We Are the Borg is the white-blue-black (Esper) Commander preconstructed deck for Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek. The Borg Queen leads a strategy that builds an artifact-creature board, converts opposing creatures through the new Assimilate mechanic, and turns those stolen bodies into additional mana, cards and combat power. The regular 100-card deck releases on November 13, 2026 at a listed MSRP of $74.99; a Collector’s Edition with surge foils is listed at $159.99.
This guide explains the commander, Assimilate, the complete stock list, the deck’s roles, its mana and interaction, and the upgrade choices that matter most before you buy singles or replace cards.
What is in the We Are the Borg Commander deck?
The product is a ready-to-play Commander deck containing 100 cards: a traditional foil borderless face commander, 99 non-foil cards (including 32 new-to-Magic cards), 10 non-foil double-sided tokens, a reference card and a deck box. The official product page identifies five Borg Token 1 // Copy Token cards and five Borg Token 2 // Copy Token cards among the double-sided tokens.
The regular edition is scheduled for November 13, 2026, with a $74.99 MSRP. Wizards lists preorders through local game stores, TCGplayer, Amazon and other retailers. The Collector’s Edition uses the same decklist, but every card is surge foil, the face commander is surge-foil borderless and the tokens have surge foil on one side; its listed MSRP is $159.99.
| Edition | Deck contents | Listed MSRP | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Commander deck | 100-card deck, foil borderless face commander, non-foil main deck and tokens | $74.99 | November 13, 2026 |
| Collector’s Edition | Same decklist, surge foil cards, surge-foil borderless commander and surge-foil token side | $159.99 | November 13, 2026 |
Those are manufacturer list prices, not guarantees of the price a retailer will charge after release.
Who is the commander and what does the deck do?
The Borg Queen is the face commander. The deck wants artifact creatures and Borg creatures on the battlefield, then uses assimilation to take opposing creatures and make them part of that board. The Queen’s listed role is to strengthen artifact creatures and assimilate an opposing creature when she enters or attacks. Check the current card image or an up-to-date card database for exact Oracle wording before using rules text in a decklist or rules document.
The stock list supports that plan with Borg characters such as Locutus of Borg, Locutus, the One Who Speaks, Hugh, First of Many, Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct, One, Borg Evolved, Jurati, Cordial Queen and Võx, Child of the Collective. It also includes Borg artifacts such as Borg Scout Sphere, Class-4 Tactical Cube, Maturation Chamber and Type-03 Borg Vessel.
How does Assimilate work?
Assimilate is a new keyword action that brings one of an opponent’s creatures to your side. It is not simply a temporary theft effect: the creature becomes a Borg artifact creature and receives a +1/+1 counter.
When the creature is not on the battlefield
If an Assimilate effect targets a creature card outside the battlefield, that card enters the battlefield under your control with a +1/+1 counter. It becomes a Borg artifact creature and loses its other creature types, while retaining its other supertypes, card types and subtypes.
When the creature is already on the battlefield
If the target is already on the battlefield, you first gain control of it. You then put a +1/+1 counter on it and make it a Borg artifact creature with the same creature-type replacement. Because the permanent is now an artifact creature you control, artifact lords, artifact cost reducers, sacrifice outlets and effects that trigger on creatures entering under your control can all become useful upgrade directions.
What Assimilate changes in play
- The stolen creature is a permanent you control, so it can attack, block, be sacrificed or be used to pay costs normally.
- Its original creature types are replaced by Borg, which can turn off tribal bonuses that depended on its former type.
- It gains the artifact card type, making it eligible for artifact synergies and artifact removal.
- The +1/+1 counter remains a separate modification from the Borg and artifact changes.
What is the complete stock decklist?
The published list contains 38 lands, 23 artifacts, 20 creatures, 11 instants, five sorceries and three enchantments.
Lands (38)
Academy Ruins; Arcane Sanctum; Choked Estuary; Command Tower; Contaminated Landscape; Drowned Catacomb; Eclipsed Steppe; Evolving Wilds; Exotic Orchard; Fetid Pools; Glacial Fortress; Irrigated Farmland; four Island; Isolated Chapel; Morphic Pool; Path of Ancestry; four Plains; Port Town; Prairie Stream; Rogue’s Passage; Shineshadow Snarl; Shore Leave Planet; Skycloud Expanse; Spire of Industry; Sunken Hollow; four Swamp; Terramorphic Expanse; Umbral Expanse; Underground River.
Artifacts (23)
Arcane Signet; Astral Cornucopia; Borg Scout Sphere; Class-4 Tactical Cube; Commander’s Sphere; Darksteel Plate; Door of Destinies; Everflowing Chalice; Forsaken Monument; Maturation Chamber; Queen’s Diamond; Skullclamp; Sol Ring; Stonespeaker Crystal; Swiftfoot Boots; Talisman of Dominance; Talisman of Hierarchy; Talisman of Progress; The Immortal Sun; Transwarp Hub; Type-03 Borg Vessel; Unwinding Clock; Wayfarer’s Bauble.
Creatures (20)
Ambulatory Reactor; Assimilation Assessor; Co-Option Adjutant; Command Subadjunct; Extraction Integrant; Hive Mind Coprocessor; Hugh, First of Many; Jurati, Cordial Queen; Korok, Liberated Rage; Locutus of Borg; Locutus, the One Who Speaks; One, Borg Evolved; Optimization Annex; Reclamation Specialist; Reconnaissance Partition; Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct; Stratagem Emulator; Supplementation Node; The Borg Queen; Võx, Child of the Collective.
Instants (11)
Anguished Unmaking; Assimilate the Wounded; Bitter Triumph; Borg Incursion; Collective Override; Deliver from Chaos; Disallow; Dispatch; Emergency Regeneration; Return to Dust; Thirst for Knowledge.
Sorceries (5)
Battle of Wolf 359; Gift of Perfection; Join the Collective; Thoughtcast; Toxic Deluge.
Enchantments (3)
Conquest Mission; Tempered Steel; The Best of Both Worlds.
How is the deck’s mana and card advantage built?
The 23-artifact package does more than supply Borg flavor. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Hierarchy, Talisman of Progress, Everflowing Chalice, Astral Cornucopia and Wayfarer’s Bauble provide acceleration and fixing. Skullclamp, Stonespeaker Crystal, Thoughtcast and Thirst for Knowledge cover card flow, while Door of Destinies, Tempered Steel, Forsaken Monument and The Immortal Sun provide broad scaling for a creature-heavy artifact board.
The 38-land base supports all three colors but includes several lands that enter tapped or require particular land types. Academy Ruins offers artifact recursion, Rogue’s Passage can make a key creature unblockable, and Spire of Industry rewards a board containing artifacts. In an upgraded build, replacing the slowest lands with faster color fixing is one of the clearest ways to improve early turns without changing the deck’s identity.
What interaction does the stock list include?
The deck has removal, a sweeper and stack interaction on paper. Anguished Unmaking, Return to Dust, Dispatch and Bitter Triumph answer individual permanents; Toxic Deluge can clear a developed board; Disallow can counter a spell or activated or triggered ability; and Borg Incursion, Collective Override, Deliver from Chaos and Emergency Regeneration add interaction or resilience tied to the deck’s themes.
This is a description of the cards included, not a claim about a tested win rate. Commander results will depend heavily on the opposing decks, mulligans, play-group rules and how often The Borg Queen survives.
How do Spacecraft and station fit the deck?
Spacecraft and station are separate Star Trek mechanics from Assimilate. A Spacecraft begins as an artifact. Station is a sorcery-speed activated ability that taps another untapped creature to add charge counters; once the printed threshold is reached, the Spacecraft can become an artifact creature. These mechanics can reward a deck that already produces expendable Borg bodies, but they are not interchangeable with Assimilate and should be evaluated card by card when making upgrades.
Which cards should you upgrade first?
There is no single universal upgrade package. Start by deciding whether you want maximum Borg flavor, a smoother casual deck or a higher-power artifact strategy, then use the following five tests.
1. Increase assimilation density
Prioritize cards that steal, convert or reward Borg creatures. More reliable access to Assimilate effects makes The Borg Queen’s plan appear in more games instead of leaving the deck as a generic Esper artifact list.
2. Add artifact payoffs
Artifact-creature anthems, cost reduction, sacrifice outlets and triggers for artifacts entering or dying all improve creatures created by Assimilate. These effects also make the non-Borg mana rocks and utility artifacts contribute to the same board plan.
3. Speed up the mana
Count how many opening hands contain lands that enter tapped. Replacing the slowest lands with faster three-color fixing, while retaining enough basics and utility lands, lets you deploy the Queen and supporting artifacts earlier.
4. Protect the engine
The Queen is central to repeated assimilation, so add protection or recursion if your table regularly removes commanders. Cheap interaction, flexible sweepers and ways to recover key artifacts are generally more valuable than expensive cards that only increase combat power.
5. Choose flavor or efficiency deliberately
Named Star Trek cards and Borg pieces are the reason to own this precon, while generic Commander staples may produce a stronger list for the same slots. Keep the cards that create the play experience you want, then spend upgrade money on the weakest role rather than replacing theme cards automatically.
Is We Are the Borg worth buying?
It is the most direct entry point for players who want a ready-to-play Esper artifact deck centered on The Borg Queen and Assimilate. The regular edition offers the full 100-card experience at the $74.99 listed MSRP, while the Collector’s Edition is primarily a premium foil treatment of the same decklist at $159.99.
Buy the regular deck if you want to play immediately or plan to upgrade substantially. Choose the Collector’s Edition only if surge foils and the special commander treatment justify the extra cost to you; it does not provide a different strategy or additional cards.
When does We Are the Borg release?
The announced release date for both editions is November 13, 2026. Because that date is still upcoming, preorder prices, stock and any retailer discount can change; compare the final delivered price with the listed MSRP rather than assuming a preorder is automatically cheaper.
How does the deck compare with a higher-power build?
The stock deck is designed as a coherent themed starting point, not as a guaranteed tournament list. Playgroup’s published classification labels it Bracket 2 and notes no Game Changers; that is a third-party classification, not an official Wizards power rating. A higher-power version would normally increase mana speed, cheap interaction, protection and efficient artifact payoffs while trimming slower lands and cards that do not advance assimilation.
| Upgrade axis | Stock-deck emphasis | What an upgraded list usually changes |
|---|---|---|
| Assimilation density | Core Borg and Queen theme | More consistent ways to steal, convert or reward opposing creatures |
| Artifact payoffs | Anthems, rocks and broad utility | More cost reduction, sacrifice value and artifact-entry or death triggers |
| Mana speed | 38 lands with several tapped options | Faster fixing and a lower count of lands that slow early turns |
| Interaction and resilience | Removal, Toxic Deluge, Disallow and recursion pieces | Cheaper protection, more flexible answers and recovery for the commander |
| Flavor versus efficiency | Named Star Trek cards and Borg identity | Generic staples where raw performance matters more than theme |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an Assimilated creature still use its old abilities?
Yes. Assimilate changes control, adds a counter, and changes the creature’s type and card type; it does not automatically remove the rules text printed on the card. Any ability that refers to a former creature type may stop working if that type was replaced.
Do I need double-faced cards or special sleeves for the Borg tokens?
The product includes ten non-foil double-sided token cards, with five Borg Token 1 // Copy Token cards and five Borg Token 2 // Copy Token cards. Use opaque, standard-size sleeves if you want the token faces hidden while they are in a library or another zone.
Can The Borg Queen be played in another Commander deck?
The Queen’s color identity is Esper, so she can lead a deck containing white, blue and black cards and colorless cards. The exact color identity and rules text should be confirmed from the current printed card when deck construction begins.
What should I check before buying a second copy for upgrades?
Compare the sealed deck price with the current prices of the individual cards you actually want, then account for lands, sleeves and shipping. A second copy is most useful when you want extra copies of the mana base, artifact package or exclusive new cards rather than only a handful of singles.