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If you want the stock We Are the Borg Commander deck to deploy its artifact-creature and assimilation plan more efficiently, start by removing Return to Dust, Disallow, Bitter Triumph, Stonespeaker Crystal, and Astral Cornucopia. They spend too much mana, cards, or life for effects the list can obtain more efficiently. A second wave of cuts is Darksteel Plate, Wayfarer’s Bauble, Commander’s Sphere, Everflowing Chalice, and Thirst for Knowledge.
The deck is the Esper (white-blue-black) Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek preconstructed deck led by The Borg Queen. Its core is a board of artifact creatures, Borg assimilation, token production, and payoffs for controlling artifacts. Wizards announced a November 13, 2026 release, with preorders through Amazon, TCGplayer, local game stores, and other retailers. The recommendations below are efficiency-based upgrade judgments, not a guaranteed win-rate increase from independent playtesting.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return to Dust | First removal upgrade | Four-mana artifact/enchantment removal | Oct 2026 |
| Disallow | Lowering interaction costs | Three-mana counterspell | Oct 2026 |
| Bitter Triumph | Avoiding extra resource payments | Two mana plus a discard or three life | Oct 2026 |
| Stonespeaker Crystal | Faster artifact development | Four-mana mana rock | Oct 2026 |
| Astral Cornucopia | Improving early ramp | Three-mana investment; weak acceleration without more mana | Oct 2026 |
| Darksteel Plate | Replacing narrow protection | Protects one creature | Oct 2026 |
| Wayfarer’s Bauble | Making ramp advance the artifact plan | Gets one extra land | Oct 2026 |
| Commander’s Sphere | Cutting inefficient three-mana rocks | Three mana to produce one mana | Oct 2026 |
| Everflowing Chalice | Removing low-investment mana exchanges | Poor return when invested for little mana | Oct 2026 |
| Thirst for Knowledge | Reducing discard-based card draw | Artifact-based draw can provide two cards without the same tradeoff | Oct 2026 |
What makes a card a good cut in the Borg Queen precon?
A cut is not necessarily a bad card in every Commander deck. It is a card whose mana, timing, or resource cost conflicts with this deck’s plan, especially when another card can fill the same role while advancing artifacts and Borg tokens. Evaluate each slot on four practical axes:
- Mana efficiency: Can the deck develop an artifact or answer a threat earlier than this card allows?
- Artifact and Borg synergy: Does the card add to the artifact-creature board, assimilation plan, token production, or artifact payoffs?
- Interaction efficiency: Does it answer a relevant permanent or spell at a cost that leaves mana for deployment?
- Card advantage: Does it create meaningful access to cards without an excessive discard, life, or tempo payment?
There is also a legitimate flavor decision. Generic staples usually improve raw efficiency, while a named Star Trek card may be more satisfying even when it is not the mathematically strongest option. The ten cuts below are ranked for a player who wants the precon to function more smoothly while retaining its artifact identity.
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Which cards should I remove first?
1. Return to Dust
Return to Dust is the clearest first cut because four mana is a large payment for artifact or enchantment removal in a deck that already has other answers. Spending that much during an opponent’s turn can prevent you from casting an artifact creature, activating a payoff, or holding up cheaper interaction. The card is useful when its timing and exile effect matter, but the stock list has more efficient ways to cover the same emergency.
Replace it with Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile when your priority is a one-mana answer to a creature. Those spells do not duplicate Return to Dust’s artifact-and-enchantment coverage, so keep another broad answer elsewhere in the list if your regular opponents rely heavily on noncreature permanents. The reason for the cut is tempo, not that four-mana removal is universally unplayable.
2. Disallow
Disallow costs three mana for a counterspell. That flexibility—countering a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability—comes with a price that competes directly with the deck’s desire to cast artifacts and build a board. Holding three mana open can also make your turns feel stalled when the table does not present a target.
A cheaper counterspell, or a threat that advances the artifact plan, generally fits this precon better. The published upgrade package emphasizes reducing interaction costs so the deck can deploy multiple artifacts in the same turn. If your group specifically rewards answering triggered or activated abilities, Disallow is a defensible meta call; otherwise it is one of the easiest slots to turn into proactive development.
3. Bitter Triumph
Bitter Triumph asks for two mana plus either a discarded card or three life. That additional payment matters in a deck that wants to preserve cards for artifact deployment and may already use life as a resource through other effects. The spell answers a creature, but its flexibility is less valuable when a one-mana removal spell can handle the same ordinary target.
Make this the third cut in a general upgrade and add Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile. The replacement improves both the mana exchange and the number of cards remaining in your hand. Keep Bitter Triumph only when your local games make its specific combination of timing, target range, or indifference to an opponent’s land count more important than conserving resources.
4. Stonespeaker Crystal
Stonespeaker Crystal is a four-mana mana rock. In an artifact deck, four mana is also the point at which you want to cast meaningful artifact creatures and payoffs, so using the entire turn on a rock that does not immediately multiply your board can leave you behind. Its artifact type is relevant, but the deck benefits more from artifacts that reduce future spell costs or arrive earlier.
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Etherium Sculptor and Foundry Inspector are direct upgrades in role. They do not simply add one mana; they reduce the cost of subsequent artifact spells, allowing a single turn to contain several developments. Cutting Stonespeaker Crystal is therefore about converting a slow one-shot investment into an engine that scales with the number of artifacts in your hand.
5. Astral Cornucopia
Astral Cornucopia requires a three-mana investment and produces little early acceleration unless additional mana is invested in it. That makes it awkward in the opening turns, when the Borg deck most needs to establish creatures, tokens, and cost reduction. A large late-game Cornucopia can be powerful, but the precon’s plan rewards consistent early deployment more than an expensive mana sink.
Replace it with a lower-cost artifact that works immediately, particularly Etherium Sculptor or Foundry Inspector. If you prefer a mana rock rather than a cost reducer, choose one that advances the board at two mana. The cut is strongest in versions that routinely have several artifact spells waiting in hand; a slower list that expects very long games can retain Cornucopia as a scaling option.
6. Darksteel Plate
Darksteel Plate protects one creature. The Borg Queen deck, however, wants a broad artifact-creature board, so spending a slot on protection that covers only one body can fail to preserve the board state that actually matters. If a sweeper removes the rest of your artifacts, an indestructible creature alone may not restore your momentum.
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7. Wayfarer’s Bauble
Wayfarer’s Bauble provides one extra land, which is reliable ramp but does not itself contribute to the artifact-creature board. In this deck, a ramp slot can do more than fix a future land drop: it can reduce artifact costs, become an artifact payoff, or help trigger cards that care about your artifact count.
Swap it for an artifact-based accelerator or cost reducer when your mana base is already capable of producing the required colors. The point is not that basic-land ramp is wrong; it is that this particular slot can advance two plans at once. Be cautious if your version has trimmed too many lands or suffers from color shortages, because the guaranteed basic land is Bauble’s principal strength.
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8. Commander’s Sphere
Commander’s Sphere costs three mana and makes only one mana. Its ability to sacrifice for a card is useful in a stalled game, but paying three for that level of acceleration is inefficient when two-mana rocks and cost reducers are available. The opportunity cost is especially visible on turns when you could cast a reducer and then deploy another artifact for less.
Foundry Inspector or Etherium Sculptor gives the deck a better return whenever you have multiple artifacts in hand. If you value the Sphere’s color fixing and emergency card draw, replace a different three-mana rock first and retain one copy for resilience. In a streamlined build, however, this is an uncomplicated efficiency cut.
9. Everflowing Chalice
Everflowing Chalice can scale with additional investment, but at low investment it is a poor mana exchange for this list. Casting it for a minimal amount does not provide enough acceleration to justify using an early spell slot, while investing more mana delays the artifact creatures and payoffs that make the deck threatening.
The card becomes more attractive in a build designed around proliferating counters or generating very large amounts of mana. The stock Borg strategy has a more immediate use for those early turns, so replace Chalice with a reducer, a cheaper rock, or a role-player that contributes to assimilation. Make this cut after the clearly overcosted interaction and four-mana ramp pieces if your deck often reaches a stage where Chalice can grow naturally.
10. Thirst for Knowledge
Thirst for Knowledge offers card selection but asks for an artifact discard tradeoff. Discarding an artifact can be painful when your payoffs, cost reducers, and creatures all depend on maintaining a critical mass of artifacts. If you discard a nonartifact instead, you may still be paying an opportunity cost without improving the board.
Thought Monitor is the most direct replacement in the upgrade package. It is an artifact creature that can draw two cards without the same discard tradeoff described for Thirst for Knowledge, and it can benefit from the deck’s artifact cost reduction. That makes it both card advantage and a body for the central plan. Retain Thirst when your list has an unusually high artifact count and you need instant-speed selection, but it is a lower-synergy draw spell in the stock configuration.
What should I add after making these cuts?
The published upgrade package supplies ten role-based additions. The first five are the cleanest one-for-one replacements for the highest-ranked cuts; the others add pressure, scaling, or broader interaction.
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| Addition | Primary role | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Etherium Sculptor | Artifact cost reduction | Lets later artifact spells cost less and supports multi-spell turns. |
| Foundry Inspector | Artifact cost reduction | Improves the same deployment plan while adding an artifact body. |
| Swords to Plowshares | Creature removal | Provides a cheaper answer than Bitter Triumph for ordinary creature targets. |
| Path to Exile | Creature removal | Offers another one-mana answer and keeps interaction inexpensive. |
| Thought Monitor | Card advantage | Draws two cards while remaining an artifact creature that benefits from cost reduction. |
| Urza, Chief Artificer | Artifact payoff | Rewards a board full of artifacts and gives the deck a stronger engine threat. |
| Overflow Submatrix | Board support | Supports the artifact strategy with a role not covered by a narrow single-creature protection spell. |
| Steel Overseer | Board scaling | Turns a wide artifact-creature board into progressively larger attackers and blockers. |
| Skorpekh Lord | Artifact-creature pressure | Adds another threat that reinforces the deck’s creature-based artifact plan. |
| Organic Extinction | Mass interaction | Provides a way to reset opposing creatures while fitting an artifact-heavy shell. |
The ten additions were listed at about $22.27 total at their cheapest TCGplayer printings, with prices checked October 28, 2026, by Nerds & Snacks. That is a dated, volatile snapshot rather than a guaranteed current checkout total: printings, condition, shipping, and seller inventory can change the amount. Check the live listing before buying.
How should I sequence the upgrade?
You do not need to replace every card at once. A staged swap makes it easier to see whether your local games need more interaction, more mana, or more card flow.
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- Start with the five efficiency cuts. Remove Return to Dust, Disallow, Bitter Triumph, Stonespeaker Crystal, and Astral Cornucopia. Add both cost reducers, both one-mana creature-removal spells, and Thought Monitor.
- Check your curve before the next wave. If your opening hands contain expensive rocks but too few early artifacts, proceed with Darksteel Plate, Wayfarer’s Bauble, and Commander’s Sphere. If your games are removal-heavy, retain one flexible answer and cut a slower threat instead.
- Convert the remaining narrow slots. Everflowing Chalice and Thirst for Knowledge are the next cuts when you want a more consistent early plan and artifact-based draw.
- Add payoffs in the order your deck lacks them. Choose Steel Overseer and Urza, Chief Artificer when you regularly establish several artifacts; choose Organic Extinction when opposing creature boards are the main obstacle; choose Skorpekh Lord or Overflow Submatrix when you need additional board presence or support.
- Review the list after several real games. Record which cards sit in your hand unused, which turns you miss a color, and whether you run out of cards after deploying your first wave. Use those observations to adjust the final two or three slots rather than assuming every published recommendation is mandatory.
Should I change the mana base too?
Yes, but treat land changes as a separate package from the ten nonland cuts. The upgrade guide identifies Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Irrigated Farmland, Umbral Expanse, Fetid Pools, and Contaminated Landscape as slower lands that can be replaced by faster fixing or artifact lands.
Suggested replacements are Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Watery Grave, Ancient Den, Seat of the Synod, and Vault of Whispers. The first three improve access to the Esper colors; the latter three add artifact types that can support artifact-count payoffs. Do not remove so many basic lands or reliable color sources that your opening hands become unable to cast the deck’s colored spells. Land upgrades improve consistency, but they do not replace the need to fix an overly expensive spell package.
How do I balance efficiency with Star Trek flavor?
Use the ranked list as a menu rather than a demand to remove every named card. Generic cards such as Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Etherium Sculptor, and Foundry Inspector usually improve the deck’s mana and interaction efficiency. A player who values the fiction and visual identity may prefer to keep a slower card and cut a less thematic staple elsewhere.
A practical compromise is to make the first five efficiency swaps, then reserve several flex slots for cards that feel unmistakably Borg. Keep one broad answer, one piece of protection, and at least one dramatic payoff if those cards make the deck more enjoyable. Commander is a social format; a slightly slower list that matches your table’s expectations can be a better result than a fully optimized list you do not want to play.
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They identify cards whose costs or effects look mismatched with the revealed decklist and with the artifact-focused game plan. They do not establish a tested win rate, tournament finish, or guaranteed improvement. The evidence is an upgrade guide’s deck-role analysis and efficiency comparisons, not an independently measured performance study.
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The dated price is the only named numerical figure directly attached to the upgrade package: approximately $22.27 for the ten additions at their cheapest TCGplayer printings on October 28, 2026. Treat that amount and all retailer availability as time-sensitive. As the November 13 release approaches, product contents, singles inventory, and prices may change; verify the current decklist and listings before purchasing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to make all ten cuts from the stock list?
No. Start with the cards that create the largest mismatch for your goals, then change additional slots as your games reveal problems. A budget build can make only the first five swaps, while a flavor-first build can keep one or two slower cards and remove a different low-synergy spell.
Are the recommended land swaps included in the ten-card cut list?
No. The land suggestions are a separate mana-base package. Make them only after checking how many colored sources your version needs; replacing every slower land at once can create color problems even if the individual replacements are stronger.
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Thought Monitor is the most direct addition for that symptom because it supplies two cards while remaining an artifact creature. If the problem is that you cannot cast several artifacts in one turn, Etherium Sculptor and Foundry Inspector address the underlying mana pressure instead.
Is the $22.27 upgrade total still a guaranteed price?
No. It was a cheapest-printing TCGplayer snapshot checked October 28, 2026, and it can move with inventory, condition, shipping, and seller changes. Use it as a rough budget signal and verify each live listing before ordering.
When should I keep a card that this list calls a cut?
Keep it when its special role matches your table: Disallow can matter in a metagame full of triggered abilities, Darksteel Plate can protect a commander that is repeatedly targeted, and Bitter Triumph can be preferable when its target flexibility outweighs the discard or life cost. The ranking assumes a general artifact-focused environment, not a universal rule for every playgroup.
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