At Star Trek Prerelease, I’m Moving Artifact Removal Up the Pick Order

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Prerelease begins November 6. My biggest deck-building note is simple: I’m treating artifact removal as premium interaction.

Wizards highlights that this Limited environment has more threatening artifacts than usual, thanks to Borg cards and Spacecraft. That changes how I evaluate a sealed pool. A card that answers an artifact is not merely a sideboard option, it can be a clean answer to a meaningful threat or a developing Spacecraft.

When I build my 40-card deck at Koi Fish Cards, I’ll start with my best two colors, identify two or three real finishers, then count interaction carefully. Wizards suggests aiming for at least five removal spells across those colors. I’ll give extra weight to removal that can hit artifacts, especially if it still has a useful target in a normal creature matchup.

I’m also keeping the mana disciplined. A focused two-color deck, early plays at two and three mana, a few finishers, and 17 lands will often do more than a pile of exciting cards that cannot be cast on time. The new set’s artifacts make answers important, but reliable mana still gets me to the part of the game where those answers matter.

My plan for this weekend is to ask one extra question when I register my deck: “What is my answer to their best artifact?” If I can answer that before round one, I expect my games to feel much smoother.

Source

Magic: The Gathering® | Star Trek™ Prerelease Guide