Red-Green Dynamics: Color Pair Strategies with The Thirteenth Doctor

Red-Green Dynamics: Color Pair Strategies with The Thirteenth Doctor

In TCG ·

The Thirteenth Doctor MTG card art from the Doctor Who crossover

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Blue-Green Symphonies: The Thirteenth Doctor as a Time-Lord in UG Strategies

In the sprawling multiverse of MTG, color pairs speak in distinct voices. When you deploy The Thirteenth Doctor—a legendary creature with the Time Lord pedigree—you’re inviting a measured, thoughtful tempo into your Commander games. This card from the Doctor Who set brings a rare blend: a mana cost of {1}{G}{U}, a 2/2 body, and a paradoxical ability that rewards you for thinking beyond the hand. The green-blue pairing is tailor-made for resilience, card advantage, and clever exploitation of “off-hand” spellcasts. And yes, we’re nerdy enough to call out the red-green dynamics that fans love to discuss—the thrill of speed meeting growth—yet The Thirteenth Doctor gives you a blue-green twist that feels like a well-timed sonic screwdriver. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

The Thirteenth Doctor’s flavor and mechanics align with a strategy that prizes what blue and green do best when you lean into counters, untapping, and incremental power. The card’s identity as a Multiverse Beyond crossover comes with an aura of timey-wimey experimentation: it rewards you for casting spells from places other than your hand, which means your deck can leverage the graveyard, exile, or other zones to generate value. In practical terms, Paradox becomes less a trap and more a catalyst for growth. And the image of Team TARDIS—untapping creatures at the end step that carry a counter—transforms a simple tempo plan into a looping engine that feels grand on the table. 🌀🎲

Paradox in practice: the counter you can bank on

Its oracle text reads: “Paradox — Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Team TARDIS — At the beginning of your end step, untap each creature you control with a counter on it.” This wording invites you to orchestrate plays that surprise opponents and keep your board alive for the long game. You don’t need to rely solely on hand-discarded tricks; you can weave in spells from your graveyard or other zones to stack up counters. The more counters you place, the more untaps you trigger at the end of turn, refreshing your board’s attack or defense with a tactile sense of momentum. It’s a blue-green rhythm, but it hums with ideas you might associate with a red tempo—only here, the tempo is measured, recursive, and narratively flavorful. 🧙‍♀️🎨

Team TARDIS and counter-based engines

The end-step untap is not merely a flourish; it’s a mechanism that invites you to build “untap engines” around creatures that matter. Pair counters with creatures that benefit from repeated triggers or those that generate value when they untap. You can value creatures that reward you for attacking after they’ve been untapped or for triggering additional effects when they untap. The Thirteenth Doctor makes these choices feel cinematic: you cast a spell from an unusual place, your critter blooms, and then your crew gets a fresh breath every turn. The dynamic is quintessential blue-green—draw, ramp, and resilience—spiced with the Doctor’s textual paradox to keep the game interesting and unpredictable. ⚔️🧭

Practical build notes: what to look for in UG Commander

  • Counter-centric engines: cards that fire more value when your creatures carry +1/+1 counters, or that benefit from repeated untaps. These form the backbone of a resilient UG shell.
  • Non-hand spellcasting support: ways to cast spells from the graveyard, exile, or other zones to keep the Paradox triggers coming.
  • Counter-synergy finishers: threats that scale with the number of counters, turning incremental progress into a late-game blowout.
  • Protection and card draw: blue’s permission and green’s card advantage help you weather disruption while you set up your countered-clocks.

From a collectible lens, this mythic foil speaks volumes. Pauline Voss’s art captures the Doctor’s calm authority and the fervor of temporal cleverness, while the set’s Universes Beyond status marks this as a centerpiece for many decks. The card’s mana efficiency—{1}{G}{U} for a 2/2 legendary creature—keeps it accessible in casual games, yet its foil finish and rarity elevate it into prized slots on a shelf or a display board. The Doctor’s lore—Time Lord, traveler, and puzzle-solver—gives the card a narrative weight that players feel when they announce the paradox triggers and watch counters multiply. 💎⚙️

Flavor aside, the interplay of Paradox and Team TARDIS invites you to roleplay your strategy. Cast from the graveyard to buff your creatures; untap a rallying squad at end step to pressure foes; rinse and repeat with a patient, deliberate cadence. It’s a card that rewards thoughtful play, not just raw power, and that’s the kind of dynamic that makes a table sing. 🎨🧩

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The Thirteenth Doctor

The Thirteenth Doctor

{1}{G}{U}
Legendary Creature — Time Lord Doctor

Paradox — Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.

Team TARDIS — At the beginning of your end step, untap each creature you control with a counter on it.

ID: 0dc4ec90-1650-4b98-9350-66341394cf0b

Oracle ID: 3778e06c-62c7-4b8f-90ff-b2fc2d2e213c

Multiverse IDs: 634407

TCGPlayer ID: 509583

Cardmarket ID: 739223

Colors: G, U

Color Identity: G, U

Keywords: Paradox, Team TARDIS

Rarity: Mythic

Released: 2023-10-13

Artist: Pauline Voss

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 4218

Set: Doctor Who (who)

Collector #: 4

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — not_legal
  • Timeless — not_legal
  • Gladiator — not_legal
  • Pioneer — not_legal
  • Modern — not_legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — not_legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — not_legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD_FOIL: 0.25
  • EUR_FOIL: 0.40
Last updated: 2025-11-16