The Fourth Doctor lets you look at the top card of your library any time, and once each turn you may play a historic land or cast a historic spell from the top, creating a Food when you do. Sarah Jane Smith investigates the first time each turn you cast a historic spell. Historic means artifacts, legendary cards and Sagas, so the deck wants as many of those as it can find.
The precon has the payoffs, but it counts on Sagas and a handful of weak companions to supply the historic spells. Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in those decks than in decks that could play it.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Blast from the Past precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Saga helpers few decks want
The War Games, The Caves of Androzani, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton all support Sagas, and each is played in only about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in four to five. The decks that do well here lean on legendary creatures and artifacts instead.
Too few legendary creatures
Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, Raff Capashen, Lonis and Rosie Cotton are all legendary, so casting any of them is a historic spell that triggers Sarah Jane Smith, the Sixth Doctor and Alistair. They are among the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out.
Companions that do little here
Leela, Jo Grant and Ace's Baseball Bat are legendary, but their abilities do not use Food, Clues or any other token the deck makes. Each is played in under one deck in four.
The 7 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.
Ace's Baseball Bat is a legendary Equipment for {2}: +3/+0 and first strike while attacking, with equip {1} for a legendary creature and equip {3} for anything else. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in six.
Samwise Gamgee is a 2/2 for {G}{W}. Whenever another nontoken creature enters under your control, you create a Food token. You can also sacrifice three Foods to return a historic card from your graveyard to your hand. He is legendary, so casting him also triggers Sarah Jane Smith.
The War Games is a four-mana Saga that gives each player three goaded 1/1 Warriors, then grows them and exiles them. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in five.
Peregrin Took is a 2/3 Halfling for {2}{G}. If one or more tokens would be created under your control, those tokens plus an additional Food token are created instead. Every Clue, Food and Treasure the deck makes now brings a Food with it, and you can sacrifice three Foods to draw a card.
Barbara Wright is a 1/3 for {1}{W} that gives your Sagas read ahead. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in five.
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage is a 3/3 flash flier for {2}{W}{U}. You may cast historic spells as though they had flash, so every artifact, legendary and Saga you own can be cast at instant speed. It is legendary itself, which makes casting it a historic spell too.
Leela is a 3/3 for {3}{G} that grows when an opponent draws an extra card. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in five.
Lonis, Cryptozoologist is a 1/2 for {G}{U}. Whenever another nontoken creature enters under your control, you investigate. You can also tap and sacrifice X Clues to reveal the top X cards of an opponent's library and put a nonland permanent of mana value X or less onto the battlefield under your control.
Jo Grant is a 3/2 for {2}{W} that gives each historic card in your hand cycling {2}{W}. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in four.
Rosie Cotton of South Lane is a 1/1 for {2}{W} that makes a Food when it enters. Whenever you create a token, you put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control other than Rosie. The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and The Third Doctor all make Foods, Clues or Treasures, so Rosie keeps growing your board.
The Caves of Androzani is a four-mana Saga that stuns two tapped creatures, adds counters and finally searches for a Doctor card. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in four.
Inspiring Statuary costs {3} and gives your nonartifact spells improvise. Your artifacts, including every Clue, Food and Treasure you have made, can tap to pay for {1} of them. It is itself an artifact, so it is a historic spell for your triggers.
Ian Chesterton is a 2/3 for {2}{W} that gives each Saga spell you cast replicate. It is played in about one Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane deck in four.
Astrid Peth is a 2/2 for {1}{W} that creates a Food whenever it enters or attacks, and explores whenever you sacrifice a Clue or Food. It is legendary, so casting it triggers Sarah Jane, and it turns the tokens the deck already makes into extra cards.
The full swap list
Cut
- Ace's Baseball Bat
- The War Games
- Barbara Wright
- Leela, Sevateem Warrior
- Jo Grant
- The Caves of Androzani
- Ian Chesterton
Add
- Samwise Gamgee
- Peregrin Took
- Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage
- Lonis, Cryptozoologist
- Rosie Cotton of South Lane
- Inspiring Statuary
- Astrid Peth
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- The Third Doctor$0.31
Played in 81% of Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks. It makes a Clue, Food or Treasure when it enters and gets +1/+1 for each noncreature token you control. - Talisman of Progress$0.23
Played in 75% of Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks. A cheap artifact that taps for white or blue and counts as a historic spell. - K-9, Mark I$3.47
Played in 73% of Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks. A one-mana artifact creature that gives your other legendary creatures ward {1} while it is untapped. - Alistair, the Brigadier$0.29
Played in 72% of Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks. Every historic spell you cast makes a 1/1 Soldier. - The Sixth Doctor$0.40
Played in 77% of Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane decks. Copies the first historic spell you cast each turn, and the copy is not legendary.
If you want to spend more
These are strong cards that cost more than the swaps above. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Urza, Lord High Artificer$16.21
Urza, Lord High Artificer ({2}{U}{U}) scores 34: it is in 35% of The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith decks with 33% synergy. It reads: When Urza enters, create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with "This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control." Tap an untapped artifact you control: Add {U}. {5}: Shuffle your library, then exile the top card. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost.
The precon's historic core is already close to what players build: its best cards, The Third Doctor, The Sixth Doctor and Alistair, are played in more than seven decks in ten. The upgrade is more legendary creatures and token makers to trigger them, in place of Saga helpers and weak companions. These seven swaps cost about $6 in total and keep the deck's identity intact.
Want a full 100-card list built around The Fourth Doctor from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Blast from the Past precon?
Using data from 1,142 The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith decks, the highest-scoring additions are Samwise Gamgee (for Ace's Baseball Bat), Peregrin Took (for The War Games) and Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage (for Barbara Wright). The full list has 7 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Blast from the Past?
All 7 swaps cost about $6.34 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-11-02). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Urza, Lord High Artificer ($16.21).
What should I cut from Blast from the Past?
The weakest cards for this commander are Ace's Baseball Bat, The War Games and Barbara Wright. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Blast from the Past?
Keep The Third Doctor, Talisman of Progress, K-9, Mark I, Alistair, the Brigadier and The Sixth Doctor. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith do?
The Fourth Doctor lets you look at the top card of your library any time, and once each turn you may play a historic land or cast a historic spell from the top, creating a Food when you do. Sarah Jane Smith investigates the first time each turn you cast a historic spell. Historic means artifacts, legendary cards and Sagas, so the deck wants as many of those as it can find.
More Doctor Who Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith decks (1,142 of them when this was written, 2026-11-02) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. And lift is very high for many Doctor Who cards because they are new and rarely played outside Doctor Who decks, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.