Welcome back to the Commander Corner, and today I’ve got a pretty special treat for all of you. Last week, I covered a whole lot of legendary creatures from the Doctor Who Commander decks. The who’s who, if you will. This week, I’m covering all the best cards that aren’t legendary creatures. Even though a lot of the set is focused on titular characters from the show, which I just learned has been running since 1963, there’s plenty to cover besides Doctors, companions, and villains. Strap in and get ready, because we’re jumping right in.
RMS Titanic
If you can get big enough creatures onto the battlefield on a regular basis, the RMS Titanic can certainly reward you with quite a bit of ramp. The problem is this is a conditional ritual effect with a low floor. I’ll still be reaching for the skies with this one, even if it is a gamble.
Auton Soldier
Yes, Auton Soldier is expensive compared to a lot of other clone effects, but myriad is a pretty big bonus. You probably tend to clone creatures with great enters-the-battlefield abilities already, which means potentially even more triggers with our alien buddy here.
Blink
While Blink doesn’t actually blink anything, at least not in the traditional Magic: The Gathering sense, it certainly does do a lot over time. You have to wait a bit, but removing two creatures and getting two of your own is a nice payoff for only four mana. Keep in mind the chapter layout is a bit confusing. You remove a creature on chapter one and chapter three, not one and two.
City of Death
City of Death is a heavy hitter. As you might imagine, your goal isn’t to copy treasure tokens. Aim for the stars on this one. Find a way to make a token copy of Doubling Season. Copy your Desolation Twin token. The sky is quite literally the limit.
Cybermen Squadron
There’s a lot you can do with Cybermen Squadron, although it’s mostly attacking with creatures like Baleful Strix, Bladegriff Prototype, and Solemn Simulacrum. As you might imagine, this gets pretty nutty in a deck with Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer at the helm.
Dalek Drone
If you like Ravenous Chupacabra, you’ll probably love Dalek Drone. It sort of bridges the gap between the chupacabra and Noxious Gearhulk, and with two very relevant combat abilities, it’s great for poking a player for the monarchy/initiative or biting into planeswalkers.
Death in Heaven
Be careful when you read Death in Heaven. The creatures you get will be face down, meaning you don’t get any cool triggers or activated abilities from the front side. Don’t be too worried though, as you still get graveyard removal and a small army of expendable dorks.
Decaying Time Loop
Decaying Time Loop is flavorful and strong. Retrace is a powerful ability, and although you’ll be going down in cards every time, the ability to repeatedly wheel can pave the way for graveyard-based combos.
Exterminate!
Exterminate!, not to be confused with Exterminatus, is a profoundly powerful removal spell. Yes, three mana might be a bit steep these days, but the replicate cost is quite manageable in any deck where either Daleks or changelings are plentiful.
Flesh Duplicate
The price is right on Flesh Duplicate, as I’m always looking for a bargain. This is roughly as fragile as Phantasmal Image in my estimation, and if we’re being honest, you’re usually running Phimage to copy something that doesn’t need to stick around too long anyway.
Genesis of the Daleks
At the end of this tale, Genesis of the Daleks can potentially create 18/18-worth of menacing stats with which to threaten your opponents. As you might expect, this card gets much better if you’re doubling your token production somehow.
Nanogene Conversion
I’ve racked my brain on what creatures one should target with Nanogene Conversion, and the winners are almost all creatures that will be in your command zone. In particular, Krark, the Thumbless and Nekusar, the Mindrazer are big winners here.
Quantum Misalignment
I really like Quantum Misalignment, particularly because it has rebound, which is one of my favorite mechanics. It might not be as versatile as competitors like Stolen Identity, but I still like it. Keep in mind it only works on your own creatures, so be sure you’ve got lots of valuable targets.
Sontaran General
Sontaran General is a perfect card for any deck looking to turn lots of creatures sideways. You get to push through damage, make it easier to push through damage during subsequent turns, and even force attacks between your opponents to get life totals moving even faster. I’m a big fan.
The Curse of Fenric
The Curse of Fenric is like a Beast Within for each opponent’s best creature, and the other chapters ensure you’ll probably destroy another big threat. This is a bit of an odd one out of green-white, but I’m sure it’ll find a home in some builds.
The Flux
The Flux is a bit like casting a Chandra, Torch of Defiance. The weakness of planeswalkers is they get attacked pretty quickly, but the weakness of The Flux is that it will eventually go away naturally. I think you’ll accrue enough value to be happy with this, though.
The Foretold Soldier
The Foretold Soldier is definitely worth the mana investment. You’ll usually have a good place to send this guy every turn, and even if you don’t, a 6/6 blocker that sticks around is difficult to routinely beat in combat.
The Parting of the Ways
I really enjoy spinning the wheel, and The Parting of the Ways does that quite nicely. The consolation prize of destroying artifacts seems a bit odd as an inclusion in the last chapter, but I don’t know the Doctor Who lore, so I’m sure it’s relevant in ways I don’t understand.
The Sound of Drums
Hahaha I love making my opponents hit each other for huge chunks of damage. I’m gonna cast this card so many times.
The War Games
You’ll get the life totals moving very quickly using The War Games. I’ve done the math, and unless people are removing or sacrificing the tokens, this card can deal a staggering 69 damage before the last chapter goes off. That’s not even a joke. Each opponent attacks for 3, then 6, then 9. Add your 15 to that 54 and… Nice. The only obstacle is blockers, but the potential is definitely there.
Time Beetle
Time Beetle is certainly the linchpin of any deck trying to use suspend cards to their fullest potential. Whether you’re putting this in a Doctor-themed deck or not, it’s sure to put in work.
Weeping Angel
Weeping Angel does not fly, so be careful flashing it in against an opposing angel of the non-alien variety. It does, however, have vigilance and first strike. This makes it a potent surprise blocker and a premium way of poking in to steal the monarchy/initiative.
Whew, that was more cards than I was expecting. While a lot of these cards aren’t nearly as groundbreaking or exciting as the many legendary creatures from this same set, I’m still excited to play quite a few of them. I’m not even a fan of Doctor Who, but I’m having a blast learning small lore tidbits from the folks in the community that are. That’s all for this week though, because looming on the horizon, we have Lost Caverns of Ixalan. I’ve been Luka “Robot” Sharaska, and this has been the Commander Corner.
Luka V. Sharaska (they/them) earned the nickname “Robot” by having a monotone voice, a talent for calculating odds, and a perfect poker face. Robot has been playing Magic for more than a decade, starting during the days of New Phyrexia in 2011.