Best Star Trek Commanders

The short answer

The best Star Trek commander is Mr. Spock, Science Officer: a four-mana mono-blue legend that turns every card you draw into two. The right one for you depends on how you like to play, so here is the top pick for each style.

• You want to draw a lot of cards: Mr. Spock, Science Officer.
• You want to ramp and play lands: Captain Kathryn Janeway.
• You want a wide board of tokens: Captain Jean-Luc Picard, also the best for beginners.
• You want to cast huge spells: Jadzia Dax, Living Legacy.
• You're on a budget: Grand Nagus Zek, $2.12 as of November 2, 2026.
• You already own a precon: Kor, Cause of Vengeance (Klingon Fury) or Hugh, First of Many (We Are the Borg).

Prices are TCGplayer market prices on November 2, 2026, before the set's November 13 release, so expect them to move. Card buy links go through our TCGplayer affiliate link; see our affiliate disclosure.

How we picked these Star Trek commanders

Star Trek has a lot of legends. Scryfall lists 100 cards in the main set (TRK) and 98 in the Commander set (TRC) that can lead a Commander deck, counting legendary Spacecraft. This list ranks the main-set legends and the precons' second commanders by how good a deck they lead: how strong the engine is, how clearly it tells you what to build, and how much it asks of the other 99.

The four precon face commanders (Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary; Commander Spock; Worf, Defiant Commander; and The Borg Queen) are compared in our best Star Trek precon guide, so they aren't ranked again here. The set isn't out yet and no TurnZero HQ games have been logged with these cards, so this is a read of the cards, not of results. A commander doesn't decide your Commander bracket on its own; the cards you put around it do. The supporting cards below are cheap ones that suit a casual or upgraded table.

1. Mr. Spock, Science Officer: every draw becomes two

Mono-blue · Main set, mythic · $24.06 · Best for card draw

Commander Spotlight

Mr. Spock, Science Officer ↗

Four mana, a 2/4. If you would draw a card, draw two cards instead. That is the whole card, and it applies to every draw you make, including the one in your draw step.

Mr. Spock is the strongest engine among the new legends, because a deck built around him turns every cantrip, Clue and loot into twice the cards. Build it like a mono-blue draw deck: cheap card draw, counterspells to protect a full hand, and payoffs that count each card you draw.

Those payoffs are how the deck wins. Psychosis Crawler drains each opponent for every card, so Spock doubles the drain, and Jace's Erasure mills a player once per card drawn. Teferi's Ageless Insight is a second replacement effect that stacks with Spock: per its own rulings, two such effects turn one draw into four, so every card you would draw outside your draw step becomes four.

The risk is your own library. Doubled draws empty it about twice as fast, so keep a few shuffle or recursion effects, and stop drawing when you're ahead.

Psychosis Crawler ↗

Each opponent loses 1 life per card you draw, so Spock doubles the drain.

Jace's Erasure ↗

Two mana. Each card you draw can mill a player one card.

Teferi's Ageless Insight ↗

Stacks with Spock: draws outside your draw step become four.

Who should build it: Blue players who like a full hand and long, careful turns. Expect the table to point removal at Spock the moment he lands.

2. Captain Kathryn Janeway: an extra land and an explore on every creature

Mono-green · Main set, mythic · $16.24 · Best for lands and creatures

Commander Spotlight

Captain Kathryn Janeway ↗

Four mana, a 2/3. You may play an additional land each turn, and whenever Janeway or another creature you control enters, that creature explores: a land on top goes to your hand, anything else gives it a +1/+1 counter.

Janeway feeds herself. Each creature you cast reveals your top card, a land goes to your hand, and the extra land drop puts it straight onto the battlefield. A creature that misses gets a counter instead, so nothing she touches is wasted.

The deck wants a lot of cheap creatures, tokens included, since every creature that enters explores. Cards that care about exploring stack on top of her: Topography Tracker makes each explore happen twice, and Wildgrowth Walker grows and gains you 3 life every time.

Run toward the top of the usual land count, 38 or so, because she turns spare lands into extra land drops rather than dead draws.

Jadelight Ranger ↗

Explores twice on its own, three times with Janeway out.

Topography Tracker ↗

Each creature that would explore explores twice. Brings a Map token too.

Wildgrowth Walker ↗

A +1/+1 counter and 3 life each time one of your creatures explores.

Who should build it: A first mono-green deck, or anyone who likes ramp. The plan is easy to follow and every creature does something.

3. Captain Jean-Luc Picard: a crew for every creature you cast

Mono-white · Main set, mythic · $24.15 · Best for tokens and going wide

Commander Spotlight

Captain Jean-Luc Picard ↗

Three mana. Your other creatures get +1/+1, and each creature or Spacecraft spell you cast makes a 1/1 red Officer. Tap seven untapped Officers to put a Spacecraft from your library onto the battlefield with seven charge counters.

Picard is a go-wide commander that pays you for casting creatures. Every creature spell brings an Officer with it, and his anthem makes those Officers 2/2s, so a turn with two cheap creatures adds four bodies to the board.

His last ability is the payoff for a wide board. Seven Officers fetch a Spacecraft that arrives already stationed with seven charge counters, which is enough to make many of them creatures right away. U.S.S. Cerritos, Following Up is a cheap target: at 6 it is a flyer, and it makes two more Officers as it enters.

Fill the deck with creatures that cost three or less, a few token anthems and a board wipe or two you can rebuild from.

Intangible Virtue ↗

Two mana. Officers and other tokens get +1/+1 and vigilance.

Hero of Bladehold ↗

Two attacking 1/1 Soldiers per attack, all pumped by Picard.

U.S.S. Cerritos, Following Up ↗

A Spacecraft spell for Picard, two Officers, and a flying target for his search.

Who should build it: A first Commander deck in white, or a token player who wants a commander that does something the turn it lands.

4. Jadzia Dax, Living Legacy: a mana engine that grows every turn

Mono-green · Main set, mythic · $18.49 · Best for big mana and +1/+1 counters

Commander Spotlight

Jadzia Dax, Living Legacy ↗

Two mana, a 0/1. At the beginning of your first main phase, put a +1/+1 counter on her, then add {G} for each counter she has. One green mana on your first turn after she lands, two the turn after, and climbing.

Jadzia is ramp that keeps growing. Left alone, she adds one more green mana every turn, and anything that adds extra +1/+1 counters speeds her up: with Hardened Scales she gets two counters a turn, so her mana goes up by two each time.

Spend that mana on cards that scale with it. X spells and creatures with X in the cost, like Walking Ballista, turn a pile of green mana into a threat or removal. The mana arrives in your first main phase and empties at the end of it, so cast the big spell before combat.

She starts as a 0/1, so she dies to almost anything. Pack protection for her, or accept recasting her and paying the commander tax.

Hardened Scales ↗

One extra counter on Jadzia each turn, so one extra green mana.

Branching Evolution ↗

Doubles her counter each turn, and the mana with it.

Walking Ballista ↗

A colorless mana sink: pour Jadzia's mana into counters and ping.

Who should build it: Players who want to cast the biggest spell at the table, and who don't mind a commander that needs protecting early.

5. Dathon, His Heart Open: Temur enchantments and Sagas

Temur (green, blue, red) · Main set, rare · $14.01 · Best for enchantments

Commander Spotlight

Dathon, His Heart Open ↗

Three mana. Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, draw a card, and if it's a Saga, Dathon deals 2 damage to each opponent. {2}: put another counter of a kind already on an enchantment you control, as a sorcery.

Dathon is an enchantress commander in Temur colors. Every enchantment you cast replaces itself, including cheap Auras like Wild Growth, so a deck of two- and three-mana enchantments rarely runs out of cards.

Sagas are the second half. Each one cast hits every opponent for 2, and his {2} ability can put an extra lore counter on a Saga, which moves it to its next chapter early. The Akroan War steals a creature on chapter I, and Dathon lets you push it on to the later chapters when you're ready.

Fill the rest with enchantment ramp, enchantment removal and a handful of payoffs like Setessan Champion.

Wild Growth ↗

One mana: ramps and draws a card off Dathon.

Setessan Champion ↗

Another card and a +1/+1 counter for each enchantment that enters.

The Akroan War ↗

A Saga: Dathon draws you a card and deals 2 to each opponent, and chapter I steals a creature.

Who should build it: Enchantress players who want red and blue spells, and anyone who likes a deck that draws a card on almost every spell.

6. Dr. Beverly Crusher: lifegain triggers happen twice

Mono-white · Main set, mythic · $33.90 · Best for lifegain

Commander Spotlight

Dr. Beverly Crusher ↗

Three mana, a 2/2. If gaining life causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, it triggers an additional time. Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on her, which also triggers twice.

Crusher doubles the payoffs, not the lifegain. Ajani's Pridemate gets two counters each time you gain life, Well of Lost Dreams triggers twice so you can pay and draw twice, and her own counter trigger doubles too, so she grows by two every time.

That means the deck needs both halves: frequent, small sources of life like Soul Warden, and permanents that trigger on gaining life. A source alone does nothing extra, because Crusher only touches abilities that trigger from the life gain.

She is the most expensive of the ten picks, but the cards around her are mostly cheap.

Ajani's Pridemate ↗

Two +1/+1 counters every time you gain life.

Well of Lost Dreams ↗

Triggers twice per life gain, so you can draw twice.

Soul Warden ↗

One life for every creature that enters, which sets off both triggers.

Who should build it: Lifegain players in mono-white who want a commander that makes their usual cards twice as good.

7. Kor, Cause of Vengeance: Klingon Fury's second commander

Mardu (white, black, red) · Klingon Fury precon · In Klingon Fury; no singles price yet · Best for attacking and sacrificing

Commander Spotlight

Kor, Cause of Vengeance ↗

Four mana, a 4/4. Whenever you attack, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, draw a card, then Klingons and Warriors you control get +2/+2 until end of turn.

Kor turns every attack into a card and a team pump, as long as you have something to sacrifice. The main set gives him the fodder: L'Rell, Fierce Visionary makes a hasty 2/1 Klingon Warrior at the start of each of your combats, and you sacrifice it at end of turn anyway, and The Duras Sisters leave a Warrior behind when they die.

The +2/+2 only reaches Klingons and Warriors, so build with the tribe, and add a death payoff like Zulaport Cutthroat so each sacrifice also drains the table.

If you own Klingon Fury, this is the cheapest way to try a second deck: put Kor in the command zone, keep Worf in the 99, and add the sacrifice fodder.

L'Rell, Fierce Visionary ↗

A hasty 2/1 Warrior at each of your combats, sacrificed at end of turn anyway.

The Duras Sisters ↗

Two mana, and a hasty 2/1 Warrior when they die.

Zulaport Cutthroat ↗

Each opponent loses 1 life whenever one of your creatures dies.

Who should build it: Klingon Fury owners, and aggressive players who like aristocrats. Klingon Fury upgrade guide →

8. Hugh, First of Many: copy every artifact you cast

Esper (white, blue, black) · We Are the Borg precon · $28.95 · Best for artifacts

Commander Spotlight

Hugh, First of Many ↗

Four mana, a 3/4 Borg artifact creature. Artifact spells you cast have replicate {2}{U}: pay it as many times as you can afford, and each copy becomes a token.

Hugh is the Borg legend to build a new deck around. Every artifact becomes a scalable spell, and the best targets are the ones that do something when they enter: three extra mana on Solemn Simulacrum gets a second land and a second card later, and Myr Battlesphere copies each bring four Myr.

It is a value deck more than a fast one. Each copy costs three mana, so the deck needs ramp and a few artifacts worth copying late. Every copy of an artifact creature is another artifact creature, so artifact anthems such as The Borg Queen's pump it too.

If you want to stay closer to the precon, Locutus of Borg makes each artifact creature that connects create a 1/1 Borg, and One, Borg Evolved gives them six keywords. Hugh is the one that changes how the deck plays.

Solemn Simulacrum ↗

Each copy fetches a basic land and draws a card when it dies.

Myr Battlesphere ↗

Each copy makes four 1/1 Myr artifact creatures.

Mind Stone ↗

Each copy is another mana rock that cashes in for a card later.

Who should build it: We Are the Borg owners who want a second deck from the box, and artifact players in Esper. We Are the Borg upgrade guide →

9. Grand Nagus Zek: the budget pick

Mono-black · Main set, rare · $2.12 · Best for a budget aristocrats deck

Commander Spotlight

Grand Nagus Zek ↗

Three mana, a 1/1. Grand Nagus Zek gets +1/+1 for each Treasure you control. Whenever another creature dies, create a Treasure, once each turn.

Zek is the cheapest commander on this list and a sound one. Any creature dying, yours or an opponent's, makes a Treasure once a turn, and every Treasure you keep makes him bigger, so you choose between ramping and attacking.

Build it like a mono-black aristocrats deck: tokens to sacrifice, a few sacrifice outlets, and drain effects. Pitiless Plunderer makes a Treasure for each of your creatures that dies, with no once-a-turn limit, which grows Zek far faster than his own trigger.

Pitiless Plunderer ↗

A Treasure for every creature of yours that dies.

Blood Artist ↗

A drain every time any creature dies.

Bastion of Remembrance ↗

Three mana: a token to sacrifice and a drain per death.

Who should build it: Budget builders, and black players who like aristocrats.

10. Kira Nerys, Firebrand: creatures that enter attacking

Boros (red, white) · Main set, rare · $5.69 · Best for aggressive tokens

Commander Spotlight

Kira Nerys, Firebrand ↗

Three mana, a 4/3 with trample. If a creature you control would enter while you control an attacking creature, it enters tapped and attacking instead, and each other creature that enters gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Kira rewards making creatures during combat. An instant like Raise the Alarm cast after attackers are declared puts two attacking 2/2s into the fight, and the two Soldiers Hero of Bladehold makes on each attack get her +1/+1 as well.

Impact Tremors adds 1 damage to each opponent for every one of those creatures, so a wide combat turn ends games quickly.

Raise the Alarm ↗

Cast in combat: two Soldiers that enter attacking as 2/2s.

Hero of Bladehold ↗

Two attacking tokens per attack, each pumped by Kira.

Impact Tremors ↗

1 damage to each opponent for every creature that enters.

Who should build it: Boros aggro players. Our Commander Brainstorm has three full builds for her. See the Kira Nerys brainstorm →

What is the best Star Trek commander in each color?

Our pick for every color identity that has a Star Trek legend worth building around. Prices are as of November 2, 2026; "not listed yet" means no singles price had been posted, which is the case for most precon-only legends.

White-blue and green-blue are the pairs without a strong pick: their legends, such as The Traveler, are fine in the 99 but thin as commanders. In green, Dr. Joseph M'Benga ($16.27) is the other strong choice: he doubles every counter you put on your creatures and gives the ones with counters hexproof. To browse every legend by color, try the commander finder.

What about the precon commanders?

Each Star Trek precon comes with a face commander and more legends in its colors. If you want a deck that works out of the box, start with the precon comparison, then the upgrade guide for the deck you pick: Federation Fleet, Landing Party, Klingon Fury or We Are the Borg.

The second commanders in the Bant and Jeskai decks are worth knowing too. Captain Kirk, Boldly Going gives your Spacecraft creatures +3/+3 and finds Starship Enterprise from your library or graveyard, so Landing Party can become a starship deck. Captain Janeway, Endgame draws a card and makes an Officer whenever your Officers connect, which suits Federation Fleet less than it looks, since that deck has more legends than Officers.

Which Star Trek legends look better than they play?

A few legends read like strong commanders and have a catch you should know before you build.

• Quark, Humble Proprietor ($13.79): he makes a Treasure at the start of every player's upkeep, but you can't sacrifice Treasure tokens while he's out, so you can't spend them for mana. He suits a deck that counts artifacts, not a ramp deck.
• Q, Stacking the Deck ($15.27): he gives you a copy of one card that you can cast again and again, exiling a card from your hand each time, but the card is the first nonland card off a shuffled library. Some games that is a bomb you copy every turn; in others it is a cheap ramp spell.
• Georgiou, Terran Emperor ($16.25): you don't lose for being at 0 life, and you draw a card for 3 life at each of your end steps. If she leaves the battlefield while you're at 0 or less, you lose right away, and commander damage still counts.
• Captain Benjamin Sisko ($5.68): two mana, but his activated ability costs all five colors plus two, so he needs a five-color mana base and a deck full of modal spells to make Officers.
• Gul Dukat, Colonial Prefect ($16.01): a strong finisher (at each end step, each opponent loses the life they already lost that turn again) but at seven mana he is slow for a commander. He fits better in the 99 of a deck that already hits everyone each turn.

Frequently Asked Questions