31 Years Later, Star Trek Still Won’t Promote Harry Kim in Its Latest Release
What matters about Harry Kim’s latest Star Trek appearance?
This article explains why the new Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek card keeps Harry Kim an ensign, and outlines the card’s abilities and the four Commander decks in the crossover.
- Kim’s rank: The new card identifies Harry Kim as an ensign, continuing a running joke that began during Star Trek: Voyager.
- Card abilities: Ensign Harry Kim, Operations gains +1/+1 counters when stronger creatures enter under its controller’s control.
- Deck lineup: The crossover includes four Commander decks led by characters from across the Star Trek universe.
- Release date: The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek collection is scheduled to release on November 13, 2026.
Harry Kim’s rank remains the central joke of this Star Trek crossover: the new Magic: The Gathering card presents the Voyager character as an ensign. The card also gives players a way to build up Kim’s power during a game.
Ensign Harry Kim, Operations keeps Harry Kim’s Starfleet rank unchanged while giving him a counter-based ability in Magic: The Gathering.
Ensign Harry Kim has remained at a single pip for more than three decades, ever since the character first appeared in the Star Trek universe in Voyager. The lack of a promotion became a recurring joke among fans and within the franchise itself; Lower Decks even made Kim’s stalled career a premise of the popular “Fissure Quest” episode.
Harry Kim repeatedly helped save the ship and its crew from seemingly impossible situations, but he never advanced through the Starfleet ranks during the show’s seven-season run. The exception was a brief promotion to captain in the alternate-future finale, a change that was ultimately erased.
Tom Paris was demoted and later promoted again while Kim remained an ensign. The franchise is continuing the long-running joke: a new Star Trek release arriving this November confirms that Kim is still an ensign, more than 30 years after his introduction.
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Image via Paramount+
Why is Harry Kim still an ensign in the Magic: The Gathering crossover?
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek crossover features a new card for the Voyager character, but it still identifies him as an ensign. The crossover’s alternate versions and broad cast could have made room for a higher-ranking version of Kim, but the card continues the established joke.
Ensign Harry Kim, Operations preserves the character’s familiar Starfleet rank in the crossover.
The card, titled “Ensign Harry Kim, Operations,” appears in the upcoming Federation Fleet Commander deck, whose lead commander is “Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary.” The deck brings together characters from across Star Trek, including Captain Janeway, Tom Paris and Seven of Nine.
What does Ensign Harry Kim, Operations do in Magic: The Gathering?
Ensign Harry Kim, Operations is a Legendary Creature card classified as a Human Officer that costs two mana to play. The card starts with 1 power and 2 toughness, gains +1/+1 counters when a stronger creature enters under its controller’s control, and can convert counters into card draw.
Ensign Harry Kim, Operations uses creature growth and counter removal to support its abilities.
- Card type: Legendary Creature – Human Officer.
- Cost and stats: Two mana, 1 power and 2 toughness.
- Growth ability: Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under the player’s control with greater power than Kim, Kim gets a +1/+1 counter.
- Card-draw ability: The player can spend two mana and remove two +1/+1 counters from among their creatures to draw a card.
Kim’s growth ability rewards a player when stronger creatures enter the battlefield, while the second ability lets the player exchange counters for an additional card. His power can increase during play even though the character’s printed Starfleet rank remains ensign.
Interpretation: The contrast between Kim gaining strength and retaining the rank of ensign echoes the long-running Voyager joke.
Which Commander decks are included in the Star Trek crossover?
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek collaboration includes four Commander decks led by characters from the franchise. Federation Fleet is one of those decks and features Jean-Luc Picard as its lead commander.
The crossover’s four Commander decks each have a distinct Star Trek leader.
- Federation Fleet: Led by Jean-Luc Picard, Luminary.
- Landing Party: Led by Commander Spock.
- Klingon Fury: Led by Worf, Defiant Commander.
- We Are the Borg: Led by the Borg Queen.
Each Commander deck contains 100 playable cards, including 32 new to Magic, alongside familiar characters, iconic starships and other references to Star Trek history. Collector’s Editions with special surge foil treatments will also be available.
When does the Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek collection release?
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek crossover is scheduled to release on November 13, 2026. All four Commander decks will be available alongside the larger trading card collection.
The crossover release date is November 13, 2026.
For Harry Kim, the card offers another appearance in a major franchise crossover while keeping his familiar rank as an ensign.
What rank does Harry Kim hold on the new card?
The new Magic: The Gathering card identifies Harry Kim as an ensign, continuing the character’s long-running lack of promotion.
What are Harry Kim’s card stats and abilities?
Ensign Harry Kim, Operations costs two mana and starts with 1 power and 2 toughness. It gains +1/+1 counters when a stronger creature enters under its controller’s control and can use two mana plus two counters to draw a card.
How many Star Trek Commander decks are included?
The crossover includes four decks: Federation Fleet, Landing Party, Klingon Fury and We Are the Borg.
When is the Star Trek crossover scheduled to release?
The Magic: The Gathering x Star Trek collection is scheduled to release on November 13, 2026.
- Video Game(s)
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Magic: The Gathering, Magic the Gathering Commander, Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, Magic: The Gathering Arena
- Created by
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Richard Garfield
- Main Genre
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Fantasy
- Release Date
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August 5, 1993
