{"id":657,"date":"2026-11-12T12:28:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T12:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phelddagrif.quest\/?p=657"},"modified":"2026-11-12T12:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T12:28:52","slug":"emergency-blog-post-no-phelddagrif-in-star-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phelddagrif.quest\/?p=657","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Blog Post: No Phelddagrif in Star Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Space\u2026the final frontier. These are the ramblings of an internet persona, its continuing mission: to explore the limits of a singular focus on a single trading card, to seek out answers to mundane questions, to boldly question where no Phelddagrif has questioned before<\/em>…But not this set because there was no Phelddagrif in Magic: the Gathering Presents Star Trek<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the least surprising one of the year. Oh, reader, please, don\u2019t look at me like that with those puppy dog eyes.1<\/a><\/sup> Of course Phelddagrif wasn\u2019t going to appear in Star Trek<\/em>. I think the show is more about whales than hippos, and, while we could draw the connection with hippos being close genetic relatives of whales<\/a>, I don\u2019t think we’re catching any fish2<\/a><\/sup> with that bait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe they did, I don\u2019t really know. All I know about Star Trek<\/em> is that it’s a 90’s sitcom about Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra…yadda yadda yadda then the walls fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to a Star Trek Wiki, a hippopotamus is seen on a television in “Future’s End” (Season 3 Episode 8) of Star Trek: Voyager<\/em>. I know it’s a bit of a joke that this blog doesn’t have good “UX” but this is right from the wiki. I do not think it gets any less blurry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And the set? The online murmurings about Star Trek<\/em> the set, or at least what I\u2019ve heard, seem to be concerned with audience response being mostly tepid. Prereleases with low attendance or not firing, the prices of booster boxes being less than $100<\/a>3<\/a><\/sup>, people not having to wait to get their secret lairs<\/a>. Those content creators who make videos<\/a>4<\/a><\/sup> have pointed towards lower viewership metrics for their star trek related videos. If those who have more expertise, those who experience content success, are in the mires of Tanagara when talking about Star Trek<\/em>, then why should I<\/em>, a humble blogger about all things mostly Phelddagrif, even try?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Captain Picard said in Star Trek<\/em>: The Next Generation<\/em>5<\/a><\/sup>:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never\u2014in nothing, great or small, large or petty\u2014never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A Star Trek Screed: What Went Wrong!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While there were no hippos in Star Trek6<\/a><\/sup>, there weren\u2019t elves in Avatar: the Last Airbender<\/a> either and we still saw Rhys in the Avatar: the Last Airbender<\/em> through the bonus sheet. Star Trek came with its own bonus sheet called \u201cStardates<\/em><\/a>\u201d<\/em>7<\/a><\/sup> which Questing Phelddagrif <\/a>could have been reprinted on. Presumably the cards are thematically linked to the characters\/scene being depicted. Zuko <\/a>was a reprint of Rhys not because of Zuko\u2019s elfish personality but because both of them were redeemed like the card says.8<\/a><\/sup> Even a tenuous cosmetic connection is enough for a card to get reprinted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While bonus sheets are a good opportunity to reprint desirable cards, and Stardates<\/em> has quite a few including Starfleet HQ, Under Assault<\/a> as a reprint of Phyrexian Tower<\/a>, there are also duds. Bonus sheets aren’t all money reprints and sometimes come with cards like Hull Breach<\/a>.9<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Are the towers constantly being hit by spaceships as long as it’s on the battlefield?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While I would be ecstatic about a new Questing Phelddagrif card, the market is unlikely to reflect this enthusiasm and most players\/pack openers would wish they opened a $70 Benedict Cumberbatch<\/a> instead. Questing Phelddagrif could appear on a bonus sheet by virtue of its lack of value, not despite it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But would Questing Phelddagrif fit thematically with Star Trek<\/em>? Would it fit alongside cards like Sen Triplets<\/a>, Loot, Exuberant Explorer<\/a>; Kenrith, the Returned King<\/a> and Thada Adel, Acquisitor<\/a>? Would it make sense for Questing Phelddagrif to be in the same set that has a cycle of enchantments that make \u201cQuest\u201d counters<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. Questing Phelddagrif is not legendary and there were only legendary creatures on the Stardates<\/em> bonus sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there was never any hope of Questing Phelddagrif appearing in Star Trek. And to that, reader, with mouth agape10<\/a><\/sup>, I say: “Good.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t Call it Sour Grapes: Why It\u2019s Actually Good That Phelddagrif Didn\u2019t Appear in Star Trek<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lots of people say things on the internet. It\u2019s happening to you right now, someone saying a thing on the internet. But I try to keep you, reader with toned calves and piercing insights, on the level when I say things on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the things being said right now are about the Magic: the Gathering<\/em> Star Trek<\/em> set allegedly failing11<\/a><\/sup> and why it is failing.12<\/a><\/sup> Some of these read more like moral condemnations than justifications. Critiques of the art in the set, that it\u2019s too many pictures of people standing or sitting down. Even though that’s what happens in the show, I could see people getting upset that the static images on their cardboard aren\u2019t implying more motion. Not like the gold old days of Magic<\/em> art which was bustling with speed lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Squee is just standing there<\/em>! Masques<\/em> had terrible art and that’s why the set sold so poorly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among other criticisms like the show Star Trek<\/em> not having much Magic<\/em> in it, or the set appearing to be low power level, or whatever other allegedly ex post facto<\/em> reason why the set isn\u2019t doing so hot.13<\/a><\/sup> And, while there are plenty of words on the Internet garbed in the robes of “reason”, none of these are why the set is not doing well14<\/a><\/sup>. It\u2019s because the set missed the core thing about star trek: The Transporters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Transporter technology in Star Trek<\/em> \u201cbeams\u201d crew members through vivisects a person of all their matter and recreating a copy of them on the new destination. Yes, you heard that right, vivisects. Stepping into the transporter kills you and recreates a hallow facsimile. Where Magic<\/em> went wrong was in representing the transporter problem<\/a> through the \u201cBeam me up\u201d mechanic put on sorceries<\/a>15<\/a><\/sup> that flashbacks a spell as long as you return a creature from the battlefield to your hand. The creature that is returned to your hand is still the same creature that has been \u201cbeamed\u201d.16<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201cbeaming\u201d your creature doesn\u2019t destroy it, and it isn\u2019t a faithfully scientific or philosophically sound way of representing the technology through a trading card game. Magic has rules and mechanics that could correctly portray the transporter working, by sacrificing the creature and creating a copy token<\/a>17<\/a><\/sup>. Or do the whole alchemy thing where you \u201csummon\u201d a copy of that creature to your hand after destroying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, what are the fans of the franchise and Magic: the Gathering<\/em> to believe? That the creature hasn\u2019t been killed and xeroxed, but instead has been magically<\/em> <\/span>saved to be redeployed later from your hand\/spaceship?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, there\u2019s a joke18<\/a><\/sup>. See you next year for Nauctis<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n

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