Overview

Paradox Power is built around a life loss engine that generates Dalek creature tokens. Davros, Dalek Creator creates a Dalek token whenever an opponent loses life for the first time each turn, and those Dalek tokens have a triggered ability that deals one damage to each opponent whenever they attack — creating a recursive loop where Daleks attacking causes damage, which causes life loss, which creates more Daleks. The army scales automatically with the number of life loss events the deck generates.

The deck includes multiple sources of opponent life loss beyond combat: taxation effects, drain spells, and pingers that chip away at life totals each upkeep or trigger. The Grixis colour combination provides the full suite of black life drain, red direct damage, and blue card draw, creating a game plan that grinds opponents down through incidental damage while the Dalek army grows and eventually overwhelms through combat.

Key Cards

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Exterminate!
Removal · Dalek Payoff
A Doctor Who-specific removal spell that destroys target creature or planeswalker, then creates a Dalek token if a Dalek you control died this turn. Exterminate! is both premium removal and a Dalek generator: sacrificing a Dalek to meet the second mode's condition creates a replacement Dalek, maintaining the board count while eliminating a threat. In a deck that already creates Daleks from life loss events, Exterminate! scales in the late game when multiple Daleks are already in play and can be sacrificed to fuel additional token creation.
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Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Life Loss Engine · Draw Punisher
Whenever an opponent draws a card, they lose 2 life. Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life. Sheoldred is the premier life loss generator for this deck: every card every opponent draws — on their turn, through instant-speed draw effects, through triggered draw abilities — causes 2 life loss, which fires Davros's Dalek creation trigger. In a four-player game, Sheoldred alone generates multiple Dalek tokens each round without any additional investment. Combined with cards that force opponents to draw, Sheoldred becomes a Dalek factory that also protects you through life gain.
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Wound Reflection
Damage Doubler · Life Loss Amplifier
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, each opponent loses life equal to the life they lost this turn. Wound Reflection doubles every life loss event that happens to each opponent during their own turn. In a deck that consistently forces opponents to lose life through Davros, combat, and drain effects, Wound Reflection doubles the total damage output and doubles the number of Dalek creation triggers. A turn where an opponent loses 6 life becomes a 12-life loss with Wound Reflection and generates a Dalek at both events, accelerating the army's growth dramatically.
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Heartless Hidetsugu
Mass Life Loss · Dalek Generator
Tap: each opponent loses half their life total, rounded up. Heartless Hidetsugu is the most explosive life loss effect in the deck: a single activation causes every opponent to lose half their remaining life, which fires Davros's Dalek creation trigger for each opponent simultaneously. Three opponents losing life in a single activation generates three Daleks at once. Hidetsugu's activation also triggers Wound Reflection at end of turn, and if Sheoldred is in play, every subsequent card draw compounds the life loss further. Hidetsugu is the deck's single most threatening non-Davros card and must be answered or it ends the game quickly.

Playing the Deck

The deck's early game is about establishing Davros and protecting him. Without Davros in play, there are no Dalek tokens from life loss, so the priority is landing him and keeping him alive. Early mana rocks accelerate Davros to turn three or four, and the first life loss event on each opponent fires immediately in a multiplayer game due to the abundance of incidental chip damage from lands (Pain lands, Shock lands) and opponent combat.

The mid game is defined by building the Dalek army. Sheoldred arriving turns every opponent card draw into a free Dalek trigger, and in a typical Commander game opponents draw multiple cards per turn through their natural draw step plus any card advantage pieces. Each Dalek token that attacks deals one to all opponents, which fires Davros again, which creates another Dalek. The army grows geometrically once this loop is established.

Heartless Hidetsugu is typically held as a late-game closer: once the Dalek army and Wound Reflection are in play, a Hidetsugu activation followed by an attack from the Dalek army can reduce all three opponents from half their starting life total to zero in a single turn. The deck's blue counterspells protect this key turn from interference.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: Paradox Power generates threats from ordinary gameplay. Opponents drawing cards, taking combat damage, and paying for effects all feed the Dalek creation engine. Sheoldred and Heartless Hidetsugu are individually powerful cards that perform well even without Davros in play. The deck is highly explosive: a single Hidetsugu activation can win a game that seemed unwinnable a turn earlier.

Weaknesses: The deck draws significant aggression: Sheoldred and Heartless Hidetsugu are both major threat cards that opponents prioritise removing. Davros requires opponents to actually lose life to generate tokens, making the deck weaker against life gain strategies. The deck can struggle to close the game if the Dalek army is repeatedly swept by mass removal.

Verdict
Paradox Power is the most aggressive and explosive of the four Doctor Who precons, delivering an immediate and recognisable game plan: drain opponents' life totals and build an army from their suffering. Sheoldred and Heartless Hidetsugu are genuine constructed-power cards that make the deck competitive even at higher-powered tables. The Dalek token synergy is flavourfully resonant and mechanically satisfying. Players who enjoy aggressive attrition strategies and want a deck that can end the game suddenly from a seemingly losing position will find Paradox Power deeply rewarding.

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Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Paradox Power precon, enriched with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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