New Star Trek MTG Set Revolutionizes Fabled Chair Tribal Archetype

Last updated on October 25, 2026

Command Chair | Illustration by Jason Smith

This is a fictional piece of satire; the characters and situations described are not meant to be taken literally. Just have fun with it, folks!

If you’re standing, you might want to sit down for this one. Perhaps in a nice, comfy… chair. Star Trek, the final MTG set of 2026, has brought one of Magic’s most notorious decks back into the spotlight. Chair Tribal is back on the menu, freshly imprinted with the buttcheeks of so, so many Star Trek characters.

Dudes In Chairs

Entirely Normal Armchair | Illustration by Tom Babbey

Star Trek has more Dudes in Chairs™ than the average Kid Rock concert, contributing more to the Chair Tribal archetype than any other set since Entirely Normal Armchair revitalized the archetype back in Unstable.

For the uninitiated, Chair Tribal is a totally legitimate, definitely-not-a-meme “archetype” using cards that feature chairs in their art. The requirements are fairly strict: the art must depict anything that can be reasonably considered a chair. There does not need to be any cheeks-to-chair contact in the picture, though some Chair Tribal purists argue that a body needs to be sitting in the chair to qualify. It’s not a requirement for sanctioned play, though.

As an additional rule, you are not allowed to play cards with the dethrone mechanic in Chair Tribal decks, due to the obvious flavor fail.

Many posts on the r/MTGChairs subreddit debate what does and does not qualify as a chair, though the shortlist of accepted seatery includes:

• Physical pieces of furniture
• Thrones (Roaming or stationary)
• Benches and stools
• The fallen corpses of one’s enemy
• Logs upon which one might rest
• Seating within vehicles such as tanks and chariots
• Changelings

Popular commanders include Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Caesar, Legion's Emperor, and Captain Rex Nebula. Being relaxed within one’s chair is not a requirement for this archetype, but it helps push the narrative.

Star Trek Contributions

Star Trek is changing the way people think about the archetype. Not the fundamentals–your card choices must necessarily include chairs in the art, as per the Chair Tribal Format Panel–but this Universes Beyond set just provides so many options.

Command Chair is perhaps the biggest pick-up of all. It’s colorless, so it goes in every Chair deck, and it helps ramp into some of the more expensive cards for this strategy.

Captain Benjamin Sisko provides a new 5-color Chair commander. Prior to this most people resorted to the left-handed Secret Lair version of Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, though it’s always been a point of contention in the community that you can’t visibly see if Sisay’s actually sitting on anything that would qualify as a chair. Her original Captain Sisay art seems to suggest she is capable of floating, after all.

Deep Space Scan gives Chair Tribal some nice card draw, and Quark's Bar is another land you can add to power up the “strange new worlds” mechanic.

Seven of Nine, Unassimilated, Nyota Uhura, Communications, Cantankerous Captain, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and Saavik, Stoic Student are new legendaries that are, indeed, sitting upon chairs.

But it’s not all legends, either. There’s some premium chairage going on in Test of Conviction, Operations Officer, and Warship Flight Crew as well.

The Chairry on Top

Throne of Eldraine | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Star Trek is exactly the kick in the rear that Chair Tribal needed to become a top contender. No, like, for real this time, I promise.

You can pick up all of these wonderful chair-themed cards when Star Trek drops in early November, and be on the lookout for additions to other Tier 1.5 archetypes like “People Pointing at Things” and “Klingon Deez”, which are also enjoying a well-deserved resurgence thanks to this set.