From Nov. 13-15, 2026, the best of the best Magic: The Gathering pros will boldly go where only a select few have gone before and compete in Magic: The Gathering World Championship 32 at MagicCon: Atlanta, featuring new decks and cards from Star Trek in Standard.
A new set means the opportunity for a shakeup to the existing Standard metagame, and new Star Trek cards will certainly find their way into existing archetypes on the world stage. Expect to see Orzhov Lifegain players trying out Dr. Beverly Crusher, Dimir Midrange mages working with Salt Vampire, and sideboards full of old friends (Engineered Explosives) and new (Test of Courage), among many others.
But a new set also means the possibility of entirely new archetypes breaking out onto the scene buoyed by game-changing additions from Star Trek—and we can’t just leave all of the fun brewing to the pros at the World Championship. Those of us who are perhaps a bit tired of Mono-Green Landfall and Izzet Lessons mirrors within our local Standard metagames or on the MTG Arena ladder might be looking for some change.
With three whole months until rotation, there’s plenty of time to explore what this version of Standard has to offer. Want to make a splash at your local Standard event with new cards from Star Trek? Consider these five new archetypes with the release of Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek.
Izzet Affinity
Is it finally time for Affinity to shine in Standard? While various artifacts strategies have come and gone over the years, it’s been a long time since true Affinity has reigned.
The pieces for the classic strategy of dumping many cheap artifacts onto the battlefield that build towards a big haymaker have existed for several sets now, but the archetype was just missing the finishing touches to come together. Could the final missing piece be Engineered Explosives?
Expect the Modern staple to show up across a variety of Standard sideboards as an easy way to deal with battlefields full of Llanowar Elves and Chocobos, but as a 0-cost artifact, it could finally make a viable Affinity deck happen—particularly when paired with Weapons Manufacturing.
[Weapons Manufacturing]
There are already plenty of other enablers for a low-cost go-wide Affinity strategy, including Pinnacle Emissary, Springleaf Drum, and Mox Jasper. Whenever there’s a Mox in Standard, it’s worth paying attention to and, while Mox Jasper has been without a home since its release, support for Affinity alongside a relevant artifact dragon (Traxos, Academy Guardian) means it may finally break through.
As for payoffs, Krang, Master Mind can come down as early as turn three or four, refilling your hand and presenting a sizable threat. A few prowess triggers can make Traxos, Academy Guardian a scary air threat. And even an unanswered Pinnacle Emissary can fill the board with flying threats remarkably fast.
But the big draw is the explosive game-ending potential of Engineered Explosives and Weapons Manufacturing. While previous Weapons Manufacturing decks relied largely on something like Pinnacle Starcage to mass destroy the Munitions, Engineered Explosives pops faster and easier, and doesn’t necessitate an extra color in your mana base.
Boros Pixie
Decks featuring Nurturing Pixie have been a staple of the format for years, most recently in Mono-White and Azorius shells making use of the Pixie’s ability to reuse Starfield Shepherd’s enter the battlefield ability – finding you a constant flow of lands and 1-drops. Throw in a copied Sage of the Skies and a Quantum Riddler, and the deck can present a legion of flying threats very quickly.
But imagine if all of those flying threats entered with extra power and haste? Enter The Naked Time.
While the new saga’s first ability is helpful ramp, it shines when the second lore counter is put onto it, allowing all of your creatures on that turn to enter with additional +1/+1 counters and haste. And while the third counter expects you to sacrifice a land, that is easily negated with the Pixie picking up The Naked Time and starting the whole thing over again.
A simple curve of Momo, Friendly Flier on Turn 1 into The Naked Time on Turn 2 into a warped Shepherd and Sage of The Skies (and its copy) results in more than 12 hasty damage (with six of that lifelink!) coming in through the air on Turn 3. And that’s not even factoring in lines that involve picking up and replaying The Naked Time.
Pixie decks already have a home in the format, but moving into red could make them even more lethal. Despite its objectively silly name, The Naked Time makes a strong case for taking Boros Pixie seriously.
Gruul Artifact Reanimator
Ugin, Eye of the Storms’ dominance as the only top-tier colorless ramp threat of Standard may be coming to an end with the release of Deep Space 9.
The powerful nine-mana spacecraft allows you to dump permanents onto the battlefield as soon as it lands, providing the opportunity for explosive turns reminiscent of the old Omniscience and Abuelo’s Awakening decks that dominated Standard for a time.
With a series of powerful mana dorks like Llanowar Elves and Gene Pollinator in the format—alongside new Reality Fracture additions like Heartwood Crafter, which both ramps by itself and creates a Heartwood token—landing the powerful artifact as early as Turn 5 or 6 is realistic.
But imagine going even faster. Imagine playing a mana dork on Turn 1, casting Hit It! on Turn 2, ramping an extra land, and dropping Deep Space 9—or another powerful big mana artifact like Reality Fracture’s Craftwork Crusher or Craterclaw Collossus—into your graveyard.
From there, a relatively cheap reanimation spell like Tune Up—or Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer if you have some cheap artifacts lying around—quickly becomes a game-ending threat
Obviously, this strategy is soft to graveyard hate, but the dual threat of simply ramping into these big-ticket threats provides plenty of alternative ways to close out the game.
Orzhov Borg Aggro
As a longtime Humans player across formats, my ears will always perk up when a new set presents a typal deck that seems viable in Standard. Avatar: The Last Airbender brought a successful four-color Allies deck that is functionally a block constructed deck besides its mana base. Could Star Trek provide the same with the Borg?
Savannah Lions with relevant text have proven to be playable in Constructed formats before, and Command Subadjunct appears to meet the eye test for a threatening one-drop that helps the team. It pairs well with other Borg and Borg-generating cards like Assembly Specialist and Antagonist Incorporator. Collation Trimatrix turns your Borg into card draw. And Locutus, The One Who Speaks provides an anthem to your team.
As for top-end, that’s where the big bad Borg Cube itself comes in, which can come down shockingly early based on the number of little artifact guys you’ve got going on.
There’s even the opportunity to expand out beyond just the Borg and introduce some of the other powerful aggressive artifact creatures in Standard to the fold. Nesting Bot, Magitek Infantry, and Salvation Engine could all find a home assimilating in amongst the Borg.
And if that pesky Blue-White Control player tries to wipe out your army with a Wrath of God? A protection spell like the newly printed The Needs of The Many might come in handy.
Jeskai Flash
The powerful new card Kira Nerys, Firebrand and its unique combat ability certainly had content creators buzzing during early access last week, and Commander players are already cooking up some wild and wacky combos. But there’s a chance that the new legend makes a splash in 60-card formats as well.
As a three-mana 4/3 with Trample, Kira is a powerful aggressive threat on its own. But the ability to have all of your creatures with flash enter tapped and attacking can provide a huge life swing. This elevates small flash creatures, particularly those with evasion, into massive attacking threats. And even just turning your Voice of Victory mobilize tokens into dangerous 2/2s can be enough to swing a game.
The sneak ability on Leonardo’s Technique means you can flash in even scarier threats if you have mobilize tokens or reasonable creatures to bounce. How does flashing in an attacking 6/6 Abhorrent Oculus for just two mana sound?
There is plenty of space for a Jeskai Tempo shell to thrive in Standard right now, and Kira Nerys, Firebrand figures to be a key player in the weeks and months to come.
End Step
While the top decks at Worlds will give some hints to where the format might evolve, don’t just leave the brewing to the pros! With rotation still three months away, there is plenty of time to get deck building with Star Trek in Standard. Let us know if you end up trying out one of these new decks—or something else entirely! —and how it goes on social media.