Magic: The Gathering Doctor Who – How Villainous Choice Works

Doctor Who has some of the most famous villains in fiction, and they have their own special Villainous Choice mechanic in the series’ upcoming crossover with Magic: The Gathering. This means they’ll have something to face the different time travel mechanics that the Doctors and their companions use in their respective Commander Decks.

As Doctor Who is an ancient TV show at this point, it’s had its fair share of hammy villains, and the fact that the Doctor has only died as few times as they have means that the enemies have spent way too much time messing around and not enough time exterminating them. Luckily, the Doctor can regenerate, so they can escape death whenever the villains do wise up, or whenever the current actor wants to leave the show.

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How The Villainous Choice Mechanic Works In Magic: The Gathering’s Doctor Who Crossover

The Villainous Choice mechanic forces an opponent (or possibly multiple opponents) to choose between two outcomes, both of which benefit the player who used Villainous Choice. The Villainous Choice cannot be refused and can happen under different circumstances. If multiple players are affected, they must choose separately, possibly with different outcomes.

One of the Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Commander Decks is called Masters of Evil, and it’s centered around the Villainous Choice mechanic. The Commander is Davros, Dalek Creator, and his version of Villainous Choice only kicks in at the end step and only for players who have taken three or more damage that turn. Those players must either discard a card or allow Davros, Dalek Creator’s player to draw a card.

Some of the other Masters of Evil cards possess the Villainous Choice ability. Missy’s choice activates during the end step, forcing other players to take a point of damage or allow Missy’s player to draw a card and for Chaos Ensuses to activate. Similarly, The Valeyard forces an opponent to make the Villainous Choice twice, though they can choose a different option the second time.

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Villainous Choice is a great mechanic for screwing with your opponent, letting them choose which option they want that will make it harder for them to continue playing. Not all of the Masters of Evil creatures possess this mechanic, but those that do will be among the most annoying to face in battle.