Metagame: Foundations' First Week in Competitive Events!

Foundations is here. Magic: The Gathering's new core set brought hundreds of new cards to competitive formats and some fundamental changes to Standard, where the set will be legal until 2029.

The reprint of Llanowar Elves, the new Soulstone Sanctuary and Boltwave were the most important additions to the rotating format. In Pioneer, Boltwave also made a difference and brought Burn back to tournaments and a home for Kiora, The Rising Tide, a trait it shared in common with Modern where she fits in with cards like Emperor of Bones and Goryo's Vengeance.

Legacy and Pauper have had little reaction to the new core set, with only specific additions to very specific lists, without any notable change in the competitive scene.

Check out this article for the main Foundations news from this weekend's tournaments and Magic Online Challenges!

Standard was, by far, the most affected format by the Foundations cards. Between the reprints and new pieces, several decks underwent changes and/or new strategies emerged in this weekend's events.

As expected, Llanowar Elves was an important addition for Golgari Midrange, which now has a way to accelerate its relevant plays from the second turn onwards with Glissa Sunslayer or Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber, followed by Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Archfiend of the Dross on the third turn.

Another important addition to all black midranges in Standard was Soulstone Sanctuary, the closest thing to Mutavault that we have in the format and which interacts well with Unholy Annex, increasing the consistency with which its controller benefits from the enchantment.

Authority of the Consuls brought Mono White Tokens back onto the format's radar, with a strong showing at SCG Columbus and a win in this weekend's Challenges. Its rise can also be attributed to the addition of more experimental decks in the first week, against which playing "over the top" can be just as effective as playing on the race.

And speaking of racing, many red Aggro took advantage of the new Boltwave over the weekend. The Boros Burn list above combines the card with Boros Charm to create a fast and consistent plan to reduce the opponent's life. Both have also appeared in other variants, such as a more Aggro version focused on creatures from this list, using Boros Charm both as a Burn spell and as a potential combo-kill with Monstrous Rage.

Kellan, Planar Trailblazer was another standout for the red Aggro this week. Its place is still disputed by Hired Claw, which works better in multiples, while Kellan offers more gas over the course of the game.

Azorius Oculus received Kiora, the Rising Tide and its numbers in the list have varied between one and two copies, making it a “backup” for games in which Abhorrent Oculus was not cast and/or when there are enough cards in the graveyard. Another relevant addition to Foundations was Unsummon, which, unlike Into the Flood Maw, can protect its controller's creatures from spot removal or sweepers.

There were also some new strategies for the format. Kanister brought a version of Dimir Flash to one of the Challenges, using Spectral Sailor and Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator along with several disruptive spells that can be used on the opponent's turn.

Tulio Jaudy, known for his unusual lists in competitive events, brought a Threshold deck with 80 maindeck cards to one of the Challenges. His plan involves feeding the graveyard for Kiora, the Rising Tide, but it can also win games with Revenge of the Rats or Virtue of Persistence.

Reanimator is back on the menu with Koma, World-Eater as a second payoff. Perhaps Valgavoth, Terror Eater is a more appropriate option, since the reason to use the serpent is because it connects easily, while it makes it much harder to interact with due to Ward and its gigantic body. Zombify has increased the number of ways to bring your creatures back, making the deck more consistent.

Another new archetype this week is the recent Demonic Pact with Harmless Offering combo used by player James Spinelli at SCG Columbus. Its plan involves giving control of bad cards to the opponent, such as Demonic Pact when it only has one mode left, or Greed’s Gambit. If that plan doesn't work, Beseech the Mirror and Torch the Tower deals with these permanents before they become a problem.

Like Standard, the release of Boltwave has put Boros Burn back on the radar, with results in some of this weekend's Challenges.

Another Burn standout for Pioneer is Burst Lightning, which has been competing with Play with Fire in the one-mana slot. Personally, I prefer Play with Fire these days because Scry 1 will generally be a bit more relevant since we don't ideally want to reach five mana, and with lists running between two and four copies of Ramunap Ruins, it seems better to use these lands as additional burn rather than paying five to deal four damage.

Boltwave also appeared in a version of Izzet Prowess with a Wizard subtheme using Balmor, Battlemage Captain. The addition of Bonecrusher Giant is another point worth keeping an eye on for future Burn variants, even though it costs two mana to deal damage, since its body and built-in protection tend to make a difference, especially in lists trying to go with Monstrous Rage without relying on the Prowess/Valiant package.

Kiora, the Rising Tide found a place in an Esper Greasefang variant as a combo enabler with Parhelion II while taking advantage of the deck's game plan to hit Threshold. This list feels a bit too greedy in some parts, but it works.

Foundations didn't have much of an impact in Modern. Outside a few Eldrazi Ramp and Tron lists using a copy of Sire of Seven Deaths, the only card that stood out this weekend was Koma, World-Eater.

In this list, Koma, World-Eater joins with Ulamog, the Defiler and Emperor of Bones to create a sort of combo complemented by Goryo’s Vengeance - and some lists don’t even use this spell, relying only on Emperor of Bones.

Kiora, the Rising Tide also enters this list as an enabler for key cards and this deck has an easy time feeding her Threshold with Fetch Lands and Psychic Frog, making it easier for her to attack and create an 8/8 on the board.

Perhaps, with the Banned and Restricted interventions that will occur in December, Modern will have a bit more variety with Foundations, but until then, it seems that only one to three cards have any chance of making a difference in the format.

Like Modern, Legacy didn't see many changes with Foundations. The only card that appeared in the lists and only as a one-of was Sire of Seven Deaths in Eldrazi Stompy and Cloudpost variants.

Hare Apparent didn't break Pauper (at least not yet), and Foundations didn't seem to have much of an impact on the format's competitive scene either.

The only card that made an appearance in this week's Challenges was Squad Rallier in Walls Combo, and only as a complementary one-of, being an efficient mana sink to dig for more creatures.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!