Starfleet AcademyHow it works & interactions with other cards

Universal Energy and Federation Focus

At its basic level, Starfleet Academy provides colorless mana to help you stay on curve. However, its Federation ability is where the true potential lies. By paying five mana and tapping the land, you can choose any single color and generate a surge of mana based on the biological diversity of your board. It specifically counts the number of distinct creature types among your non-Borg creatures, meaning the more varied your team is, the greater the reward.

Step-by-Step Resolution

When you activate the Federation ability, you first pay the five mana and tap Starfleet Academy. As the ability resolves, you choose a color (White, Blue, Black, Red, or Green). The game then checks your battlefield for creatures that do not have the Borg type. It counts how many unique creature types exist among those creatures. For example, if you control a Human Soldier and a Vulcan Scientist, you have three types: Human, Soldier, and Vulcan (Scientist). You then add that much mana of the chosen color to your mana pool.

Navigational Errors to Avoid

A common mistake is forgetting that Borg creatures are strictly excluded from the count; any creature types they possess will not contribute to the mana total. Additionally, multiple creatures sharing the same type do not increase the count further—having three Humans only counts as one type. Note that this is an activated ability, not a mana ability, because it has a target-like choice and a high cost, meaning it uses the stack and can be responded to by opponents.

Strategic Deployment

This land excels in the mid-to-late game when your board state is established. Because it costs five mana to activate, you typically want to ensure you have at least six distinct creature types among your non-Borg creatures to see a 'profit' in mana. It is an excellent way to fix your colors if you are missing a specific color for a high-cost finisher, provided your crew is diverse enough.

Interaction examples

Standard Mana Generation

With only Starfleet Academy on the field, you can tap it to add one colorless mana to your pool. This is a basic mana ability that does not use the stack.

Establishing the Mana Base

Command TowerExotic Orchard

In a scenario where you have Command Tower and Exotic Orchard, you can use these to produce the five mana required to activate Starfleet Academy's Federation ability. If you control a Human Scout and an Elf Shaman, Starfleet Academy will count four unique types (Human, Scout, Elf, Shaman) and add four mana of your chosen color.