Doctor Who Magic: the Gathering
Oct. 23rd, 2023 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivverI'm sure most people who see this aren't interested in Magic: the Gathering, but I'll suggest opening the cut below anyway just to see the pictures. (Click thumbnails to see better images.)
Also, here's a link to all of the cards in the set, so you can go look at all of them. Click on any card to see a larger image. https://scryfall.com/sets/who
The Doctor Who MtG set has been out for over a week. We bought the Commander decks and some boosters, and it's taken me this long to really grok how the set is put together.
We haven't actually played the game yet, but it's standard MtG Commander rules, so yes, there's combat and stuff. There really wasn't a way to fit DW's pacifism into MtG, but that's fine. They did a good job of recasting DW elements in terms of MtG mechanics. For example, when you play Psychic Paper, you choose a card name and creature type, then equip a creature with the paper. Then, that creature now has that chosen card name and creature type and cannot be blocked. You may not know what the terms mean in-game, but it still should be apparent that that's perfect for an object that makes people think you're someone else and gets you into places.
There are something like 1200 cards in the set, and wow, that's a lot! There are lots of duplicates and special cards, and I only just last night figured out what it all means. So here you go...
There's about 190 DW-specific regular MtG cards, which I'm calling the Base Set in this article. These cards are completely new, and are specific DW characters and concepts. Most of them are regular MtG cards, so creatures, artifacts, and spells like instants and sorceries (those are MtG terms). From what I understand, if you buy all four Commander decks, you will get at least one of each of these cards.
As you can see, the set does cover classic as well as modern DW, though the emphasis is on modern. The classic emphasis is on One, Four, and Seven, though as I think about it, all of Five's companions (except for Kamelion, who really doesn't count) got their own card, which isn't true for any of the other classic Doctors).
They also include "saga" cards, which are specific to Commander sets: they are cards which last for a number of turns and have an effect for each turn. For DW, each saga card is an episode.
Saga card for my favorite episode? Of course I had to show it here.
Then there's the Planar cards. These are oversized cards (so they can't be used in a deck itself) that are also specific to Commander sets that create an effect overall, so like a setting or environment. There are 42 of them, and most are meant to be a place the Doctor has visited or something he's experienced. These cards are only available in the Commander decks, and if you buy all four, you'll get all of them.
Sorry, you have to turn your head on its side. I'm too lazy to rotate the image and reupload it.
Then there's the TARDIS Showcase cards. These are a select few of the Base Set in a TARDIS frame with alternate art - mostly comic-book style. These cards come from the booster packs.
The next major bunch are the Reprints. MtG is an established game and this DW set is meant to work with it, outside of just playing with DW cards. The cards in the Base Set are not enough to make the game work; it needs a lot of supporting cards. So, the Reprints are existing MtG cards with the standard title and instructions, but with art to bring it into the DW universe. I think some of them are in the Commander decks, but in general, you get them from the booster packs.
For example, here's the Wayfarer's Bauble. It's a vortex manipulator, though you'll notice (if you understand MtG rules) that it's appropriate in name only; what the card does doesn't match what a vortex manipulator does.
Okay, so with the Reprints, that comes to around 450 cards. "But you said 1200 cards," you cry. "Where's the other 750 cards?" Alternates. They're all alternates. And they only come from booster packs.
First, there's a bunch of Extended Art cards. These are a relatively small subset of the Base Set and the Reprints that have extended art - meaning that the side frames are gone and the art extends to the edge of the card. If you ask me, it isn't all that impressive, since the normal cards were designed to not have anything hidden by the frames. All you're getting is more space on the sides. That's 203 cards.
Then, there's the Surge Foils. This is a large subset of the Base Set, the Reprints, and the TARDIS Showcase that are just shinier-than-shiny foils. That's 560 cards.
So this means that there are 763 cards that are just fancy versions of regular cards.
Given what we've bought, we have a full set of the Base Set from the Commander decks and a chunk of the Reprints and the TARDIS Showcase cards. There's really no way we're going to get a full set of those, so we're trying to narrow down which ones we're going to go out and buy individually, and then sell our excess to Card Kingdom or something. There are definitely a couple that we want all of the versions of, such as my husband's favorite companion, Leela.
Which brings us to my favorite card in the set, Clockspinning. When I found this one, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Oh, I just found my favorite card.
Him: Let me see. (Takes the card.) Oh. Okay. It's pretty, but nothing special.
Me: Look closely at what he's wearing.
Him: (After a good fifteen seconds of staring) I don't see what you mean.
Me: That's not -
Him: Oh! That's not the Doctor, is it? That's -
Me: That's John Smith.
Him: He's turning back, isn't he?
Me: Yes.
Him: This is showing something we never get to see.
Me: Yes.
Him: This is your favorite card.
Me: Yes.
Also, here's a link to all of the cards in the set, so you can go look at all of them. Click on any card to see a larger image. https://scryfall.com/sets/who
The Doctor Who MtG set has been out for over a week. We bought the Commander decks and some boosters, and it's taken me this long to really grok how the set is put together.
We haven't actually played the game yet, but it's standard MtG Commander rules, so yes, there's combat and stuff. There really wasn't a way to fit DW's pacifism into MtG, but that's fine. They did a good job of recasting DW elements in terms of MtG mechanics. For example, when you play Psychic Paper, you choose a card name and creature type, then equip a creature with the paper. Then, that creature now has that chosen card name and creature type and cannot be blocked. You may not know what the terms mean in-game, but it still should be apparent that that's perfect for an object that makes people think you're someone else and gets you into places.
There are something like 1200 cards in the set, and wow, that's a lot! There are lots of duplicates and special cards, and I only just last night figured out what it all means. So here you go...
There's about 190 DW-specific regular MtG cards, which I'm calling the Base Set in this article. These cards are completely new, and are specific DW characters and concepts. Most of them are regular MtG cards, so creatures, artifacts, and spells like instants and sorceries (those are MtG terms). From what I understand, if you buy all four Commander decks, you will get at least one of each of these cards.
As you can see, the set does cover classic as well as modern DW, though the emphasis is on modern. The classic emphasis is on One, Four, and Seven, though as I think about it, all of Five's companions (except for Kamelion, who really doesn't count) got their own card, which isn't true for any of the other classic Doctors).
They also include "saga" cards, which are specific to Commander sets: they are cards which last for a number of turns and have an effect for each turn. For DW, each saga card is an episode.
Saga card for my favorite episode? Of course I had to show it here.
Then there's the Planar cards. These are oversized cards (so they can't be used in a deck itself) that are also specific to Commander sets that create an effect overall, so like a setting or environment. There are 42 of them, and most are meant to be a place the Doctor has visited or something he's experienced. These cards are only available in the Commander decks, and if you buy all four, you'll get all of them.
Sorry, you have to turn your head on its side. I'm too lazy to rotate the image and reupload it.
Then there's the TARDIS Showcase cards. These are a select few of the Base Set in a TARDIS frame with alternate art - mostly comic-book style. These cards come from the booster packs.
The next major bunch are the Reprints. MtG is an established game and this DW set is meant to work with it, outside of just playing with DW cards. The cards in the Base Set are not enough to make the game work; it needs a lot of supporting cards. So, the Reprints are existing MtG cards with the standard title and instructions, but with art to bring it into the DW universe. I think some of them are in the Commander decks, but in general, you get them from the booster packs.
For example, here's the Wayfarer's Bauble. It's a vortex manipulator, though you'll notice (if you understand MtG rules) that it's appropriate in name only; what the card does doesn't match what a vortex manipulator does.
Okay, so with the Reprints, that comes to around 450 cards. "But you said 1200 cards," you cry. "Where's the other 750 cards?" Alternates. They're all alternates. And they only come from booster packs.
First, there's a bunch of Extended Art cards. These are a relatively small subset of the Base Set and the Reprints that have extended art - meaning that the side frames are gone and the art extends to the edge of the card. If you ask me, it isn't all that impressive, since the normal cards were designed to not have anything hidden by the frames. All you're getting is more space on the sides. That's 203 cards.
Then, there's the Surge Foils. This is a large subset of the Base Set, the Reprints, and the TARDIS Showcase that are just shinier-than-shiny foils. That's 560 cards.
So this means that there are 763 cards that are just fancy versions of regular cards.
Given what we've bought, we have a full set of the Base Set from the Commander decks and a chunk of the Reprints and the TARDIS Showcase cards. There's really no way we're going to get a full set of those, so we're trying to narrow down which ones we're going to go out and buy individually, and then sell our excess to Card Kingdom or something. There are definitely a couple that we want all of the versions of, such as my husband's favorite companion, Leela.
Which brings us to my favorite card in the set, Clockspinning. When I found this one, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Oh, I just found my favorite card.
Him: Let me see. (Takes the card.) Oh. Okay. It's pretty, but nothing special.
Me: Look closely at what he's wearing.
Him: (After a good fifteen seconds of staring) I don't see what you mean.
Me: That's not -
Him: Oh! That's not the Doctor, is it? That's -
Me: That's John Smith.
Him: He's turning back, isn't he?
Me: Yes.
Him: This is showing something we never get to see.
Me: Yes.
Him: This is your favorite card.
Me: Yes.
