Captain’s Log. Earthdate 2026.11.6. There’s a new Magic: The Gathering set dead ahead. The Events Crew is preparing for a new prerelease on what appears to be November 6th. According to the data being beamed to us from the Federation’s database.The Magic: The Gathering Star Trek prerelease will run from November 6th to November 12th.
It appears a Star Trek prerelease runs just like any other MTG prerelease. Twelve events will run throughout the week: Sealed, Draft, and Two-Headed Giant. In sealed, players receive a pre-release kit that contains six packs from the set. Those are used to build a deck on the fly. Deckbuilding lasts for 50 minutes and is followed by a best-of-three, 3-round tournament.
Then there’s Draft, a mainstay of MTG. In Draft, players are divided into groups called pods. Each player is given three packs of a predetermined set, and the pod shares every pack by every player opening a pack, selecting one card from the pack, and then passing the remaining cards to the person next to them. This happens with all three packs until each player has a pool of cards from which they build a deck. This follows the same structure as Sealed with a best-of-three, 3-round tournament.
The final format of the three is Two-Headed Giant; this is a team-based format, where teams of two go head-to-head. Each team shares a life pool and teammates take their turn simultaneously. For prerelease, this entails sharing one prerelease kit and two play boosters per team, from which they share the pool to build two decks. This tournament is a best-of-one, 3-round tournament.
That seems to be all the information The Federation has on prerelease activities. But there’s more information about the Star Trek set itself still being transmitted to us.
The Borg are assimilating creatures all across the table!? Star Trek introduces a new keyword: “Assimilate.” The assimilate keyword action gives you control of a creature or puts a creature card onto the battlefield under your control. These creatures are given a +1/+1 counter and are forcibly turned into a Borg artifact, removing all other creature types. Devious!.
While "The Borg" assimilates, The Federation preaches the individuality of all! The more diverse types of creatures you have on the board, the more powerful the Federation ability style becomes. Remember, a deck of The Federation is a deck of all creature types.
We’re also receiving word that Spacecraft and Station are returning to MTG, having not been seen since Edge of Eternities. Each Spacecraft starts as an artifact and can gain other abilities when you add charge counters to it with the station ability. You can power up your Federation Constitution-Class starship to explore the far reaches of the universe and defeat your opponent!
There seems to be information in the Federation’s database about new cards coming to local game stores across the galaxy. Among them are various promo cards that can be obtained at a variety of events.
If you find yourself facing off in a Commander event, you can get your hands on “Highly Illogical” or “Munitions Enthusiast” promo cards. Those who take part in Magic Presents: To Boldly Go will be rewarded with a “Solemn Simulacrum” promo card. The brave Starfleet members who make it to the top of a Standard Showdown will receive either a “Burst Lightning” promo card or a yet-to-be-revealed promo. Data on the second promo doesn’t seem to be present in the database as of yet.
The promos aren’t the only fun cards available in the set. Autograph cards have made their way into MTG, with specific cards signed by your favorite Star Trek actors, across a total of seven different actors. Each different autograph only has around 250 copies in existence, a rarity among the stars, only available in Collector Boosters. Straight from the Enterprise's Library Computer Access and Retrieval System come specially designed cards that resemble a data log you may find aboard the computer system of your starship. Then come the Classic Enterprise cards that evoke the look and feel of old movie posters you’d see in the cinemas on Earth. These could bring a retro feel to your deck–and retro is always in, they say.
The Federation’s database has much deeper info about the specific events you can participate in, but those will be present in a data log for you to read over on your own. Hopefully you find yourself taking part in one of the many events being held.
This is Captain Aaron of The Events Team, signing off.
Data Log - Events Info
Event Date(s):
November 6th to November 12th
Event Times:
- November 6th: 3 pm and 7 pm (sealed)
- November 7th: 11 am and 5 pm (sealed), 1 pm (2HG)
- November 8th: 11 am (sealed), 1 pm (2HG), and 3 pm (draft)
- November 9th: 6 pm (sealed)
- November 10th: 6 pm (sealed)
- November 11th: 6 pm (sealed)
- November 12th: 6 pm (draft)
Entry:
- Sealed: $45
- Draft: $25
- Two-Headed Giant: $55 per team
Prize Support:
Each player wins one additional Play Booster for each round they win, plus an additional Play Booster for winning two or more rounds.
