Star Trek MTG: Best Cards, LCARS Shock Lands & Proxy Guide

Space: the final frontier. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek brings Starfleet captains, legendary starships and distant alien worlds into Magic's deck-building universe. Its visual treatments are just as interesting as its characters, especially the computer-inspired LCARS frames and a complete cycle of ten themed shock lands.

This guide explores the Star Trek MTG proxy cards featured in the EncoreH Cards catalog. Instead of showing every card in the expansion, we focus on the exact editions we carry: Captain Kathryn Janeway, Dr. Beverly Crusher, the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Salt Vampire, and all ten LCARS shock lands. Every card image links to its corresponding product page; a temporarily sold-out edition remains part of this evergreen gallery.

Wizards of the Coast set November 13, 2026 as the global tabletop release date, celebrating Star Trek's 60-year legacy. The release includes cards from across the franchise, while the TRK set code identifies the printings featured here. The art treatments below are specific editions, not interchangeable versions of the same artwork.

Starfleet captains: Captain Kathryn Janeway in three different editions

Star Trek: Voyager brought one of the franchise's most resilient captains to the bridge: Kathryn Janeway. In Magic, she is a green legendary creature whose ability to play an additional land each turn helps a deck develop its resources. She also rewards creature entries with explore, which can reveal lands or strengthen creatures as the game unfolds. That makes her appealing to Commander players who enjoy land-based value, creature-heavy boards and repeated enter-the-battlefield effects.

We have three separate Janeway printings. The original-style #340 edition is a useful reference point; #386 uses the distinctive LCARS interface; and the #520 Surge Foil treatment offers another collector-focused presentation. The printed rules are what matter in a game, but the art and frame make each printing feel different.

Is Janeway a good Commander build-around?

She offers an accessible plan: increase your land drops, fill the battlefield with creatures, and let repeated explore triggers provide incremental value. A commander like Janeway is most interesting when the deck supports her abilities rather than using her only for the character artwork. Lands, creature tokens, and effects that let creatures enter more than once all deserve consideration. Note that the exact final deck depends on what colors your chosen commander permits.

Dr. Beverly Crusher: lifegain support with LCARS artwork

Another unforgettable face from The Next Generation, Dr. Beverly Crusher, appears here in two printings. Her Magic design rewards lifegain: whenever you gain life, she receives a +1/+1 counter, while other abilities you control that trigger from gaining life can trigger an additional time. That combination is especially interesting in white decks with Soul Warden-style effects, counters, or permanents that benefit from repeated life-gain triggers.

The two product images below are not simply duplicates. #366 has the LCARS display treatment; #500 is a Surge Foil special version. For a fan of the Enterprise crew, these are a natural way to combine recognizable character art with a coherent Commander strategy.

U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy-Class: the ship becomes a Magic card

Star Trek would hardly be complete without its spacecraft. The U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy-Class represents a central part of The Next Generation and is an excellent visual centerpiece for this collaboration. It is a legendary Spacecraft artifact, using Magic's station mechanic to turn your crew's power into charge counters.

As charge counters accumulate, the vessel can unlock its creature form; at seven or more counters it gains flying and vigilance. The Enterprise-D also rewards the first placement of charge counters each turn by letting you access the top card of your library for that turn. It is not just a spaceship illustration — its gameplay asks you to use creatures as crew members.

Salt Vampire: one of Star Trek's most memorable creatures

Not every visitor to the final frontier wears a Starfleet uniform. The Salt Vampire recalls the unsettling alien threat from Star Trek's earliest era, and its special Surge Foil #541 printing is one of the most atmospheric cards in our selection.

As a black Vampire Shapeshifter, it comes with lifelink. When it enters, it can look at an opponent's hand and exchange one of their nonland cards for a new draw. That means the card contributes to a game beyond simply depicting a monster: it applies hand disruption while remaining a small lifegain creature.

The complete Star Trek LCARS shock land cycle

This is arguably the most exciting part of our Star Trek selection for players building Commander decks. All ten original shock land names receive special LCARS printings, inspired by the Library Computer Access and Retrieval System familiar from Starfleet vessels. Instead of conventional fantasy landscapes, the card art depicts strange planetary environments inside a futuristic computer interface.

Shock lands are useful because they have two basic land types and can enter untapped if you pay 2 life. Their land types matter for cards that search for a Forest, Island, Swamp, Mountain or Plains — including fetch lands with compatible search text. The result is a cycle that appeals both to people who enjoy the science-fiction presentation and to Commander players who want dependable multicolor mana.

The cards are grouped by color pairing below. Each image is the actual edition in the EncoreH Cards catalog, rather than a generic image of the land from another Magic set.

Blue pairings: Azorius, Dimir, Izzet and Simic

Blue decks are especially demanding about having the correct colors at the right moment. The LCARS versions of Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Steam Vents and Breeding Pool cover blue alongside white, black, red and green.

Black pairings: Rakdos, Orzhov and Golgari

Three more planets take the place of familiar Magic landscapes. Blood Crypt helps black-red decks, Godless Shrine supports white-black, and Overgrown Tomb provides black-green fixing. For Commander players, these can become part of a cohesive space-themed mana base without changing the cards' underlying rules.

Red and green pairings: Gruul, Boros and Selesnya

The cycle finishes with Stomping Ground, Sacred Foundry and Temple Garden. Together with the seven lands above, they complete all ten two-color combinations. If you are looking specifically for the Star Trek LCARS designs, the collector numbers matter: these are the #392–#401 printings, not standard versions of the same shock lands.

What makes Star Trek's special card treatments different?

The appeal of the collaboration goes well beyond the familiar characters. Wizards created multiple ways for a card to look unmistakably like Star Trek, and understanding the names prevents confusion between collector editions.

• LCARS frame: an interface-inspired card treatment that resembles the information displays on a Starfleet ship. Our #366 Beverly Crusher and #386 Janeway are examples.
• LCARS shock lands: the complete ten-card land cycle, with alien-world views and the special LCARS border. The versions shown above are traditional Foil printings in our catalog.
• Surge Foil: a distinctive reflective treatment available on selected printings, including the versions of Janeway, Beverly Crusher and Salt Vampire listed here. It is not the same as traditional foil.
• Spacecraft: a gameplay category rather than a foil finish. The Enterprise-D demonstrates how station can turn a ship artifact into an active creature.
• Stardates and signed Headliners: other official collectible treatments exist in Star Trek, including themed reprints and exceptionally scarce signed cards. They are part of the wider release, not products claimed to be available in this gallery.

For a closer look at premium finishes across other Magic collaborations, see our exclusive-art Commander upgrade guide. For more themed crossover cards, explore our Avatar MTG guide or Hatsune Miku Secret Lair gallery.

New Star Trek MTG mechanics: a quick overview

Even though not every mechanic appears on the exact cards shown here, the broader Star Trek release introduces several ideas worth knowing. Beam me up allows certain instants and sorceries to be cast again from the graveyard by returning one of your creatures to your hand as part of the cost. Face a dilemma cares about choosing modes on spells and abilities. The assimilation theme reflects Borg control and transformation of creatures, while station lets the crew power up Spacecraft.

The key is to separate the mechanics of the wider set from the cards in a particular shop gallery. For example, our Enterprise-D demonstrates station, Janeway explores, and Beverly Crusher supports lifegain; that does not mean every Star Trek card uses all those abilities.

Frequently asked questions

When is Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek released?

Its official global tabletop release date is November 13, 2026, with prerelease events scheduled for November 6–12. The date is a property of the original Magic set, not an estimated shipping date for the proxy products shown here.

What does LCARS mean on Star Trek Magic cards?

LCARS is the Library Computer Access and Retrieval System, the recognizable computer interface used in the Star Trek universe. On Magic cards, it inspires a special frame treatment; the ten LCARS shock lands display planetary landscapes within that style.

Are the Star Trek shock lands new cards?

No. Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Blood Crypt and the rest of the ten-card cycle are familiar Magic lands with special Star Trek artwork and frames. The names and underlying game rules remain those of their corresponding shock lands.

Can the ten LCARS shock lands be used in Commander?

The original shock lands are useful in Commander, provided their colors fit your commander's color identity. They can help decks with two or more colors because each has two basic land types. The proxies featured here are for casual games and deck testing where your playgroup accepts them; they are not official tournament-legal substitutes.

Which Star Trek cards in this guide have Surge Foil treatments?

Our catalog export identifies Surge Foil versions of Captain Kathryn Janeway #520, Dr. Beverly Crusher #500 and Salt Vampire #541. Other items in the gallery are listed with their own Foil finishes; the product title identifies the edition.

Are there signed Star Trek cards in this gallery?

No. Wizards has announced authentic hand-signed Headliner cards for the original collector release, but none of the products linked in this gallery is being represented as a signed original. Our featured cards are clearly identified as proxies.

What happens if a card is temporarily sold out?

We leave it in the article because this is an evergreen reference to the collection and its artwork, rather than a live inventory list. Visit its product page to check the latest listing details.

Explore Star Trek proxy cards at EncoreH Cards

Whether your favorite part of Star Trek is Janeway's journey home, Beverly Crusher's skill, the Enterprise-D or the distant worlds that LCARS helps chart, these cards let you bring part of the final frontier into a casual Magic deck or themed collection.

Click any image above to open the specific Star Trek proxy edition in the EncoreH Cards shop. You can also browse Star Trek cards on EncoreH Cards, use our decklist importer, or request a card you cannot find yet.

Proxy use reminder: EncoreH Cards proxies are unofficial cards for casual games, playtesting and collection or display. They are not original Wizards of the Coast printings, and they must not be represented as authentic collectibles or entered into sanctioned play as if they were genuine cards. Always disclose their unofficial nature when exchanging or transferring them.

Official background: Wizards of the Coast's Star Trek collecting guide and official mechanics guide.