Boldly Playing Where Few Still Play – The 2025 Star Trek CCG World Championships
It’s 2025, and yes—you read that right—the Star Trek Customizable Card Game (CCG) still has a thriving competitive scene. While Pokémon and Magic drown in flashy releases, Trek fans quietly gathered once again to outwit, outmaneuver, and generally weaponize tribbles at the 2025 Star Trek CCG World Championships.
First Edition (1E) – Old School Never Dies
The 1E World Championship final came down to a clash of titans:
Niall piloting Cardassian Liberation Front
Andreas bringing a ruthless 29-dilemma Maquis deck
The match was a classic reminder that 1E is not for the faint of heart. Thirty-year-old mechanics, pages of rules errata, and still enough tension to make a Klingon sweat. In the end, Niall’s Cardassians walked away with the title, proving that old-school attrition and capture strategies still have teeth. Personally STCCG 1E is my go-to CCG and have been playing since the release in the 90s. This match was nostalgia with bite. Watching the match, you’d swear it was 1997 again, minus the flashback to high school.
Watch Kaiser’s video and commentary of the match on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nveXoluOqIY
Second Edition (2E) – Streamlined but Still Savage
If 1E is a dense Starfleet Technical Manual, then 2E is the “streamlined starship refit” version—but don’t let that fool you. The 2025 2E World Championship final was anything but simple:
Steve running Cardassian Capture
Michael fielding a Varria Rainbow DS9 build
Capture decks have always been love-them or hate-them, and this year, they dominated. Watching characters get scooped up and interrogated felt appropriately dark for Cardassians—ironic, considering DS9 diplomacy was sitting right across the table.
Steve ultimately secured the win, showing that careful planning and ruthless efficiency (very on-brand) still run the galaxy.
Kaiser’s overview of the match here is a must-watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlkcrVp-kQk
For outsiders, Star Trek CCG might look like a relic from the ’90s, but for its players, it’s a living community. These tournaments are proof that passion doesn’t need big publishers or endless expansions to survive. It just needs dedicated players, a few tables, and maybe a streaming setup.
If you’ve ever thought about dusting off your old binders, this is your sign: the game’s not dead. Far from it. The 2025 Worlds prove that the Final Frontier is still open for business—one dilemma pile at a time.
Reconnect with Star Trek’s best CCG (in my opinion anyway) today
If watching the replay of these matches doesn’t bring back that nostalgic CCG feeling, I don’t know what does. If you’re looking to build out your deck, chase some missing cards, or just looking to crack open some packs for old times’ sake check out First Edition Games’ range of Star Trek CCG 1st edition products in the store.
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