Let's pause for a moment and consider the fact that there is a Magic: the Gathering card for Peri Brown. This is definitely something I never thought I would see.
As a Doctor Who fan who started watching the show on non-profit public broadcasting in the early 1980s, I never could have imagined the success it currently enjoys. Back then we had to huddle in front of the cathode ray tube TVs of the previous century, crossing our fingers that the seasonal pledge drive for donations would be enough for the local PBS station to buy another year's worth of the Doctor's adventures, and it was rare that you ran into anyone who had even heard of it, let alone was a devoted fan.
But of course, the show's 2005 revival was incredibly successful, to the point that Doctor Who now goes out worldwide on Disney's streaming channel, and Wizards of the Coast considers it enough of a recognizable property that they're willing to devote an installment of their Magic: the Gathering: Universes Beyond product line to it. And they've done a great job.
The cards themselves are amazingly well thought out, with a lot of deep-dives into the show's 60-year history. There are cards for every single Doctor and companion, as well as most (if not all) of the major villains and many memorable guest stars ranging from Madame Vastra to Duggan, the punch-happy detective from 1979's City of Death. The artwork is uniformly spectacular, in many cases giving us what amounts to big-budget versions of scenes that may have been a bit...disappointing on classic Doctor Who's notoriously tiny budget.
Rather than a randomized set of cards that come in blind booster packs and require players to assemble their own decks for play, the Doctor Who Magic set consists of four preconstructed decks for the Commander format. Buying all four Commander decks will get you a complete set of all the cards in their basic, non-foil versions, but if you want to chase after the foils, extended art, and alternate art versions, you'll need to look for Collector Boosters.
Most of the set consists of new cards, but they did do a number of reprints of classic Magic cards with new Doctor Who artwork. Even the basic Land cards (the core building blocks of any Magic deck) got new artwork featuring the TARDIS in a variety of alien landscapes. Also included in each deck is a set of oversized Planechase cards, an optional add-on that introduces different locations to Magic games -- the idea of players moving between different worlds and environments is a natural fit for Doctor Who.
In theory, having this card set come as preconstructed decks is a great idea, as it gives potential Doctor Who fans who might be new to Magic a way to get playing right away. The Commander format, which asks each player to come to the game with a deck consisting of exactly 100 unique cards, even makes sense as it allows for a wide range of new cards to be featured. However, Commander is also a bit more complicated and cumbersome than a normal game of Magic, so if you're new to the game and want to learn how to play, this might not be the best place to start.
For Doctor Who fans who are also Magic players, the set is fantastic, both in the breadth of Doctor Who characters and storylines that are covered, and also in the attention to detail and just the downright fun of it all. The development team was clearly made up of dedicated fans, or at the very least did some exhaustive research.
Rating: 4 (out of 5) a beautifully designed set of cards for Magic: the Gathering. Non-Magic players might find it all a little baffling, but Peri's card looks great!
- MTG Universes Beyond: Doctor Who official website