Foundations has its full release tomorrow, and we finally have the complete set previewed. Much like described, Foundations feels like a core set. After looking through the list of cards, I'm relieved and confused.
I got the impression that Foundations would be a smaller set. I suspected it was a small collection of staple-like cards with a few chase rares for newer players to expand on Standard, not that it was necessary.
Standard has been one of the best formats in Magic for years, even after it lost popularity. It has felt the most organic and didn't suffer from a lack of rotation like other formats. We've now learned Standard is going to more than double in size regarding the number of legal sets. I suspect Standard will have more criticism because of this, as so many new sets will cause something to break.
However, Foundations is pretty tame, overall. I expected to see a lot of staple-type cards like Naturalize, Negate, Shock, Savanah Lion, and Duress, the staples we've had in Standard for decades. While we got some of those staple types, the set did expand on that as well.
Burst Lightning, Abrade, and Llanowar Elves stand out as the type of card I expected since these cards fit into decks in the colors playing them in Standard.
While I don't like the idea of Llanowar Elves in Standard for five years, I suspect when we're in the thick of it we'll acclimate. I've written about this before, but as a reminder, Llanowar Elves pushes players to be reactive when on the draw, and it's difficult to win if your first play is a tapped land while staring down an opponent with a Llanowar Elves, two lands, and a three-drop in play. Three-drops tend to snowball quickly, so I'm not looking forward to that.
Foundations will include Standard-legal starter sets. Within the starter collection, we have many older staples we'd expect including the Temples, a land cycle. Temples have been power crept out by superior Surveil lands, as it's going to be better a majority of the time to add a card to your graveyard rather than your deck. There are times that may not be true, such as when you're playing a deck with tutors and one-ofs and lack access to your graveyard or a reason to dump extra cards in your graveyard. This would be rare, and I'd have rather seen any other dual cycle in that slot, but that would make it more difficult to make exciting new land cycles in future Standard sets.
As far as a Limited experience is concerned, I suspect I'll quickly get bored of this set since the power level is low. It doesn't mean it's bad, so I'll play hoping to enjoy whatever they've put together. I'm seeing core-set vibes from the Limited experience because there aren't explicit synergies that require a ton of focus. It'll likely be straightforward and grindy, as the cards are underpowered by today's standards.
I'd like to review a few of my favorite cards from the set thus far. Here are my five favorites.
Soulstone Sanctuary
Soulstone Sanctuary is a nice colorless creature land that we may see played alongside one of Standard's current best cards, Unholy Annex. While it's no Mutavault, Soulstone Sanctuary will provide that demon we need. Soulstone Sanctuary won't likely be a four-of in Standard decks, but it's a nice one- or two-of if you can afford additional colorless lands. Its activated ability is too expensive to be too reliant on, but it's a nice addition though it likely won't see much play as long as Fountainport is legal.
It's a nice addition to Standard in case you want to focus on a specific creature type, but it's not a massive staple and won't break things in the way Mutavault has in the past.
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore is somewhat of a fixed Snapcaster Mage. It doesn't provide immediate value, but you need to be playing a large amount of cheap interactive spells to flashback. Sphinx of Forgotten Lore seems best in a shell with cards like Duress or potentially in Pioneer with Thoughtseize to clear your opponent's answers and then flashback removal and cantrips to start running away with the game.
Sphinx of the Forgotten Lore may see Standard play, but it's not completely broken and is a solid creature you can build around. Its 3 toughness is prohibitive since it's going to die to most removal, making it a mediocre card, especially in the face of any incidental graveyard hate that suppresses Sphinx of the Forgotten Lore's ability to flashback spells.
All that said, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore will be a ton of fun to play with, and it's right on the cusp of what I'd consider a solid Standard card. Just maybe it's good enough to make a few waves.
Kellan, Planar Trailblazer
Kellan, Planar Trailblazer is my favorite card from the set. I've been waiting a long time for a spicy Jackal Pup for red aggro decks. Kellan plays the role of a solid one-drop that is far from broken. Kellan can help you curve out and be a mana sink in the mid-game, allowing you to find more gas if you flood out and need to sink mana into Kellan.
My biggest issue with Kellan is that Kellan is a legendary creature. Much like Zurgo in the past, it's annoying to play low-impact, one-drop creatures and have to worry about drawing multiples despite them not feeling legendary while in play. Evolved Sleeper, Warden of the First Tree, and Figure of Destiny never had this "what if I draw two" situation.
Kellan will see play in any Mono Red deck as a one-drop. While there's a lot of current competition at one mana in red, Kellan is a sweet one-drop that will exist beyond what we see now and five years into the future, as it will always be a solid creature.
I love Kellan, and I love how they're pushing to design playable one- and two-drops for these aggressive decks.
Abyssal Harvester
Abyssal Harvester is such a cool card. While I suspect it's far too fragile to see competitive Standard play, it has such a powerful effect.
There are a lot of surprises on this card as I read it. For one, this says put into a graveyard this turn and not put into the graveyard from the battlefield. This means you can discard an Atraxa and immediately put it into play by activating this ability.
Abyssal Harvester also doesn't bury the token until it's activated again, so the Atraxa you put into play stays in play.
The ceiling on Abyssal Harvester is crazy high, but most of the time it will trade down on mana to a removal spell. This makes for a card that likely can't see heavy consideration as a card to build around. However, we may see some creative ways to activate this thing.
Abyssal Harvester will likely sit on the sidelines, but I'd love to play with it in a less competitive environment. I suspect we'll see people try this card in Commander at the very least.
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Tinybones is a cool version of The Raven Man. It's a recycled shell of a card, but I like how this lets us play with opponents' cards rather than 1/1s that can't block. Tinybones will play well alongside a card like Liliana of the Veil and Duress, but I doubt Tinybones will see much play, as it's too low-impact.
This may be the most playable version of this card type because you don't need many free cards from it for it to be good, but it requires you to build around it too much to get just a decent card.
Tinybones is cute and looks fun to play, so it lands in that category of card that I hope to try.
Foundations looks tame, which is a relief. Even though I love to explore set after set of powerful cards, it can be a bit much. Most of the cards in this set likely won't impact Standard much. Cards like Llanowar Elves may have the largest impact, but we'll have to wait and see how things shake up.
I'm looking forward to playing both Limited and Standard when Foundations releases, and I've booked my flight for the first major Standard event in Atlanta in January.
Hope to see you there!
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