Captain James T. Kirk Boldly Going Commanding Officer Enterprising Captain

Commander comparison · Star Trek

Which Kirk is best for Commander?

Captain James T. Kirk. Three red mana buys a trigger every time he enters or attacks, and once your hand is empty that trigger makes a token, loots and pumps your team all at once. Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is the pick for a Spacecraft deck, because each of his attacks can put the Starship Enterprise in your hand from your library or your graveyard.

Art, left to right: Jason Pastrana, Josh Newton, Cliff Nielsen and Nathaniel Himawan

Star Trek and its Commander decks print four legendary Kirks, and as of 27 October no other card carries his name, so unlike Picard and Spock there is no alternate-name printing to set aside. This is the order I’d choose them in to lead a deck:

1. Captain James T. Kirk, because he is the cheapest, he asks for one colour, and his trigger is never blank: a token, a loot or a pump on every attack.
2. Captain Kirk, Boldly Going, the Kirk with a plan built in. His trigger fetches a basic land or the Starship Enterprise, and he makes every Spacecraft three points bigger.
3. Kirk, Commanding Officer, for a red and white deck that goes wide. Once your creatures total 8 power, each attack hands you an extra card, whether he joins it or not.
4. Kirk, Enterprising Captain, the same extra card on a four-mana body that has to attack to get it. He is better as one of Captain James T. Kirk’s 99.

Three Kirks need red, and the fourth plays none

Card details as of 27 October 2026. None of the four is legal in Commander until 13 November 2026, the day they release. Until then this ranking reads the cards as printed, with no games behind it.

Boldly Going is green, white and blue, the colours of Landing Party, the Commander Spock deck. Green rules him out of the other three Commander decks, and three colours rule out the mono-coloured Welcome Decks, but Wizards had not listed Landing Party’s cards by 27 October, so that is an inference from his colours, not a decklist. No Kirk leads one of the four precons. Enterprising Captain shares the set name, but he is the featured card of the red Welcome Deck, one of five mono-coloured 40-card decks for beginners.

How each Kirk plays as the commander

Captain James T. Kirk never wastes a trigger

Captain Kirk triggers when he enters and again each time he attacks, and you pick one of three: discard a card and draw one, make a 1/1 red Officer, or give your creatures +1/+0 until end of turn. With no cards in hand you may pick all three, and the loot then costs nothing, since there is nothing to discard before the draw.

That rewards a red deck that spends its hand quickly, and red has plenty of cheap spells and of cards that let you play from the top of the library rather than from your hand. Three mana in one colour also makes him the easiest Kirk to cast on turn three and to recast after removal. Our build for him runs Kirk, Enterprising Captain as one of its 99.

Captain Kirk, Boldly Going brings his own ship

Boldly Going is a four-mana 3/4 with vigilance in green, white and blue. Spacecraft creatures you control get +3/+3, and each time he enters or attacks you search your library, your graveyard or both for a basic land or a card named Starship Enterprise and put it into your hand.

The Enterprise is the reason to play him. It costs five, takes four charge counters each time a land enters under your control, and becomes a 4/6 flying creature at sixteen, which Kirk makes a 7/9. Every time it deals combat damage to a player you draw that many cards. Kirk finds it, and once it is on the battlefield the basics he fetches on later attacks become the land drops that charge it. If it dies, his next attack takes it back out of the graveyard.

About two dozen paper Spacecraft fit his colours, counted on 27 October, so the plan beyond the Enterprise is thin. He sits below Captain James T. Kirk because he needs three colours and leans on one card for most of his work.

Kirk, Commanding Officer stays home and still draws

Commanding Officer costs three in red and white. Whenever you attack while your creatures have total power 8 or more, you exile the top card of your library and may play it that turn. The trigger is yours, not his, so Kirk can stay back to block and it still happens. For two mana you can also sacrifice him to destroy an artifact or an enchantment.

From the command zone that sacrifice is removal you can use more than once: he goes back to the command zone, and each recast costs two more. The weak spot is the 8 power. A red and white deck that goes wide gets there, but rarely in the first few turns, and until it does he is a 3/3 with nothing to do.

Kirk, Enterprising Captain has to swing for his card

Enterprising Captain carries the same 8-power card as Commanding Officer, with one difference that costs him. His version triggers only when Kirk himself attacks, so the card comes with a 4/3 menace body in combat every turn. He is four mana in mono-red, and his own power covers half of the 8.

As a commander that makes him a slower Commanding Officer with no removal mode. As one of the 99 in a red deck he is a solid four-drop, and that is how our Captain James T. Kirk build uses him.

Commanding Officer can field both red Kirks

A deck can run as many of these as its colours allow, since the legend rule only stops two permanents that share a name. Colour is the real limit. Kirk, Commanding Officer is the one whose colours take in two others: Captain James T. Kirk and Enterprising Captain are mono-red, so both fit his 99. Captain James T. Kirk can run Enterprising Captain, and our build of him does. Boldly Going shares only white with Commanding Officer, so he meets a red Kirk only in a deck of four or five colours. Worf, Honor-Bound Warrior also suits a Commanding Officer deck: it checks the same 8 power, and doubles its own power when the check passes. Worf, Son of Mogh fits there too, because every Kirk is an Officer and he gives each one +1/+1.

FAQ

Which Captain Kirk card makes the best commander?

Captain James T. Kirk, the mono-red three-drop. Each time he enters or attacks he makes an Officer token, loots or pumps your team, and he does all three when your hand is empty. The other three Kirks either need more colours or need your creatures to reach 8 total power first.

Is there a Star Trek precon led by Kirk?

No. The four Star Trek Commander decks are led by Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary (Federation Fleet), Commander Spock (Landing Party), Worf, Defiant Commander (Klingon Fury) and The Borg Queen (We Are the Borg). Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is most likely in Landing Party, the only one of the four whose colours fit his, though Wizards had not listed that deck by 27 October. Kirk, Enterprising Captain heads the red Welcome Deck instead, a starter deck with no commander.

Does Kirk, Commanding Officer have to attack to get his extra card?

No. His ability triggers whenever you attack with any creatures, as long as the creatures you control have total power 8 or more, and creatures that stay home count towards that total. Kirk, Enterprising Captain is the one that only triggers when he attacks himself.

Can Captain Kirk, Boldly Going find Starship Enterprise in the graveyard?

Yes. His trigger searches your library, your graveyard or both for a basic land or a card named Starship Enterprise and puts it into your hand. You shuffle only if you searched the library, so taking the Enterprise straight back from the graveyard leaves the order of your library alone.

Can I play more than one Kirk in the same deck?

Yes, if the colours allow it. The legend rule only applies to permanents with the same name, and every Kirk has a different one. Kirk, Commanding Officer can play both mono-red Kirks in his 99, and Captain James T. Kirk can play Kirk, Enterprising Captain. Captain Kirk, Boldly Going is green, white and blue, so he shares a deck with a red Kirk only in four or more colours.

How many Captain Kirk cards are there?

Four, all legendary creatures from Star Trek and Star Trek Commander, which release on 13 November 2026. As of 27 October no other card carries his name, either as its own or as an alternate name printed on a reprint. A search for “Kirk” also turns up Runo Stromkirk and the Skirk cards, which only share the letters.