Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Strax’s Bold Entrance into the Battle Table

If you’ve ever opened a new Commander product and whispered, “Wait, Strax? In MTG?” you’re not alone. The Doctor Who crossover brings a green-red brute with a surgical sense of timing to the battlefield. Strax, Sontaran Nurse is a legendary creature — Alien Cleric — with a surprising mix of healing grit and battlefield chaos. With a mana cost of {3}{R}{G}, this 5/5 behemoth strides onto the board wearing vigilance and trampling over the usual tempo humdrum. It’s not just the raw stats that catch your eye; it’s the design philosophy: a legendary creature that encourages you to push into risky, high-reward plays while keeping the table honest about who’s got the threat next turn 🧙‍♂️🔥.

From a gameplay standpoint, Strax sits squarely in the Gruul fantasy lane: big bodies, strong combat, and the kind of glaze-eyed enthusiasm that makes a multiplayer game memorable. The vigilance means Strax can attack and still defend—perfect for building linear pressure without sacrificing your defenses. And that trample ensures your eruptions aren’t wasted on walls or chump blockers. But the card’s real charm lies in its suite of abilities that feel tailor-made for chaotic multiplayer formats. Grenades! — {2}, {T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Choose a player at random. When you do, Strax fights another target creature that player controls. Glory of Battle — Whenever Strax deals damage to a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on Strax. In a format built on alliances and shifting allegiances, that pair of lines invites you to lean into artifact-rich decks and gladiatorial combat in a controlled frenzy 🔥⚔️.

Gameplay spotlight: how it plays out at the table

• Artifact-heavy engines: Grenades! is a built-in incentive to assemble a small, robust suite of artifacts. Artifacts become not just value or ramp but fuel for a strategic sacrifice that can flip the board state in an instant. Sacrifice a mana rock to push Strax into a fight, force a removal tempo swing, or trigger a stray Glory of Battle counter if you connected with a creature already damaged that turn 💎.
• Randomness as social currency: The random player selection can create thrilling, unpredictable moments. It’s not about maximizing inevitability; it’s about injecting storytelling into the game. The table remembers the turn Strax flipped a key creature and sent a rival’s attacker into a disruptor’s path, all while your team gasps at the counter that happened to land on Strax itself ⚔️.
• Combat math and momentum: The moment Strax touches down, you’re not just pressing for damage; you’re laying groundwork for a serious debuff-to-buff loop. Glory of Battle ensures that, as Strax chips away at foes, your commander grows into a towering presence—plus the occasional random fight can punch above its weight class in a crowded board state 🔥.
• Lore-friendly flavor in play: The Sontaran nurse-turned-warrior persona translates into a thematic deck that leans into calculated risk and surgical extraction of threats. Every Grenades! activation feels like Strax issuing a precise, if chaotic, battlefield intervention—our nerdy hearts beat a bit faster when a plan comes together just so 🧙‍♂️.

Artists and designers often talk about how feel matters as much as raw power, and Strax nails that balance. The Doctor Who crossover is a celebration of two universes colliding in a way that respects both: the clinical precision of Strax’s violence, and the exuberant, imaginative whimsy of MTG’s multiverse. The card’s rarity—rare in the Who set—also nudges collectors to appreciate not just the power on the battlefield but the storytelling behind the art. John Tedrick’s illustration captures that moment where brilliance and bravado intersect on a grassy Plains battlefield, a reminder that MTG isn’t only about wins; it’s about memories made across the table 🧙‍♂️🎨.

Deckbuilding ideas: strategies that sing with Strax

If you’re piloting Strax in a Commander or Legacy-like casual circle, consider a shell that blends ramp, artifact payoff, and robust removal. Green gives you the mana acceleration to hit {3}{R}{G} on curve, while red contributes aggression, chaos, and artifact tempo. A few practical ideas:

• Artifact focus: Include mana rocks, swords, and drop artifacts that can be sac’d to Grenades! without crippling your board. Think Chrome Mox, Sol ring, or even less flashy staples—whatever helps you fuel Strax’s first fight with a satisfying thud.
• Protection and redundancy: Since Grenades! requires an artifact sacrifice, include ways to protect key artifacts or to recur them from the graveyard. A resilient artifact package keeps the pressure on and makes Strax’s trigger more reliable across longer games 🧲.
• Prize fights and politics: Strax’s random player target gives you a built-in social mechanic. Use it to maneuver alliances, force opponents to choose sides, and create memorable late-game moments when two players collide under Strax’s banner ⚔️.
• Evasion and finishers: With vigilance and trample, you’ll often be pushing through on multiple fronts. Pair Strax with anthem effects or combat buffs to accelerate those +1/+1 counters and turn every swing into a near-finish line.

Flavor and function converge here: a card that rewards you for thinking in a broader, more theater-like frame. It’s not just about beating face; it’s about steering narrative arcs—who gets hit, who gets saved by your timely sacrifice, and how the table reacts to a sudden, cinematic Strax moment 🧙‍♂️💎.

Art, rarity, and the collector’s angle

As a rare in the Doctor Who Commander set, Strax is a desirable piece for players chasing both power and story. Its two-color identity—green and red—defines the deck-building space you inhabit: big creatures, big fights, and a little bit of planned chaos. The card appears in both foil and nonfoil finishes, a nod to players who prefer showy presentations or more subdued table presence. If you’re drafting or building around this card, you’ll appreciate the subtle details in the illustration, the bold typography, and the elegant resonance with Strax’s iconic in-universe bravado 🧩.

And yes, the practical side matters too. In terms of price, Scryfall records Strax at accessible levels for a rare from a crossover set, with foil variants offering a touch more shine for your display shelf. Whether you’re a Doctor Who fan or a MTG collector who loves surprising two-color dragons with a twist of sci-fi flavor, Strax rewards curiosity and a willingness to embrace the unexpected.

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