Foundations is one of the most important sets in the history of Magic: The Gathering.

The two most important factors in the long-term success of a game are acquisition and retention; acquisition meaning the ability to get new players, and retention meaning the ability to keep those players around. Magic has perhaps one of the strongest retention rates of any game ever made, as once you've played Magic you are very likely to come back at some point, even if you lapse. This is why Wizards of the Coast can sell fancy Secret Lairs and so many sets, because even if folks put the game down for a bit they are probably coming back.

However, one area the game has struggled in the last decade has been acquisition.

Much of the games marketing and strategy recently has been focused on selling expensive products to entrenched players, cashing in on decades of goodwill and nostalgia. Universes Beyond has been one way to bridge the gap between selling expensive products and opening up to new audiences, but just because a Dr Who fan buys a commander deck doesn't necessarily mean they will meaningfully engage with Magic as a whole.

Frankly, there just hasn't been a good and clear on-ramp for newer players that provides them with the simple tools needed to learn the game organically, rather than being thrown to the wolves in Commander or Modern with tens of thousands of unique (and expensive) cards as well as a multitude of complex interactions.

Well now there is!

Foundations is a very exciting new starting point for Magic players, as well as a chance to revitalize Standard for more experienced and entrenched players. With Standard being the best format in Magic in the last year or two, the timing couldn't be better.

As of writing this, the whole set has been previewed, which means it's time for first impressions in the form of my love/hates! Note that these are not just static rankings. The point is to shed light on cards I think are being over or undervalued based on first impressions. The point of my Love/Hate article is not just to call cards good or bad, but to view cards based on the first impressions people have been having or are likely to have. The goal is to dispel undue hype or to draw attention to cards that are being overlooked.

Let's get started!

Love - Llanowar Elves

Any conversation about Foundations as a set must start with Llanowar Elves.

Put simply, Llanowar Elves is the biggest and riskiest bet in the entire set. The presence of a 1-drop mana accelerator in a format is a huge litmus test for what every other deck needs to be capable of, as well as putting the spotlight on basically every 3-drop in the format.

At some point after the release of Foundations, you will face one of these cards turn two on the draw when you only have one land in play. That is a big deal, completely altering the texture of what Green is capable of in the format. There have been many formats in Magic's history with 1-drop mana dorks, and they are almost always one of the primary pillars of the format.

Llanowar Elves will be no different.

Wizards of the Coast is going to need to be extra careful about the 3-drops they print in the next five years.

Hate - Elvish Archdruid

Wait, isn't Elvish Archdruid a perfect card to cast on turn two after a turn one Llanowar Elves?

Well, yes and no. Elvish Archdruid is another card that has somewhat of a past resume, although almost always in formats that are far more linear than Standard. There's no doubting the power of Elvish Archdruid as an insane source of gobs of mana... if it lives. And of course, that is the big if.

Historically, Elvish Archdruid has been a way for elf decks to get a huge jump ahead in very powerful formats. By threatening to make double digits worth of mana on turn three, Elves in these formats were able to keep up and do their thing in a world of other linear decks light on removal.

This is decidedly not what Standard is all about.

Standard decks typically have a ton of removal spells, and a 3 mana 2/2 dies to just about every single one of them at a loss of mana and tempo. However, there are a few saving graces.

Giving Elvish Archdruid haste and/or untapping via Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler is a very nice way to break serve in the face of removal, while Agatha's Soul Cauldron can give the mana making ability to every creature you have.

There's power in Elvish Archdruid, but it probably won't be good enough straight up.

Love - Vampire Gourmand

Okay, Llanowar Elves is a gimmie, so let's delve just a bit deeper. Check out Vampire Gourmand, a surprisingly powerful uncommon that may look like just a draft card, but is anything but.

Sacrifice effects have been a very important part of Standard for the last number of years, allowing you to accrue value while also being paid off in various other ways. Well Vampire Gourmand is a sacrifice payoff that is cheap, easy to cast, has a reasonable enough rate on it's own, and most importantly protects itself!

The biggest issue with attack trigger cards like Caustic Bronco or survival creatures like Kona, Rescue Beastie is that while they can create a big advantage, they must actually survive the combat step to profitably gain value, let alone even have viable attacks. Vampire Gourmand sidesteps this entire issue by becoming unblockable, allowing you to have your cake and eat it too.

This makes Vampire Gourmand a cheap threat that's also an efficient engine, which is awesome!

Hate - Anthem of Champions

Magic has come a long way since Crusade and Bad Moon.

In the early days of Magic, creatures were terrible.

We can see this in Foundations itself, as it has a number of classic creatures in it that were once the literal best creatures in the game like Savannah Lions and Serra Angel, but are now nothing more than middle of the road Limited cards or filling out starter decks.

When all you've got is a pile of Savannah Lions and White Knights, then a card like Crusade starts to look much more appealing. However, these days creatures are so much better that they all carry an individual weight that doesn't need to rely on outside assistance. Rather than playing a card like Anthem of Champions, which carries an inherent risk of doing nothing or very little on a light board, you can just play another threat that is threatening on it's own.

Sure, Anthem of Champions is probably the best Glorious Anthem / Crusade effect ever printed, but these sorts of effects just aren't very good except in the widest of go wide decks.

Love - Elenda, Saint of Dusk

Speaking of individually powerful creatures, whoa boy check out Elenda, Saint of Dusk.

There are a ton of lifegain payoffs both in Foundations, as well as already in Standard thanks to the Black/White bats theme from Bloomburrow and more, which gives Elenda, Saint of Dusk a lot of friends to play with a huge potential upside.

However, a lot of Elenda's power just comes from the words written in the text box.

A 4/4 lifelink creature for 4 mana is reasonable enough, but "hexproof from instants" is an unbelievable type line in a world ruled by Go for the Throat, Get Lost, Witchstalker's Frenzy, and other spot removal spells. Even absent of any other lifegain synergies, Elenda is a more than reasonable midrange threat, and once you mix in potential lifegain stuff you're getting an amazing deal.

Hate - Solemn Simulacrum

This last one really hurts.

The first time Solemn Simulacrum came out way back in the original Mirrodin was when I first started playing competitive Magic, and the sad robot was a major factor in both Standard as well as Mirrodin Block Constructed. Getting this sort of ramp as well as value from a colorless card was just awesome, which made playing Solemn Simulacrum feel like you had infinite value at your fingertips.

Unfortunately, a lot of this was predicated on again, how bad creatures were back then. Those days, a 2/2 was likely to find a good trade somewhere down the line, making Solemn Simulacrum often able to create a three for one's worth of value while ramping and fixing.

However, the year is 2024.

Solemn's 2/2 body barely makes a dent on turn four these days, and without the ability to threaten a good trade or be something your opponent needs to care about, Solemn is more of a speedbump than anything else.

Solemn may see a tiny bit of play, but sadly ain't what it used to be.

Ten New Brews & Bronze To Mythic

With the full card list and set review out last Friday, you may be asking where's Ten New Brews?

Unfortunately, due to some staff changeover complications, the MTG Arena team decided to skip this set's Early Access event. This means I'll be doing Ten New Brews next week when the set releases, with the plan being to do the Bronze to Mythic premiere the usual time of release day evening on Tuesday the 12th, and then firing off Ten New Brews on Wednesday the 13th.

As such, look for the Ten New Brews article right here on CoolStuffInc.com next week!