Precon Upgrade Guide - Blast From the Past
November 20, 2023 by
Beth Queen of Cardboard 
(The Fourth Doctor | Art by David Auden Nash | Sarah Jane Smith | Art By Fajareka Setiawan | Gallifrey Stands | Art by Alexander Gering)
Hey everyone! Beth, Queen of Cardboard here with the Precon Upgrade Guide for Blast From the Past from Universes Beyond: Doctor Who.
With these guides, I normally try to figure out what the original commander wants the deck to do and make the deck as synergistic as possible. But this one's a little different for a couple of reasons. First, the cards in the set are super synergistic already, with each card fitting a theme and going incredibly well in the deck already; for the most part, these decks do what you want them to do. The other reason this deck is different is because, as they currently stand, none of these precons account for the alternate win condition printed in this deck, Gallifrey Stands. This win condition requires you to have 13 Doctors on the field at the beginning of your upkeep.
It's currently impossible to put all 13 Doctor cards from the set in one deck with any of the commanders released in this universe, because of color identity rules. But, technically speaking, you don't need to have 13 different Doctors. While there is talk of a Secret Lair or the possibility of more Doctor Who cards released in the future, as of the time of writing, we're going to need to use a few tricks to get 13 Doctors on the board at one time.
Let's get into it.
An Almost Perfect Pairing
Since we aren't sticking with our normal theme, I tried out a couple of different commander pairings. But ultimately I stuck with The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, because this color pairing allows for the most Doctors currently printed to be in the deck (10), and also because I didn't want to stray too far from the original deck. If we did that, it's no longer an upgrade guide, it's just a deck build.
Additionally, because this deck was already focused on historic spells and was full of spells that were perfect for legends, which our Doctors all are. At the end of the day, I added 20 cards to the deck.
Blast From The Past Cards Added
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Is This World Protected?
When trying to win via an alternate win condition like Gallifrey Stands, there's a lot that can go wrong. With this is mind, it's likely that you'll win more via combat than you will with this card; that's just realistic. But there's no reason not to protect your board state. So I've included fan-favorite Teferi's Protection as a generic failsafe for your board state, as well as Flowering of the White Tree and Everybody Lives!, in an attempt to keep your board the way that you want it.
The most difficult piece of Gallifrey Stands is that it triggers at the beginning of your upkeep and is a permanent, not an instant that you can cast whenever you wish. Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage and Gandalf the White allow you to cast historic spells (Raff) or legendary and artifact spells (Gandalf) as if they had flash. This is where you hold Gallifrey Stands until you really need it and cast it right when you can be assured a win. If you don't have Raff, and you've managed to keep the enchantment on the board for a turn around the table, Sally Sparrow will allow you to cast the Doctors you need to win before your upkeep.
The 13 Doctors
As I mentioned, you can't actually fit all 13 Doctors printed in this set into the deck due to color identity issues. Only two of the Doctors not already included in this deck could be added, The Eleventh Doctor and The Thirteenth Doctor. I also mentioned that the deck doesn't have to have 13 different Doctors, it just has to have 13 "Doctors," so I've included a copy and clone package to help you get there.
In the Precon Primers, I mentioned that these decks break some of the fundamental rules of Magic, including the legendary rule. Our clone army will become Doctors for the purpose of Gallifrey Stands. To help you reach the goal, I've also included Clara Oswald to double trigger your Doctors, Realmwalker to predict what's coming, Relic of Legends to utilize your legendary creatures for ramp, and The Eleventh Hour for a one-time Doctor tutor.
Crisis of Conscience
Cuts in any deck are always hard, and this one was no different. I even cut my favorite card in the set, Displaced Dinosaurs, from this deck. The easiest cuts were the majority of the Sagas and the Saga supporters, like Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton.
The rest of the cuts revolved around combat, which the deck is no longer necessarily trying to do. I also removed the mana dork Susan Foreman, because this card is really only a consideration when playing Planeschase.
Blast From The Past Cards Removed
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What Remains
This deck has a lot of great spells that feel perfect for what we want to do. Some all stars include Twice Upon a Time, The Five Doctors, and Time Lord Regeneration. While the goal of this deck isn't combat-based, it's always a good idea to use it as a backup, so I kept Bessie, the Doctor's Roadster and Sonic Screwdriver to ensure that you can hit your opponents when you want to with unblockable damage.
In addition to thematic cards, this deck had sufficient ramp and removal, so I barely needed to touch this package at all.
Blast From The Past Precon Upgrade Guide
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In Conclusion
While it might be difficult to pilot this deck to a Gallifrey Stands win, it does include some pretty powerful legends that can be a hassle for your opponents, and it's not afraid to swing in for combat damage when necessary. If there are more Doctors printed or a five-color commander you prefer, you can easily replace the clones with the other three Doctors not included in this deck to go for the win. I'm really happy with this deck and it felt truly on brand when I was done with it.
Let me know in the comments what decks you built around Gallifrey Stands or how you upgraded Blast From the Past!
If you enjoyed this article make sure to check out:
Commander VS - Doctor Who Precons | Commander VS | Magic: the Gathering Gameplay
Beth Queen of Cardboard
Beth is an casual Commander player who's passionate about silly decks, creating safe community spaces, and crowns. She loves to travel and play magic with friends. When not playing Magic, she's probably snuggling her dogs or playing some video games.
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