with Kevin Phillips
While attending PAX Unplugged late last year, we had an opportunity to get a first look at UVS Games’ latest UniVersus set… Star Trek: Lower Decks!
It was only an initial demo of the Boimler and Mariner decks then, but we’ve since had an opportunity to get our hands on Tendi and Rutherford as well, and play several matches to get a good feel of the game!
Before we get into the specifics of this set, let’s talk real quick about what the UniVersus game is, in case you haven’t seen it before. UniVersus is a collectible card game (CCG) that is character-driven and includes multiple IPs, including Critical Role, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Godzilla, Attack on Titan, and more. Star Trek: Lower Decks was added in December of 2024, in the form of four “Challenger Series” decks.
In UniVersus, you play as your Character card, not all that dissimilar to the Commander format for Magic: The Gathering. UniVersus is essentially a playing card interpretation of a fighting game like Tekken or Street Fighter. You spar using Attack cards for strikes and throws, with a progressive difficulty mechanic representing that each sequential move saps your stamina.
Foundation cards (similar to mana in Magic or ink in Lorcana) can be used to increase your chances of success and activate varied abilities, with your Character card providing powerful abilities that define synergies your deck is built around.
And with every successful attack, you build Momentum — like a combo bar filling up — which grants access to explosive advantages that can send your game quickly toward victory. This framework holds the flavor of fighting games while also allowing the various IPs to re-skin the mechanics with your favorite characters battling in unlikely match-ups, as Marvel vs. Capcom and other video games have done to great acclaim.
While you can build your own UniVersus decks using booster packs, Challenger Series decks are pre-constructed and ready to be played right out of the box. For Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Challenger decks come with two different character cards and also a booster pack with 6 random alternative art or all-foil cards. Our lower decker protagonists each offer a traditional Starfleet ensign option, and a path-less-traveled option.
The variants include Mariner as an adventuring archeologist; Boimler, Acting Captain (he wishes); Rutherford’s pre-implant racing maverick days; and Tendi’s before-and-after life of piracy.
Mariner’s deck is aggressive and adaptable, and fittingly features many “Chaos”-type cards. She is ready to improvise and drive home a decisive blow, no matter what situation she is up against. There are plenty of options to turn the tide and give your opponent penalties when one of your attacks are blocked, or hobble their efforts to improve their board state. Playing against this deluge of options, you will often feel overwhelmed by the flexibility and tenacity Mariner can bring to bear.
The Boimler deck has Diplomacy as its key theme, an element keyed off of his negotiating savvy seen playing Diplomath, the game you win by compromising (and sometimes, by losing). These cards are all about giving your opponent the opportunity to choose which of several effects are deployed against them – and hopefully presenting them with situations where they have no good options!
The “Order” symbol found in this deck reflects Boimler’s by-the-book attitude, and will sap your opponent’s ability to block attacks by draining their resources.
Rutherford’s deck showcases the flexibility that Starfleet engineers exhibit as masters of technology, always ready to jury-rig a way to connect Tucker tubes to the EPS manifolds, or reverse the polarity of something. This deck always seems to come out swinging, with the foundation abilities enabling you to pile on the hurt quickly by boosting your skill with Tech attacks.
It also features some of the “Void” abilities keyed toward controlling the tempo of a game: several cards let you shift more points toward your attack’s speed or damage depending on where your opponent is most vulnerable.
In Tendi’s deck, the Orion puts her skills as a trained healer and experienced pirate both to good use. She can gamble using her own health as a resource to better your chances, as well as gaining kicker effects when you gain life back. Many cards come from the “Life” symbol and are very apt in capturing the varied talents that Tendi possesses.
Games with this deck didn’t always find the synergies coming together as effectively as the mechanics might suggest, but there is a clear potential for finding a way to pilot this high-skill combo deck in a way that pays off.
A fun highlight among this Challenger Series is a card for the USS Cerritos, appropriately found in all four decks. It’s only fitting that this unusually rare card would link the Lower Deckers together thematically as well as mechanically. Getting the ship into play allows you to draw cards and adjust future card draws to set you up for success. Alternate art versions of this card are one of the picks you might find in the booster pack that comes with each of these Challenger Series decks.
UniVersus feels like the type of game that’s easy to learn, but challenging to master. If you’ve never played a CCG before but love Lower Decks, you should be able to hit the ground running after watching a few tutorials (linked below). It may take a few rounds to get comfortable, but overall, this game’s base mechanics feel far more approachable than diving headfirst into a more established game like Magic: The Gathering.
That said, there’s enough to this game to hook in an experienced CCG player. We both have several years of casual experience playing Magic and Lorcana, and found ourselves really enjoying the momentum and progressive difficulty mechanics.
Want to learn more? Be sure to visit UniVersus’ website for tutorials and further guidance on gameplay. All four Star Trek: Lower Decks Challenger Series decks are available via their online store for $34.99 each — along with five Lower Decks playmats, featuring Tendi, Mariner, Boimler (with the Geordi teddy, a personal favorite), Rutherford, or the whole group with tribbles.
Playmats are $24.99 each and also available via their online store. Alternatively, you can use the UniVersus store locator tool to purchase the decks and accessories from your friendly local game store.
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We want to give a special “thank you” to UniVersus for sending us the new Lower Decks game to check out — and for letting one of you fine readers receive a new UniVersus Lower Decks starter kit to begin your own gameplay!
One TrekCore reader will receive the Mariner and Boimler Challenge Series decks, along with two Lower Decks playmats (a $120 value)! All you need to do is submit your information below by 5pm ET on Thursday, February 13 for your chance to win.
(Apologies to our international readers, as this giveaway is limited to entrants in the United States only.)
Once the entry period has concluded, we’ll contact our winner by email. Good luck to all!
Check back to TrekCore often for the latest in Star Trek gaming news!