The next Magic: The Gathering crossover escapes fantasy and goes to science fiction, as it will involve Doctor Who, the long-running British classic. This means you’ll be able to play nearly every iteration of The Doctor and their companions and villains in a crossover that crosses all of time and space.
Magic: The Gathering has received many high-profile crossovers of late, including smaller Secret Lair drops to entire sets. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set brought Tolkien’s world to the multiverse, while the upcoming Fallout crossover will only consist of Commander Decks. The Doctor Who crossover sits somewhere in the middle, as it contains four Commander Decks, as well as Collector Boosters and a Secret Lair, with alternate art of the new cards.
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When Are Magic: The Gathering’s Doctor Who Commander Decks & Collector Boosters Released?
The Doctor Who Commander Decks will be released on October 13, 2023, while the Doctor Who Secret Lair will be released on October 2. Previews will go live from October 3-6. It bears mentioning that the Doctor Who content won’t be featured in Magic Online or MTG Arena and is only part of the paper game.
All four Doctor Who Commander Decks will be legal in the Legacy, Vintage, and Commander formats. These are the four Commander Decks that will be part of the Doctor Who crossover in Magic: The Gathering:
- Blast From The Past – A White/Blue/Green deck fronted by The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. It will also feature The First Doctor through The Eighth Doctor as creatures in the deck.
- Masters Of Evil – A Blue/Black/Red deck fronted by Davros. It will feature many villains from the series, including The Master, Missy, the Weeping Angels, and The Valeyard.
- Paradox Power – A Blue/Red/Green deck fronted by The Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan. It will also feature The Twelfth Doctor and The Fugitive Doctor.
- Timey-Wimey – A White/Blue/Red deck fronted by The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler. It will also feature The Ninth Doctor, The Eleventh Doctor, and The War Doctor.
Confirmed New & Returning Mechanics In Magic: The Gathering’s Doctor Who Crossover
The Doctor Who crossover will feature several new mechanics. These include Time Travel, which affects the number of Time Counters on cards; Paradox, which affects cards played outside of your hand; Villainous Choice, which forces an opponent to choose between two bad options; and Doctor’s Companion, which is a keyword that lets both a Doctor and one of their companions act as the Commander for a deck. The Doctor Who crossover will also introduce Shadow Counters.
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Some returning mechanics will see a lot of play in the crossover, the most notable being Planechase cards, where settings from Doctor Who will appear and have an effect on the game. The Saga cards and Food Tokens that were a big part of The Lords of the Rings crossover and the recent Wilds of Eldraine set will also see a return, as will the Flavor Text abilities that debuted in the D&D crossover set.
