Foundations is, as Wizards of the Coast describes it, a set distilling the very nature of Magic: the Gathering – what you would get if you simply made a set called, “Magic: the Gathering,” and it doesn't disappoint. Fortunately, one of Magic's features that survives the distillation process is janky build-arounds that create fun moments at the table when huge power plays crop up in improbable ways.
Foundations has a number of build-arounds that might not see competitive play but deserve to be attempted. I've selected seven such cards that I'll be attempting with the primary focus being on Standard. Keep in mind that this set will be legal for at least five years in the format, though, so the cards surrounding this set will fully rotate multiple times before any of these cards leave. Meta shifts will mean different builds and synergy points will be available through the years. Stay tuned for articles about those as we go!
Everybody's favorite self-absorbed intellectual is back with a new incarnation, Niv-Mizzet, Visionary. When WotC spoiled this card, they specifically pointed out that it goes infinite in older formats with Niv-Mizzet, Parun, which is a fun interaction, but we don't have any source like that in Standard at the moment. We do, however, have a lot of sources that can deal direct damage to opponents when casting spells such as Coruscation Mage. Combine those with Urabrask and you can build a machine gun that's constantly reloading.
Elenda is back, but this time not in a form that encourages sacrifice strategies, but rather would gain life. Cards like Ancient Cornucopia and the whole host of lifelink creatures in Standard make going above 20 a reasonable prospect, and Elenda herself has lifelink to help in the process. When your life total is 30 or more in Standard, Elenda is a 10/10 lifelink menace that can quickly close the door. She represents a powerful finisher if life gain strategies ever come back into fashion and most Standards these days can easily support one. I suspect this card will find homes as a two-of in various lifegain strategies for years to come in the format.
In addition to being the preorder pet for Foundations on Arena, Arahbo, the First Fang is also a type of lord we haven't seen in some time. Putting a cat lord in Foundations is a clear signal that cats will be a common creature type moving forward. We've already seen cards that could have flavorfully been any type get assigned the cat role: Kutzil's Flanker, Enduring Curiosity, and Roxanne, Starfall Savant come to mind.
Building any kind of cat deck in the Naya color pie could prove strong with Arahbo at the helm. My first attempt will likely be Selesnya aggro because Sovereign Okinec Ahua and Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar are both cats themselves and care about creatures being buffed beyond their base stats, which Arahbo does.
This also opens up equipment options with Kemba, Kha Enduring who triggers every time cats enter the battlefield and allows them to pick up any equipment you have lying around. Combine this setup with cards like Fireshrieker, Basilisk Collar, and/or Swiftfoot Boots (also in Foundations), and you have a powerful aggro build that could surprise people.
Lathril, Blade of the Elves is a reprint, but I feel justified mentioning it here because this is the first time Lathril is appearing outside of a Commander-exclusive set. They first showed up in Kaldheim Commander and have become a popular elf commander for good reason given that the tap ability allows you to scale your board into damage to multiple enemies. For Standard, I don't think Lathril's impact will be as notable, however, it's a clear sign that elves have a chance to step up in Standard.
We're also getting Elvish Archdruid, Llanowar Elves, Imperious Perfect, and many more, so elves are going to be powerful moving forward. They've been completely absent from Standard for years despite having amazing representation with cards like Leaf-Crown Visionary and Nissa, Resurgent Animist. They're back, baby, and I'm happy to point to Lathril as a stand-in for the entire archetype.
I'm a huge fan of self-mill decks that rely heavily on mass reanimation. While they often get blown out by sideboard staples like Tranquil Frillback or Soulguide Lantern, the ability to have one explosive turn is easily worth the risk. Raise the Past intrigues me from that angle because it's four mana and can reanimate most, if not every, creature in my deck if I've milled hard enough. Two-drops that gain and drain life like Elas il-Kor, Lifecreed Duo, and Starscape Cleric all entering at once could be enough to kill many opponents on the spot.
You could also simply run this alongside a very low-to-the-ground aggressive deck as the top of the curve. Human aggro could benefit by pulling back multiple Coppercoat Vanguards and boosting the whole team. Any aggro deck running primarily one- and two-drops should probably consider it as a one-of curve topper, especially because destroying sweepers are looking better and better.
Many jank build-arounds suffer from being expensive setup pieces. Cards like Vesuvan Duplimancy and Arcane Bombardment suffer from requiring setup, requiring a high mana investment, then give you no immediate value to make that trouble worth it. Rite of the Dragoncaller is 100% that card in this set, and I love it anyway. It's effectively a hard-cast Shark Typhoon except the token it produces is a 5/5 dragon regardless of the spell's cost. Some kind of control deck with this at the top end, or a spell-heavy deck that can cheat it out with something like Reenact the Crime could prove just effective enough to be worth it.
Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate is a powerful three-drop that is a flavor win in addition to being a mechanically interesting puzzle to solve. Alesha is from the Mardu clan on Tarkir, which is the clan that gave us the Raid mechanic. On Alesha's first card, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, there wasn't technically a raid trigger, but instead an attack trigger. This time around, Alesha has an honest-to-goodness raid that reanimates a creature smaller than her at your end step. The ability to loop smaller creatures while also filling your graveyard with enablers like The Infamous Cruelclaw or Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is definitely intriguing. Unlike the kindred cards we've talked about before, all Alesha needs to power up in the future are good aggressive black and red creatures, and we all know those won't be in short supply.
Thanks for reading, and happy brewing!