Best Star Trek MTG Cards: Ranked for Commander and Standard

The best Star Trek MTG cards can now be ranked against the whole main set. All 306 main-set cards of Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek are on Scryfall, a count that matches the rarity split Wizards published, and Wizards posted all four Commander decklists on October 29. For Commander, the best Star Trek card is Crystalline Entity, an eight-mana colorless 7/7 flier that destroys every nonartifact creature when you cast it. For Standard, it is Captain Kathryn Janeway, a four-mana mythic that lets you play a second land each turn. Both orders are ours, read from the card text; EDHREC's deck counts and preorder prices from October 31, 2026 are the check.

How We Ranked the Star Trek Cards

Each card was judged on three things: how much one copy does on its own, how many decks can play it, and how much work it takes to switch on. Cards from the Commander decks (TRC) rank lower on reach. Wizards' Collecting article says TRC cards are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage, and Play Boosters hold TRK and SDS cards, so a TRC card comes from its precon or as a Booster Fun version in a Collector Booster. The main set (TRK) is legal in all formats, Standard included.

The set is complete enough to rank. Scryfall's list of collector numbers 1 to 306 holds 91 commons, 110 uncommons, 80 rares and 25 mythics. Wizards' Collecting article gives the main set as 81 commons, 110 uncommons, 80 rares and 25 mythic rares, plus 10 common dual lands, which is the same 306. Wizards still dates the "Full Card Image Gallery" to November 30 on that page, so the official gallery may add images after October 31, but with the counts already matching, none of them can be a new main-set card.

How we checked: EDHREC's Star Trek set page on October 31 listed deck counts for 294 TRK cards and 173 TRC cards. Nobody has the cards yet, so those decks are brews built from previews, not results. Prices are preorder prices: TCGplayer's market price as Scryfall reports it, read at 19:33 Vietnam time on October 31. EDHREC's own TCGplayer prices are compared at the end of the article. No Standard event has used the set (MTG Arena gets it November 10), so the Standard order is checked against the decks on our October 26 Standard tier list, not against results.

Best Star Trek Cards for Commander, Ranked

These prices move fast. Across three Scryfall reads between 19:07 and 19:33 on October 31, Crystalline Entity showed $21.08, then $25.48, then $21.08 again, and the Enterprise-D showed $17.61, $21.91 and $17.61. The table uses the 19:33 read; treat every number as a range, not a quote.

Image: BaseMTG grid of the ten Commander picks, built from Scryfall card images (card art and frames, Wizards of the Coast).

1. Crystalline Entity

Crystalline Entity costs {8} and is a 7/7 artifact creature with flying. When it enters, if you cast it, it destroys all nonartifact creatures. It is an artifact itself, so it survives its own wipe and you keep a 7/7 flier on a board you just cleared. Colorless means every deck can play it, and that shows: 2,148 EDHREC decks on October 31, second among new TRK cards. The "if you cast it" clause matters, because putting it onto the battlefield with a reanimation spell skips the wipe. Pick it for any deck that reaches eight mana and can afford to lose its own creatures, or an artifact creature deck that loses nothing. Skip it in a token deck.

2. Dr. Beverly Crusher

Dr. Beverly Crusher is a {2}{W} 2/2. If gaining life makes a triggered ability of a permanent you control trigger, that ability triggers an additional time, and whenever you gain life she gets a +1/+1 counter. Her own counter ability is one of those triggers, so by our reading of the text she grows by two each time you gain life. She is the most-played new card in the set on EDHREC, in 2,355 decks, 229 of them with her as the commander. She ranks under Crystalline Entity on reach: she needs white and a deck that gains life, while the Entity goes in any deck. Pick her for any white deck that already gains life in small bursts. Skip her if your deck gains life once a game.

3. Mr. Spock, Science Officer

Mr. Spock, Science Officer has one line: if you would draw a card, draw two cards instead. Thought Reflection does the same thing as a seven-mana enchantment; Spock costs {2}{U}{U} and arrives as a 2/4. The catch is the body, because creature removal and board wipes now hit your draw engine. On October 31, EDHREC had him in 750 decks and leading 61, fewer than the two cards below him. He still ranks above them because he needs no setup: the first draw after he lands is already doubled, while Janeway needs creatures behind her and the Enterprise-D needs a creature tapped for it. Pick him for any blue deck that draws extra cards every turn. Skip him if you rely on wiping the board yourself.

4. Captain Kathryn Janeway

Captain Kathryn Janeway costs {3}{G}: you may play an additional land on each of your turns, and whenever she or another creature you control enters, that creature explores. Exploring reveals the top card; a land goes to your hand, anything else becomes a +1/+1 counter. Every creature you cast after her either finds the land for her extra drop or comes in bigger. She is in 1,409 decks and leads 163. She ranks above the Enterprise-D because she does something the turn she lands, the extra land drop, while the ship gives nothing until a creature is tapped to station it. Pick her for a green deck with lots of creatures. Skip her in a deck with few creatures, where she is a 2/3 that ramps by one land.

5. U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy-Class

U.S.S. Enterprise-D is a {3} colorless Spacecraft. The first time each turn charge counters go on it, you exile the top card of your library and may play it that turn. Station puts the counters on it: tap another creature you control, at sorcery speed, and the ship gets counters equal to that creature's power. At 7 counters it becomes a 4/5 artifact creature with flying and vigilance. That makes it a card a turn for three mana in any deck with a spare creature, and 1,479 EDHREC decks already ran it on October 31. It ranks above Deep Space 9 on cost: three mana against nine, and both fit any deck. Skip it in a creature-light control deck.

6. Deep Space 9

Deep Space 9 does more than any other card on this list, and it costs the most mana. For {9}, when it enters and at the beginning of each of your upkeeps, you exile the top four cards of your library and put all permanent cards among them onto the battlefield. The station has no power or toughness, so it never becomes a creature; at 9 charge counters it gives creatures you control +3/+3. Instants and sorceries it exiles stay exiled. On October 31 it sat at 1,914 EDHREC decks and $49.83, the priciest main-set card on this list. Nine mana is why it is sixth and not first: it lands late or not at all. It still ranks above M'Benga because it needs no colors and no counters theme. Pick it for a ramp deck that can reach nine mana. Skip it in a spell-heavy deck, where it exiles your own spells.

7. Dr. Joseph M'Benga

Dr. Joseph M'Benga costs {2}{G}{G}. If you would put counters on a creature you control, you put twice that many of each kind instead, and your other creatures with counters on them have hexproof. With Janeway, every explore that misses a land puts two +1/+1 counters instead of one. He is in 613 decks. He ranks above Picard because he grows and protects the same board: the hexproof covers every creature he doubles counters on, while Picard's anthem makes a wide board bigger but leaves it open to removal. Pick him for a +1/+1 counters deck. Skip him in a deck that never puts counters on creatures.

8. Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a {2}{W} mythic. Other creatures you control get +1/+1, and whenever you cast a creature or Spacecraft spell, you create a 1/1 red Officer token. Tapping seven untapped Officers searches your library for a Spacecraft and puts it onto the battlefield with seven charge counters. The anthem and the tokens alone earn the slot in a go-wide white deck; the ship search is a bonus. On October 31, EDHREC had him in 572 decks and leading 246. He ranks above the two TRC cards below him on reach: he is a main-set card, in Play Boosters and legal in Standard. Skip him in a deck with few creatures or Spacecraft to cast.

9. Starship Enterprise

Starship Enterprise is a {5} Spacecraft from the Landing Party deck. Landfall puts four charge counters on it, so four land drops make it a creature without tapping anything. At 16 counters it is a 4/6 flier, and whenever it deals combat damage to a player, you draw that many cards. It is the most-played new TRC card on EDHREC, in 1,014 decks. It ranks above One, Borg Evolved because it is colorless and every deck plays lands. Pick it for a deck with fetch effects or extra land drops (Janeway again). Skip it if you won't buy Landing Party or singles: it is not in Play Boosters.

10. One, Borg Evolved

One, Borg Evolved gives artifact creatures you control flying, double strike, vigilance, menace, lifelink and ward {2}. Six keywords on every artifact creature can end a game in one attack. It costs {4}{W}{U}{B}, comes in We Are the Borg (Scryfall also lists an extended-art version, the Collector Booster treatment), and fits only white-blue-black decks: on October 31, EDHREC counted 24,583 decks that could play it, the smallest pool of any card here. It still sat in 974 decks and cost $49.95, the most of any card on this list. Pick it for a Borg or artifact creature deck. Skip it everywhere else.

GODEEPER: For the four precons themselves, their decklists and preorder prices, see the deck guide. Star Trek MTG Commander Decks: 4 Decks, Prices and Dates →

Best Star Trek Cards for Standard, Ranked

Only TRK cards count here; TRC cards are not legal in Standard. Each pick is matched to a deck that is already winning, because a new card has to beat a card in a proven list before it sees play.

Image: BaseMTG strip of the six Standard picks, built from Scryfall card images (card art and frames, Wizards of the Coast).

1. Captain Kathryn Janeway

The extra land drop is the reason. Mono-Green Landfall, tier 1 on our October 26 list, was one Hartford list in eight, and every extra land it plays is another landfall trigger. Janeway gives it that land every turn and turns each creature after her into a land or a counter. She ranks above The Wrath of Khan because she keeps paying off as long as creatures keep coming, while the Saga is three chapters and done. She is also a 2/3 for four, so she has to survive a turn to pay off. Pick her for any green land deck. Skip her in a green deck built around spells rather than creatures.

2. The Wrath of Khan

The Wrath of Khan is a {2}{R} Saga with three chapters. Chapter I deals 4 damage to a creature an opponent controls and, if it survives, you gain control of it, untapped and hasty, at the next combat that turn. Chapter II lets you exile a card from your hand to draw a card. Chapter III makes each opponent sacrifice a nontoken permanent of their choice. That is removal, a card swap and an edict for three mana. Jund Sacrifice won Magic Spotlight: Fracture in Hartford on October 25, and it can sacrifice whatever chapter I steals. It ranks above Salt Vampire because two of its chapters take something from the opponent for good, while Salt Vampire's exile hands them a fresh card. Skip it in decks with no red.

3. Salt Vampire

Salt Vampire is a {1}{B} 2/2 with lifelink. When it enters, you look at an opponent's hand and may choose a nonland card; that player exiles it, then draws a card. They get a card back, so this is not card advantage. What you get is the right to take away their best card on turn two, attached to a lifelinker. Dimir Midrange and Orzhov Life Gain, both tier 1 in our October 26 list, are the black decks we'd try it in first. That reach is why it ranks above Khan: two tier 1 decks can use a two-drop, while Khan fits one. Pick it for black midrange. Skip it if your deck needs its two-drops to deal damage fast.

4. Khan, Vengeful Heart

Khan, Vengeful Heart is a {2}{B}{B} 5/3. When he enters, you may sacrifice another creature or artifact to draw two cards, and you may cast him from exile. A sacrifice deck turns a token or a dying creature into two cards and a five-power body. At $18.24 on Scryfall on October 31, he is the priciest of the six. He ranks above Romulan Bird-of-Prey because his deck is tier 1 and the Bird's is tier 2. Pick him for Jund Sacrifice. Skip him in decks with nothing worth sacrificing.

5. Romulan Bird-of-Prey

Romulan Bird-of-Prey is a {1}{U} Spacecraft with hexproof while it isn't a creature. Whenever you cast a noncreature spell while it isn't a creature, it gets two charge counters, and at 8 it becomes a 4/4 flier. Four noncreature spells do that without tapping a single creature. It loses hexproof the moment it becomes a creature and stops collecting counters from spells. At $1.62 on October 31, it is the cheapest card on this list. Izzet Spellementals, tier 2 after Hartford, is the spells deck on our tier list and the one we'd try it in first. It ranks above T'Pol, whose deck is tier 1, because it is a two-mana threat a spells deck can build around, while T'Pol is an answer whose value depends on what the opponent plays. Skip it in creature decks.

6. Subcommander T'Pol

Subcommander T'Pol is a {2}{U} 3/1 with flash. When she enters, you choose: counter target activated or triggered ability, or tap up to one artifact or creature and put a stun counter on it. Countering a triggered ability answers landfall, the same deck our first pick goes into. The 3/1 body is fragile. Pick her for a blue deck that keeps mana open on the opponent's turn. Skip her against decks that win with spells rather than triggers.

GODEEPER: For which decks these cards would join, with the Hartford numbers behind each tier, see our tier list. MTG Standard Tier List (October 2026): What to Register →

What the Early EDHREC Numbers Say

The new commanders tell you what players are brewing first. Q, Stacking the Deck leads the TRK commanders on EDHREC with 944 decks, and The Borg Queen leads the TRC commanders with 657. The Borg Queen's precon pulls its whole deck up with it: seven of the ten most-played new TRC cards are in the We Are the Borg list.

Some counts need a second look. Quark, Humble Proprietor leads 179 decks and gives you a Treasure at the beginning of each upkeep, every player's upkeep included, but it also says you can't sacrifice Treasure tokens. A Treasure makes mana by being sacrificed, so with Quark out those Treasures make no mana at all. Build him for cards that count Treasures, not for ramp.

EDHREC shows its own TCGplayer prices, and they don't always line up with Scryfall's. For the same TCGplayer product on October 31, EDHREC had Crystalline Entity at $27.92 and Salt Vampire at $12.09. EDHREC's Dr. Beverly Crusher price, $31.22, is for the Showcase version and is a mid price, not the regular card's market price. Subcommander T'Pol had no Scryfall price yet; EDHREC listed $2.75, also a mid price.

Related Reading

• Star Trek MTG Spoilers: Every Revealed Card and Mechanic
• Star Trek MTG Release Date: Nov 13, Arena Nov 10 (2026)
• Mono-Green Landfall Standard Deck Guide for October 2026

References

• Wizards of the Coast, Collecting Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek: set sizes, legality, release dates.
• Wizards of the Coast, Star Trek Commander Decklists, October 29, 2026.
• Wizards of the Coast, Star Trek Card Image Gallery.
• Scryfall, Star Trek (TRK) and Star Trek Commander (TRC): card text, collector numbers, preorder prices, read October 31, 2026.
• Draftsim, Star Trek spoilers and Star Trek Commander spoilers: second reading of card text.
• EDHREC, Star Trek set page: deck counts and TCGplayer prices, read October 31, 2026.
• Star City Games, Von Stange's Jund Sacrifice wins Magic Spotlight: Fracture, October 2026.
• BaseMTG, MTG Standard Tier List (October 2026), updated October 26, 2026 (linked above).