MTG Players Rediscover Banned Card Perfect For Star Trek Decks

Last updated on July 15, 2026

Far Out | Illustration by Bram Sels

Spoiler season seems to be underway for just about every single upcoming set in the lead up to Magic Con this weekend. In an official first look live stream yesterday, we just got an early look at Star Trek from Wizards of the Coast. Among the new cards, there was one showing off a brand new mechanic, and this mechanic just might be a hint towards a previously illegal powerful enchantment being made legal in Commander (as well as Standard).

Modal Matters

With the reveal of Seven of Nine in the upcoming Star Trek set, we get one of our first “Modal Matters” mechanics. In the past, we've only really seen two other cards that care about casting modal spells: Riku of Many Paths and Far Out, with the latter not even being legal in any formats due to it being from an un-set and having the little acorn stamp, meaning you can't play it in your commander decks unless your friends are nice and let you. However, unlike most cards with the acorn symbol, it seems like it works within the rules of Magic.

Just for reference, a modal spell or ability is anything formatted with the word “choose” followed by bulleted options, and a number of modes indicated to be chosen. Older cards didn't always use bullet points, but newer printings all do. These include cards such as Cryptic Command, Aether Channeler, or Archenemy's Charm just to name a few.

Back to Far Out, here's the interesting part: There was a poll not too long ago from Mark Rosewater, head designer of Magic: The Gathering, asking players about their opinions on un-set card printing legality in tournaments, hinting that there may be a reprinting of a former un-set card in a standard legal set.

source: tumblr.com

At the present moment, there is still no confirmation for if or when we may be getting an un-set card in Standard, but given the fact that Star Trek will have a mechanic that cares about modal spells, it would make sense that Far Out is the card that Mark Rosewater may have been hinting about.

Far Out

Far Out | Illustration by Bram Sels

Assuming that Far Out or perhaps a functional reprint are coming to Star Trek, it would really open up space for new kinds of decks that care about modal spells outside of Riku of Many Paths. Given that Seven of Nine is just an uncommon, there will likely be more cards that care about “Dilemmas” being faced, perhaps even other legendary creatures that can be your Commander in the white color identity so that you can play Far Out. There is huge potential here, as modal spells are also some of the most powerful spells to be casting in Commander, as they offer you much needed versatility.

We will likely also be seeing plenty of new modal spells (and abilities) from Star Trek, as obviously for dilemma to work there needs to be things to trigger it. Among the cards revealed in the first look stream, there was Captain James T. Kirk which has a very useful and easy to trigger modal ability. In fact, with how easy it is to trigger certain modal abilities such as this one, it makes me think that dilemma will be a very powerful mechanic.

Wrap Up

Jeska's Will | Illustration by Eliot Baum

At any rate, it's exciting to see this previously unexplored design space being incorporated into a new set, as it has lots of potential especially in Commander, where there are a plethora of modal spells to build around it. If we do get Far Out, that would be the cherry on top, as a card like this in a deck built around the mechanic is the kind of card that cranks up the power level in a way few other cards can, and hopefully it gets reprinted.