Card Spotlight
Doctor Octopus, Master Planner
A 7-mana Marvel's Spider-Man villain who pumps every other Villain by +2/+2, raises your hand size to eight, and refills it every end step. It is a tribal payoff and a card-advantage engine in one body.
Commander Spotlight
Doctor Octopus, Master Planner ↗
A 7-mana Marvel's Spider-Man villain who pumps every other Villain by +2/+2, raises your hand size to eight, and refills it every end step. It is a tribal payoff and a card-advantage engine in one body.
See Doctor Octopus, Master Planner's full stats and printings →
Strategies it goes well with
- Villain tribal. Every other Villain on the battlefield gets +2/+2, which rewards a deck built specifically around the creature type rather than a generic value pile.
- Card-advantage control shells. An automatic hand refill every end step is a strong engine for a control deck that's already spending its hand on interaction each turn.
- Go-wide black-blue decks. A board of smaller Villain creatures becomes a real threat once this anthem hits, turning a defensive board into a lethal one.
How it does in Commander
As the commander
As the commander it anchors a Dimir Villain tribal build. Every copy-effect or token-making Villain in the 99 gets bigger, and the command zone gives you reliable access to the anthem, which is what a tribal deck wants from its payoff.
In the 99
A strong late-game drop even outside a dedicated tribal shell, since the card draw alone is worth the seven mana in a control deck that's already going long.
Formats it's strong in
- Villain tribal decks. The anthem effect is a direct payoff for the creature type, rewarding a deck built specifically to go wide with Villains.
- Grindy control decks. An automatic end-step hand refill is exactly the kind of resource engine a long, attrition-based game wants.
Formats it's weak in
- Fast, low-curve decks. Seven mana is a lot to ask of a deck trying to close the game out before turn six.
- Decks with few or no Villains. Without the tribal payoff, it's a card-draw engine alone, which is good but not the reason to build the deck.
Synergistic cards
Baron Helmut Zemo ↗
A three-mana Villain that benefits directly from the anthem and fits the same Dimir tribal shell.
Arnim Zola, Bio-Fanatic ↗
Another Villain payoff that stacks its own value with the size boost from Doctor Octopus.
Sign in Blood ↗
A cheap card-draw spell that fills the same role early, before the seven-mana engine is online.
Any token-making Villain ↗
Doubling as an anthem, the card rewards any effect that puts multiple Villain bodies onto the battlefield at once.
Is it worth the price?
As a recent chase mythic from the set, Doctor Octopus carries a real price tag. It is worth buying for a dedicated Villain tribal build, and a costly luxury otherwise.
Frequently asked questions
How does Doctor Octopus, Master Planner refill your hand?
At the beginning of your end step, if you have fewer than eight cards in hand, you draw up to eight. A raised maximum hand size plus an automatic top-up is a real card advantage engine, on a body that already pumps a Villain tribal deck.
What deck wants Doctor Octopus, Master Planner?
A Dimir Villain tribal deck built around the creature type. The +2/+2 anthem to every other Villain is a real payoff for going wide with that type, and the end-step draw keeps the deck's hand full while it does.
Is Doctor Octopus, Master Planner too slow at seven mana?
It's a top-end payoff rather than an early play, so yes, it wants a deck built to survive to the mid-to-late game. Once it lands, though, the ongoing card advantage and the anthem effect on an established board can close a game out quickly.