How to Play Two-Headed Giant Commander Night (Star Trek Season)

Quick answer: This store event is two versus two. Each player brings a 100-card Commander deck, and each team takes its turns together and starts with 60 shared life. Your team loses if its life drops to 0 or less, it has 15 or more poison counters, or either teammate takes 21 or more combat damage from the same commander over the game. The four Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Commander decks have an official release date of November 13, 2026. You can play a precon or bring another legal Commander deck.

This is not a regular free-for-all pod, where each player starts at 40. It is also not ordinary Two-Headed Giant, where teams start at 30 and there are no commanders. The numbers below are easy to mix up. Get them straight before the first shuffle.

This is an unofficial rules and event guide. Magic: The Gathering and this in-store program belong to Wizards of the Coast. Star Trek is a licensed property. STORKY is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, Paramount, or Star Trek.

What the event is, and when it runs

Wizards’ store-event page lists Two-Headed Giant Commander Night for the Star Trek season from November 13, 2026, through January 28, 2027. WPN also describes it as a monthly event in that window. Your store picks the actual nights. Call, message, or check the event listing before you go.

The same WPN page sets the format:

• Rules enforcement is Casual.
• Each player uses their own 100-card Commander deck.
• The team shares a 60-point life pool.
• Teams use Two-Headed Giant’s shared-turn and combat rules. Each player’s deck must meet Commander deck-building rules on its own.

The event page does not require a Star Trek precon. Any legal Commander deck is enough. If you just opened one of the new precons, say so when you sit down: “Unchanged Star Trek precon.” That helps the other team match the table.

Stores may give a Commander participation promo, while supplies last. Ask what your store is handing out, and whether there is an entry fee.

To find a store or listed event, Wizards points players to Locator.Wizards.com.

The three starting-life numbers (don’t mix them up)

Game	Who starts at what
Regular free-for-all Commander	Each player starts at 40 (Comprehensive Rules 103.4c)
Ordinary Two-Headed Giant (no commanders)	Each team starts at 30 (103.4a, 810.4)
Two-Headed Giant Commander, including this event	Each team starts at 60 (Wizards’ Two-Headed Giant format page and the WPN event page)

Set one total per team to 60. Do not give each player a 40, and do not start at 30 because “that’s Two-Headed Giant.”

Sit together and take one shared turn

Each team sits on one side of the table. Teammates decide their own seat order (rule 810.3).

The team takes turns, not each player in a circle (rules 810.2 and 805.4). In practice:

1. Both of you are in the same turn. When it is your team’s turn, both of you can cast spells and use abilities when your team has priority (805.5a).
2. Each of you draws a card during that team’s draw step (805.4b).
3. Each of you may play one land on that team’s turn (805.4c).
4. The team that plays first skips the draw step of its first turn (810.6). That skip is for the team. Later turns, both players draw as usual.
5. Life and poison are shared. Hands, mana pools, and permanents stay separate (810.5).
6. You may look at each other’s hands and talk strategy at any time. You still cannot handle each other’s cards or permanents (810.5).
7. If you and your teammate cannot agree on a choice—such as which creatures attack—the primary player decides. That is the teammate sitting in the rightmost seat from your team’s side of the table (805.2).

On a spell or permanent, “you” usually means its controller (109.5). Effects that say “each player” or “each opponent” apply to each of those people separately. If a spell says each opponent loses 1 life, both players on the other team lose 1, and that team loses 2 from the shared total (102.3, 810.9).

Combat: you attack a player, your teammate can block

The active team attacks together as one team. For each attacking creature, the team announces which defending player, planeswalker, or battle it is attacking (805.10a–b).

The defending team also blocks together. A creature one of you controls can block a creature that is attacking you, your teammate, a planeswalker either of you controls, or a battle either of you is protecting (805.10d). You do not have to leave your teammate hanging because “it wasn’t attacking me.”

Combat damage from a commander still has to be tracked by commander. Sharing a life total does not erase that rule. More on that in the next section.

How a team loses

Players win or lose as a team (810.8a). If either player loses, the whole team loses. If either player wins, the whole team wins. For example, the team loses if a teammate is required to draw a card and their library is empty (104.3c, 704.5b).

A team also loses if any of these is true:

• The shared life total is 0 or less (810.8c).
• The team has at least 15 poison counters (810.8d, 704.6b). That is not the free-for-all Commander number of 10.
• One teammate has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game (903.10a, 704.6c). That player loses, so the team loses.

Wizards’ Two-Headed Giant format page describes the 21-point threshold at the team level. The Comprehensive Rules count that combat damage for the player who took it. Keep a separate column for each commander against each player.

If the same commander deals 12 combat damage to one teammate and 9 to the other, record those amounts separately. Neither player has reached 21 from that commander. If the damage causes life loss as usual, subtract 21 life from the shared total.

Only combat damage goes on the 21 tally. Damage dealt by a commander’s activated or triggered ability does not count toward 21, even if it happens during combat (120.2, 903.10a). Apply its normal effects on life or poison. The tally carries over if the commander leaves the battlefield.

What to track (one life total, many commander columns)

At a Two-Headed Giant Commander table you need three kinds of numbers:

1. One shared life total per team, starting at 60.
2. A commander-damage column for each commander that hits a player, kept per player.
3. One poison total per team, if poison shows up. The loss number is 15.

Each damage group belongs to one teammate. The two columns in each group show one commander per opponent. Add a column if another commander hits that teammate. In the 12-and-9 example above, record the two amounts in separate groups and subtract 21 from shared life.

Paper handles all three. A phone app can work if the table can see it. A spindown that only goes to 20 cannot show 60. For shared life, use paper, two 0–9 ten-sided dice (one for tens and one for ones), an app, or a counter that can display at least 00–99. A STORKY life counter can show the shared life total. Keep commander damage and poison on separate records.

Say life and commander-damage changes out loud: “Worf hits you for 5. Team life goes from 52 to 47, and that’s 5 combat from Worf on you.”

The method is the same one we already walk through for regular Commander, with the shared 60 and the 15-poison team rule swapped in:

• How to Track Life and Commander Damage in Commander
• How to Track Commander Life Without a Phone

The four Star Trek Commander decks

Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Commander decks have an official release date of November 13, 2026. Wizards lists four ready-to-play 100-card decks. Each one includes a traditional foil borderless face commander, 99 non-foil cards with 32 new-to-Magic cards, 10 double-sided tokens, a reference card, and a deck box. Collector’s Edition versions use the same lists, with surge-foil cards.

That date is the official release, not a guarantee that every store has the decks on the shelf. Wizards has announced that Commander decks in North America, and English-language Commander decks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, may arrive after November 13. Other regions and languages have their own delay lists, and Wizards says the timelines can still move. Ask your store what is actually in stock.

The short play-style lines below follow Wizards’ own deck descriptions. They are not a review of how strong the decks are. Read the official decklists for the full card lists.

Deck	Colors	Face commander	Other commander in the list	What Wizards says it is built to do
Federation Fleet	Blue-Red-White	Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary	Captain Janeway, Endgame	Picard empowers your creatures and charges up Spacecraft artifacts. Janeway is the more aggressive seat, built around Officer tokens.
Landing Party	Green-White-Blue	Commander Spock	Captain Kirk, Boldly Going	Spock wants many differently named lands, then uses that count to draw cards and to cast spells for free. Kirk is built to keep the Starship Enterprise ready to launch.
Klingon Fury	Red-White-Black	Worf, Defiant Commander	Kor, Cause of Vengeance	Worf is built to attack and use Battlefront, which rewards declaring attacks against different opponents in the same turn. Kor is built to sacrifice creatures and pump a Klingon and Warrior attack.
We Are the Borg	White-Blue-Black	The Borg Queen	Locutus of Borg	The Borg Queen boosts artifact creatures and assimilates creature cards from opponents’ graveyards to grow the board. Locutus is built to grow a Borg creature army.

Worf, Defiant Commander is the face commander of Klingon Fury. Worf, Son of Mogh is a different card in Federation Fleet. Use the full card name when you track commander damage. If two players bring commanders with the same name, label each tally with the card’s owner and full name. Keep a separate tally for each player who takes the damage (903.3, 903.10a).

A few mechanics from this set show up often enough to learn before you sit down. The exact effect is still on each card:

• Battlefront looks at how many different opponents you have declared as attacked this turn. A creature that enters the battlefield already attacking does not increase that count.
• Strange new worlds looks at how many differently named lands you control. That is the land-name count Landing Party is built around.
• Assimilate gives you a permanent with a +1/+1 counter and turns it into a Borg artifact creature, which then loses its other creature types. If the card is already on the battlefield, you gain control of it. If it is in another zone, it enters under your control.
• Federation counts how many different creature types you have among non-Borg creatures you control. Seek out cares about the second card you draw each turn; it can still trigger if you didn’t control the card with that ability when you drew the first one. Face a dilemma means choosing modes on a spell or ability; picking more than one mode still counts as one dilemma, and the count happens when you choose modes, even if the spell is later countered. Beam me up is an alternative cost for casting an instant or sorcery from your graveyard: pay the listed cost and return a creature you control to its owner’s hand. A spell cast this way is exiled when it leaves the stack.

Bring the tokens that came in the box. These decks make Officers, Tribbles, Klingon Warriors, or Borg, depending on the list. A face-down stand-in is a last resort. Real tokens are easier for four people to read across the table.

You do not have to buy all four, and you do not have to pair two Star Trek decks. The event accepts any legal Commander deck. If you and a friend each have one precon, that is a complete team.

Before you go

Ask the store two things: when the event actually starts, and how they pair teams if you arrive alone. The official window is long, and “monthly” still means whatever night your store posted.

Bring your deck and its tokens, a life tracker that can show 60, and paper for commander damage and poison.

The Star Trek season also lists a separate Commander Party (November 20–26, 2026, and January 15–21, 2027) with themed rules. That is a different event. Confirm which night you are walking into.

Common mistakes

• Starting each player at 40, or the team at 30. This event uses one shared 60.
• Using 10 as the poison number. The team number here is 15.
• Not tracking commander combat damage because “we already share life.” The 21-point rule still exists. Keep per-player, per-commander columns.
• Adding damage from two different commanders together to make 21. The rule is per commander.
• Adding 12 and 9 from the same commander across two teammates and calling it a commander-damage win. Those are two separate 21-point columns. The team lost 21 life; neither player has 21 from that commander.
• Treating “you” as the whole team, or treating “each opponent” as one player. Read who the card actually hits, then apply the result to the shared life total.
• Spending your mana, or touching cards, for your teammate. You can talk and show hands. You cannot operate their side of the board.
• Forgetting that each of you may play a land, and that both of you draw on later turns. It is one team turn with two land drops and, after the first skipped draw step, two draws.
• Leaving the precon tokens at home. Open the box and take them with you.
• Bringing only a 20-sided spindown for life. It cannot show 60.

FAQ

Do I need a Star Trek Commander deck to play?

The event page asks for a legal 100-card Commander deck. It does not require a Star Trek precon. A new precon is a clean way to play if your store has one. Tell the table if it is still unchanged.

Can I bring a precon to this event?

Yes. It is a complete 100-card Commander deck. Sleeve it if you can, and bring the tokens from the box.

Do my teammate and I share a deck, mana, or a hand?

No. You share life and poison. Each player plays their own deck. You may look at each other’s hands and plan together. You may not manipulate each other’s cards or permanents.

Who can block for whom?

Either player on the defending team can block a creature that is attacking that team: you, your teammate, a planeswalker your team controls, or a battle your team is protecting.

Does the first team skip its first draw?

Yes. Rule 810.6: the team that plays first skips the draw step of its first turn.

How long is a game?

Wizards’ Two-Headed Giant format page lists a game duration of 120 minutes. A store event may run more than one round. Ask the store how they are structuring the night.

When do the Star Trek Commander decks come out?

The official release date is November 13, 2026. In some regions, including North America and English-language decks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Wizards says the Commander decks may arrive after that date. Ask your store. The in-store 2HG Commander Night window starts the same day and runs through January 28, 2027.

What if my store does not have a Star Trek precon yet?

Go anyway if you have another legal Commander deck. The event does not require these precons.

Related: How to Track Life and Commander Damage in Commander · How to Track Commander Life Without a Phone

Sources

1. Two-Headed Giant Commander Night – Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek — WPN event page (Nov 13, 2026–Jan 28, 2027; 100-card decks; 60-point shared life pool; Casual rules enforcement; monthly scheduling). https://wpn.wizards.com/en/event/two-headed-giant-commander-night-star-trek — read Nov 10, 2026
2. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek – Dates & Details — WPN, Oct 28, 2026 (same 2HG window; one event per month; participation promo while supplies last; Commander Party dates). https://wpn.wizards.com/en/news/star-trek-dates-and-details — read Nov 10, 2026
3. MTG Two-Headed Giant — Wizards of the Coast format page (ordinary 2HG 30 life and simultaneous turns; Commander variant: 99+1, no unified team construction, each team starts at 60; lists 21 damage from a single commander and 15 poison as loss thresholds; “you” vs “each opponent” / “each player”; 120-minute duration). https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats/two-headed-giant — read Nov 10, 2026
4. Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective November 6, 2026 — 103.4a and 810.4 (ordinary 2HG 30 life), 103.4c (free-for-all Commander 40 life), 109.5 (what “you” means), 102.3, 805, and 810.1–810.10 (team rules), 104.3c and 704.5b (drawing from an empty library), 704.6a–c (life, poison, and commander-damage thresholds), 120.2, 903.3, and 903.10a (combat damage and how it is tracked by commander and recipient). https://media.wizards.com/2026/downloads/MagicCompRules%2020261106.pdf — read Nov 10, 2026
5. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Commander Decklists — Wizards of the Coast, Oct 29, 2026 (four deck names, colors, commanders, box contents, 32 new-to-Magic cards, 10 double-sided tokens, November 13, 2026 release; official play-style blurbs). https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/star-trek-commander-decklists — read Nov 10, 2026
6. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Product Delays in Select Regions — Wizards of the Coast, Oct 16, 2026, editor’s note Nov 5, 2026 (Commander decks in North America, and English-language Commander decks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, may arrive after Nov 13; check your store). https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/star-trek-product-delays-in-select-regions — read Nov 10, 2026
7. Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Update Bulletin — Wizards of the Coast, Nov 6, 2026 (new keywords and ability words). https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/star-trek-update-bulletin — read Nov 10, 2026
8. Star Trek Mechanics — Wizards of the Coast (Battlefront, Strange new worlds, Assimilate, Federation, Seek out, Face a dilemma, Beam me up; also returning Spacecraft and station). https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/star-trek-mechanics — read Nov 10, 2026
9. Magic: The Gathering Store & Event Locator — Wizards of the Coast. https://locator.wizards.com