Landing Party Upgrade Guide: 10 Cuts and 10 Upgrades for Spock

The best upgrades for the MTG Star Trek Landing Party Commander deck are Starfield Vocalist, Ephemerate, Soulherder, Flickering Hound and Oracle of Mul Daya. Commander Spock’s deck wins by turning every land into a free spell or a card, and the first four picks give you more of his triggers. All 10 picks cost about $24 on TCGplayer, and none costs more than $5. The first cards to cut are Wrath of God, Echo of Eons and Merciful Mandate.

Updated October 29, 2026 · Decklist from Wizards of the Coast (revealed October 29, 2026) · Picks and percentages from EDHREC (139 early Commander Spock decks) · Prices are TCGplayer market prices, checked October 29, 2026

What’s in the Landing Party Commander deck?

Landing Party is the green, white and blue deck from MTG Star Trek. Its face commander is Commander Spock, a 5-mana 3/5, and Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is the second legend you can lead with. The deck is built around lands: 40 of them, 32 with different names, and 10 cards with landfall. The crew is mostly from the Original Series, from Uhura and Sulu to Chekov and Janice Rand, and five ships are in the box, including the Starship Enterprise and the Shuttlecraft Galileo.

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The deck lists for $74.99 and sells for about $67.47 on TCGplayer. It releases November 13, 2026, but Wizards said on October 16 that Star Trek Commander decks in North America may arrive after that date. See our Star Trek delays guide for every region.

How does the Spock deck win?

Commander Spock turns your lands into free spells. His Strange new worlds ability triggers whenever he enters or attacks: reveal the top card of your library, and if its mana value is no higher than the number of differently named lands you control, you may cast it without paying its mana cost. If it’s a land, you may put it onto the battlefield tapped, and if the card is still on top after that, you draw it. Every trigger is worth a card. Once you control six differently named lands, Spock can cast anything in the deck for free except Lt. Arex and Planet Killer.

The rest of the deck rewards land drops. Ten cards have landfall, from Lotus Cobra and Scute Swarm to M’Ress, who makes two 1/1 Officers for every land, and the Starship Enterprise, which gets four charge counters per land and draws you cards when it deals combat damage to a player. Exploration gives you an extra land drop each turn, Augur of Autumn and Ancient Greenwarden let you play lands from the top of your library and from your graveyard, and Greenwarden makes every landfall ability trigger twice. Chief Kyle, Temporal Tribulation and Balance of Terror exile Spock and return him at the next end step so he triggers again, and Colossal Clone Master can enter as a second, non-legendary Spock. Captain Kirk gives your Spacecraft creatures +3/+3 and finds the Enterprise.

That’s the plan every upgrade below builds on: play more lands, get more Spock triggers, and make every land count twice.

What are the best Landing Party upgrades?

These 10 picks start from what early Spock players on EDHREC add most, then get checked against the deck’s plan. Every card image links to the card on TCGplayer.

1. Starfield Vocalist

What it does: A 3/4 for 4. If a permanent entering the battlefield causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time. Its warp cost of {1}{U} lets you cast it for 2 mana, but then it’s exiled at the next end step and you can cast it again on a later turn.

Why it fits Spock: Spock’s Strange new worlds ability triggers when he enters, so every blink gives you two reveals instead of one. Lands are permanents too, so every landfall card in the deck triggers twice: M’Ress makes four Officers, Lotus Cobra adds two mana, and Starship Enterprise gets eight charge counters from one land. Panharmonicon only works when artifacts and creatures enter, but the Vocalist works for lands too.

Price: about $1.33 (TCGplayer) · in 55% of EDHREC Spock decks

2. Ephemerate

What it does: Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield. Rebound: if you cast it from your hand, you may cast it again for free at the beginning of your next upkeep.

Why it fits Spock: For 1 mana it re-triggers Spock twice, once now and once on your next upkeep. It also protects him: blink Spock in response to targeted removal and the removal misses, because he comes back as a new object. It’s the most-played nonland upgrade in EDHREC Spock decks.

Price: about $4.98 (TCGplayer) · in 68% of EDHREC Spock decks

3. Soulherder

What it does: A 1/1 for 3 that gets a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature is exiled from the battlefield. At the beginning of your end step, you may exile another creature you control, then return it to the battlefield.

Why it fits Spock: That’s a free Spock trigger at the end of every one of your turns. When Spock isn’t on the battlefield, blink Lt. Arex to draw three more cards or T’Pring to fight again. Ephemerate, Chief Kyle and Temporal Tribulation all exile creatures, so Soulherder keeps growing.

Price: about $1.87 (TCGplayer) · in 49% of EDHREC Spock decks

4. Flickering Hound

What it does: A 2/2 for 4. Whenever you cast a creature spell, exile up to one other creature you control, then return it to the battlefield.

Why it fits Spock: Every creature you cast re-triggers Spock, and his free casts count too. If Spock reveals a creature and you cast it, the Hound blinks him, he enters again and reveals the next card. It’s the most-played new card in early Spock decks.

Price: about $4.93 (TCGplayer) · in 58% of EDHREC Spock decks

5. Oracle of Mul Daya

What it does: A 2/2 for 4. You may play an additional land on each of your turns, you play with the top card of your library revealed, and you may play lands from the top of your library.

Why it fits Spock: Exploration is the only card in the box that gives you an extra land drop. Two land drops a turn means two landfall triggers and a faster climb in differently named lands. Lands played off the top are free cards, and with the top card revealed you always know what Spock is about to reveal.

Price: about $2.60 (TCGplayer) · in 35% of EDHREC Spock decks

6. Tatyova, Benthic Druid

What it does: A 3/3 for 5. Landfall: whenever a land you control enters, you gain 1 life and draw a card.

Why it fits Spock: Every land turns into a card. Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage and the other fetch lands trigger it twice, once for the fetch land and once for the land it finds. With Starfield Vocalist out, each land draws two. At 19 cents it’s the cheapest card on this list.

Price: about $0.19 (TCGplayer) · in 47% of EDHREC Spock decks

7. Kellan, the Kid

What it does: A 3/3 for 3 with flying and lifelink. Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, you may cast a permanent spell with equal or lesser mana value from your hand for free. If you don’t, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.

Why it fits Spock: Spock casts his free spells from the top of your library, so each one also triggers Kellan. A free 5-drop from Spock means a free permanent of 5 or less from your hand, or an extra land and another landfall trigger. Creatures cast from the top with Augur of Autumn and the flashback on Temporal Tribulation count too. He’s also in Spock’s colors, so he could lead the deck himself.

Price: about $1.74 (TCGplayer) · in 37% of EDHREC Spock decks

8. Spelunking

What it does: When it enters, draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield, and you gain 4 life if that land is a Cave. Lands you control enter untapped.

Why it fits Spock: 13 lands in this deck always enter tapped, and Spock, Janice Rand, Lt. Arex, Rampant Growth, Farseek and Cultivate all put lands onto the battlefield tapped. Wizards’ ruling is that a land put onto the battlefield tapped comes in untapped while you control Spelunking. Lands with their own enters-tapped text, like the Temples, enter untapped too if you choose. It also draws a card and can put a land from your hand onto the battlefield right away.

Price: about $3.50 (TCGplayer) · in 22% of EDHREC Spock decks

9. Swiftfoot Boots

What it does: Equipped creature has hexproof and haste. Equip {1}.

Why it fits Spock: Haste lets Spock attack the turn he comes down, so you get his enter trigger and his attack trigger in the same turn. Hexproof only stops your opponents’ spells and abilities, so Soulherder, Ephemerate and Chief Kyle can still target him. Lightning Greaves gives shroud, which would stop all three. After a blink, re-equipping costs 1.

Price: about $1.82 (TCGplayer) · in 13% of EDHREC Spock decks

10. Swords to Plowshares

What it does: Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.

Why it fits Spock: Path to Exile, Reality Shift and Beast Within are the deck’s only cheap answers to creatures, and its two sweepers hit your own board too. Swords costs 1 mana at instant speed, and unlike Path to Exile it doesn’t give the opponent a land.

Price: about $1.07 (TCGplayer) · in 67% of EDHREC Spock decks

How much does it cost to upgrade the Landing Party deck?

All 10 cards cost about $24.03. Nothing on the list costs more than $5, and three of the key pieces, Starfield Vocalist, Soulherder and Tatyova, cost under $3.50 together. If you only buy one card, make it Starfield Vocalist: it doubles both halves of the deck, Spock’s enter trigger and every landfall trigger, for $1.33.

On a tighter budget, Momentary Blink (about $0.14) does Ephemerate’s job for 2 mana, and its {3}{U} flashback gives you the second blink that rebound would.

Which 10 cards should you cut from the Landing Party deck?

Spock’s deck wants lands on the battlefield and more Spock triggers. These cards help with neither: they wipe your own board, refill your opponents’ hands, or do nothing with lands. Most early Spock decks on EDHREC were built before Wizards posted this list on October 29, so these cuts come from the deck’s plan, not from EDHREC numbers.

• Wrath of God: it destroys every creature, including Spock and the landfall board you spent the game building. Austere Command stays as the sweeper you can aim.
• Echo of Eons: it hands every opponent a fresh seven cards, and it shuffles away the lands Ancient Greenwarden could replay from your graveyard.
• Merciful Mandate: a defensive trick that untaps your team or ends a combat. It does nothing with lands.
• Command Chair: 6 mana for a rock that enters tapped. By the time you can cast it, your lands are already doing the ramping.
• S.S. Botany Bay: its tap ability only exiles cards from graveyards, and it needs 8 charge counters before it can fly. Nothing about it uses lands.
• Tribble Cluster: a slow 1/1 that grows one counter a turn. M’Ress, Scute Swarm and Shuttlecraft Galileo make more bodies from the lands you already play.
• Fleet Captain Christopher Pike: a 0/6 that pays {1} to untap or {2} to tap two other creatures. It never touches a land. Not to be confused with Captain Pike, Fullness of Time, the main-set Pike that does fit this deck.
• Chief Montgomery Scott: 4 mana to cast, then {6} and a tap before he does anything. Kellan, the Kid lets you cast creatures from your hand for free, and he costs 3.
• McCoy, Not a Bricklayer: his counters trigger off Doctors, and the deck has only two: McCoy and Christine Chapel.
• Christine Chapel, Combat Medic: the other half of the Doctor pair. Gaining life doesn’t move the deck’s plan forward.

The trade adds up. Wrath of God and Echo of Eons go out for Swords to Plowshares and Ephemerate, removal and protection that never hit your own board. The slow rock and the cards that never touch a land make room for Oracle of Mul Daya, Tatyova, Spelunking and Swiftfoot Boots. The Doctor pair and Scotty make room for Starfield Vocalist, Soulherder, Flickering Hound and Kellan, which turn one Spock trigger into several.

What we kept on purpose

• Austere Command (6%): you pick two of four modes, so you can clear artifacts and enchantments without touching creatures, or wipe just the cheap or just the expensive creatures. It’s the one sweeper this deck can aim.
• Planet Killer: 8 mana looks unplayable, but Spock casts it for free once you control 8 differently named lands. It’s a 9/9 flier that can’t be destroyed.
• The Guardian of Forever: a 0/6 wall, but its {4} ability sacrifices another nontoken creature and brings it back at the next end step. Leave Spock in the graveyard instead of moving him to the command zone and he returns to trigger again, or bring back Lt. Arex to draw three more cards.
• Shore Leave Planet (10%): a tapped blue land, but for {4}{U} it becomes a non-legendary copy of a creature you control until end of turn. Copy Spock and attack with both, and his attack trigger happens twice.
• Cold-Blooded Crew: a 6-mana common that looks like filler, but basic landcycling {2} turns it into your next land drop early. Late in the game it’s a 4/4 that hands out two +1/+1 counters.
• Satyr Wayfinder: a 1/1 for 2, but it finds a land and fills your graveyard for Ancient Greenwarden, which lets you play lands from your graveyard, and for Sun Titan.

Which lands should you upgrade in Landing Party?

Landing Party already has Sea of Clouds, a dual land that enters untapped when you have two or more opponents. Rejuvenating Springs and Bountiful Promenade are the other two lands from that cycle in Spock’s colors. The three shock lands are the most-played lands added to early Spock decks.

Every land you add has a new name, so swapping one for one keeps Spock’s count the same while more of your lands come in untapped. Cut Earth, Sector 001, Risa and Vulcan first: all three always enter tapped and only gain you 1 life. If you add all five, cut Temple of the False God and Mutavault too, the two lands that only make colorless mana. The two Commander lands cost about $9.20, and all five cost about $30.59.

The cheapest land upgrade costs about $2.38: swap one Forest, one Island and one Plains for Snow-Covered Forest, Snow-Covered Island and Snow-Covered Plains. A Snow-Covered Forest has a different name from a Forest, so each swap adds 1 to Spock’s count, and they’re still basic Forests, Islands and Plains, so Cultivate, Nature’s Lore and the check lands treat them the same. About 45% of early Spock decks run them. On a tight budget, the slow lands Dreamroot Cascade, Overgrown Farmland and Deserted Beach cost about $3 for all three and enter untapped once you control two other lands.

Which other Star Trek cards should you add?

Want more Star Trek on the table? Four cards from the main MTG Star Trek set show up in early Spock decks. They’re still preorders with only a handful of listings, so their prices may move before release.

• Captain Kathryn Janeway (about $16.79, in 44% of decks): you may play an additional land each turn, and whenever she or another creature you control enters, that creature explores.
• Captain Pike, Fullness of Time (about $5.67, 35%): his power and toughness equal your number of differently named lands, and you can look at the top card of your library any time and play lands from there.
• The Traveler (about $1.99, 20%): a 2-mana creature with reach and vigilance whose power equals your number of differently named lands.
• Deep Space Scan (about $1.10, 19%): draw a card for each differently named land you control. It’s a 6-mana sorcery, so Spock can cast it for free once you control six of them.

What are the best premium upgrades for Spock?

• Teleportation Circle (about $10.98, in 53% of decks): at the beginning of your end step, exile up to one artifact or creature you control, then return it. That’s a Spock trigger every turn on an enchantment, which is harder to remove than Soulherder.
• Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait (about $11.77, 35%): you may play an additional land each turn, and you may draw a card whenever a land you control enters.
• Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines (about $26.76, 43%): Starfield Vocalist’s effect on a 4/7 with vigilance, and permanents entering don’t trigger any abilities of your opponents’ permanents.

Is the Landing Party deck worth buying?

Yes, if you like big turns built on land drops. At about $67.47 you get two Original Series commanders in Spock and Kirk and 32 nonbasic lands, and the upgrade path above costs about $24. If you’d rather attack, read our Klingon Fury upgrade guide. For ships, see the Federation Fleet upgrade guide, and for artifacts, the We Are the Borg upgrade guide. Or compare all four in our Star Trek Commander decks guide.

Landing Party FAQ

Who is the commander of Landing Party?

The face commander is Commander Spock, a 5-mana green, white and blue legend with 3 power and 5 toughness. Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is the second legend: a 4-mana 3/4 with vigilance that gives your Spacecraft creatures +3/+3 and finds a basic land or the Starship Enterprise whenever he enters or attacks.

What does Strange new worlds mean in MTG?

Strange new worlds abilities count the number of differently named lands you control. Two Forests count once, but a Forest and a Snow-Covered Forest count as two. Spock’s version lets you cast the top card of your library for free if its mana value is no higher than that number.

When does the Landing Party deck come out?

It releases on November 13, 2026 with MTG Star Trek. Wizards said on October 16 that the Commander decks may arrive later in North America.

What is the cheapest Landing Party upgrade?

Tatyova, Benthic Druid costs about 19 cents and is in 47% of early Spock decks. Starfield Vocalist is about $1.33.

Do Snow-Covered basics help Commander Spock?

Yes. A Snow-Covered Forest has a different name from a Forest, so each one adds 1 to Spock’s count of differently named lands. Swapping in one of each costs about $2.38.

Read next: Klingon Fury Upgrade Guide · Federation Fleet Upgrade Guide · We Are the Borg Upgrade Guide · All 4 Star Trek Commander Decks

Sources: Wizards of the Coast’s Star Trek Commander decklists (Landing Party revealed October 29, 2026); EDHREC’s Commander Spock page (139 decks), checked October 29, 2026; card text and rulings from Scryfall; prices from TCGplayer. Card images: Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall.

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