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The First Doctor

The First Doctor

Legendary Creature — Time Lord Doctor

The First Doctor wants a deck that casts extra spells for free off the top of its deck. It can share the lead with a Doctor's companion as a second commander.

  • Mana cost1 genericwhiteblue
  • White, Blue ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 2
  • RarityRare

When The First Doctor enters, search your library and/or graveyard for a card named TARDIS, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle.

Whenever you cast a spell with cascade, put a +1/+1 counter on target artifact or creature.

Build a deck with The First Doctor Find it in the app

Cards That Fit The First Doctor

Picked for what they do in The First Doctor's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit The First Doctor's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for The First Doctor

explain how The First Doctor works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

If an effect instructs you to choose a creature type, you may choose Time Lord.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

Neither "Time" nor "Lord" are creature types. Some older cards were printed with the subtype "Lord," but all of those cards have updated Oracle card text that removed that type.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

Unlike other creature types in Magic that are each only one word, the two words "Time Lord" represent a single creature subtype. Time Lord is the only two-word creature type.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Oct 2023

You choose the target for The First Doctor's last ability before revealing any cards for cascade.

4 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with The First Doctor, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWUPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Cascade/Free CastCascade decks cast extra spells for free, straight from the top of their deck, every time they cast the right card. Cascade turns over cards from the top of your library until it hits a cheaper spell, which you may cast without paying for it.Open the Cascade/Free Cast pageFree CastCan be cast without paying its mana cost when a condition is met, often "if you control your commander". Because it costs nothing, you can still answer something after your mana is already spent. Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting SwatOpen the Free Cast pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageTutors / ToolboxCards that search your deck for another card, each one called a tutor, so you can find the exact answer you need.Open the Tutors / Toolbox pageTutor - NarrowFinds a specific class of card: a subtype, a named card, an Equipment, or one capped by mana value. Steelshaper's Gift, Captain Sisay, Green Sun's Zenith.Open the Tutor - Narrow pageTutorSearches your deck for a specific card. Because a Commander deck may only contain one copy of each card, a tutor is how you reliably find the exact one you need. See the Tutor tier tags for how broad each search is. Demonic TutorOpen the Tutor page