Magic: The Gathering® | Star Trek™ Prerelease Guide

All systems are a go for Magic: The Gathering® | Star Trek™ Prerelease events, where you can warp into Magic's latest collaboration at your local game store! Starting on November 6, 2026, local game stores around the world will host Prerelease events that put you in the captain's chair, letting you experience this brand-new set for the first time! It's your Starfleet training course for a bold new adventure.

When you register for a Prerelease event, you'll receive a Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Prerelease Pack. Each Prerelease Pack contains the following:

• 6 Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Play Boosters
• 1 Traditional foil promo card
• 1 Deck box
• 1 Spindown die

Open your Prerelease Pack, see what cool new cards you opened, and build a 40-card sealed deck to take on your fellow Prerelease attendees. Importantly, Prerelease events are all about casual, friendly play. This is a great way to learn the ropes of Magic in a relaxed environment or play some games that focus more on fun than competition. It's a great way for new and returning players to engage with Magic, and these events are a real treat for devoted fans looking to shake up their Magic experience.

What if this is your first Prerelease, or you're looking to brush up on your battle tactics? Read on for a quick guide on the key strategies and cards for Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Prerelease events! For more information on this star-studded set, check out Collecting Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek and the set's card image gallery.

Prerelease events begin on November 6, 2026! Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek releases on November 13, 2026, and is available for preorder now from your local game store, TCGplayer, Amazon, and elsewhere Magic is sold.

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How to Build a Sealed Deck

You'll build your sealed deck from the contents of your Prerelease Pack and any number of basic lands. Open all of your Play Boosters and sort the cards by color, with separate piles for your multicolor cards, colorless cards, and lands.

Your deck should include two of Magic's colors. While it's possible to play more than two colors (or only one color, for the truly bold), it's best to focus on a two-color pair at your Prerelease. Doing so will give your deck a variety of cards and ensure you can reliably cast your spells.

To decide what colors you should play, look for the best threats in your sealed pool. Threats are cards that can win the game all on their own or turn the tides of battle in your favor. Look for rare and mythic rare Spacecraft and creatures with splashy abilities. If you play one of these cards and it goes unanswered, you'll be well on your way to victory.

Ideally, you'll want two or three threats in one of your colors. While there are a handful of two- or three-color threats in this set, you should be careful when including those in your deck. Make sure your deck has a solid foundation of monocolor cards before attempting any tricky maneuvers.

Next, look for removal spells to answer your opponents' threats. Removal spells, as the name suggests, remove opposing cards—sometimes before they have a chance to resolve. Here's a quick tip: Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek has a higher number of threatening artifacts than usual on account of the Borg and Spacecraft you'll find among the stars. Spells that can destroy or remove artifacts are more valuable than usual here, so don't be afraid to run an extra copy of Perils of the Past.

When building your deck, aim to include at least five removal spells across your two colors. You can find a list of key common and uncommon monocolor removal spells below, sorted by color. You can use this as a reference when building your deck or during gameplay.

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Select a mana symbol to see key removal spells.

Look for the color pair that includes your best monocolor threats and removal spells. If you open two powerful black threats and a handful of red removal spells, that's a great reason to build a black-red deck. If you're stuck between two equally intriguing color pairs (say, a black-red deck or a red-white deck), see if you opened any interesting multicolor cards in any of your colors. Cards like Kirk, Commanding Officer are powerful enablers for their color pairs' strategy. If you have the tools to play these multicolor cards, don't be afraid to try them out!

Deck Building with the Mana Curve

Once you know what colors you'll play, it's time to put together your deck. To make sure you have a balance of early-game and late-game spells, you'll want to build your deck with a balance of low-cost and high-cost spells. This is called the mana curve.

You need low-cost spells that cost two or three mana to put pressure on your opponent at the start of the game, but you also need high-cost spells to close out the game when things get tricky. Prioritize low-cost spells, then add a handful of late-game finishers to cap off your deck. Your average sealed deck should look something like this:

• 1 Mana: 1–2 cards
• 2 Mana: 7–8 cards
• 3 Mana: 5–6 cards
• 4 Mana: 3–4 cards
• 5 Mana: 2–3 cards
• 6 Mana: 0–1 card
• and 17 lands!

While this mana curve is a good guide, you don't have to follow it to the letter. Instead, examine your cards and imagine when you're likely to play them. Your two- and three-mana cards should be spells you're happy to play early in the game, while a six-mana card should be something you save for the end of the game, like Species 8472.

You've selected your colors and built the finest sealed deck in the fleet. Now, it's time to pilot it to victory! Remember, games at Prerelease events are casual, fun-focused affairs. Don't be afraid to ask questions and chat with your opponents before, during, and after your games. For now, let's look at the strategies you'll see from you and your opponents' decks.

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Draft Archetypes

Each color pair has its own draft archetype, or a strategy that unites the cards in the color pair. If you're curious about what cards you should play or what decisions you should make in your games, look to your draft archetype as a guide. Of course, like any directive, you can deviate when the situation calls for it. But these archetypes are what bind the set together, ensuring that everyone has a chance to deploy a clear, powerful strategy.

Each color pair has two multicolor uncommon cards. These are called signposts, and they loudly show what their color pair is about. If your deck can include one of its signposts, you should do your best to make room for it. These will likely synergize with the rest of your deck and give you a more cohesive strategy.

These are also a great way to identify draft archetypes at a glance. Locutus, the One Who Speaks cares about artifact creatures. That's a pretty clear indication that the white-black draft archetype cares about artifact creatures (specifically, members of the Collective).

We've included a list of the ten draft archetypes and some key cards below. Not only is this list useful for identifying your own strategy, but you can also use it to predict your opponent's plans. If your opponent starts by playing a Plains and a Mountain, you can assume their deck will follow the red-white draft archetype. Study up, Ensign!

White-Blue Spacecraft and Artificers

Tune up your Spacecraft for battle with the white-blue draft archetype. Build a board of creatures with powerful enters abilities like Constable Odo and Interstellar Effigy, then use them to station your Spacecraft! Most Spacecraft artifacts will take a turn or two to fully come online, so make sure you have the tools to control the board and protect your spacefaring vessels.

Blue-Black Dilemma Control

It's a captain's job to make difficult decisions. Lucky for you, you'll be rewarded for making those calls! Modal spells like Consider the Prime Directive and Resistance Is Futile offer you a choice, often between a proactive or reactive ability. Keep your opponents under control with modal spells, then close out the game with cards that reward you for facing a dilemma.

Black-Red Klingons and Dies

Today is a good day to die—for your creatures, at least. Swing in with your hasty Klingon Warrior tokens, then sacrifice them for additional value. A Klingon who dies a glorious death can fuel A Good Day to Die; Vengeance Mission; or Sarcophagus, Ship of the Dead. Some creatures even want to die (or the needs of the narrative want them to die), like Starfleet Security.

Red-Green Away Team Landfall

Explore everything the galaxy has to offer as part of Starfleet's brave away teams. Triggering the landfall abilities on cards like Captain Michael Burnham; Jake Sisko, War Correspondent; and Dal R'El, Augment Orphan is already powerful. But when Erica Ortegas, Plucky Pilot lets you double those triggers, you'll land in a winning position in no time.

Green-White Doctors and Counters

Become the greatest medical officer the Enterprise has ever seen and patch up your creatures with counters. Pure Energy and Support Mission will supply your creatures with the +1/+1 counters they need to get into tip-top shape for the fight ahead. Notably, Phlox, Unorthodox Doctor cares about any kind of counter. That means that your Spacecraft creatures, which will have charge counters on them, are suitable patients for the Denobulan Doctor.

White-Black Borg Artifact Creatures

Join the Collective. Submit your biogenic material. Win games at your Prerelease! Start by establishing a board presence with artifacts like Vexing Drone and Assault Drone. Once the Borg have arrived in the quadrant, pump up their power with Locutus, the One Who Speaks and show no mercy! If one of your artifacts outlives its usefulness, sacrifice it for bigger and better effects that will win you the game.

Blue-Red Scientists and Noncreatures

The Scientists of the Federation and beyond have gathered to study your noncreature spells. Play Gray and Adira, Forever Joined, then trigger them each turn with a low-cost noncreature spell. Test of Priorities and Test of Identity are classic spell-slinging options, but Spacecraft artifacts also count as noncreature spells.

Black-Green Archaeology Graveyard

Fill your graveyard with creatures and artifacts, then unearth their secrets for massive rewards! Repeatable surveil effects like Vash, Freelance Archaeologist will ensure you draw the cards you need. Support Vash's archaeological expeditions with recursive spells and abilities. Classic reanimation will trigger her card-drawing ability, but so will beam me up spells like Pattern Buffer Preservation.

Red-White Command 8+ Total Power

Most crews need a commanding officer, a navigator, a communications officer ... but yours just needs 8 or more power. Academy Instructor will quickly churn out a wide board of Officers that can overwhelm your opponents. If you need to break through their lines of defense, La'An Noonien-Singh, Security can clear a path for Worf, Honor-Bound Warrior.

Green-Blue Strange New Worlds

Scout out the Planets and Anomaly lands of this set with the green-blue draft archetype. The strange new worlds ability word cares about differently named lands, so include as many wild worlds as you can! Even if your deck only has green and blue cards, it may be worth adding off-color lands like Orion or Risa. They'll still gain you life and buff cards like The Traveler and Suus Mahna Practitioner.

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Join the Crew of Your Local Game Store

There's plenty to explore after your first voyage into Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek. Check out our guide to Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek events for more information on how you can experience the fun at your local game store. If you're curious about the cards you'll encounter on your missions, venture into the Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Card Image Gallery to see the whole set.

Set a course for your local game store! Prerelease events begin on November 6, 2026. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek releases on November 13, 2026, and is available for preorder now from your local game store, TCGplayer, Amazon, and elsewhere Magic is sold.