Four Commander decks, no booster set
Doctor Who is a Commander-only release: four preconstructed decks and no booster product, so unlike every other 2023 set there is nothing here to draft.
It introduced two things worth knowing outside its own decks. Time travel gives suspend and vanishing counters a way to move in either direction, which finally made those mechanics playable on purpose. Doctor's companion is a Partner variant restricted to one Time Lord Doctor plus one companion, which is why these decks have two commanders.
Themes
Time travel
For each suspended card you own and each permanent you control with a time counter, you may add or remove a counter. Being able to move counters down turns suspend from a delay into a plan.
Doctor's companion
A Partner variant. A creature with it can be your second commander as long as your first is a Time Lord Doctor, which is what gives the set its two-commander pairings.
Villainous choice
An ability word. Each opponent chooses one of two effects, both bad for them. It is designed so the choice matters without either branch letting them off.
Where You Can Play It
Doctor Who shipped as Commander decks only, under a single code. It was never Standard- or Pioneer-legal, and there is no booster set to have a separate legality.
Standard was never in play for this set, so the February 2027 rotation doesn't touch it. Nothing here rotates out of Modern, Legacy, Vintage or Commander. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
No boosters were printed, so there is nothing to draft. What the set has instead is four decks, each built on a different era of the show.
Not a draftable set
Commander-only product
Four precons and roughly fifty new cards each. This is the only 2023 release with no Limited format of any kind.
Commander
One per era, each fronted by a Doctor and a companion.
Blast from the Past
First through Eighth Doctors
Green-white-blue, on tokens and historic spells.
Timey-Wimey
Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler
White-blue-red, and the deck built on time travel.
Paradox Power
Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond
Blue-red-green, on counters and untapping.
Masters of Evil
Davros and the Master
Blue-black-red, and the villainous choice deck.
Building one of these into something of your own? The precon buying guide covers how to judge a deck, and the Commander deck template is the shape to build toward.
FAQ
No. It shipped as Commander decks only and was never Standard- or Pioneer-legal. WHO cards are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage.
No. There is no booster product at all, which makes it the only 2023 release with no Limited format of any kind.
For each suspended card you own and each permanent you control with a time counter, you may add or remove a time counter. Being able to take counters off is what turns suspend from a delay you accept into something you plan around.
A Partner variant. A creature with Doctor's companion can be your second commander as long as your other commander is a Time Lord Doctor, which is why these decks have two commanders.
Blast from the Past, Timey-Wimey, Paradox Power and Masters of Evil.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering Doctor Who released on Oct 13, 2023; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
TurnZero HQ keeps deck records, MMR, and moments for every Commander night, so you can see which new cards are actually earning their slot.
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