Next month, Doctor Who turns 60, and it’s celebrating in style between a trio of new episodes and all sorts of retrospective lookbacks—but one of its most intriguing collaborations to mark six decades of adventuring in time and space is bringing the series to the world of Magic: The Gathering, in a series of decks that covers the whole show’s televised adventures.
Universes Beyond: Doctor Who is the latest Magic crossover set. It’s expansive, with 200 news cards spread across the four decks, and every reprint card featuring new themed art on top of that. But unlike the last Universes Beyond release, the major Tales From Middle-earth series that brought Lord of the Rings to Magic, the Doctor Who set will instead focus on four new releases for the game’s popular Commander format, rather than a traditional full set.
Those four decks will each tackle a different aspect of Doctor Who’s long history, covering iconic characters, locations, and episodes from the show, weaving Magic’s thematic rules into the Doctor Who flavor. Here’s a breakdown of the four Commander Decks releasing as part of the drop:
Blast From the Past is a green-white-blue combination deck lead by Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor will house the set’s cards related to classic 1963-1989 era of the show, covering every Doctor from William Hartnell to Paul McGann (and several of their most famous companions, like Sarah Jane Smith, Tegan Jovanka, Ace, and more).Timey Wimey, focused on blue, red, and white cards and leveraging Magic’s time manipulation mechanics, will cover the initial three Doctors of the 2005 revival: Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith.Paradox Power is a green-blue-red deck that will polish off the rest of the revival era with cards themed around Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker’s 12th and 13th Doctors.
The last deck, the blue-black-red Masters of Evil, is entirely dedicated to Doctor Who’s litany of legendary villains from across its history, both classic and new. Expect Daleks and Cybermen of course, but as the name implies, this deck is lead by iconic archnemeses like various incarnations of the Master, or the creator of the Daleks, Davros.
As well as the four Commander Decks, Universes Beyond will be supported by a series of releases of alternate art cards. An accompanying Collector Booster series will get players access to full art, alternate border, and foil versions of some of the major cards across the four decks, while a series of drops through Wizards of the Coasts’ “Secret Lair” storefront will provide themed alternate art cards like Dalek-inspired lands, and a series of cards themed around the Weeping Angels.
You’ll notice however that, in all this, some very recent parts of Doctor Who history, and ones very important to next month’s 60th anniversary, are absent: David Tennant’s return as the new 14th incarnation of the Doctor, and Ncuti Gatwa’s upcoming 15th Doctor, whose debut season is set to arrive in 2024. But while cards inspired by these most recent Doctors don’t appear in Universes Beyond just yet, they’re not off the table. At a recent press event for the release, Magic: The Gathering Principal Game Designer Gavin Verhey teased that this is not the last we’ll see of Doctor Who’s crossover with Magic.
“We do have a plan [for the 14th and 15th Doctors]. We did not forget that there is some brand new stuff on the horizon, and while it’s not in these decks, you’ll learn more about it soon.”
In the mean time, click through to see a ton of the new cards from Universes Beyond: Doctor Who, including all 13 primary Doctors, some of their beloved companions and their greatest foes, special saga cards inspired by classic episodes, themed token cards, and many, many more, ahead of the set’s release on October 13!