Magic’s Star Trek Set Reinvents the Most Iconic Card Game With Diplomacy, Exploration and New Ways to Win
Victory Beyond Combat
The Star Trek expansion for Magic: The Gathering includes combat and spells, but also offers alternative routes to victory. Mechanics such as “Peace In Our Time” and “Kobayashi Maru Scenario” feature in its commander decks and strategies.
Game designer Gavin Verhey said the team wanted the set to feel like Star Trek, a series where fighting is only one part of the story. He described mechanics based on exploration, dilemmas and spacecraft as elements that take time to develop rather than focusing on attacks and blocks.
Designing Diplomatic Wins
Senior game producer Nicolette Dunks said the team explored ways to make victory possible without reducing an opponent’s life to zero. Early discussions considered what a win through diplomacy, bartering or trading goods and services could mean.
That approach gave the design teams room to refine mechanics so that play could feel meaningful without relying on attacks, Dunks said. The set still includes combat options, but they are not its only path to a win.
Six Decades Of Star Trek
Narrative lead Crystal Frasier said the team worked to reflect the franchise’s nonviolent approach in the cards and artwork. Alongside phaser blasts, the art features negotiation, study and cooking, while the set draws on different iterations of the show.
Frasier said she wanted fans of any Star Trek series to find something that recalled why they first loved it. She also noted that the franchise’s 60 years of material meant some ideas could not fit into the set’s limited number of cards.
Episodes And Iconic Moments
Principal game experience designer Matt Tabak described Universes Beyond sets as collections of moments and memories. For Star Trek fans, he said, cards should evoke familiar episodes, scenes and parts of films.
Sagas can capture whole episodes, while characters appear in recognizable moments from their journeys. The set’s creators aimed to include references across the franchise rather than focus on one show.
Key points
- The set offers alternative victory mechanics alongside combat and spells.
- Designers sought ways to win without reducing an opponent’s life to zero.
- Cards and artwork draw on Star Trek’s themes of diplomacy, study and exploration.
- The expansion includes references to shows and moments across the franchise’s 60-year history.