New MTG Star Trek Spoilers Include Multiple Infinite Combo Enablers and Powerful One-Mana Uncommons

As MTG Star Trek spoiler season continues, more iconic moments from the show are becoming immortalized in MTG. Bizarrely, however, instead of Star Trek’s many iconic characters being the set’s most powerful cards, a series of uncommons seems to be taking that role.

Multiple one-mana uncommons spoiled today look like upgrades to popular MTG decks, giving them tons of competitive potential. Throw in some new infinite combo pieces, and there are plenty of exciting cards to see.

MTG Test of Courage

While Test of Courage may not look like the most exciting MTG card, it’s probably one of the best cards in all of MTG Star Trek, especially in formats like Modern. For just one green mana, you can both hose a Persist Persist Return target nonlegendary creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it. deck from reanimating Archon of Cruelty Archon of Cruelty Flying
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, target opponent sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice, discards a card, and loses 3 life. You draw a card and gain 3 life. , and destroy key artifacts or enchantments like Urza’s Saga Urza’s Saga (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. , Amulet of Vigor Amulet of Vigor Whenever a permanent you control enters tapped, untap it. , and Blade of the Bloodchief Blade of the Bloodchief Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature. If equipped creature is a Vampire, put two +1/+1 counters on it instead.
Equip {1} .

This, alone, makes Test of Courage an all-star sideboard card in constructed, beating out alternatives like Nature’s Claim Nature’s Claim Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Its controller gains 4 life. or Pick Your Poison Pick Your Poison Choose one —
• Each opponent sacrifices an artifact of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices an enchantment of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices a creature with flying of their choice. . Heck, since Nature’s Claim even sees cEDH play, Test of Courage will likely appear there, too. There, the mana value restriction on the card’s second ability matters less, but Test of Courage will likely perform worse in casual Commander.

If that weren’t enough, Test of Courage also triggers Star Trek’s new Dilemma cards like Captain Benjamin Sisko Captain Benjamin Sisko At the beginning of your end step, create a 1/1 red Officer creature token for each dilemma you've faced this turn.
{2}{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}, {T}: Exile the top five cards of your library. You may cast any number of spells with mana value less than or equal to the number of Officers you control from among those cards without paying their mana costs. or Seven of Nine Seven of Nine Whenever you face a dilemma, draw a card. (You face a dilemma as you choose one or more modes for a spell or ability.) . With more Dilemma cards coming out each day, this could become a powerful way to trigger some new Standard-viable threats.

It may not have the explosive effect of many other MTG Star Trek cards, but you’ll want to pick up Test of Courage when Star Trek hits shelves.

MTG Storied Veteran

Storied Veteran adds another incredible option to the recent graveyard-centric decks that popped up thanks to Reality Fracture’s Dark Matter Manipulator Dark Matter Manipulator When this creature enters, mill three cards.
This creature gets +2/+0 for every seven cards in your graveyard. . Milling this over with Stitcher’s Supplier Stitcher’s Supplier When this creature enters or dies, mill three cards. (Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.) is free value, putting you up a creature on board for virtually no cost. The card also serves as discard fodder for Artist’s Talent Artist’s Talent (Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
{2}{R}: Level 2
Noncreature spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
{2}{R}: Level 3
If a source you control would deal noncombat damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, it deals that much damage plus 2 instead. or Faithless Looting Faithless Looting Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) , giving it promise in multiple strategies.

With that in mind, Storied Veteran has potential in many formats, including Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and Commander. Multiple existing constructed strategies, like Standard Mardu Discard, could easily use Storied Veteran. While the card also fits like a glove in Modern Rakdos Delirium, Storied Veteran might not be impressive enough as a body for older formats, but it’s at least worth testing.

Storied Veteran’s Commander potential goes even further, with this uncommon easily fitting into a wide range of strategies. Of course, any self-mill Commander deck, like Teval, the Balanced Scale Teval, the Balanced Scale Flying
Whenever Teval attacks, mill three cards. Then you may return a land card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, create a 2/2 black Zombie Druid creature token. , can run Storied Veteran as a free creature, while discard Commanders can essentially do the same. Aristocrat decks, however, like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER Whenever Sephiroth enters or attacks, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, draw a card.
Whenever another creature dies, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. If this is the fourth time this ability has resolved this turn, transform Sephiroth. , might be the actual best place to run the Veteran as recurrable fodder.

With the right cards, Storied Veteran can even create some infinite combos in Commander. Combine this one-drop with Phyrexian Altar Phyrexian Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color. and Solemnity Solemnity Players can't get counters.
Counters can't be put on artifacts, creatures, enchantments, or lands. , and you can sacrifice and re-cast Storied Veteran infinitely. Since Solemnity prevents Storied Veteran from getting a Finality Counter, you can sacrifice the Klingon with Phyrexian Altar, and recast it with the black mana the artifact makes repetitively. From there, a Blood Artist Blood Artist Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. or Impact Tremors Impact Tremors Whenever a creature you control enters, this enchantment deals 1 damage to each opponent. effect ends the game.

MTG Excaliban Gamemaster

Yet another infinite combo enabler, Excaliban Gamemaster’s last trigger notably triggers when any creature dies, including a token. This allows the Excaliban to create infinite enters and death triggers alongside Scurry Oak Scurry Oak Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on this creature, you may create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token. or Herd Baloth Herd Baloth Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on this creature, you may create a 4/4 green Beast creature token. , while also growing said creatures infinitely big.

As long as you have a sacrifice outlet like Phyrexian Altar Phyrexian Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color. , you can sacrifice one of the Officers Excaliban Gamemaster makes to put a +1/+1 counter on Scurry Oak. This creates a Squirrel, which you can quickly put on the Altar for another counter, creating a loop.

Notably, depending on the sacrifice outlet you use, these Excaliban Gamemaster combos can get even nastier. With Phyrexian Altar, for example, you can make infinite mana of any color, while Altar of Dementia Altar of Dementia Sacrifice a creature: Target player mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. mills your opponents out. Considering this, Excaliban Gamemaster is a great addition to +1/+1 counter Typal decks, but it’s not just good there.

So long as you aren’t playing a mono-colored strategy, Excaliban Gamemaster’s entry effect is almost guaranteed to make a ton of Officer tokens. This gives the card play in all kinds of Commander strategies, from go-wide decks like Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice Whenever another creature you control enters, you gain life equal to that creature's toughness.
{1}{G}{W}, {T}: Populate. (Create a token that's a copy of a creature token you control.) , to token strategies like Baylen, the Haymaker Baylen, the Haymaker Tap two untapped tokens you control: Add one mana of any color.
Tap three untapped tokens you control: Draw a card.
Tap four untapped tokens you control: Put three +1/+1 counters on Baylen. It gains trample until end of turn. .

You can even Blink Excaliban Gamemaster with cards like Ephemerate Ephemerate Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.) to double up on tokens, then use them to fuel Aristocrat strategies with Commanders like Teysa Karlov Teysa Karlov If a creature dying causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.
Creature tokens you control have vigilance and lifelink. .

While all of this makes Excaliban Gamemaster feel like a jack-of-all-trades in Commander, its massive mana value means it doesn’t look poised for competitive play. Still, the card could easily see lots of demand, as it synergizes with a wide range of effects.

MTG The Inner Light

Besides evoking some 420 memes amongst MTG players, The Inner Light feels like an interesting, but not incredible, Saga for Reanimation-based Commander decks. Bringing a massive creature, like Zacama, Primal Calamity Zacama, Primal Calamity Reach, vigilance, trample
When Zacama enters, if you cast it, untap all lands you control.
{2}{R}: Zacama deals 3 damage to target creature.
{2}{G}: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
{2}{W}: You gain 3 life. , back from the grave and turning it into a draw 9 is an easy way to swing a game.

You don’t necessarily need to resurrect a big bomb with this card, either. +1/+1 counter decks that create massive creatures, like Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may move a counter from target creature you control onto a second target creature you control.
Cheer — Whenever one or more creatures you control with counters on them deal combat damage to a player, you may draw a card and proliferate. Do this only once each turn. , can refill their hand with this Saga’s second trigger, making the reanimation just a bonus.

Frankly, the best home for The Inner Light, however, might be the recent Secret Lair Hatsune Miku Precon. As a lifegain deck, all three modes are powerful, offering recursion for your threats, card draw that the deck desperately needs, and more lifegain. Pair Soul of Eternity Soul of Eternity Soul of Eternity's power and toughness are each equal to your life total.
Encore {7}{W}{W} ({7}{W}{W}, Exile this card from your graveyard: For each opponent, create a token copy that attacks that opponent this turn if able. They gain haste. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery.) with The Inner Light, and you can easily close out the game with the advantage you gain.

While none of The Inner Light’s modes are a home run, they’re all powerful in their own right, giving this card some play at Bracket 3 Commander tables.

As a side note, The Inner Light is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever recorded in my opinion, and doesn’t really require any knowledge of the show to understand. I’d heavily recommend watching it.

MTG Elim Garak, Simple Tailor

Perhaps the most exciting Dilemma card we’ve seen so far, Elim Garak, Simple Tailor turns your decisions into direct damage, draining your opponent for 2 life. With so many powerful modal cards already in MTG, like Reality Fracture’s Charm cycle or Commander bangers like Red Elemental Blast Red Elemental Blast Choose one —
• Counter target blue spell.
• Destroy target blue permanent. , Elim Garak will certainly find a home.

While the mechanic is strong with MTG’s wide range of Charms, Elim Garak works best with cards that trigger Dilemma repeatedly, like Retreat to Hagra Retreat to Hagra Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, choose one —
• Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
• Each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. or Black Market Connections Black Market Connections At the beginning of your first main phase, choose one or more —
• Sell Contraband — Create a Treasure token. You lose 1 life.
• Buy Information — Draw a card. You lose 2 life.
• Hire a Mercenary — Create a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. You lose 3 life. (It is every creature type.) . Then, with a trigger doubler like Roaming Throne Roaming Throne Ward {2}
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time. , Elim Garak can do a surprising amount of damage.

Personally, I don’t expect Elim Garak to see much play outside of casual Commander, barring maybe a strange modal control deck in Standard. Still, this is an interesting effect for modal decks to experiment with, and should, hopefully, highlight a small part of a larger interesting support package in MTG Star Trek.

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