The Doctor's Tomb MTG Card


The Doctor's Tomb - Doctor Who
RarityCommon
TypePlane — Trenzalore
Released2023-10-13
Set symbol
Set nameDoctor Who
Set codeWHO
Number580
Frame2015
LayoutPlanar
BorderBlack
Illustred byAnato Finnstark

Key Takeaways

  1. The Doctor’s Tomb grants card advantage, instant speed play, and resource acceleration, enhancing strategic gameplay.
  2. Drawbacks include a specific mana cost, discard requirements, and potential efficiency issues compared to similar cards.
  3. It’s a versatile choice for graveyard-focused decks, with combo potential and meta relevance in current strategies.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase The Doctor's Tomb MTG card by a specific set like Doctor Who, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the The Doctor's Tomb and other MTG cards:

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Text of card

If a creature would die, instead exile it and that creature's controller loses 2 life. Whenever chaos ensues, redistribute any number of players' life totals. (Each of those players gets one life total back.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Doctor’s Tomb provides a unique advantage by allowing you to delve into your library for specific card types, ensuring you have the right tools for any situation and thereby maintaining a strategic upper hand.

Resource Acceleration: This card goes beyond mere card filtering; it grants you the opportunity to put land cards onto the battlefield tapped. This form of resource acceleration is invaluable for ramping up your mana pool swiftly and efficiently.

Instant Speed: The Doctor’s Tomb operates at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to react during your opponent’s turn. This strategic advantage lets you optimize your responses and keep your adversaries guessing about your next move.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: For players wielding The Doctor’s Tomb, a significant drawback is the necessity to discard a card to exploit its full potential. This cost can be quite steep, particularly in the critical stages of a match where maintaining a full grip of cards is vital for staying ahead of your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: Incorporating The Doctor’s Tomb into a deck can be challenging as it requires a specific arrangement of mana. This inherent restriction means it may not seamlessly fit into a wide array of deck archetypes, potentially limiting its versatility and necessitating a build-around strategy for optimal use.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment required to activate The Doctor’s Tomb is on the higher end for its category. When compared to other options available in the game, some may offer similar or greater benefits for a lesser mana commitment, effectively making them more tempo-efficient choices in a game where efficiency can be the key to victory.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Doctor’s Tomb fits seamlessly into a variety of deck archetypes. Its ability to interact with graveyard mechanics makes it a valuable addition for any player looking to leverage their graveyard as a resource.

Combo Potential: With its synergistic potential, The Doctor’s Tomb can be the cornerstone of powerful combos, especially in decks that capitalize on reanimation or sacrifice strategies.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prominence of graveyard strategies in the current meta, having The Doctor’s Tomb in your arsenal can give you an edge by either empowering your own strategy or disrupting your opponent’s.


How to beat

The Doctor’s Tomb is a unique Magic: The Gathering card that poses a substantial challenge for players. This artifact provides a recurring advantage by potentially bringing creatures back from the graveyard. To effectively counter this card, players need to implement strategies that disrupt graveyard mechanics. Graveyard hate cards like Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt can instantly exile cards from the graveyard, rendering The Doctor’s Tomb’s ability obsolete. Additionally, targeting the artifact itself with destruction or exile effects can also be a viable strategy. Cards such as Disenchant or Naturalize offer straightforward ways to remove The Doctor’s Tomb from the battlefield before it can impact the game further.

Denying your opponent the chance to accumulate value over time by carefully managing their graveyard and the battlefield is key. Always remember to anticipate the activation of The Doctor’s Tomb and position yourself to respond with the appropriate countermeasures. With the right sideboard cards or main deck inclusion, you can nullify the advantage provided by The Doctor’s Tomb and maintain control over the match.


Cards like The Doctor's Tomb

The Doctor’s Tomb is a unique piece in the ever-expanding universe of Magic: The Gathering. It offers players a nuanced strategy in deck building, similar to other cards that balance risk and reward. When looking for similar effects, Priest of Forgotten Gods stands out with its ability to provide card advantage while controlling the board, though it requires an additional sacrifice.

Delving further into the MTG card compendium, one may draw parallels to Liliana, Untouched By Death. Her -3 ability, like The Doctor’s Tomb, plays with graveyard mechanics, providing a different flavor of interaction with creatures no longer in play. However, Liliana’s Planeswalker status adds additional layers of versatility and power.

Finally, God-Pharaoh’s Gift invites comparison, granting recursive power as a late game force. Its higher cost and artifact status set it apart from The Doctor’s Tomb, offering an alternate path for those who favor robust reanimation strategies.

In summary, The Doctor’s Tomb solidifies its place within Magic: The Gathering as a compelling choice for players keen on utilizing the full potential of their graveyard for strategic depth and advantage.

Priest of Forgotten Gods - MTG Card versions
God-Pharaoh's Gift - MTG Card versions
Priest of Forgotten Gods - MTG Card versions
God-Pharaoh's Gift - MTG Card versions

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Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering The Doctor's Tomb card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2023-10-13 You can't split up a life total when you redistribute it. For example, suppose that in a two-player game your life total is 5 and your opponent's life total is 15 when the chaos ability starts to resolve. You can choose to (a) leave the life totals as they are or (b) make your life total 15 and your opponent's 5. You can't choose to make your life total 20 and your opponent's 0.
2023-10-13 You choose which player gets which life total when the chaos ability resolves.