The Second Doctor
Legendary Creature — Time Lord Doctor
Players have no maximum hand size.
How Civil of You — At the beginning of your end step, each player may draw a card. Each opponent who does can't attack you or permanents you control during their next turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Doctor Who
- Price
- $1.65
- EDHREC rank
- #3793
The Second Doctor puts a draw-and-pass engine on the table the moment opponents draw cards — in group-hug or wheel-heavy shells, that drip of card advantage compounds fast. The cost is real: four mana for a 1/1 with no immediate protection means it eats removal before it pays off, and Sokrates, Athenian Teacher covers much of the same space at lower cost.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
Sokrates, Athenian Teacher is the natural home — both cards reward opponents for drawing, and The Second Doctor layers an additional card-advantage engine on top of Sokrates's Enlightenment triggers, turning every shared draw into double value.
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler's activated ability hands cards to each player on demand, which means The Second Doctor's triggered draw fires repeatedly on your own turn — the two together form a tight loop that keeps your hand full while fueling group-hug payoffs.
Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted already incentivizes giving opponents resources, so The Second Doctor fits cleanly into that ethos and adds a card-draw engine that scales the more Zedruu's gifting keeps opponents drawing into their donated permanents.
Phelddagrif
Phelddagrif's abilities actively put cards and tokens into opponents' hands and fields, and The Second Doctor converts that generosity into a steady personal card-draw engine that compounds every time a hippo ability resolves.
The Celestial Toymaker
The Celestial Toymaker forces opponents into mini-games that often involve drawing or cycling cards, and The Second Doctor capitalizes on that incidental draw to pull ahead in hand size while the board state resets around the game effects.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where The Second Doctor actually functions — the multiplayer table means three opponents drawing cards each turn cycle, and that volume of triggers is what makes the card's incremental draw engine worth a four-mana investment. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but effectively invisible: a four-mana 1/1 with no immediate impact doesn't compete in formats measured in one- and two-mana interaction. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where it could slot into a group-hug shell, though the tighter pod sizes reduce the trigger frequency that makes The Second Doctor good.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.65 cheap tier
At $1.65, The Second Doctor sits comfortably in the cheap tier — low enough to slot into any group-hug build without budget concern. It's a niche card with a narrow home, so don't expect the price to move much in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
- Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
- Zedruu the Greathearted
- Phelddagrif
- The Celestial Toymaker
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.