To boldly go where no Magic card has gone before!
We've got captains!
We've got spaceships!
We've got sagas!
(extremely clever design)
We've got Klingons!
(a red 3/2 trample for 2 with upside???)
And it looks to be a great set, art-wise. I know Universes Beyond isn't for everyone, but they seem to be going all-out on this one. Just take a look at the shock lands if you don't believe me:
Unbelievably good and clever. I never thought I'd replace a Ravnica shock from my Cube, but this is my favorite Watery Grave by far, and that's a big compliment. I'm less interested in the textless shocks for playability purposes, but I think they're incredibly handsome all the same.
The set seems designed exactly as a lifelong Trek fan would like. There's acknowledgements shown to the new stuff (stoked to see Boimler and Mariner), but it seems the heart of the set and the commander release are truly in The Original Series and the 80s/90s Next-Gen era. The card designs are beyond clever, as evidenced by my favorite card of the first-look:
Set Phasers to...
This is the perfect marriage of Star Trek and Magic. I think Joust, Elspeth's Smite, and [Harm's Way are some of the most underrated White removal spells, and this does most of the same thing but also can stun dudes to get through to attack -- literally! I prefer it to the above 3, all of which have been rotating in and out of my Cube.
The "stun" option more than makes up for the lack of hitting blocking creatures, as it's preferred in most of the situations you'd otherwise be often 2-for-1-ing yourself to get rid of a stubborn blocker. I think this should be considered for any Cube outside of vintage power-level and doesn't mind UB. The average Cube could do with more interaction in White, and a modal 1mv spell like this is a great way to do it. I currently run Sunlance and it's over-performed for more than a decade, much like Mana Tithe has, and I'll be happy to add this to the suite. Being slightly unexpected from the color goes a long way. No, it's no Erode or Path to Exile, but it's an extremely flexible card on just the next tier of power down.
---
Captain James T. Kirk posted above is also an auto-include for me. I admit it can easily snowball, but not in an unfair way like so many red 3s that I've had to remove like Broadside Bombardiers and Gut, and it hits on the two biggest themes I'm looking for in red at 3mv: discard and go-wide. I couldn't ask more of my favorite captain.
---
Borg Queen, Perfection Manifest
This set itself isn't the interest -- it's neat and fine, but the power-level is slightly lower than what I'd like, which makes sense for a Welcome Deck exclusive -- but what I'm so excited about is the plan for Borg. They're going to be "like slivers but for artifact creatures", where the uniqueness of each Borg is added to all your other artifact creatures. This is extremely exciting for me, as many of the coolest black creatures I run / want to run are either incidentally artifacts or benefit from them.
So this could be really cool as a direction to bring the color, much more interesting than a lot of the Aristocrat stuff to me.
Also, I'm really happy they're letting artists use pseudonyms these days.
Seven of Nine
Again, the card itself isn't the real interest, it's what it represents. I love modal cards, and I'm stoked that this is going to be a big theme in the set. I don't think I'm interested in using cards that use the "face a dilemma" for the baggage, but I'm not completely against it. It's hard to know how many I have in Cube. While I'm beyond thrilled that the search feature on CubeCobra now supports otags with the latest update (love love LOVE the CubeCobra team), it still doesn't work for searching within Cubes. Still, looking through the list of cards that are considered modal, I run quite a few of them from just a quick glance, maybe 40-50? That's usually just under the number I'd need to support a one-card archetype like Seven of Nine, but it's very possible I'll both a) up my number with this set and b) they'll print a card where the "whenever you face a dilemma" is gravy rather than the main attraction.
One of the best Cube cards from the first ~25 revealed. I feel like this was meant as a gift to Spikes who will otherwise roll their eyes at UB. It looks perfectly in line with Magic, and it's an aggressively-costed version of an effect that's been proven. Deep-Cavern Bat is one of the best 2-drops in black, and I like this nearly as much. It's hard to make room for cards that aren't directly supporting archetypes, but of all abilities in black, the ability to surgically sculpt your opponents hand is one of the most important / compelling, so I think I'll definitely make room.
---
Extremely excited for this set. I love Star Trek, and it feels like this is what Universes Beyond should be: the intersection between two properties that elevates both. It feels very true to Trek, and very Magic-y. I don't like space stuff in my card game, but I grumbled enough about EOE that I'm mostly over it now, and I can forgive Trek. Senior Designer Carmen Klomparens said on Twitter that this is her "favorite limited environment of the year" and so I'm excited for a banger of a set. Can't wait until November!
Star Trek: Universes Beyond
Release Date: November 13th, 2026
Pre-Release: November 6th, 2026
Design Lead: Gavin Verhey
Vision Lead: Ethan Fleischer
Codes: TRK, TRC, SDS
Products: Main set (est. 350 unique cards), 4 commander decks, 10 jumpstart decks, 5 beginner decks, 2 scene boxes
Release Date: November 13th, 2026
Pre-Release: November 6th, 2026
Design Lead: Gavin Verhey
Vision Lead: Ethan Fleischer
Codes: TRK, TRC, SDS
Products: Main set (est. 350 unique cards), 4 commander decks, 10 jumpstart decks, 5 beginner decks, 2 scene boxes
We've got captains!
We've got spaceships!
We've got sagas!
(extremely clever design)
We've got Klingons!
(a red 3/2 trample for 2 with upside???)
And it looks to be a great set, art-wise. I know Universes Beyond isn't for everyone, but they seem to be going all-out on this one. Just take a look at the shock lands if you don't believe me:
Unbelievably good and clever. I never thought I'd replace a Ravnica shock from my Cube, but this is my favorite Watery Grave by far, and that's a big compliment. I'm less interested in the textless shocks for playability purposes, but I think they're incredibly handsome all the same.
The set seems designed exactly as a lifelong Trek fan would like. There's acknowledgements shown to the new stuff (stoked to see Boimler and Mariner), but it seems the heart of the set and the commander release are truly in The Original Series and the 80s/90s Next-Gen era. The card designs are beyond clever, as evidenced by my favorite card of the first-look:
Set Phasers to...
This is the perfect marriage of Star Trek and Magic. I think Joust, Elspeth's Smite, and [Harm's Way are some of the most underrated White removal spells, and this does most of the same thing but also can stun dudes to get through to attack -- literally! I prefer it to the above 3, all of which have been rotating in and out of my Cube.
The "stun" option more than makes up for the lack of hitting blocking creatures, as it's preferred in most of the situations you'd otherwise be often 2-for-1-ing yourself to get rid of a stubborn blocker. I think this should be considered for any Cube outside of vintage power-level and doesn't mind UB. The average Cube could do with more interaction in White, and a modal 1mv spell like this is a great way to do it. I currently run Sunlance and it's over-performed for more than a decade, much like Mana Tithe has, and I'll be happy to add this to the suite. Being slightly unexpected from the color goes a long way. No, it's no Erode or Path to Exile, but it's an extremely flexible card on just the next tier of power down.
---
Captain James T. Kirk posted above is also an auto-include for me. I admit it can easily snowball, but not in an unfair way like so many red 3s that I've had to remove like Broadside Bombardiers and Gut, and it hits on the two biggest themes I'm looking for in red at 3mv: discard and go-wide. I couldn't ask more of my favorite captain.
---
Borg Queen, Perfection Manifest
This set itself isn't the interest -- it's neat and fine, but the power-level is slightly lower than what I'd like, which makes sense for a Welcome Deck exclusive -- but what I'm so excited about is the plan for Borg. They're going to be "like slivers but for artifact creatures", where the uniqueness of each Borg is added to all your other artifact creatures. This is extremely exciting for me, as many of the coolest black creatures I run / want to run are either incidentally artifacts or benefit from them.
So this could be really cool as a direction to bring the color, much more interesting than a lot of the Aristocrat stuff to me.
Also, I'm really happy they're letting artists use pseudonyms these days.
Seven of Nine
Again, the card itself isn't the real interest, it's what it represents. I love modal cards, and I'm stoked that this is going to be a big theme in the set. I don't think I'm interested in using cards that use the "face a dilemma" for the baggage, but I'm not completely against it. It's hard to know how many I have in Cube. While I'm beyond thrilled that the search feature on CubeCobra now supports otags with the latest update (love love LOVE the CubeCobra team), it still doesn't work for searching within Cubes. Still, looking through the list of cards that are considered modal, I run quite a few of them from just a quick glance, maybe 40-50? That's usually just under the number I'd need to support a one-card archetype like Seven of Nine, but it's very possible I'll both a) up my number with this set and b) they'll print a card where the "whenever you face a dilemma" is gravy rather than the main attraction.
One of the best Cube cards from the first ~25 revealed. I feel like this was meant as a gift to Spikes who will otherwise roll their eyes at UB. It looks perfectly in line with Magic, and it's an aggressively-costed version of an effect that's been proven. Deep-Cavern Bat is one of the best 2-drops in black, and I like this nearly as much. It's hard to make room for cards that aren't directly supporting archetypes, but of all abilities in black, the ability to surgically sculpt your opponents hand is one of the most important / compelling, so I think I'll definitely make room.
---
Extremely excited for this set. I love Star Trek, and it feels like this is what Universes Beyond should be: the intersection between two properties that elevates both. It feels very true to Trek, and very Magic-y. I don't like space stuff in my card game, but I grumbled enough about EOE that I'm mostly over it now, and I can forgive Trek. Senior Designer Carmen Klomparens said on Twitter that this is her "favorite limited environment of the year" and so I'm excited for a banger of a set. Can't wait until November!
