Comedic animated Star Trek show, Lower Decks, has just aired the final episode of its fifth season, which also brings the show to an end. Despite the concern of fans before it aired, Lower Decks has proven to be a worthy addition to the Star Trek universe, and one which covers both familiar and new ground for its stories, as well as having an awful lot of deep cut references that act as more than simple fan service.
Though it might initially seem like a strange choice for the first UniVersus set to cover Star Trek, given how many animated shows the game has already covered, as well as its slightly anarchic tone and action, Lower Decks has proven to be a perfect fit for the game.
With four Star Trek: Lower Decks Challenger Series decks now available, each of which contains a Collector’s Booster Pack of foil and alternate art cards (and with booster packs not available separately, making these cards particularly hard to come by), which ones are fans most keen to get their hands on? Let’s find out!
10. Un-phased – Ultra Rare, STK01 11/22
Featuring an action scene of a bedraggled-looking Beckett Mariner firing a phaser, with the ship’s Caitian doctor, T’Ana, behind here, Un-Phased is an attack card, which has some pretty nice abilities.
Firstly, Un-phased has an ability that kicks in after it’s blocked, giving you +1 to card checks for the rest of your turn. It can also be played as your next attack if you spend one momentum, thanks to its Echo keyword.
It’s also not the easiest card to fully block either, with a speed of four, as well as dealing an impressive seven damage!
9. Charged Alien Sploof – Ultra Rare, STK04 7/22
Another full art card (and another which shows two main characters looking quite messy, in this case D’Vana and Sam, cleaning up the sploof of the card’s title!), Charged Alien Sploof is also another attack card.
Attacking in the low zone with a speed of three and a damage value of five, it also has the Blitz ability, meaning it costs your opponent one extra committed foundation card for each enhance ability they want to use during the attack. It’s also nicely synergistic with other Tech cards, as each one you have in your card pool adds +2 damage to Charged Alien Sploof’s attack!
8. Syndicate Skills – Ultra Rare, STK03 12/22
It seems that the strong attack cards are getting quite a bit of attention in the UniVersus Lower Decks set; here’s another! Syndicate Skills is also another card with Echo, which means that it can be played again after it resolves, for the cost of one momentum.
It also has a Blitz ability which makes your opponent’s block harder to enact, giving them -2 to their next check when blocking! All that, with five speed and six damage, makes this a great all round attack card.
7. Survey Mission – Ultra Rare, STK02 12/22
Survey Mission is an attack which gives the opponent a tough choice to make, thanks to its Blitz ability. They choose one of the following options: they either reveal their hand, allow your attacks to get +1 speed and +1 damage for the turn, or commit two foundations. Whichever one of those they pick will give the Survey Mission player a pretty big, albeit temporary, advantage.
It also deals seven damage. However, if your rival draws one or more cards, it gets a bonus to that of +2 damage. It does have a difficulty of six (like most of the cards featured so far, it’s not cheap to play), but even so, it’s well worth getting Survey Mission in play.
6. Un-phased – Alternate Art Ultra Rare, STK01 11/22
That’s right; Un-phased is proving to be so popular that it has two different spots on this list. Of course, functionally this is the same card as we’ve looked at previously, but this alternate art variant of the card shows Beckett Mariner in a much less (that is to say, not at all) disheveled state. Posing with her phaser in front of the famous Starfleet insignia, it’s a great portrait for the character, which explains why fans are so keen to get their hands on this version of the card.
5. Replicator Enthusiast – Alternate Art Rare, STK02 3/22
The first non-attack card on the list, Replicator Enthusiast is an action card which is used during the Enhance step. It does pretty much exactly what you’d expect a Star Trek Replicator to do, given that it allows you to build one foundation from your discard pile, as long as it shares a name with a foundation you already have in play. However, it does also allow your opponent to build using the top card of their deck – so use wisely!
4. Okey Dokey! – Alternate Art Rare, STK04 11/22
The foil treatment on the collector’s variants of UniVersus cards is often really spectacular, but it’s difficult to capture just how good they look in photos. That said, you can see just how reactive to light they are in the above image of attack card Okey Dokey!
Another card with a Blitz ability, Okey Dokey! allows its player to draw one card and discard one card, giving Okey Dokey! a keyword from the discarded card. Though that can make its outcome a little unpredictable, there’s a reasonable, standard high zone attack here too, with three speed an a damage value of five.
3. Combadge – Alternate Art Ultra Rare, STK02 4/22
This alternate art variant of the asset card, Combadge, is one that’s got a great in-game ability. However, given that its standard art variant is so much cheaper, it’s clear that UniVersus and Lower Decks fans are keen to get their hands on this particular card because of its gorgeous, minimalist illustration.
Featuring the Combadge of the card’s title, it has silhouettes of numerous Star Trek: Lower Decks characters within the badge itself, and, as you can see from the photo above, it looks pretty spectacular given both its artwork and the very fancy foil treatment.
If you were to use this card in-game, you’d need to commit it (that is, turn it sideways) during your Enhance step, then it allows you to look at the top two cards of your deck, putting them back in any order. Giving you the knowledge of what’s coming up next in your deck is priceless, so it’s no wonder that Combadge, especially in this spectacular alternate art version, is proving such a hit with fans!
2. U.S.S. Cerritos, NCC-75567 – Alternate Art Secret Rare, STK04 5/22
As the Federation starship that houses all of the Star Trek: Lower Decks characters, it’s no surprise to see this majestic shot of the U.S.S. Cerritos itself hurtling through space. In UniVersus, the Cerritos is an asset card, which means that it can be placed on the Stage, but not committed in the same way a foundation card can be.
It’s a pretty useful one too, given that it allows its owner to reveal the top three cards of their deck during the main phase, adding one to their hand, one to the bottom of their deck, and one to the top of their deck. This kind of manipulation can be absolutely priceless in a game of UniVersus, given that it can ensure you have exactly the right cards needed to pass checks, or to create a situation where you get the exact card you need, at exactly the right time.
If it seems pretty overpowered, that definitely explains why it’s a card that UniVersus fans are desperate to get their hands on!
1. U.S.S. Cerritos, NCC-75567 – Alternate Art Secret Rare, STK02 5/22
We weren’t kidding when we said that fans are desperate to get their hands on the U.S.S Cerritos; here it is again, with the top most wanted card from the UniVersus Star Trek: Lower Decks set! The painterly shot of the Cerritos in planetary orbit makes this card slightly more popular than the other variant on this list, but of course it remains functionally the same, so it’d be a great addition to any UniVersus deck.
With four of the 12 symbols required to ensure it’s a legal card in a deck, the Cerritos is very flexible too, so it’s bound to be one that Star Trek fans are able to use, almost regardless of who their Character is.
Want to learn more about UniVersus? Check out our complete UniVersus beginner’s guide, which will give you everything you need to know which products to buy, along with the rules of the game and even deckbuilding basics! You can also take a look at our review of the UniVersus Tekken 8 Clash Decks, and get a sneak peek at what’s coming in 2025 for UniVersus too.
