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Doctor Who
 
 

Doctor Who
Doctor Who logo
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description The TARDIS
Design Gavin Verhey (lead), Chris Mooney, Carmen Klomparens, Trick Jarrett, Elizabeth Rice, Jess Dunks
Release date October 13, 2023
Themes and mechanics Planechase cards
Keywords/​ability words Cascade, Doctor's Companion, Historic, Paradox, Saga, Suspend, Time travel, Time counter, Vanishing, Villainous choice
Set size 4 decks of 100 cards
(189 new cards)
Expansion code WHO[1]
Universes Beyond
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Doctor Who Jurassic World
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Alchemy: Eldraine Doctor Who Lord of the Rings Holiday Release
WHO expansion symbol

The TARDIS expansion symbol

Doctor Who (initially referred to as the "Doctor Who Commander Product"[2]) is a product in the Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond series released by Wizards of the Coast. Doctor Who was released on October 13, 2023.[3][4][5]

Set details[ | ]

This is a cross-over product based on the British BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who.[6]

Storyline[ | ]

"The Doctor" is a traveler of space and time who journeys in the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), a time-travel machine that travels by materializing in and out of the Time Vortex and is bigger on the inside. Due to a malfunction, the outer appearance of the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box. Although the Doctor has occasional stints of solo travels, they much prefer the company of at least one companion, if not more, on these adventures; these companions are most often humans contemporary to the period in which the series is currently airing, owing to the Doctor's fascination with the planet Earth. However, a few have been aliens or native to past and future eras.

The Doctor's exact origins are subject to timelines being overwritten, so while their origins are often consistent in that they are a renegade Time Lord who stole the TARDIS from Gallifrey, this is certainly not their only origin. In the timelines in which the Doctor is of Gallifreyan biology, they are millennia old given their ability to regenerate into a new incarnation when mortally injured, a process that variably changes their appearance, gender, and even personality traits. The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the Daleks and their generally accepted creator Davros; the Cybermen, a form of cybernetically "upgraded" humans who have been stripped of their humanity; and their fellow renegade Time Lord "The Master", the Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes. The Doctor's real name is generally accepted to be unknown to the audience; there have been a select few times where it has potentially been revealed, however oft disregarded even by the Doctor themselves.

Marketing[ | ]

The Many Doctors

Teaser art featuring the initial set logo design.

Magic meets the TARDIS with four Commander decks, special card treatments, Collector Boosters, and Secret Lairs.[7] This collaboration has flavor and fun for fans of every Doctor from across 60 years of Doctor Who stories.[5] The four 100-card decks contain 189 new cards in total.[8] The Display commanders are #192-195. All reprints feature new Doctor Who themed art (#196-331).

Doctor Who was the first Commander deck release to include Collector Boosters. The boosters feature all alternate art showcase versions of the cards in the decks (no new cards). Extended art cards are #332-534. Thirty cards have a TARDIS-inspired card frame and comic book art style, and are numbered #535-564.[9] The Collector Boosters also feature surge foil versions of the described treatments (#606-1165). These were not printed in French and German language versions.[10] The release card is #565.

To represent the space- and time-traveling nature of the Doctor, each Commander deck also features 10 new Planechase cards.[5][8] The planar cards are numbered #566-605.

Two Doctor Who themed Secret Lairs were released on October 2, 2023. A third drop will be released later.

Serialized Doctors[ | ]

Serialized versions of the Doctors may appear in Collector Boosters. The serialized total ranges from 501 to 513 matching each specific Doctor.[9]

Events[ | ]

Promotional cards[ | ]

Tokens and markers[ | ]

Doctor Who has 31 tokens and one overlay card.[11][12][13]

  1. {C} Copy, for Caught in a Parallel Universe; City of Death; Fractured Identity; Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis; Hunted by The Family; Quantum Misalignment; Romana II; The Eleventh Hour; The Master, Gallifrey's End; The Sixth Doctor and Wedding Ring.
  2. {W} 2/2 Alien creature for Adipose Offspring; New New York and North Pole Research Base.
  3. {W} 4/4 Alien Rhino creature for Fugitive of the Judoon.
  4. {W} 2/2 Horse creature with "Doctors you control have horsemanship" for The Girl in the Fireplace.
  5. {W} 1/1 Human creature with "Doctor spells you cast cost {1} less to cast." for The Eleventh Hour.
  6. {W} 1/1 Human creature with ward {2} for Fugitive of the Judoon.
  7. {W} 1/1 Human Noble creature with vanishing 3 and "Prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature." for The Girl in the Fireplace.
  8. {W} 1/1 Soldier creature for Alistair, the Brigadier; Kate Stewart and UNIT Headquarters.
  9. {W} 1/1 Warrior creature for The Cave of Skulls and The War Games.
  10. {U} 1/1 Fish creature for Frost Fair Lure Fish.
  11. {B} 2/2 Alien Angel artifact creature with first strike, vigilance and "Whenever an opponent cast a creature spell, this permanent isn't a creature until end of turn." for Aplan Mortarium and Blink.
  12. {B} 3/3 Dalek artifact creature with menace for City of the Daleks; Cult of Skaro; Dalek Intensive Care; Davros, Dalek Creator; Doomsday Confluence; Gardens of Tranquil Repose; Genesis of the Daleks and The Dalek Emperor.
  13. {B} 2/2 Human Rogue creature for Spectrox Mines.
  14. {R} 2/2 Alien Warrior creature for Iraxxa, Empress of Mars.
  15. {R} Mark of the Rani, an Aura enchantment with "Enchant creature" and "Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and is goaded." for The Rani.
  16. {G} 2/2 Alien Salamander creature with islandwalk for The Sea Devils.
  17. {G} 3/3 Beast creature for Beast Within.
  18. {G} 3/3 Mutant creature with deathtouch for The Curse of Fenric.
  19. {G/W} 1/1 Alien Insect creature with flying for Vrestin, Menoptra Leader.
  20. {R/W} 2/2 Dinosaur creature with flying and haste for Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.
  21. {C} Clue artifact (Krynoid pod) for Antarctic Research Base; Duggan, Private Detective; Sarah Jane Smith; The Seventh Doctor and The Third Doctor.
  22. {C} Clue artifact (Hypercube) for Martha Jones; Rory Williams and Sally Sparrow.
  23. {C} Clue artifact (Biodata module) for Blink; Fugitive of the Judoon; Heaven Sent; Madame Vastra; Osgood, Operation Double; The Dining Car; The Fugitive Doctor; The Rani and Thijarian Witness.
  24. {C} 2/2 Cyberman artifact creature overlay card for Cyber Conversion; Cybership; Death in Heaven; Missy; Mondassian Colony Ship; The Cyber-Controller and The Moonbase.
  25. {C} Food artifact (Jelly Babies) for Spectrox Mines; The Fourth Doctor and The Third Doctor.
  26. {C} Food artifact (Fish fingers and custard) for Astrid Peth and The Eleventh Hour.
  27. {C} Food artifact (Cheese and pickle sandwich) for Graham O'Brien; Madame Vastra and The Dining Car.
  28. {C} Treasure artifact (Romana) for City of Death; Spectrox Mines and The Third Doctor.
  29. {C} Treasure artifact (Firestone) for New New York and RMS Titanic.
  30. {C} Treasure artifact (TARDIS key) for Frost Fair Lure Fish; Kerblam! Warehouse and North Pole Research Base.
  31. {C} Treasure artifact (The Master's ring) for The Matrix of Time.
  32. {U} Osgood, Operation Double, a 2/2 Human Alien Shapeshifter creature with "{T}: Add {C}. Spend this mana only to cast an artifact spell or activate an ability of an artifact.", "Paradox - Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, investigate." and "(This token's mana cost is {2}{U}{U}.)", for Osgood, Operation Double.

Themes and mechanics[ | ]

Cyberman overlay card

Doctor's Companion is a Partner variant which allows you to have two Commanders if one of them is the Doctor.[8][14]

The Timey-Wimey deck is built around time counters. To this end, it features three core mechanics: Suspend and Vanishing, two returning mechanics that utilize time counters, and Time travel, a new mechanic that allows one to manipulate the time counters on their cards.[11][15]

The Paradox Power deck focuses on the new Paradox ability word, which provides an effect whenever you cast a spell from anywhere but your hand.

The Masters of Evil deck introduces Villainous choice, a new mechanic which offers a modal effect targeted at the player's opponents. Both options offer unfortunate outcomes, but they get to choose which one befalls them. This deck also features an artifact creature subtheme.

The Blast from the Past deck is structured around artifact tokens (particularly Food, Clue, and Treasure tokens) and the returning Historic mechanic.

Sagas play a significant role, as each of the 15 Doctors (the first 13 main Doctors followed by the TV series plus the War Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor) and 4 villain cards have an associated saga representing an iconic episode of their run.[8]

Since all four of these preconstructed decks include additional Planechase decks, the Planechase-exclusive mechanics Planeswalk and Chaos ensues also make a return. They also appear as an added bonus on regular cards.[16]

The set also sees the return of Afflict, Affinity (for Daleks), Battalion, Battle cry, Basic landcycling, Boast, Cascade, Casualty, Conspire, Convoke, Emerge, Escape, Exert, Explore, Flashback, Foretell, Goad, Horsemanship, Imprint, Investigate, Islandwalk, Jump-start, Mentor, Morbid, Myriad, Partner with, Read ahead, Rebound, Retrace, Secret council, Shadow, Skulk, Soulbond, Storm, and Vote. Replicate is featured with the specific cost of tapping a Dalek.

The set makes extensive use of Flavor words.

Card types[ | ]

This set introduces the Doctor creature type, used for cards that depict the many versions of "The Doctor". Every Doctor is two-color, while every Doctor's Companion is mono-color.[17] Companions usually have the Human type. The Doctor always additionally has the creature type Time Lord (which uniquely consists of two words without a hyphen). The Doctor's core color identity is blue and most Doctor cards are a combination of blue and a second color, aside from the two 'anomalous' Doctors (the War Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor), who are each a combination of two non-blue colors.

The set also introduces the Dalek and Cyberman creature types for the Doctor's main antagonists. Creatures in the graveyard may be returned as face down 2/2 Cyberman artifact creature (i.e. similar to a morphed creature) . To indicate this, a Cyberman overlay card is provided. Furthermore, the set adds the Detective creature type.

After formally being introduced in Unfinity, the Alien type is also featured in this set, and the formerly acorn Scientist creature type becomes eternal.

Counter types[ | ]

Doctor Who introduces Shadow counters, which grant creatures Shadow, Eruption counters, and Takeover counters. The Time travel mechanic makes use of Time counters.

Plane types[ | ]

Doctor Who introduces the following non-canon Plane types:[11]

Cycles[ | ]

Pairs[ | ]

Mirrored pair Description
Alistair, the Brigadier ({G}{W}{U}) Kate Stewart ({U}{R}{W}) Two rare Legendary creatures that cost four mana of three colors, have an ability that creates {W} 1/1 Soldier creature tokens, and an attack trigger that costs {8} and cares about a theme of their respective decks (Historic and Time counters). They represent the leaders of the militaristic UNIT organization, Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart and later his daughter Kate Stewart.
Sonic Screwdriver Laser Screwdriver Two artifacts that cost {3} and have four abilities — one that produces mana and three that cost {1}, {2}, and {3} respectively. They represent the iconic tool of The Doctor and the tool of his/her antithesis The Master.

Preconstructed decks[ | ]

These immersive Commander decks feature Doctors, companions, villains, and locations from the series.[3] These decks are so full of references, you'd think they are bigger on the inside.

Theme
deck name
Color Identity Commander
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Blast from the Past W U G The Fourth Doctor & Sarah Jane Smith
Timey-Wimey W U R The Tenth Doctor & Rose Tyler
Masters of Evil U B R Davros, Dalek Creator
Paradox Power U R G The Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan

Trivia[ | ]

External links[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. Information below the text box
  2. WPN (August 18, 2022). "Wizards Presents: What Retailers Need to Know". Wizards Play Network.
  3. a b Wizards Presents 2022 (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (August 18, 2022).
  4. Adam Styborski (August 18, 2022). "The Next Year of Magic From Wizards Presents". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. a b c Billie Kaplan (May 5, 2023). "Allons-y! On October 13, Celebrate 60 Years of Doctor Who™ through Magic". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023.
  6. Gavin Verhey (October 10, 2023). "Designing Magic: The Gathering® – Doctor Who™". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023.
  7. Mike Turian (October 3, 2023). "Collecting Magic: The Gathering - Doctor Who". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. a b c d The Preview Panel at MagicCon Minneapolis (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (May 5, 2023).
  9. a b The Preview Panel at MagicCon: Barcelona (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (July 28, 2023).
  10. Wizards of the Coast (July 20, 2023). "Product Update for Magic: The Gathering® – Doctor Who™". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023.
  11. a b c Gavin Sheehan (July 20, 2023). "Magic: The Gathering Showed Off The Doctor Who Cards At SDCC". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023.
  12. Wizards of the Coast (October 7, 2023). "Magic: The Gathering® – Doctor Who™ Commander Decklists". magicthegathering.com.
  13. Wizards of the Coast (October 9, 2023). "The Tokens of Magic: The Gathering - Doctor Who". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Matt Tabak (October 3, 2023). "Magic: The Gathering - Doctor Who Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. David McCoy (July 21, 2023). "Doctor Who comes to Magic: More Commander Previews from SDCC". Hipsters of the Coast.
  16. Gavin Verhey (October 5, 2023). "While that part only works in PC, it's just a bonus we added for free.". Twitter.
  17. Commander Masters and Doctor Who Sneak Peek! (Video). Good Morning Magic. YouTube (May 6, 2023).
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