Foundations is not your average Core set. After the traditional Core set model of entry-level, mostly reprint Magic sets was put on ice following Core 2021, Foundations reimagined this approach to set design by extending the Core set lifespan for the foreseeable future.

Though it's usually the newest cards from these sets that lend themselves to the most interesting deck-building puzzles in Constructed, a handful of notable reprints can also make a splash in Pioneer since that format doesn't rotate and has a relatively small cardpool compared to its big brother, Modern.

Undoubtedly, Modern has the highest barrier to entry for cards from a Standard-legal set, not to mention a Core set like Foundations. Modern's unforgiving power level, built on the best of the best from Magic's history, coupled with direct-to-Modern expansions, creates a lot of hoops for new cards to jump through. But as some results have revealed, a handful of Foundations cards have snuck their way in.

Modern: Kiora, Koma, and Sire of Seven Deaths.

Kiora, the Rising Tide and Koma, World-Eater have been popping up in some combo control decks built around one of the most popular tools for cheating over-costed legendaries into play: Goryo's Vengeance.

Kiora serves as a nice enabler for both parts of the deck's main combo. When she enters the battle, she draws two cards, then discards two cards, both drawing you closer to finding a Goryo's Vengeance and/or discarding payoffs like Koma or Ulamog, the Defiler into the graveyard for a future upcoming combo finish.

Meanwhile, the big new Eldrazi in the room, Sire of Seven Deaths, has quickly found a home in some versions of Eldrazi Tron, as a useful way to spend 7 mana when all three Urza Tron lands are online.

While previous versions of Eldrazi Tron were relatively low on a good seven mana payoff, in part because the deck isn't quite designed to ramp to seven like other versions of Tron, Sire of Seven Deaths offers a powerful new incentive to Eldrazi decks thanks to its range of aggressive, evasive, and defensive keyword abilities.

Pioneer: Elanda, Maelstrom Pulse, Burst Lightning, and Expedition Map

While Modern and Standard primarily remain on the hunt for Foundation's new card designs to shake up their formats, Pioneer is in a unique position where its inherent power level is squarely above Standard's limited card pool, but a far cry from the hyper efficient tools and hate cards that comprise Modern's 21-year history.

Which helps explain why some of the most impactful Foundation cards for Pioneer have been reprints like Maelstrom Pulse and Burst Lightning.

Burst Lightning in particular might emerge as one of the most important reprints for Pioneer. A format where Shock effects are basically the standard for single Red mana interaction, the added flexibility of dealing four damage later in the game to kill off an opponent is appealing to a format where most of the top decks are playing red, including Rakdos Midrange, Izzet Phoenix, along with various Prowess, and Sacrifice archetypes.

Meanwhile, Maelstrom Pulse provides a powerful new removal spell for the format that doubles as an occasional sweeper against Arclight Phoenix or other decks that overcommit to multiple copies of a single permanent. Although three mana to kill a creature might seem steep, the flexibility to remove any permanent and possibly multiple copies of one previously made Maelstrom Pulse a staple in Modern midrange decks. Perhaps this flexibility will earn the card a new home in Pioneer too.

While Foundations still has years to make the full scope of its Pioneer impact known, at least one new card is already popping up in one of Pioneer's most popular decks: Elenda, Saint of Dusk.

At first, Elanda's ability reads like a build-around payoff for a dedicated Commander deck. As long as your life total is greater than your starting life total, Elenda gets +1/+1 and has menace. Elenda gets an additional +5/+5 as long as your life total is at least 10 greater than your starting life total.

Gaining that much life doesn't happen by mistake, and though Elanda comes packed with Lifelink, that alone wouldn't be enough to undo any damage dealt to you and go above 20 in the process. Instead, she's found a home in five color Niv to Light decks, where that deck's incidental lifegain from cards like Lightning Helix, Omnath, Locus of Creation, and Knight of Autumn make Elanda a powerful finisher if the deck's namesake Niv-Mizzet, Reborn gets destroyed.

Finally, Pioneer's most enduring combo deck, based on Hidden Strings and Lotus Field, has received a powerful new reprint from Magic's past in the form of Expedition Map. Expedition Map's influence is so impactful, it's changed the deck's makeup to streamline the mana and win condition.

Historically, the deck aims to draw through its library to find enough copies of Lotus Field or Thespian's Stage (to copy Lotus Field) to cast an Omniscience, Emergent Ultimatum, and Approach of the Second Sun for the win. But the addition of Expedition Map allows the deck to cut out the Emergent Ultimatum package, and play a cleaner Izzet cantrip strategy that wins with a Wish for Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

The combination of Expedition Map and cantrips increases the frequency that the deck finds its critical Lotus Field, while also digging for interaction and an eventual payoff for all the mana Lotus Field generates.

Wrapping up

Foundations proves that a Core set can still leave its mark on competitive Magic. By blending impactful reprints like Burst Lightning and Expedition Map with fresh designs such as Kiora and Sire of Seven Deaths, the set offers tools that resonate across multiple formats. While Modern and Pioneer see these cards carving out niches in specific archetypes, their potential for further innovation remains strong as the metagames evolve.