Federation in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

A.L. Walser less then minute ago MTG Cards, MTG Rules

Cmdr. Troi, Outgoing Empath | Illustration by Justyna Dura

One of the first challenges every Universes Beyond set must overcome is how to incorporate all the important features of a property to Magic. Characters are often easy; just slap them on a legendary creature or six. But broader ideas like organizations can be more difficult.

For Star Trek’s Federation, Wizards decided to create a mechanic that encompassed the idea of a federation of smaller groups working together towards a common goal, and making that goal better as greater diversity is introduced for new skills and perspectives.

Let’s break down how exactly how that translates to the federation mechanic in Magic.

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How Does Federation Work?

Starfleet Crew | Illustration by Runa I. Rosenberger

Federation counts the number of creature types among non-Borg creatures you control to get a value, and that value is applied towards X on a federation ability. Different cards utilize the value of federation in different ways; for example, Captain Jonathan Archer is a creature with an activated ability that buffs another creature based on X while Infinite Diversity uses federation to determine how many times it copies an instant or sorcery. Federation abilities can appear on any card type, with a range of uses.

The History of Federation in MTG

Federation was introduced in 2026’s Star Trek set to capture the flavor of the United Federation of Planets, a multi-planet coalition dedicated to improving the Star Trek universe. One of its greatest strengths has always been the ability to draw on a diversity of experiences, knowledge bases, and skill sets because it allies itself with so many different races on different planets. The federation ability acknowledges this by growing stronger in tandem with your board’s diversity.

It has yet to appear in a non-Star Trek set. There’s potential for in-universe federation cards as the term is fairly vague, but it’s unclear whether that can come to pass.

Why Does Federation Say “Non-Borg” Creatures?

Federation abilities specify that they don’t work with non-Borg creatures for a mechanical and flavorful reason.

Mechanically, this ability would be much too broken with changelings if it didn’t exclude a creature type. Changelings like Changeling Outcast have all 200+ creature types, so, for example, Starfleet Academy would tap for over 200 mana. That would be unbalanced and simply couldn’t exist in Magic without an exclusion.

As for making it the Borg specifically, that’s a flavor win. The Borg are ideologically opposed to the Federation, a consistent antagonist who want to assimilate all life forms into Borg (a very Phyrexian-themed ideology). Counting the Borg as part of the Federation would be a flavor and mechanical fail for the set, so they’re excluded.

How Does Federation Work with Changelings?

It doesn’t. Since changelings have the Borg creature type, in addition to all other creature types, federation abilities don’t count them.

What If You Control Creatures with the Same Creature Type?

Each unique creature type counts once towards federation. If you control two creatures with the elf type, then federation equals 1. But one creature can contribute multiple creature types. If you control an elf warrior and an elf druid, then federation equals 3; elf, warrior, and druid all count once.

Do Face-Down Creatures Count Towards Federation?

No. Face-down creatures, which you can put into play through mechanics like morph, cloak, and manifest dread, have no creature type. Because they don’t have creature types, they don’t count towards federation, unless they specifically gain a creature type from something.

Does Federation Include Token Creatures?

Yes! Federation doesn’t specify that it only counts nontoken creatures, so token creatures increase the federation count.

Do Artifact and Enchantment Creatures Add to Federation?

Yes, with a caveat: Artifact and enchantment aren’t creature types. They’re card types, so those won’t count towards federation.

Take Doomwake Giant, for example, with its type line “Enchantment Creature – Giant”. It has two card types (enchantment and creature) and one creature type (giant). Creature types are always to the right of the en dash (–) in the card’s type box. Anything to the left, which includes card types and supertypes like legendary, does not count towards federation, or any other abilities that care about creature types.

When Does Federation Check Your Number of Creature Types?

Federation checks the number of creature types as the spell or ability resolves. For example, if you activate Captain Jonathan Archer and target the dog token it creates, then federation would equal 3. But if your opponent nukes Archer with its ability on the stack, then the ability will check the number of creature types on your board, see that you only have a dog, and give Porthos a measly +1/+1 bonus.

Gallery and List of Federation Cards

Best Federation Cards

Starfleet Academy

Starfleet Academy is busted. Lands that tap for multiple mana are generally good. Even with such a high activation cost, expect it to do very well. It’s likely the strongest in token decks because you can easily pack a diverse slate of creature types with token producers, but I’m sure many players will figure out how to break this.

Wrap Up

Tuvok, Chief Tactical Officer | Illustration by Flavio Greco Paglia

I like federation. Feel how you like about Star Trek, but Wizards nailed the flavor and mechanical balance on this one. I also adore mechanics that make you think about creature types in Limited—depending on how well federation performs, you might pick a random creature solely for its type line, which adds unique decision trees to the drafting process.

What do you think of federation? Is it a good mechanic or a miss? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord! If you want more Star Trek coverage, check out our YouTube channel and newsletter, both called The Daily Upkeep!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!

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A.L. Walser

A. L. Walser - also known as nissaflamecaller online - has been playing Magic since 2009 and the release of the original Zendikar set. An avid drafter with a bit of a Vorthos streak, his favorite aspect of playing Magic comes from the act of building a deck from nothing.