Locations
Foundations has been legal in formats for about two weeks now, and there seem to be several rares and mythics from the set that are seeing a good amount of play across multiple decks. Today we're going to talk about some of the most exciting of those cards!
One interesting thing about Foundations is the numbering format that Wizards used this time around. Typically sets in Magic are organized alphabetically, by color. Starting with more recent Commander sets, however, the new cards that are unique to the set come first, then the reprints are behind that. So basically, in color order within each:
- New Cards
- Reprints
This is how Foundations is structured, and this is the first time that a "core set" has been organized in such a way as far as I know.
While I assume this will only be done with sets that contain a high number of reprints, like Foundations, this numbering convention makes it a lot easier to see which cards in a set are new, which helped me with isolating the new cards for the following selections.
Sire of Seven Deaths
As a huge Eldrazi fan, I talked about Sire of Seven Deaths previously. While this was a card that really excited me at first, I couldn't make sense of its price tag. It's one of the priciest cards in the set, hovering around $35, but I didn't see it in any decks during the first week of release. As usual, I just assumed that was due to Commander.
That changed in the past few days, however. There's a Modern deck that's playing four copies of the Eldrazi, along with four copies of Magus of the Candelabra and four copies of Overgrowth. Finally, a deck taking advantage of this exciting colorless menace! (Menace being just one of the seven abilities on the card!) There was also a Pioneer deck utilizing a couple copies as well, so people are coming around. Being easy to cast and reanimate while being annoying to remove, t's only a matter of time, I feel, before the Sire really shows its true power.
Kiora, the Rising Tide
Kiora has already seen play in multiple formats, including Modern and Standard. As an old school player with a huge nostalgia for Odyssey block, I absolutely love that she has threshold, and that her looting ability fuels it.
Speaking of which, being a Merfolk that loots also gives off big Merfolk Looter energy, which was another card that was huge during that era. In a deck with cards like Psychic Frog, along with Kiora doing her best Champion of Wits impression, hitting Kiora's threshold and making an 8/8 Scion of the Deep is a pretty easy task.
Abyssal Harvester
This card seems ridiculous, and really reminds me of a Dauthi Voidwalker for creatures. The fact that it doesn't cost any mana to activate its ability really makes it great. It allows you to kill a creature and activate the Harvester in the same turn without having to worry about awkward mana constraints.
As far as I'm concerned, the Harvester also has two other huge upsides. 1) Unlike Dauthi Voidwalker, you don't have to sacrifice it to use it. And 2) if the Harvester is killed, you don't also lose the nightmare token. All of these perks make the Harvester a really exciting demon.
Kellan, Planar Trailblazer
Kellan was another card I mentioned and is another card seeing playing in both mono-Red decks and Boros decks. Being able to draw cards the red way for a two-mana level up feels good on a creature you can play on turn one. Giving him double strike and three power just makes him that much harder to deal with in combat.
One of the things I always look out for on cards like this is whether they say "play" or "cast." Play is obviously preferable because it allows you to play lands from among the exiled cards. While I would have loved to see some form of evasion along with double strike, like trample or flying, Kellan is still a strong one-drop regardless.
Leyline Axe
Leyline Axe is an interesting one and the second card on the list with double strike on it. That's a pretty uncommon ability, to be fair. Just like every other four-mana Leyline, the Axe comes into play for free if it's in your opening hand. This is likely the reason I've seen it being played as a four-of in some decks in both Pioneer and Standard.
Being an artifact that potentially comes into play for free also has solid synergy with cards like Legion Extruder, Gleeful Demolition, Zoetic Glyph, and Case of the Filched Falcon.
Huge honorable mentions to Elenda, Saint of Dusk and Koma, World-Eater, both of which I love and previously mentioned, and are still bangers that are seeing mixed play.
As always, thanks a ton for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
