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The Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor

Legendary Creature — Time Lord Doctor

The Fourth Doctor wants a deck that casts extra spells for free off the top of its deck. It leads the ready-made Blast from the Past deck (2023).

  • Mana cost2 genericgreenblue
  • Blue, Green ()
  • Power / toughness4 / 4
  • RarityMythic

You may look at the top card of your library any time.

Would You Like A...? — Once each turn, you may play a historic land or cast a historic spell from the top of your library. When you do, create a Food token. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)

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Cards That Fit The Fourth Doctor

Picked for what they do in The Fourth Doctor's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit The Fourth 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

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The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Decks Led by The Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor leads a ready-made deck.PreconShort for preconstructed deck: a ready-to-play deck sold in a box by Wizards of the Coast. A Commander precon comes with its commander and all 100 cards, so you can play it straight away and change cards later.Open the full glossary

Rulings for The Fourth Doctor

explain how The Fourth 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

Essentially, The Fourth Doctor lets you play with the top card of your library revealed only to you. Knowing what that card is becomes part of the information you have access to, just like you can look at the cards in your hand. You may look at the top card of your library whenever you want, even if you don't have priority. This action doesn't use the stack.

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

If the top card of your library changes during the process of casting a spell or activating an ability, you can't look at the new top card until the process of casting the spell or activating the ability ends (all targets are chosen, all costs are paid, and so on).

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 8 Nov 2024

Food is an artifact type. Even though it appears on some creatures, it's never a creature type.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Nov 2024

Whatever you do, don't eat the delicious cards.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Nov 2024

You can't sacrifice a Food to pay multiple costs. For example, you can't sacrifice a Food token to activate its own ability and also to activate Maraleaf Rider's ability.

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

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with The Fourth 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 glossaryUGPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, G for green. 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 pagePlay from TopLets you play cards directly off the top of your deck, so your next draw is always available to cast. It pairs strongly with anything that controls what sits on top. Bolas's Citadel, Mystic ForgeOpen the Play from Top pageCard SelectionImproves what you draw rather than how much: you look at the top few cards of your library and decide what stays on top. Ponder lets you rearrange the top three, Serum Visions lets you scry, and Consider lets you surveil. It makes your draws more reliable without giving you extra cards.Open the Card Selection pageHistoric PayoffRewards you for historic cards: the legendary cards, artifacts, and Sagas that Magic groups under that one word. In Commander your commander is always legendary, so these start with something to count. Jhoira, Weatherlight CaptainOpen the Historic Payoff pageLegends MatterLegends decks fill up on legendary cards and use cards that reward you each time you cast one. A legendary card has the word Legendary on its type line; you can only keep one with the same name in play, and nearly every commander is legendary.Open the Legends Matter pageFood TokensFood tokens are artifacts you can pay 2 mana, tap and sacrifice to gain 3 life, and many Food cards also reward you for sacrificing them.Open the Food Tokens pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageLibrary ManipulationCards that let you look at, rearrange or play from the top of your deck, so you control what you draw next.Open the Library Manipulation page