Despite Wilds of Eldraine spoilers having just recently concluded, it appears we have even more spoilers to share with you. This time, they are part of the Doctor Who series. Doctor Who is being released as a Universes Beyond crossover set, featuring four distinct Commander decks. These Commander decks are set to release on October 13, 2023.
While we have already seen initial spoilers from this set, recently, we got to see even more. Well, we did for a small amount of time, at least. Despite being revealed by the official Doctor Who Twitter page, the recent spoilers have already been taken down. As a result of this, it seems these spoilers were accidentally released early, rather than being an actual treat to delight players.
Nonetheless, since these cards have been revealed, we’ll be talking about them today! So, brace yourself for new Doctor Who Commander deck spoilers!
These Doctor Who Commander decks are full of new intriguing mechanics. The use of mechanics such as Time Travel add a ton of flavor to each Commander deck. In addition, this set features a ton of different legendary Doctors and Doctor’s Companion cards to choose from to have as your Commander(s), as well as some fun new cards that work well with the Doctor Who mechanics. Without further ado, let’s jump right in and see where these new Doctor Who spoilers shine.
The Girl in the Fireplace
This Saga isn’t too strong on its own but can be powerful in the right deck. Chapter one gives you a one-power Creature that can’t be dealt damage, but it has Vanishing three, meaning it enters with three time counters on it. Every upkeep, a time counter is removed, and the token gets sacrificed once there are no time counters on it. Chapter two gives you a two-power Creature, but it also gives your Doctors Horsemanship, making them extremely difficult to block.
Finally, when chapter three goes off, you get a bonus where whenever a Creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you get to Time Travel. Time Traveling not only lets you remove Suspend counters from Suspended cards in exile, but it also lets you add Vanishing counters onto the Creature token created from chapter one. Sure, this Saga creates two tokens, but the real payoff is getting to remove Suspend counters from Suspended cards in exile.
Notably, this ability triggers for each Creature you control that deals combat damage to a player. Therefore, if you have a big board state, you could end up getting to Time Travel a bunch of times. This pairs really nicely with Suspend cards such as Benalish Commander that give you a bonus each time a Suspend counter is removed.
For example, let’s say you have a Benalish Commander Suspended with one time counter on it. If you connect with ten Creatures in combat, you get to Time Travel 10 times. With the First Time Travel ability, you can add a counter to Benalish Commander, then remove a counter with the second Time Travel ability, netting a Creature token in the process. You can then repeat this process and get a bunch of Creature tokens out of the deal. In this way, The Girl in the Fireplace has some very high upside with Suspended cards.
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Fugitive of the Judoon
Fugitive of the Judoon, similar to the Girl in the Fireplace, does need some support to make it a strong Commander card. Luckily, there are some easy ways to do just that.
This card is another Saga that gives you tokens from the first two chapters. Between chapter one and chapter two, you get to generate two Creature tokens and Investigate. Much like with the Girl in the Fireplace, though, the real magic happens with chapter three.
Chapter three lets you exile a Human and an Artifact you control in order to search your library for a Doctor card and put it onto the battlefield. Luckily, Fugitive of the Judoon provides you with a Human token and a Clue token as sacrifice fodder. Of course, you can search your library for another powerful Doctor card that you put into your deck, but there are other ways to abuse this ability.
The perfect way to maximize this Enchantment is with the card Maskwood Nexus. Maskwood Nexus makes all your Creatures every Creature type, including those that are in your library. This means that every Creature in your deck is also a Doctor, letting you tutor for any Creature you want. In this way, you can use Fugitive of the Judoon to search for game-ending bombs such as Craterhoof Behemoth. This card definitely takes some work to maximize its effect, but it can certainly be powerful in the right shell.
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Donna Noble
Donna Noble, while relatively weak, is more relevant thanks to the Doctor’s Companion mechanic. This acts very similar to the Partner mechanic, allowing you to have access to both Donna Noble and a Doctor as your Commanders. This card also has Soulbond, letting you pair this Creature with another Creature when it enters the battlefield. Then, whenever Donna or a Creature it’s paired with is dealt damage, Donna deals that much damage to an opponent. While this can be a decent way to protect your powerful Doctor Commander from damage-based removal, Donna in the Commander format where players start at 40 life, it can take a while for this damage to add up.
Still, having access to two Commanders is still strong. Assuming your Doctor Commander is powerful and in the right colors, adding Donna as a second option is a nice option to have. Additionally, Donna does work well with cards like Blasphemous Act, letting you deal a bunch of damage to an opponent at once.
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Weeping Angel
Lastly, we have Weeping Angel, which can make combat very frustrating for your opponents. For three mana, you get a two-power Flier with Flash, First Strike, and Vigilance. These stats aren’t overwhelming for a Commander game, and Weeping Angel also has the downside of not being a Creature anymore during turns when your opponents cast Creatures of their own. Assuming your opponents don’t have Flash Creatures of their own, however, the third ability can make it all worth it.
If Weeping Angel gets the opportunity to block an opposing Creature, instead of dealing combat damage like normal, that damage is prevented and the owner of the opposing Creature shuffles it into their library. With both Flash and First Strike, chances are Weeping Angel will get the opportunity to successfully block and stick around. From there, if you’re opponent can’t play a Creature during their first main phase or remove Weeping Angel, chances are attacking you is going to be a tough proposition. In this sense, as long as you get to successfully ambush an opposing Creature in combat, Weeping Angel is likely worth the investment.
Even still, none of these cards are super appealing on their own. Outside of Commander, they are unlikely to find homes. That being said, each of these cards, especially the two Sagas, has the potential to be quite strong in the right circumstance. If you are a fan of Doctor Who and are looking for interesting cards to build around in unique ways, these cards may be right up your alley.
