Over the many seasons of the beloved BBC show, companions have always played a key role in Doctor Who, from helping them get out of the most desperate of situations to even falling in love with them. Their importance to the show cannot be overestimated.
Magic: The Gathering‘s latest Universes Beyond product showcases how crucial these companions have been to the good Doctor. Here are the best (and the single worst) Companions for your Doctor Who deck.
Best Doctor Who Companions in MTG
7) Amy Pond
- Mana Cost: 2R
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Ability: Partner with Rory Williams. Whenever Amy Pond deals combat damage to a player, choose a suspended card you own and remove that many time counters from it. Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Amy is a perfect fit for MTG decks trying to cheat in suspended cards before their time. If she goes unblocked, she can change the tide of the game by greatly accelerating the game plan. Additionally, Amy comes with the partner ability, enabling any player to search their deck and retrieve her husband, Rory Williams.
6) Tegan Jovanka
- Mana Cost: 2W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 2/2
- Ability: Brave Heart – Whenever you attack, target attacking historic creature gets +1/+1 and gains indestructible until end of turn. Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
This companion is a total flavor win, as Jovanka literally protects the Doctor. Her ability Brave Heart gives one historic creature, such as a legendary Doctor, +1/+1 and indestructible until the end of a turn. For only three mana, she does a fantastic job of protecting your most valuable asset on the board; your commander.
5) Rose Tyler
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 2/2
- Ability: Bad Wolf – Whenever Rose Tyler attacks, put a time counter on it for each suspended card you own and each other permanent you control with a time counter on it.
Rose Tyler can and will dish out critical commander damage in the right deck. Her ability triggers on attack, allowing her to grow and become a threat on the board rather sooner than later. With the right equipment or Aura, she can sucker-punch anything that dares stand in her way. Rose will surely catch more than one opponent by surprise.
4) Barbara Wright
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Advisor
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 1/3
- Ability: History Teacher – Sagas you control have read ahead. (As a Saga enters the battlefield, choose a chapter and start with that many lore counters. Skipped chapters don’t trigger.) Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Barbara manipulates time by turning Sagas from ticking time bombs simply into bombs. In recent years there have been plenty of powerful Sagas in MTG that want to see their final ability resolved as soon as possible.
Skipping chapters allows the Saga to reach its final and often most powerful chapter faster, from Urza’s Saga and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker to Song of Freyalise and many more. Additionally, the sooner the Sagas reaches its final chapter, the less time opponents have to destroy it.
3) Peri Brown
- Mana Cost: 3W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 2/3
- Ability: The first historic spell you cast each turn has convoke. Doctor’s companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Convoke is a very powerful ability, only ask players that use Chord of Calling or City on Fire. Convoke drastically reduces the mana cost to cast a spell. Artifact spells, for example, can easily be cast for zero or close to zero mana. Peri Brown will help the player cast commander spells effortlessly, among other powerful historic spells.
The only drawback is her ability is limited to only once per turn.
2) Clara Oswald
- Mana Cost: Six
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Advisor
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 2/6
- Ability: Impossible Girl – If Clara Oswald is your commander, choose a color before the game begins. Clara Oswald is the chosen color. If a triggered ability of a Doctor you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time. Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Clara Oswald is by far the most versatile of the companions. Her interesting and unique ability, Impossible Girl, forces the player to name a color before the game starts. Clara will then behave as a permanent of that color for the remainder of the game. She can, therefore, fit into any of the many Doctor decks. Speaking of the Doctor, her second ability allows Doctor abilties to trigger twice. The only thing better than watching your Doctor commander successfully trigger his ability is watching him do it twice.
1) Adric, Mathematical Genius
- Mana Cost: 1U
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Artificer
- Rarity: Rare
- Statistics: 1/1
- Ability: 2U, Tap: Copy target activated or triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets for the copy. Ultimate Sacrifice – 1U, Sacrifice Adric: Counter target activated or triggered ability. Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Considering his strong abilities, Adric deserves to be examined in detail. There is a plethora of powerful activated and triggered abilities that, when copied, become overwhelmingly advantageous. In contrast to the rest of the companions, Adric’s ability is, in fact, so advantageous and versatile that, he could be a stand-alone commander or a powerful addition to the numerous blue commanders.
If that wasn’t enough, Adric can singlehandedly stop opponents from finishing the game with his Ultimate Sacrifice. For two mana, and without tapping him, Adric cancels gamewinning combos like Thassa’s Oracle, Splinter Twin, or Isochron Scepter.
Unfortunately, Adric does have two significant flavor misses. Firstly, his creature type is a human artificer, even though he doesn’t interact with artifacts in any way. And secondly, Adric dramatically died in BBC’s Doctor Who show, but it wasn’t actually a sacrifice.
Underwhelming Ability From a Fan-Favorite Companion
Of all 27 Doctor’s Companions that were released with the set, there was one that stood out as particularly underwhelming. Let’s briefly examine one companion that did not live up to his reputation.
Graham O’Brien
- Mana Cost: 1G
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Pilot
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Ability: Paradox – Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, create a Food token. Doctor’s Companion – You can have two commanders if the other is the Doctor.
Graham O’Brien’s humor, wisdom, and compassion have made him a beloved character of the Doctor Who show. As a key figure during season eleven, it is surprising, to say the least, how inconsequential his abilities are. His Paradox ability lets the player create a food token after they’ve cast a spell from anywhere other than their hand. If there is anything worse than a bad card, it’s a boring card. Graham O’Brien is a vanilla 2/2 that does close to nothing to alter the board state.
Universes Beyond BBC Doctor Who released on Oct. 13 and will indubitably shake up the Commander format.
