Magic: The Gathering Foundations will be released on MTG Arena on November 12, 2024, while the paper release date is November 15, 2024.
In the previous article we took a look at some of the revealed cards. If you have missed it, you must absolutely retrieve it as it contains general information about the Foundations set as well.
In today's article's article we will evaluate other revealed cards. Now the set is fully revealed so we have a clearer idea of what its impact on Standard will be.
However, the question we are trying to answer is always the same: will there be room for these cards in Standard in the coming months?
Simic Flash
In 2019 and early 2020, Simic Flash was a very popular deck. As you can surely imagine, the deck had almost exclusively permanents with flash and instant speed spells.
The deck, in fact, practically never played spells in its turn, constantly threatening the opponent's moves thanks to numerous counterspells. At the same time, an opponent too submissive against this strategy was in danger of losing matches due to the various creatures with flash played in the deck. The deck has definitely been one of the most annoying in recent years and now with these 4 pieces once again available, it could have a second life in Standard.
Spectral Sailor was a very important card for the archetype because in late stages of the game, it gave the chance to use the excess mana to draw and at the same time potentially keep mana available to cast counterspells. For 1 mana, the card is definitely very good and I think that its power level has not been too affected by the years. I don't have trouble seeing this card played in a flash archetype or maybe even aggro in the current Standard as a highly elusive card that also guarantees a draw engine in late game.
Have you ever lost to a 10/9 or even bigger Merfolk? Well, if you played in the Standard a few years ago, I'm sure you did as it happened to all of us because of Brineborn Cutthroat. Unlike Spectral Sailor, I think for our beloved merfolk the situation is slightly different.
I see this card much more dependent on a real flash archetype and it's hard to see it playable outside of it. You have to exploit its effect in a consistent way to make it grow beyond measure. I don't think the card alone will be able to define the flash archetype in Standard but I think it can be a decent addition if the archetype is already valid. In short, the card, from my point of view, does not have a power level sufficient for the current Standard unless the flash archetype does actually become a tier 1.
Am I the only one who thinks we needed to get Opt back in Standard? On this card, I don't think there is much to say as we all know how strong it is in the right context. I wanted to include it in this section because this card was also played in this archetype a few years ago but I would not limit it to this context. The card is valid and fits many different deck types. Azorius Tempo is definitely a very good option for Opt but I'm sure that, as we have seen in the past, this card will be played a bit everywhere.
Wildborn Preserver was played in 2019/2020 in a few copies (often only 1), so I have trouble thinking it can make it in the current Standard. Obviously, it was a must to include it in this section as this is the only archetype where the card has actually ever been played. I think that eventually the archetype could find better ways to spend the excess mana than putting counters on a creature (which doesn't even have trample). Even the effect of Spectral Sailor is more useful in this context. In general, I think that for Wildborn Preserver the situation is similar to that of Brineborn Cutthroat. In case the archetype is valid in Standard then the card has a chance to be played, otherwise, I think that the power level is too low for the current Standard.
Mono-Red Aggro
If you read my previous article, then you will surely know about the love I feel for Mono-Red Aggro and seeing these reprints took me back a few years.
In recent years, Mono-Red Aggro has changed many times the way it puts pressure on the enemies. Specifically, the version that used simultaneously Fanatical Firebrand, Ghitu Lavarunner, and Viashino Pyromancer was a kind of Mono-Red Burn while the Mono-Red to which we are used right now generates most of its damage through creatures.
Fanatical Firebrand and Ghitu Lavarunner were both very good 1-drops. The first one on its side offered some flexibility by being able to deal 1 damage to any target in late game stages and making many fights uncomfortable because of this effect. Ghitu Lavarunner was also very useful as a Wizard and because of the possibility to get Haste. At the moment, there are no good payoffs in Standard for Wizards and the others available 1-drops seem to have a higher power level.
Heartfire Hero and Monastery Swiftspear are, from my point of view, much better cards than the two mentioned above. There is also Hired Claw among the other playable 1-drops, and even in this case, I feel that it is stronger than the other two of our old friends.
Fanatical Firebrand is a Goblin Pirate: could we maybe see it in an archetype that exploits one of these two tribes?
If on Ghitu Lavarunner I can still have some doubts, on Viashino Pyromancer instead I have none. I don't see any room for this card in the current versions of Mono-Red.
Emberheart Challenger and Manifold Mouse are too synergistic to make room for Viashino Pyromancer.
We must remember that Slickshot Show-Off Red has been excluded from the latest lists of Mono- and it is clearly superior to Viashino Pyromancer in terms of power level.
Conclusions
Let's tell the truth: Foundations is definitely a set that is taking us back years and is bringing back old memories.
With the same realistic spirit, however, it is also making us realize how in recent years the power level of the Standard has reached peaks perhaps excessively high.
What do you think? Is it good that the format is increasingly oriented towards a high power level or did you prefer sets from a few years ago?