
Saurian ExplorerC
Four-mana 4/3 with weak base stats, but each landfall gives it +2/+2. Late, its {6} Planet ability triggers itself and your other landfall cards.
Saurian Explorer
Xindi SurveyorsC
Three-mana 3/2 that grows with each landfall. Two toughness is fragile, so cast it before a land drop to get out of cheap removal range.
Xindi Surveyors
Dathon and Picard at El-AdrelD+
+3/+3 trample trick or a narrow edict. Two weak cards stuck together.
Dathon and Picard at El-Adrel
Branching TimelineD
Eight mana for random permanents that enter tapped. Too slow and swingy.
Branching Timeline
Genesis DeviceD
Ramps once, then offers a weak land swap. Does not add to the board.
Genesis Device
Multicolor
Borg Cube is the only A+ in the entire set, and if you open one you take it and move into its colors, because resistance is futile.
Borg CubeA+
Affinity often cuts it to five mana or less, and it exiles a creature on entry. Stationed to 12, it alternates stealing that creature and exiling another.
Borg Cube
The Inner LightA-
Reanimates a green or white creature right away, then draws cards if a creature connects, then life and a Treasure. Best in green-white; a low-end bomb.
The Inner Light
Gowron, Eager for BattleB+
Four-mana 3/3 with a free sacrifice outlet that wrecks combat, draws on Klingons and grows as creatures die. Weak alone, but a very high ceiling.
Gowron, Eager for Battle
Mirror Universe IntrusionB+
Copy their best creature with menace for three; kicked late, copy them all.
Mirror Universe Intrusion
Nog, Ambitious CadetB+
Two-mana 2/2 menace that becomes a 3/4 for just {1} more, surveilling 2 when it taps. Later, {3} more lets you play lands from your graveyard, plus an extra land a turn.
Nog, Ambitious Cadet
The Duras SistersB+
Two mana for a 3/2 that leaves a hasty 2/1. A great rate.
The Duras Sisters
Constable OdoB
Five-mana 4/3 that usually investigates twice, a three-for-one. The other mode taps a creature and puts two stun counters on it.
Constable Odo
Hemmer, Fixing What Is BrokenB
Solid two-mana 2/3 that loots whenever it becomes tapped, so stationing with it is pure value. Your spacecraft also have hexproof on your turn.
Hemmer, Fixing What Is Broken
L'Rell, Fierce VisionaryB
Sturdy 1/4 that makes a hasty 2/1 Klingon at each of your combats, starting the turn it lands; it's sacrificed at end of turn. Free sacrifice fodder.
L'Rell, Fierce Visionary
Locutus, the One Who SpeaksB
Two-mana artifact lord that counts itself, or pay {W}{B} and discard it to deal 2 to a creature and gain 2. Extra legendary copies become removal.
Locutus, the One Who Speaks
Zero, Incorporeal SensateB
Three-mana lifelink 2/2 artifact that exiles the best nonland card in their hand. They can still cast it, but for 2 more, which disrupts their plan.
Zero, Incorporeal Sensate
Daniels, Temporal AgentB-
Four-mana 3/1 that returns a creature card to hand, an immediate two-for-one. That and its own graveyard ability both trigger leave-the-graveyard payoffs.
Daniels, Temporal Agent
Kirk, Commanding OfficerB-
Three-mana 3/3 that impulse-draws whenever you attack while your board totals 8+ power. Can also pay {2} and sacrifice it to kill an artifact or enchantment.
Kirk, Commanding Officer
Phlox, Unorthodox DoctorB-
Four-mana 3/4 trampler that draws whenever one of your creatures with any counter, charge counters included, hits a player. Counters are everywhere here.
Phlox, Unorthodox Doctor
Spock, Always Your FriendB-
Two-mana 2/2 that grabs a noncreature, nonland card from your top four. In a spell-heavy blue-red deck, it usually draws a card.
Spock, Always Your Friend
The Doctor, EMHB-
At worst a five-mana 5/5 artifact. It also adds a counter to each creature you control with any counter, stationed spacecraft included.
The Doctor, EMH
Vash, Freelance ArchaeologistB-
Three-mana 2/4 that surveils each upkeep and draws once a turn when a card leaves your graveyard. Many cards in the set trigger it.
Vash, Freelance Archaeologist
All Good Things...C+
Saga that draws six and keeps three, maybe gaining 10. Lots of cards, but slow and no board impact.
All Good Things...
Dathon, His Heart OpenC+
Three-mana, three-color 3/3 that draws on each enchantment you cast, deals 2 on Sagas and speeds up chapters. Few decks have enough enchantments.
Dathon, His Heart Open
Hit It!C+
Three-mana ramp that puts a land from your top five onto the battlefield tapped and mills the rest, plus haste for your team. Real value, but no creatures.
Hit It!
Kira Nerys, FirebrandC+
Three-mana 4/3 trampler. The tapped-and-attacking text rarely comes up.
Kira Nerys, Firebrand
Sarek, Federation AmbassadorC+
Three-color 0/5 that draws a card per five creature types each turn. Low floor.
Sarek, Federation Ambassador
Cleveland Booker, EmpathC+
Fragile four-mana 2/2 that makes a 2/2 Worm that can't block on each landfall. Cast it before your land drop for an immediate two-for-one.
Cleveland Booker, Empath
D'Vana Tendi, Optimistic EnsignC+
Three-mana 2/4 that untaps a land to ramp or a creature to station twice. Paying {3} to surveil 1 is a useful late-game mana sink.
D'Vana Tendi, Optimistic Ensign
Dal R'El, Augment OrphanC+
Three-mana 3/3 that ramps you into a five-drop next turn with its landfall mana. Late, it can pay {3} and sacrifice spare lands to draw.
Dal R'El, Augment Orphan
Lore, Positronic ProvocateurC+
Three-mana 2/3 artifact creature that makes a creature unblockable with +1/+0 or surveils 2. Both modes are useful, and it triggers dilemma payoffs.
Lore, Positronic Provocateur
Seven of NineC+
2/4 that draws a card whenever you face a dilemma. Clunky body, real engine.
Seven of Nine
The TravelerC+
Two-mana */3 with reach and vigilance whose power counts your differently named lands. Usually a 2/3 that grows later, but still mostly a plain body.
The Traveler
Worf, Honor-Bound WarriorC
Two-mana 1/1 that doubles its power when you attack with 8+ total power, and grows by tapping two artifacts or creatures at sorcery speed. Low floor and ceiling.
Worf, Honor-Bound Warrior
Live Long and ProsperD+
Seven mana to double your life and your hand, with no board impact. By then you rarely hold enough cards or life to make it worth it.
Live Long and Prosper
The City on the Edge of ForeverD
Phases out all artifacts and creatures, usually only until chapter III. Symmetrical and temporary, so it rarely changes who wins the game.
The City on the Edge of Forever
Year of HellD
Each player draws three and takes 6 over three turns. You spend three mana and a card to hand your opponent three free cards.
Year of Hell
Gray and Adira, Forever JoinedD
Four-mana 2/3 that copies a creature for one hasty attack, but only if you cast a noncreature spell first. Too many hoops on a bad body.
Gray and Adira, Forever Joined
Artifacts
The Enterprise-D is the only A among the artifacts and Deep Space 9 grades a D, which, as Sisko said, I can live with.
U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy-ClassA
Three mana for an impulse draw each turn you add charge counters, even after it becomes a flying, vigilant 4/5 at seven. A cheap value engine and bomb.
U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy-Class
Crystalline EntityB
Eight-mana 7/7 flyer that destroys all nonartifact creatures when cast. A bomb effect, though some artifacts survive, and eight mana is hard to reach.
Crystalline Entity
ReplicatorC+
Two artifacts for two mana, good for sacrifice and artifact decks. Later, pay {2} to copy any of your tokens, though copies enter tapped.
Replicator
The HolodeckC+
Seven mana, then you can replay a permanent from your graveyard each turn, paying its cost. A strong engine that does nothing the turn it lands.
The Holodeck
U.S.S. Cerritos, Following UpC+
Five mana for two 1/1 Officers right away, and they help station it into a 4/4 flyer at six. Spacecraft that affect the board early tend to be solid.
U.S.S. Cerritos, Following Up
Isolinear ProcessorC
Artifact mana plus a late-game loot. Needs an artifact-heavy deck.
Isolinear Processor
Class-F ShuttlecraftC
Three-mana mana rock that later becomes a flying 2/4. Better late than most rocks.
Class-F Shuttlecraft
Warp CoreC
Finds a basic land, then puts charge counters on spacecraft. Good fodder.
Warp Core
SickbayC-
Five-mana engine: your creatures entering gain 1 life, and at your combat a creature gets one +1/+1 counter plus one per life gained that turn. Slow and clunky.
Sickbay
Cybernetic SpecialistC-
Two-mana 2/1 that surveils, then pays {1} and taps to put a graveyard card on the bottom of your library, a repeatable black-green trigger. Weak elsewhere.
Cybernetic Specialist
Tea, Earl Grey, HotC-
Two-mana Food that draws a card, then sacrifices to deal 2 to an opponent or gain 3, a dilemma. Good fodder, but often doesn't make the cut.
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
TricorderC-
Cheap +1/+1 equipment (cast {1}, equip {1}) that surveils 1 on attack. A passable buff with some card selection; occasional filler.
Tricorder
Deep Space 9D
Nine mana to put every permanent among your top four onto the battlefield, on entry and each upkeep. Game-breaking, but nine mana rarely happens.
Deep Space 9
Engineered ExplosivesD
Destroys every nonland permanent at one mana value, set by colors spent. Symmetrical, needs several colors, and rarely lines up in limited.
Engineered Explosives
Type-2 PhaserD
One stun plus a clunky +3/+0. Not worth a card.
Type-2 Phaser
CombadgeF
Seven total mana to make something unblockable. Flavor over function.
Combadge
Lands
The ten planets and ten shock lands grade C+ as cycles, and Starfleet Academy is the only land with an F, so the Kobayashi Maru is no longer the only no-win scenario on campus.
The UnicomplexB-
A better Swamp: when it enters untapped, surveil 1 or put a creature card from your graveyard on top of your library, the best mode in the cycle.
The Unicomplex
Gaseous AnomalyB-
Colorless land that later sacrifices to draw two and make a planet. The best anomaly.
Gaseous Anomaly
Federation OutpostC+
A better Plains for most of the game: surveil 1 or gain 2 when it enters untapped.
Federation Outpost
Ni'Var Science AcademyC+
A better Island: when it enters untapped, surveil 1 or give a creature flying this turn, which can push through key damage.
Ni'Var Science Academy
Q ContinuumC+
A better Forest: surveil 1, or +1/+1 and vigilance when it enters untapped.
Q Continuum
Quark's BarC+
A better Mountain: surveil 1, or 1 damage to each opponent when it enters untapped.
Quark's Bar
Shock landsC+
Dual lands that can enter untapped for 2 life. Slightly better than the planets.
Shock lands
Spatial AnomalyC+
Colorless land that later sacrifices to deal 2 to a creature and make a planet.
Spatial Anomaly
Subspace AnomalyC+
Colorless land that later sacrifices for two 1/1 Officers and a planet, at instant speed.
Subspace Anomaly
Temporal AnomalyC+
Colorless land that later sacrifices to mill 4, keep a permanent, and make a planet.
Temporal Anomaly
Planet landsC+
Ten tapped dual lands that gain 1 life. Planet cards can be tutored, and each name helps Strange New Worlds.
Planet lands
Unexplored TerritoryC+
Taps for colorless or fetches a basic. Fixes and triggers landfall twice.
Unexplored Territory
Artificial AnomalyC
Colorless land that later sacrifices to drain 2 and make a planet. The weakest anomaly.
Artificial Anomaly
Starfleet AcademyF
Colorless land whose ability needs six creature types to net mana. Hurts your mana for little gain.
Starfleet Academy
Stardates
Khan, Engineered Evil is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse in a new uniform and still an A, and the Star Trek pull-rate math covers how many packs it takes to open one.
Bonus sheet. About 1 in 25 play boosters has one.
Khan, Engineered EvilA
Four-mana 4/5 deathtouch. Each opponent draw costs them 2 life and each of yours gains you 2, so it threatens from every angle. A bomb.
Khan, Engineered Evil
Leonard McCoy, Country DoctorA
Two-mana 2/2 whose landfall puts a +1/+1 counter on any creature, and its five-mana ability doubles the +1/+1 counters on your creatures. A bomb.
Leonard McCoy, Country Doctor
Spock, Mirror MalefactorA
Four-mana deathtouch 1/4. At each of your end steps it exiles a card you can play through next turn, so it pays off even if killed. Exile plays make Treasure.
Spock, Mirror Malefactor
Nero, Last of the EmpireA-
Flash body that counters a spell or destroys a creature. They draw a card, but you come out ahead.
Nero, Last of the Empire
Benny Russell, DreamerB+
Inefficient X-cost body that scales; each turn after, it taps to grow itself or spends a counter to put a +1/+1 counter on each other creature you control.
Benny Russell, Dreamer
General Picard, Earth WarlordB+
Five-mana 5/5 with an activated ability for each color you play, so at least two in most decks. Little immediate value, but it takes over if you untap.
General Picard, Earth Warlord
Keenser, Scotty's SpotterB+
Like a three-mana 3/3 that adds a +1/+1 counter elsewhere, and each creature with a counter can tap for {G}. Lots of value for three mana.
Keenser, Scotty's Spotter
Spock, Strangely HumanB
Three-mana 2/4 that impulse-draws on your second spell each turn, and copies instants or sorceries after your third. Slow to start, but powerful.
Spock, Strangely Human
Starbase YorktownB-
Taps for colorless or filters to any color. It phases out a creature on entry, often a blocker, and you can pay {4} to drop it from hand at instant speed.
Starbase Yorktown
Academy on the BayC+
A better Island that can untap a legendary permanent.
Academy on the Bay
Borg Queen, Hateful LegacyC+
Five-mana 3/3 that, if it survives to your upkeep, lets you cast spells from their hand while they can't cast anything. Bad stats make it easy to answer.
Borg Queen, Hateful Legacy
Empress Sato, Terran TyrantC+
Five-mana 1/3 that taps to steal a legendary permanent, and the set has plenty. She must survive a turn, but the theft is permanent, so one use is enough.
Empress Sato, Terran Tyrant
Hikaru Sulu, Peerless PilotC+
Three-mana 1/4. Extra land drops are hard to use, but late its six-mana dig for a creature onto the battlefield gives you a play even when flooding.
Hikaru Sulu, Peerless Pilot
Hull BreachC+
Two-mana sorcery that kills an artifact, an enchantment, or one of each. Artifacts are common here, so it usually has a target; two-for-ones are rare.
Hull Breach
Nyota Uhura, Endless InsightC+
Four-mana 3/3 that draws whenever you cast an artifact, legendary or Saga. Easy to trigger here, but the body is weak and gives no value right away.
Nyota Uhura, Endless Insight
Terran Throne RoomC+
A better Swamp that gives a legendary creature fear. Artifact blockers limit it.
Terran Throne Room
Worf, Regent of Terok NorC+
Indestructible 7/5 only with devotion 7. Otherwise a weak punisher.
Worf, Regent of Terok Nor
Chekov, Young WayfinderC
Landfall draws and gains life, but a five-mana 3/3 dies too easily.
Chekov, Young Wayfinder
Kirk, Alluring UpstartC
Usually a three-mana 2/2 early, since it only grows per color among your other legendaries, and the five-color tutor rarely comes online.
Kirk, Alluring Upstart
Pike, Unrelenting MentorC
Four-mana 2/2 that taps to tutor a legendary card each turn. One activation puts you ahead, but the weak body has to survive a turn first.
Pike, Unrelenting Mentor
Scotty, Transwarp TransporterD+
Four-mana 2/2 that taps to make an artifact creature's controller sacrifice it and fetch a noncreature artifact. Tutors your own or kills theirs, but rarely lines up.
Scotty, Transwarp Transporter
Carol Marcus, Scientist SleuthD
Sideboard card against blue (C+ there). Main deck it's a three-mana 2/2 that rarely connects; against Islands it plays an artifact from their library on every hit.
Carol Marcus, Scientist Sleuth
Intendant Kira NerysD
Five-mana 8/3 that doubles your death triggers, but they rarely line up and 3 toughness dies easily. It played like an F in its original set.
Intendant Kira Nerys
Janeway, Cracked MirrorD
Doubles attack triggers, but usually a hard-to-cast 3/4.
Janeway, Cracked Mirror
Spock, Completely LogicalD
Three-mana 1/4 that doubles the opponent's milling. The set has no real mill plan, and against a self-mill deck it can even help them.
Spock, Completely Logical
Starfleet HQ, Under AssaultD
Colorless land that trades creatures for black mana. Rarely worth it.
Starfleet HQ, Under Assault
Flare of FortitudeF
One turn of hexproof, indestructible and a locked life total, for four mana or a sacrificed white creature. Like The Needs of the Many, too situational.
Flare of Fortitude
around
Two grades: normal deck / deck built for it
Michael Burnham, EnforcerC / B+
Build-around. Needs a heavy-red deck with 12-13 Mountains. Then every red source deals 2 extra to opponents and their permanents; in an even two-color deck, RRR is hard to cast.
Michael Burnham, Enforcer
Captain's log
What changed in each revision.
- Rev 4Stardate 2026.308
Captain James T. Kirk and Death Is Irrelevant drop to C+, and Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge drops to C-.
Grade changes
Notes rewritten
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La ForgeShow diff
Doubles charge
View cardcounters on your artifacts. The 3/2 body is weak, but alone he can put six counters on a spacecraft, so ships come online much faster.counters, which is great with a spacecraft already in play. Without one he's a three-mana 3/2 with no other text, and decks only run two or three ships.Death Is IrrelevantShow diff
View cardEight mana, but it grabsAssimilates the best creature from any graveyard at each of your endsteps, starting right away,steps and makesyourartifact creatures indestructible. Huge if cast, but eight mana rarely gets there.Captain James T. KirkShow diff
View cardHigh floor:Three-mana 2/2 that picks athree-mana 2/2 that makes a 1/1. It can rummage or pumpmode on entry and again on each attack. With no haste, theteam instead, triggers again on attack, and does all threeweak body has to survive a turn first; best as a late top-deck with anempty-handed top-deck.empty hand.Archetypes
- Black-Whiteplan updated
- Rev 3Stardate 2026.308
Build-around notes now lead with the deck each card needs, and Carol Marcus, Scientist Sleuth moves to D as a sideboard card against blue.
Grade changes
- Carol Marcus, Scientist SleuthD / C+▼D
Notes rewritten
Andromedan AutomatonsShow diff
Needs four or more copies. One copy is unplayable and two are
View cardfine. With four or more,fine; with four, the first one fetches every othercopy,copy andthose artifactthe 3/1s add up to real card advantage.Cloak and PhaserShow diff
View cardCosts one less perNeeds four or more differently namedland. Atlands, which bring it down to fivemana,mana for two 2/2s plus draw two, discardone is a good deal; inone. In a normal two-color deck it won't make the cut.Deep Space ScanShow diff
View cardDrawsNeeds acard for eachfive-color deck with many land names, since it draws one card per differently named land.Only good inAnywhere else it's areal five-color Strange New Worlds deck.six-mana sorcery that draws too little.H.M.S. Bounty, Unlikely TimeshipShow diff
View cardEven with no whales,Needs a3/4 flyer (station 8) that draws on hits is a threat. It tutors a whale, and with one outwhale or two (Humpback Whales, Cetacean Ops) to tutor, so a hit also takes an extra turn, once per game. Without whales it's a 3/4 flyer that draws on hits.The Destruction of PraxisShow diff
View cardSweeper sized byNeeds six or more differently namedlands; at six or more, youlands. Then it's a one-sided sweeper that alsogetmakes two hasty2/1s. A bomb in a land-names deck.2/1s; with fewer names it's an inconsistent sweeper.Tell Me What You SeeShow diff
View cardTheir choice:Needs a deck full of modal cards. They choose: you draw a card, or they lose 4 and you surveil 1. Each dilemmalets youcan returnand recast it. Strong with many dilemmas, weak in other decks.it to your hand to cast again.Carol Marcus, Scientist SleuthShow diff
View cardThree-mana 2/2 islandwalker that plays an artifact from the opponent's library on each hit. Rarely connects without Islands, so it's a sideboard card against blue.Sideboard card against blue (C+ there). Main deck it's a three-mana 2/2 that rarely connects; against Islands it plays an artifact from their library on every hit.Michael Burnham, EnforcerShow diff
View cardYour red sources deal 2 extra to opponents and their permanents. A B+ in a deck with 12-13 Mountains, but a CNeeds a heavy-red deck with 12-13 Mountains. Then every red source deals 2 extra to opponents and their permanents; in an even two-colordeck that struggles with RRR.deck, RRR is hard to cast. - Rev 2Stardate 2026.308
Corrected the Beam Me Up math on five cards, and Malfunctioning Holodeck and Command Decision join the top five commons.
Notes rewritten
There's Coffee in that NebulaShow diff
View cardCheap selection that turns into card advantage: it digs five deep for a Plains or a cheap permanent, then does it again with Beam Me Up.Two-mana dig for a Plains or a cheap permanent in your top five. The Beam Me Up recast for three needs a creature to bounce, but turns it into two cards.Open CommunicationsShow diff
View cardThink Twice variant: one mana to draw a card, thenPassable one-mana cantrip. The Beam Me Up recast costs three moreto recastplus a bounce, so itvia Beam Me Up (bouncing one of your creatures). Passable, and nets a two-for-one.only nets a card cheaply when you bounce a one-drop or an enters-trigger creature.Boarding ActionShow diff
View cardATwo bodies from one card: a hasty 2/1 now and anotherfrom the graveyard withlater via Beam Me Up.A realThe bounce makes the second cast awkward at times, but it's still a two-for-one.Transporter MalfunctionShow diff
Two mana for 3 to any target is already
View cardgood. Beam Me Upgood removal. The second shot costs six manaplusand a bounce,but a second shot from the graveyard is a strong bonus.so it's a late-game play, but it can still win games.Adversary by AlgorithmShow diff
A 3/3
View cardnow and another from the graveyard withfor three, then another for four via Beam Me Up.TwoIt's worse than flashback, since you must bounce a creature, but two bodies from onecard.card is still good.Top 5 commons
- Rev 1Stardate 2026.307
Tier list published.
Card images via Scryfall. Grades are pre-release evaluations for draft and sealed.