This Week in Commander: Star Trek Legends, Budget Cards and Khan

EDHREC counts 197 potential commanders across Star Trek’s main set and four Commander decks, while Khan, Vengeful Heart gives Food Chain another combo piece.

Multiverse Dispatch · 10 November 2026, 13:55 · 4 min read

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Khan, Vengeful Heart · art by Sam Kennedy

Star Trek adds 197 new potential commanders across its main set and four Commander decks, by EDHREC’s count, alongside a Food Chain combo piece that can turn unlimited creature-casting mana into cards. Bennie Smith’s multiplayer set assessment, published on November 10, 2026, divides that commander pool into 139 mono-colour options, 42 two-colour options and 16 with 3 or more colours.

Smith gives the set a B, judging its strength and complexity around average while praising its synergy pieces. The distinction matters: a commander that makes an entertaining deckbuilding puzzle and a card that improves an existing competitive combo earn their recommendations for different reasons.

Sarek and Dathon Lead the Fun Picks

Benjamin Levin’s ranking by play experience, also published on November 10, puts Sarek, Federation Ambassador first and Dathon, His Heart Open second. Sarek, Federation Ambassador costs and rewards assembling different non-Borg creature types: every 5 types draws a card at combat, with a team-wide counter payoff when you draw at least 3.

{1} — Sarek, Federation Ambassador rewards creature-type variety rather than filling the battlefield with one type.

Dathon, His Heart Open costs , draws cards from enchantment spells and damages each opponent when you cast a Saga. Its counter-adding ability also advances chapters. We favour this as the more focused starting point: your Sagas supply cards and a route to killing the table without needing to attack through every opponent.

Other build-arounds reach well beyond their own decks. Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge doubles charge counters on artifacts, giving Everflowing Chalice and Astral Cornucopia another home; Levin also suggests it for Inspirit, Flagship Vessel. Captain Kathryn Janeway combines explore with an additional land play, supporting Wildgrowth Walker, Scute Swarm and Springheart Nantuko.

Chief Kyle, Transporter Tech costs and turns landfall into a delayed blink. Play a land, exile Solemn Simulacrum, then return it at the next end step to fetch another land. The delay keeps you from immediately chaining those enters abilities during your main phase.

Different Land Names and Dilemmas Reward Existing Decks

Smith singles out strange new worlds, the ability word for effects counting differently named lands, as a natural fit for singleton manabases. Commander Spock can turn that count into lands, cards or free spells, while Captain Pike, Fullness of Time offers a mono- version of the challenge.

Wizards’ official mechanics explanation supplies the important dilemma ruling: choosing several modes still counts as 1 dilemma, and that choice counts even if the spell or ability fails to resolve. Seven of Nine rewards dilemmas with cards, Elim Garak, Simple Tailor drains life, and Captain Benjamin Sisko makes tokens. Countering the modal spell does not undo the choice.

Commons and Uncommons Fill Specific Jobs

Tyler Bucks’ November 10 commons and uncommons recommendations focus on cards for existing decks. Conquest Mission makes tokens when nontoken artifacts enter, with Urza, Chief Artificer suggested as its commander. Test of Conviction offers a table-politics option or +1/+1 counters across your creatures, earning a pairing with Ms. Bumbleflower.

Anthropological Mission is the standout engine for spells-heavy decks: the three-mana enchantment draws and discards whenever you cast a noncreature spell, then stops requiring discards after accumulating enough quest counters. Bucks suggests The Locust God. Make It So instead supplies immediate cards plus tokens or a creature untap, with Kilo, Apogee Mind suggested.

For interaction, Impossible Choice can destroy a creature while giving its controller 2 tokens, or draw 2 cards while each player loses 2 life. Bucks pairs it with Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls. Test of Courage offers one-mana instant-speed interaction against a small artifact or enchantment, or a card in a graveyard; its suggested home is Kwia Vigorbloom.

Khan Gives Food Chain a Draw Engine

Harvey McGuinness’ November 10 competitive set assessment identifies Khan, Vengeful Heart plus Food Chain as the most consequential prospect. Khan, Vengeful Heart costs and can be cast from exile, filling the familiar Squee, the Immortal role while adding a sacrifice-and-draw enters ability.

{2} — Khan, Vengeful Heart combines Food Chain recursion with a way to draw through the deck.

Repeatedly cast and exile Khan, Vengeful Heart to generate unlimited creature-casting mana. Then repeatedly cast your commander and sacrifice it to Khan, Vengeful Heart to draw through the deck. We consider that the strongest competitive case here because it supplies both mana and access to a finish.

Scotty, Miracle Worker, a graveyard engine, has a narrower application. Return Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh to pay beam me up’s creature-return requirement, then recast it for no mana. You still pay each spell’s mana cost, and the access is limited to your main phase.

The draw engines carry clearer costs. Mr. Spock, Science Officer is a four-mana draw doubler, comparable to Teferi’s Ageless Insight, but provides no immediate return. Nyota Uhura, Communications is a three-mana, mono- comparison to Talion, the Kindly Lord. McGuinness also names Rok-Tahk, Budding Scientist as a possible Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy flip target; Nog, Ambitious Cadet requires a five-mana level-up investment before offering the land-recursion role that interests The Gitrog Monster decks.