While it’s been legal to play for a week already, Wizards of the Coast officially launched the MTG Star Trek set today. Given the early reaction to this set, Star Trek’s launch was always going to be quieter than usual, and the timing makes it even more so.
Today, on top of it being Star Trek’s official release date, Wizards is also hosting MagicCon: Atlanta. With major reveals of Nauctis: The Sunken Realm and more on the docket, Star Trek’s staying power is already looking shaky.
In fact, it now seems that this set may have even less time in the spotlight than expected, as Nauctis reveals have started early. At MagicCon: Atlanta, we’ve just seen the box art for this set’s four precons, plus a particularly spicy spoiler.
MTG Ring of Unity
As is often the case at MagicCon events, last night, MTG players in the Black Lotus VIP lounge got to see a spoiler early. This time around, Ring of Unity from Nauctis: The Sunken Realm was the spoiler on show, which quickly got posted to Reddit.
Unfortunately, while this is a very spicy spoiler, as Ring of Unity basically turns all artifacts into a
Sol Ring
Sol Ring
{T}: Add {C}{C}.
, it doesn’t seem very good. At seven mana, this is definitely a win-more card, especially since it’s rather do-nothing without extra support.
While Ring of Unity might not be the latest and greatest super staple in MTG, this card is undoubtedly fun. In any deck that’s heavy on artifacts, for instance, it can create a mountain of mana and easily fuel game-ending plays.
Notably, since Ring of Unity works with all artifacts, it can even pop off with token artifacts like Clues, Food, and Treasures. Given how plentiful these tokens are across a variety of archetypes, Ring of Unity could have plenty of homes.
That said, since this artifact is so expensive, running this card without actively building around it feels wasteful. As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if this card actually ends up being fairly cheap in the long run.
Blood in The Water Precon
Out of the four new precons that’ve had their box art revealed early, hype is undoubtedly highest for the Blood in the Water deck. This is really saying something, though, as each new deck has players particularly hyped even before we’ve seen a card from it.
For this deck in particular, there’s naturally a lot of flavor appeal in a Shark-based discard deck. Utilizing Blood Tokens, the mechanical theme here already feels on point, but that’s not what has players excited.
Because this Shark-based precon is Izzet, many MTG players expect we might see a
Jaws, Relentless Predator
Jaws, Relentless Predator
Trample, haste
Whenever Jaws deals combat damage to a player, create that many Blood tokens. (They're artifacts with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Whenever a noncreature artifact is sacrificed or destroyed, Jaws deals 1 damage to each opponent.
reprint. If true, this would be an absolutely insane pull, as the card is selling for around $164 right now.
Notably, while prices are currently astronomically high, right now, this is largely a supply problem, so any reprint should tank prices. Before you get too excited, there’s also no guarantee we’ll even get a Jaws reprint in this deck right now.
While we do know that Jaws is getting reprinted somewhere, it’s not clear exactly what Wizards is planning right now. Potentially, this card could return as a Special Guest, for instance, or as a Collector Booster exclusive.
Thankfully, even if Jaws doesn’t get reprinted in this precon, it should still be a great time. Hopefully, we’ll see a little more about this deck at the MagicCon: Atlanta Preview Panel, as it’s certainly got hopes high.
Seal the Deal Precon
While Blood in the Water may be hiding a $164 reprint, the newly revealed Seal the Deal deck has a unique claim to fame all of its own. Without question, this is one of the best-named MTG precons we’ve seen in years, potentially even the best ever.
Beyond just having a great name, this Nauctis: The Sunken Realm precon is absolutely worth watching out for. As the Peace Offering deck with
Ms. Bumbleflower
Ms. Bumbleflower
Vigilance
Whenever you cast a spell, target opponent draws a card. Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. It gains flying until end of turn. If this is the second time this ability has resolved this turn, you draw two cards.
proved, Group Hug decks can be ruthlessly effective by playing nice until the last moment.
Considering the Seal the Deal deck adds red into the mix as well, this deck could easily be even more ruthless than usual. Notably, this isn’t the first red-aligned Group Hug deck, as
Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of permanents you own that your opponents control.
{U}{R}{W}: Target opponent gains control of target permanent you control.
is 16 years older than this deck.
Sadly, beyond a great name and a compelling theme, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this precon. Potentially, we may find out more later today if Wizards reveals the face Commanders, but that remains to be seen.
Merfolk Regiment Precon
Much to the delight of MTG players, and surely The Professor, we’re getting a new Merfolk precon in Nauctis: The Sunken Realm. Admittedly, while Merfolk Typal is a very compelling and powerful concept, the precon’s taglines aren’t hugely exciting.
For better or worse, going wide with Merfolk is already the bread-and-butter strategy that most typal decks lean on. While tap and Convoke effects should provide a bit of a spicier edge, we’re hardly breaking new ground here.
As much as it’s easy to see this as a downside, playing off an existing design space should make upgrading this precon rather easy. On top of this, the new cards could nicely supercharge the existing archetype, so everyone wins.
Notably, while this is ostensibly a Merfolk Typal deck, the box art may be revealing more than just the face Commanders. With each deck featuring a big sea creature in the background, there’s a chance these are the deck’s secondary Commanders.
For now, this is only speculation, but, once again, this theory should be proven or disproven before too long. With the MagicCon: Atlanta Preview Panel happening at 1 p.m. EST today, we won’t have to wait long to know more.
Terrors of the Abyss Precon
Last, but by no means least, the Terrors of the Abyss precon looks to lean on Self Mill and Reanimator strategies. Like the Merfolk deck, this may feel a little bit paint-by-numbers for a Sultai deck, but, once again, that’s not all bad news.
Even if this deck isn’t totally out there with a wild new strategy or color identity, new on-color support is rarely a bad thing. The same is true for new Commanders in a fan-favorite archetype, as their abilities could easily stand out.
Sadly, while there’s a good bit of potential here, we’ll have to wait and see what the deck contains to assess it properly. Unfortunately, while we usually get some face Commander reveals at a First Look, we’ll have to wait for the set’s spoiler season to see the 99.
Unless Wizards is planning a surprise end-of-year spoiler bonanza, this may mean we’re waiting until 2027 to know more. In the meantime, we do have the Star Trek set to enjoy, at least, but clearly that’s not everyone’s favorite.
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