Warning!

The decks you are about to see are mostly untested first drafts! They were played Wednesday on the MTG Arena open ladder and are my first stabs at the new Foundations Standard format. Most are brews jam packed with Foundations cards, while there are also a few updates to previously established archetypes, but it's important to note that these are the first steps and not finished products! Use them as stepping stones for your own deck brewing process, but play them card for card at your own risk!

Foundations is awesome.

I can't even recall the last time Magic: The Gathering had such a wonderful and well thought out starter product. The last few years have mostly been characterized by a deep dive into the collectable aspect of the game with so many variations on "booster fun" and Secret Lairs, as well as an absolute Commander explosion. This has all catered to enfranchised players, but left newer players wading through a confusing mush of expensive collectables and confusing Commander games without a great on-ramp.

Foundations is that on-ramp, while also helping to showcase Standard once again as a premiere Magic: The Gathering format. Standard has been the best format in Magic all year, meaning the timing of Foundations couldn't be better. With a huge number of cards in both the main set and the starter set, this is one of the biggest influxes into Standard at one time we've see, which is very exciting.

Today we are going to go over all ten decks I played as part of my Ten New Brews on YouTube and stream, briefly going over each list and my thoughts on how it was, giving it a letter grade, and talking about what kind of potential it has going forward. Note that unlike usual, where Ten New Brews is played during an Early Access event against other content creators, this time there was no Early Access Event. All these decks were played in three Best of Three matches on the open ladder in Diamond, meaning our opponents were almost entirely good players playing successful and established decks.

Let's go!

Elfball | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler
• 2 Llanowar Loamspeaker
• 2 Imperious Perfect
• 4 Citanul Stalwart
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Elvish Archdruid
• 4 Leaf-Crowned Visionary
• 4 Llanowar Elves

• Planeswalkers (7)
• 1 Nissa, Ascended Animist
• 2 Vivien Reid
• 4 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Genesis Wave

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Agatha's Soul Cauldron

• Lands (23)
• 10 Forest
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Restless Cottage
• 2 Three Tree City
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Llanowar Wastes

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Duress
• 2 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Vivien Reid
• 2 Deathmark
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Glissa Sunslayer
• 2 Ghost Vacuum

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Deck's Record: 2-1

Deck's Grade: B

Deck Potential: Medium

Standout Card: Elvish Archdruid

A lot of the allure of Foundations is it touching on many of Magic's most beloved themes and cards, and the awesome creature type stuff is no exception.

Elvish Archdruid has always been a profoundly powerful elf in other formats, basically saying "if you don't kill me, I am going to make double digit amounts of mana and go nuts" and that hasn't changed at all. Imperious Perfect gives a redundancy on the elf front, but of course the real banger here is perhaps the best card in the entire Foundations set, Llanowar Elves.

Llanowar Elves is obviously a great Magic card first and foremost that just happens to be an elf, as it doesn't need other elves to be good, but being an elf is also a big draw to elf decks as well.

What's interesting is that these cards enter a format that already has one of the best elf lords ever printed in Leaf-Crowned Visionary, which has been languishing in the unplayable pile because it had no friends to play with. Add on a pair of Tyvars that both play awesome with Elvish Archdruid and you've got something nice cooking.

With the quality of removal and sweepers in Standard it's possible that Elves might not quite get there, but there's certainly a playable deck here.

Holy Moley | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (28)
• 2 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 3 Serra Paragon
• 3 Skrelv, Defector Mite
• 4 Wojek Investigator
• 4 Frontier Seeker
• 4 Giada, Font of Hope
• 4 Inspiring Overseer
• 4 Youthful Valkyrie

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Lay Down Arms

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Ossification

• Lands (24)
• 19 Plains
• 2 Fountainport
• 3 Cavern of Souls

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 2 Loran of the Third Path
• 3 Invasion of Gobakhan
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 2 Archangel of Tithes
• 1 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 2 Metropolis Reformer

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: C

Deck Potential: Low to Medium

Standout Card: Giada, Font of Hope

Hey, did we just do this recently?

Well, yeah actually.

We've just seen Giada, Font of Hope, Youthful Valkyrie, and Inspiring Overseer in Standard, as they all rotated out recently. That being said, they were the core for a decent Angels deck, as both Giada and Youthful Valkyrie provide much needed excellent 2 mana plays for the deck, with Giada being the standout.

Lyra Dawnbringer also joins the party from the Foundation Starter Set and was excellent, definitely warranting more than two copies. Add in a mixture of the two excellent Mono-White removal spells in Lay Down Arms and Ossification and it seems like the recipe for a very solid deck.

The issue however is the same issues these sorts of angel decks always have: there's just no velocity or card filtering. You sorta just hope you draw a good mix of lands, creatures, and the right removal for the right matchup at hand.

Solid, but very unexciting.

Charity Offering | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Coveted Falcon
• 4 Piggy Bank

• Instants (6)
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 4 Torch the Tower

• Sorceries (11)
• 1 Ill-Timed Explosion
• 2 Beseech the Mirror
• 2 Deadly Cover-Up
• 2 Duress
• 4 Harmless Offering

• Enchantments (10)
• 2 Nowhere to Run
• 4 Demonic Pact
• 4 Greed's Gambit

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Irencrag

• Lands (24)
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Thundering Falls
• 2 Undercity Sewers
• 2 Underground River
• 3 Gloomlake Verge
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Blazemire Verge
• 4 Raucous Theater

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Duress
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 4 Urabrask's Forge
• 2 Negate
• 2 Deathmark
• 1 Brotherhood's End
• 1 The End
• 2 Malicious Eclipse

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: B-

Deck Potential: Higher Than Expected

Standout Card: Greed's Gambit

Included in the starter set for Foundations is the wombo combo of Harmless Offering and Demonic Pact.

The joke is simple; gain your value from pact and then give it to them before the "you lose the game" trigger goes off. Harmless Offering is probably the most efficient version of this Donate effect in the game, but Demonic Pact hasn't aged particularly well, as not doing anything the turn you play it is rough.

However, Greed's Gambit on the other hand...

Greed's Gambit was pretty sweet! You get a lot up front with Greed's Gambit, and is particularly useful to give to your opponent at any point, not needing to wait for the fourth chapter of Demonic Pact to be up. Cards, life, and blockers is exactly what you need to get things going and Greed's Gambit does exactly that.

This feels like a meme, but between Greed's Gambit, Harmless Offering, and Beseech the Mirror pairing up with various discard and removal, there is something sweet here.

The High Life | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Elenda, Saint of Dusk
• 2 Linden, the Steadfast Queen
• 2 Ruin-Lurker Bat
• 2 Zoraline, Cosmos Caller
• 4 Amalia Benavides Aguirre
• 4 Deep-Cavern Bat
• 4 Essence Channeler
• 4 Exemplar of Light
• 4 Hinterland Sanctifier

• Instants (5)
• 2 Cut Down
• 3 Go for the Throat

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Case of the Uneaten Feast

• Lands (24)
• 8 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 2 Restless Fortress
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Concealed Courtyard
• 4 Scoured Barrens

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 3 Duress
• 1 Loran of the Third Path
• 1 Elenda, Saint of Dusk
• 2 Deathmark
• 2 Authority of the Consuls
• 2 Skrelv's Hive
• 2 Requisition Raid

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Low to Medium

Standout Card: Exemplar of Light

This is not my first time playing a Black/White lifegain deck on Ten New Brews, but the deck did gain perhaps the biggest new card it has ever gotten.

As long as you have a way to gain a life immediately, Exemplar of Light is a 4/4 flyer for four that draws you a card the turn you play it, and threatens to do so for the rest of the game as well. This slots in perfectly with Case of the Uneaten Feast as well as the new Hinterland Sanctifier as a way to trigger instantly and be a major threat.

Add in a pair of Ajani's Pridemate-adjacent (who is also in the set but doesn't make the cut here) cards in Essence Channeler and Amalia and you've got quite the payoff for all the small lifegain triggers. Deep-Cavern Bat does double duty here as a disruptive element that also is a great for gaining that all important one life.

Unfortunately, the Scoured Barrens were definitely not worth it, as while they promote synergy, they were far too awkward on the early turns. Linden, the Steadfast Queen also has a high ceiling, but is hard to cast and has a low floor.

Soulflayer | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Abhorrent Oculus
• 2 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 2 Rona, Herald of Invasion // Rona, Tolarian Obliterator
• 2 Sire of Seven Deaths
• 3 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
• 4 Kiora, the Rising Tide
• 4 Overlord of the Balemurk
• 4 Urborg Scavengers

• Instants (3)
• 3 Bitter Triumph

• Sorceries (12)
• 2 Terror Tide
• 2 Zombify
• 4 Chart a Course
• 4 No One Left Behind

• Lands (22)
• 2 Island
• 2 Swamp
• 2 Hidden Grotto
• 2 Mirrex
• 2 Restless Reef
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Undercity Sewers
• 4 Underground River

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Duress
• 3 Withering Torment
• 2 Deathmark
• 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Malicious Eclipse
• 2 Ghost Vacuum

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: C-

Deck Potential: Low

Standout Card: Kiora, the Rising Tide

Keywords keywords keywords!

Urborg Scavengers is a forgotten rare from the forgotten March of the Machine Aftermath set, which like Soulflayer before it is adept at picking up keywords from creatures in your graveyard. Well, the new Sire of Seven Deaths and reprinted Zetalpa, Primal Dawn both have a ton of great keywords!

The problem is that they just aren't safe enough. Ward does not translate to the Urborg Scavengers, while indestructible doesn't stop things like Sunfall, Leyline Binding, or Anoint with Affliction. This, coupled with how deeply reliant the deck on the graveyard the deck is against potential hate, makes this one just too finicky.

However, if you want to give it a shot, my Twitch chat had the excellent idea of playing Valgavoth's Lair, which you can exile to Urborg Scavengers on the first trigger to give it hexproof which is awesome!

Mogg Monday | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (27)
• 2 Dropkick Bomber
• 2 Squee, Dubious Monarch
• 3 Witchstalker Frenzy
• 4 Exuberant Fuseling
• 4 Fanatical Firebrand
• 4 Krenko, Mob Boss
• 4 Rundvelt Hordemaster
• 4 Searslicer Goblin

• Instants (3)
• 3 Torch the Tower

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Dragon Fodder

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Patchwork Banner

• Lands (24)
• 16 Mountain
• 1 Three Tree City
• 3 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 4 Cavern of Souls

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Volley Veteran
• 1 Witchstalker Frenzy
• 2 Enduring Courage
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 4 Urabrask's Forge
• 2 Lithomantic Barrage
• 1 Torch the Tower
• 1 Agatha's Soul Cauldron

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: D+

Deck Potential: Low

Standout Card: Searslicer Goblin

Just like with elves and angels, goblins get a boost too!

Searslicer Goblin was awesome, providing the ability to make many tokens for a cheap cost, while the original gangster Krenko, Mob Boss is back as well with the ability to go exponential. The problem is that without Goblin Warchief or Goblin Chieftain around to give haste, Krenko is slow.

I think you could definitely build a deck around Krenko utilizing Agatha's Soul Cauldron for some shenanigans, but just playing Goblins straight up isn't very compelling in the current format.

The Amazing Case | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (15)
• 2 Loot, Exuberant Explorer
• 3 Archway Angel
• 3 Clifftop Lookout
• 3 Gate Colossus
• 4 Llanowar Elves

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Circuitous Route
• 4 Day of Judgment

• Enchantments (8)
• 2 Case of the Locked Hothouse
• 2 Felidar Retreat
• 4 Spelunking

• Lands (29)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Boros Guildgate
• 1 Dimir Guildgate
• 1 Golgari Guildgate
• 1 Gruul Guildgate
• 1 Izzet Guildgate
• 1 Orzhov Guildgate
• 1 Rakdos Guildgate
• 1 Thran Portal
• 2 Azorius Guildgate
• 2 Maze's End
• 3 Simic Guildgate
• 4 Brushland
• 4 Razorverge Thicket
• 4 Selesnya Guildgate

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Gateway Sneak
• 4 Temporary Lockdown
• 2 Negate
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 1 Archway Angel
• 2 Blossoming Tortoise

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Deck's Record: 0-3

Deck's Grade: F

Deck Potential: Non-Existent

Standout Card: Spelunking

Oh boy.

Another much loved returning archetype is Gates, which had a nice run in Standard as well as still being a pretty awesome deck in Historic on MTG Arena. Being able to ramp up, get paid off for certain lands, and have an alternate win condition in Maze's End is not a bad place to be.

The problem is that none of the actual good payoffs were reprinted in Foundations.

This deck was the rare ultimate failure in that it had almost no redeeming qualities. The Maze's End part of the deck was super unreliable, the deck had zero velocity and ran out of cards very quickly, and frankly the deck just didn't really function at all.

Avoid at all costs.

This Is For You | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Honest Rutstein
• 2 Ertai Resurrected
• 2 Loran of the Third Path
• 2 Zimone and Dina
• 3 Mischievous Mystic
• 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 3 Winter, Misanthropic Guide
• 4 Razorkin Needlehead
• 4 Rona, Herald of Invasion // Rona, Tolarian Obliterator
• 4 Scrawling Crawler

• Instants (5)
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 3 Torch the Tower

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Relic of Legends

• Lands (24)
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Copperline Gorge
• 1 Karplusan Forest
• 1 Llanowar Wastes
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Spirebluff Canal
• 1 Underground River
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Secluded Courtyard
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Deathmark
• 3 Duress
• 2 Wear Down
• 2 Cathar Commando
• 1 Loran of the Third Path
• 2 Pile On
• 1 Jirina, Dauntless General
• 2 Ghost Vacuum

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Deck's Record: 2-1

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Fun But Probably Not Seriously Competitive

Standout Card: Scrawling Crawler

This is perhaps the most deranged deck I have ever built for Ten New Brews.

When I saw Scrawling Crawler during my set review, I knew I wanted to build some sort of deck featuring it alongside Razorkin Needlehead and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse for maximum punishment of my opponent's draws.

However, I couldn't really find an angle I liked, until I saw Winter, Misanthropic Guide and noticed that both it and Razorkin Needlehead were both humans! As long as Cavern of Souls and Secluded Courtyard are legal in Standard together, you'll be able to do some pretty crazy stuff manawise as long as all of your creatures share a type.

Throw in together the moteliest crew of human legends you've ever seen that all concern themselves with drawing cards and you've got a truly bizarre deck.

However, we did go 2-1!

There's a lot of crazy stuff happening here, and while giving your opponent cards may not be the best competitive strategy of all time, there's certainly a lot of fun to be had. It won't win a Pro Tour but it should would be fun for FNM or ladder play!

Double Loot | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (19)
• 2 Insidious Fungus
• 2 Loot, Exuberant Explorer
• 3 Vaultborn Tyrant
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
• 4 Solemn Simulacrum

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Nissa, Ascended Animist
• 2 Vivien Reid

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Map the Frontier
• 4 Glimpse the Core

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Spelunking

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Mazemind Tome

• Lands (24)
• 16 Forest
• 1 Conduit Pylons
• 1 Demolition Field
• 2 Fountainport
• 4 Arid Archway

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Tranquil Frillback
• 2 Pawpatch Formation
• 1 Insidious Fungus
• 2 Obstinate Baloth
• 2 Mazemind Tome
• 3 Tyrranax Rex
• 1 Ghost Vacuum

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Deck's Record: 1-2

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Medium

Standout Card: Spelunking

I have been enamored with the engine of Spelunking and Arid Archway in Standard, but just haven't really been able to make it work.

Bouncelands are slow but powerful, but Spelunking removes the entire drawback by letting you tap it for 2 mana immediately. This can lead to extremely explosive draws, especially with Map the Frontier getting two of them and making 4 mana back immediately.

The issue is that you need to be able to use all this colorless mana.

Enter cards from Foundations!

Solemn Simulacrum does the ramp thing while also being able to cast and a reasonable speedbump, while Mazemind Tome is going to be a very important card draw engine for as long as it is legal. All of this leads into a top end of Vivien Reid and perhaps more importantly Nissa, Ascended Animist and Vaultborn Tyrant, giving you a very powerful top end.

The issue of course is the deck doesn't do much to interact, so in the games where it doesn't have a great ramp draw, things can get ugly.

There's something sweet here with this engine, but it needs work.

Assemble! | FDN Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (3)
• 3 Solemn Simulacrum

• Planeswalkers (14)
• 1 Kaya, Intangible Slayer
• 1 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
• 2 Archangel Elspeth
• 2 Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator
• 2 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 2 The Eternal Wanderer
• 4 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (8)
• 2 Anoint with Affliction
• 3 Cut Down
• 3 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Day of Judgment

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Urza Assembles the Titans

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Irencrag

• Lands (26)
• 4 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 2 Demolition Field
• 2 Fountainport
• 2 Restless Fortress
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Concealed Courtyard
• 4 Shadowy Backstreet

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Duress
• 2 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Kaya, Intangible Slayer
• 1 Cut Down
• 4 Temporary Lockdown
• 3 Beza, the Bounding Spring

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Deck's Record: 2-1

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Low to Medium

Standout Card: Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Liliana, Dreadhorde General is an awesome Magic card.

Six mana is a lot, but Liliana basically does it all, drawing cards, killing things, and making threats. Liliana joins The Eternal Wanderer and Kaya, Intangible Slayer as very powerful top end planewalkers in a format that hasn't seen many planeswalkers lately.

Throw in the return of a true four-mana sweeper, as well as all the great Black removal and you've got a decent board control Superfriends-style deck. Unfortuntatly, while Urza Assembles The Titans is a cool looking card, it really is quite bad and probably shouldn't be in the deck.

So Much More

With both the main set and the starter set, there really is so much to unpack in this release.

I probably could have built ten more decks, as there were a ton of themes I didn't even get to like Burn, Zombies, Cats, lifegain combos, prowess, and more. This is awesome!

We've got a nice little break until the release of Aetherdrift in mid February, which will allow us to really dig into Foundations, as well as give Duskmourn and Bloomburrow a little breathing room too.

I can't wait to keep exploring!