Navigating Universes Beyond: Doctor Who and its Variants
By Janice Rivera-Pagan •Get ready to travel across time and space, Doctor Who is coming to Magic: The Gathering! The newest set in the Universes Beyond series, Universes Beyond: Doctor Who, features fascinating alien creatures, beloved time travel companions and references to the many adventures from the popular British television series Doctor Who.
To help sellers navigate through all the wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey contents of this upcoming release, we’ve created a complete breakdown of what you can expect when opening packs for Universes Beyond: Doctor Who. But before we get started, here are some frequently asked questions for this release:
Q: How can I tell if a card is a Variant Card in the Seller Portal?
A: All variant cards feature their Variant Type in parentheses after the card name. Examples of these will be (Showcase) and (Extended Art). When exporting inventory and sorting by card number, all Variants will be above card number 332 in the set.
Q: Is there a Buy-A-Box promo card that I can list with this release?
A: Unlike previous Universes Beyond releases, Universes Beyond: Doctor Who will not include a Buy-A-Box promo with its release. However, the Launch Party promo, Past in Flames, will be available to list on TCGplayer on October 13, 2023 at the start of the Launch Party Event.
Q: How can I tell if my Universes Beyond: Doctor Who card is Traditional Foil or Surge Foil?
A: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who features two predominant types of foiling: Traditional Foil and Surge Foil. Every card from Universes Beyond: Doctor Who is available in Traditional Foil and Surge Foil except for the plane cards, which are only available in Traditional Foil.
The main differentiator between a Traditional Foil card and a Surge Foil printing variant is the card number on the bottom-left corner of the card. As a result, Surge Foil printings of every card will have a (Surge Foil) identifier next to the card name, and have card numbers from 0606 to 1165.
Without further ado, let’s go over all of the card variants available in Universes Beyond: Doctor Who:
TCGplayer Set Name: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
Cards numbered 0001 through 0331 are your main set items. These come in all the normal locations:
- Commander Decks
- Collector Boosters
- 1 Guaranteed Slot: 1 traditional foil card from the Blast from the Past Commander Deck (1 in 10 can be Surge Foil instead)
- 1 Guaranteed Slot: 1 traditional foil card from the Timey-Wimey Commander Deck (1 in 10 can be Surge Foil instead)
- 1 Guaranteed Slot: 1 traditional foil card from the Paradox Power Commander Deck (1 in 10 can be Surge Foil instead)
- 1 Guaranteed Slot: 1 traditional foil card from the Masters of Evil Commander Deck (1 in 10 can be Surge Foil instead)
- 1 Potential Slot: 1 Surge Foil Wildcard (which cannot be a TARDIS Showcase or basic land card)
TCGplayer Set Name: Launch Party & Release Event Promos
This card is numbered 0565 and titled Past in Flames. The card features unique BBC Studios artwork only available as the Launch Party promo, and can be found ONLY in the below locations:
- Launch Party & Release Event Promos - Traditional Foil
Note: This Launch Party Promo will not be listed until Friday, October 13, 2023 at the start of the Launch Party event.
TCGplayer Set Name: Planechase: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
Universes Beyond: Doctor Who is revisiting the popular planes cards with a Whovian twist! The unique Doctor Who planes cards are oversized and can be found in their own unique set. They are numbered 0566-0604 and are ONLY available in Commander Decks for this release:
- Each Commander deck comes with 10 oversized Doctor Who plane cards
TCGplayer Set Name: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
A total of 30 cards, including 3 Uncommons, 23 Rares, and 5 Mythic Rares received a unique TARDIS-themed Showcase treatment! Showcase cards are numbered 0535 through 0605 for the Traditional Foil prints and 1126 through 1155 for the Surge Foil variants. They can be found ONLY in the below locations:
- Commander Decks
- Collector Boosters
- Guaranteed Slot: 1 Non-Foil TARDIS Showcase card
- There is an equal percent chance to receive an Uncommon, Rare, or Mythic Rare Showcase card in this slot
- Guaranteed Slot: 1 Traditional Foil TARDIS Showcase card (1 in 10 can be Surge Foil instead)
- There is an equal percent chance to receive an Uncommon, Rare, or Mythic Rare Showcase card in this slot
TCGplayer Set Name: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
Each incarnation of the Doctor will also receive a unique Serial Numbered variant printed with a Double Rainbow Foil in the TARDIS Showcase treatment. While these Serial Numbered cards are mechanically identical to the regular Showcase print, they are highly collectible as only 500 copies were printed of each card, and have less than a 1% chance of being pulled.
The Serial Numbered Doctor cards includes card numbers 0552 through 0564 and are exclusively available in Collector Boosters:
- Potential Slot: 1 Traditional Foil TARDIS Showcase card
- With less than 1% chance of being a Serial Numbered TARDIS Showcase card
TCGplayer Set Name: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
Extended Arts are numbered 0332 through 0534 for the Traditional Foil prints and 0923 through 1125 for the Surge Foil variants. They can be found ONLY in the below locations:
- Commander Decks
- Collector Boosters
- Guaranteed Slot: 2 Non-Foil Extended Art cards (1 new exclusive and 1 reprint)
- Guaranteed Slot: 2 Traditional Foil Extended Art cards (1 new exclusive and 1 reprint)
- Guaranteed Slot: 2 Surge Foil Extended Art cards (1 new exclusive and 1 reprint)
- 1 Potential Slot: 1 Surge Foil Wildcard (which cannot be a TARDIS Showcase or basic land card)
TCGplayer Set Name: Universes Beyond: Doctor Who
Note: Double-sided tokens are added to the catalog during release week once confirmation of double-sides are received.
Double-sided tokens are only available in Traditional Foil and can be found ONLY in the below locations:
- Commander Decks
- Each Commander deck comes with 10 double-sided tokens.
- Collector Boosters
- Guaranteed Slot: 1 Traditional Foil double-sided token (1 in 3 can be Surge Foil instead)
Have questions for our team? Please contact us at catalog@tcgplayer.com.