The War Doctor
Legendary Creature — Time Lord Doctor
Whenever one or more other permanents phase out and whenever one or more other cards are put into exile from anywhere, put a time counter on The War Doctor.
Whenever The War Doctor attacks, it deals damage equal to the number of time counters on it to any target. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Doctor Who
- Price
- $1.46
- EDHREC rank
- #7483
The War Doctor lands and immediately threatens a 13-damage spin with Dance with Calamity — the payoff is real, the setup cost is just having a high-CMC hand, which most Commander decks already do. The catch is that the variance is genuine: you can whiff, and a 3/3 for four without the trigger is underpowered, so you run him because the ceiling is absurd, not because the floor is safe. He's a slam inclusion in The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler decks and a risky role-player everywhere else.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler
The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler's ability to play cards from the top of opponents' libraries means The War Doctor's Dance with Calamity trigger synergizes with a commander that already wants to see high-CMC cards cascade into the game — the two cards share a mechanical DNA that makes The War Doctor nearly mandatory in that 78% of those decks.
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 War Doctor actually lives — the 99-card singleton format inflates average CMCs naturally, opponents' libraries are stacked with expensive spells, and the political spectacle of a 13-damage coinflip fits the multiplayer table. Legacy and Vintage legality is technically on the table, but a 4-mana 3/3 with an ETB that requires setup has no competitive footing in either format against the speed those metagames demand. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander 60-card-adjacent format worth a mention: as a signature spell companion it doesn't apply, but as a creature in an Oathbreaker 60 it can pull off the same Doctor Who synergy lines in a tighter game state.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
The War DoctorDance with Calamity
Near-infinite damage to one opponent
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$1.46 cheap tier
At $1.46, The War Doctor sits comfortably in the cheap tier — easy to pick up as a role-player without budget anxiety. Demand is essentially locked to Doctor Who Commander builds, so the price reflects a narrow but stable audience rather than broad cross-format appeal.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Dance with Calamity
- The Tenth Doctor // Rose Tyler
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.