Magic: The Gathering Doctor Who Commander deck guides - Color combos, deck leaders, and more

We recently previewed the Magic: The Gathering Doctor Who Commander decks, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast. An incredible number of new cards has arrived between these four decks: At least 50 brand-new cards per deck. Furthermore, they have brand-new art and don't feature too many repeats between the four. It will resemble a full expansion as far as the sheer amount of new cards for this format is concerned.

It’s chock-full of incredible references, wonderful moments, and memorable characters. Even people such as myself, who aren’t massive Doctor Who fans, have plenty to be excited about. During the preview session, I learned a lot about the franchise, as well as the Commander decks coming to Magic: The Gathering. We will highlight some of these additions for you today.

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Magic: The Gathering’s Doctor Who Commander deck names and color identities

As is tradition in Commander, each deck has a particular color identity. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of blue since it represents the color of time travel in Magic: The Gathering. As an important facet of Doctor Who as well, there will be a lot of overlap. We also know what the decks are called, their themes, and the important characters you can expect in them.

Decks and color identities

• Blast From The Past: Blue, White, Green
• Timey-Wimey: White, Red, Blue
• Paradox Power: Red, Blue, Green
• Masters of Evil: Red, Black, Blue

Characters expected in each deck

• Blast From The Past: The first 8 Doctors (and Companions)
• Timey-Wimey: 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors (and Companions)
• Paradox Power: 12th and 13th Doctors (and Companions)
• Masters of Evil: The Doctor’s Greatest Villains

We didn’t see every card that’s coming in Magic: The Gathering’s Doctor Who commanders. Many of them have already been spoiled or revealed - but we still received an interesting glimpse into upcoming additions. There are too many cards to address in these decks, but we’ll highlight a few of the most important ones.

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1) Blast From The Past

The First through Fourth Doctor and their Companions (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Blast From The Past might be the hardest deck to talk about. It features 8 Doctors and at least 8 Companions. It has numerous incredible abilities to go over, and as a Green/White/Blue deck, it will be fast and mana ramp capable.

With so many legendary characters in the deck, it could be hard to figure out exactly which Doctor you should pick to be the deck leader.

If I had to pick a favorite from the first four, it’s the combo of The First Doctor and TARDIS. The ability to create moments of Cascade simply for attacking, I love it. It’s a great way to acquire some powerful cards for almost no work.

You can see the first four Doctors and their Companions above. Each Companion further boasts “Doctor’s companion,” so they can be in the Commander zone with the Doctor. This is sensible, as all the Doctors are two colors, and the companions are mono-colored.

Doctors Five through Eight and their companions (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

When it comes to the second set of Doctors, I must consider my playstyle with the Commander format in Magic: The Gathering. I’m a huge fan of slow, patient control decks, so the Fifth Doctor’s ability to constantly buff allies for not attacking is huge.

Furthermore, you have Tegan Jovanka, who buffs when you do attack. She provides a target creature indestructible and +1/+1, provided it’s a Historic creature. That won't be difficult. Simply take your time, remain patient, and get a huge, indestructible world beater.

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2) Timey-Wimey

The Ninth through Eleventh Doctors and their Companions (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Everyone in the Doctor Who fandom has a favorite Doctor. For many, the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors led to their foray into the show. The reboot of the franchise had a lot to love in it.

When it comes to the Timey-Wimey Commander deck, you must consider themes. In this case, it’s all about Suspend and Time Travel. The latter is a brand-new but wildly powerful ability. Upon doing it, you look at each of your cards with Suspend and each card with a Time card.

You can remove or add a Time Counter to each of these cards, making them appear faster or whatever you have planned. Pair this with the power of Rose Tyler, who grows more powerful with each time counter, and you can easily turn her into a game-ender. She is, after all, the Bad Wolf in Doctor Who.

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3) Paradox Power

The Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors and their Companions (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

However, while I love the other decks for the Doctors, Paradox Power is easily my favorite Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Commander deck. The Twelfth Doctor’s ability to use Demonstrate is simply magical.

Whenever you cast your first spell from anywhere other than your hand each turn, it has Demonstrate, which lets you copy it. If you take that step, an opponent can also copy it. Then, whenever a spell is copied, he gains another +1/+1.

Pair that with Clara Oswald, and you trigger your Doctor’s ability an additional time. Note that it also gives your opponent cards. However, it’s great for building an alliance - and you can always take those away later via boardwipe.

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4) Masters of Evil

The Masters of Evil in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

The Magic: The Gathering deck we saw the least of was Masters of Evil, the Grixis (Red/Blue/Black) “Evil” Doctor Who deck. I love a good antagonist, though, and remain a big fan of the Grixis color identity. Both Davros and Missy are amazing cards as well.

However, I think Davrek’s “villainous choice” ability is the best. Any opponent who loses three or more life has to either let you draw a card or discard one. That’s on top of creating Dalek artifact creature tokens for the same condition.

You cannot discount Missy’s ability to bring non-artifact creatures back as Cybermen when they die. Both Missy and Davrek are phenomenal Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering commanders.

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Magic: The Gathering and Doctor Who come together on October 13, 2023, when all four decks will be available. Players can also buy Collector Boosters for the first time for a Commander deck to receive alternate art options.