Standard: 8 Foundations Cards to Keep an Eye on Post Rotation

Standard rotation is coming. Starting with the prerelease of Edge of Eternities, the sets from Dominaria United to March of the Machines: Aftermath leave the format and, with them, a range of preexisting options and staples that have solidified in recent years: Temporary Lockdown, Cut Down, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Monastery Swiftspear, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, the pain lands and half of the fast lands are just a few examples.

With this blank space and the clear changes in the Metagame caused by them, it is natural that some cards that were previously irrelevant may gain more space in Standard, whether due to their individual power level, interaction with a specific mechanic, or simply because their deck becomes more viable without certain cards in the Metagame.

In this series of articles, we've listed cards from each set that will remain in Standard that are worth a second look for the next season, and today we're going to cover cards from Foundations.

Raise the Past

Raise the Past has had some results in Orzhov Sacrifice lists, which should remain in the format throughout the new season. But beyond that, there may be other archetypes with low-mana value creatures that we can recover with this card after a Day of Judgment or Ultima.

It remains to be seen whether these will be the main sweepers of the format, or if the new Temporary Lockdown variant will limit the space for low-mana value creatures in the format.

Bloodthirsty Conqueror

Bloodthirsty Conqueror is a decent threat on its own, while relying on combos using Starscape Cleric or Enduring Tenacity.

While less mana-efficient and theoretically more conditional than the Unstoppable Slasher/Bloodletter of Aclazotz combo, this combination is easier to splash and has more redundancy in a dedicated list at the expense of more added value in the individual potential of each card, but it is worth exploring possibilities with it next season.

Stab

Without Cut Down, black decks will need to find new cheap answers to deal with Aggro in Standard. While Bounce decks can take advantage of Grim Bauble and Dragon lists have Caustic Exhale, the most comprehensive answer for more diverse archetypes is Stab, a functional reprint of Disfigure.

The definition of what is the best one-mana removal in the format will dictate which creatures are playable and which are not. Examples include Kellan, Daring Traveler and Voice of Victory, whose bodies die to Cut Down but dodge Stab or any other -2/-2 spell for one mana, making their resource exchange with interactions much more effective — but the viability of these and many other threats in the format depends on what kind of interactions we see in Edge of Eternities.

Boltwave

Now that the Prowess/Mice package has taken a heavy hit between bans and rotation, Boltwave could perhaps become the centerpiece of a new Red Aggro variant more focused on traditional Burn, using Ghitu Lavarunner (which was reprinted in Foundations) as well as cards like Lightning Strike and Boros Charm combined with Slickshot Show-Off.

It's also possible to go this route by combining Izzet with Elusive Otter, Stormchaser's Talent and maybe even Vivi Ornitier, but I believe that the Boros or Mono Red combination is better for a Burn-focused list.

Kellan, Planar Trailblazer

The banning of Heartfire Hero and the absence of Monastery Swiftspear opens up a lot of red one-drops that were once neglected in the Standard Metagame, and Kellan, Planar Trailblazer is one of the best examples.

The 2/1 body for one mana isn't disposable, but it's also become so generic that there are always better options — even after rotation, Hired Claw will probably be the one-drop of choice — but its ability to scale as the game goes on makes it more useful as an attrition tool, and unless a one-drop with more abilities or the potential to significantly pressure the opponent comes out in the next sets, Kellan could be the second most relevant red one-drop in the format.

Mossborn Hydra

Despite the many different variants of Tifa Lockhart Aggro, Mossborn Hydra is a common element in almost every list as a 5-8 copy of the deck's main win condition, which trades explosive potential for permanent power, making it more beneficial in the mid-term.

There doesn't seem to be a better complementary threat to Tifa in Standard today, and it's unlikely there will be one in Edge of Eternities, so Mossborn Hydra should remain relevant, even if only in Best of One or lower ranked games.

Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate

Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate has started to show up in some Rakdos Aggro lists in Leagues, and it has the potential to quickly become a staple if we have an aggressive shell with a lot of ETB/Death Trigger synergy or a lot of individual quality creatures that work together.

A recent card combination I tried with Alesha was using Zack Fair and Jirina, Dauntless General in the same list during a Store Championship. We lose Jirina in the rotation — which is very unfortunate for Alesha — but we keep Zack, and we can make several rewarding plays with her and low-cost creatures, not to mention the possibility of constantly climbing the curve until gradually reanimating bigger threats, although it is preferable to keep low-cost cards (maybe even with Dark Confidant) to maintain the consistency with which Alesha can bring a creature back on the same turn she enters.

Leyline Axe

Between Novice Inspector, Spyglass Siren, Case of the Filched Falcon, Zoetic Glyph and Warden of the Inner Sky, an aggressive artifact-based deck seems like a safe choice to start the new Standard season, and Leyline Axe can be an excellent support for this strategy, especially if we have more cards that care about artifacts.

Giving any creature the same abilities as an Embercleave can be especially lethal with Zoetic Glyph or even Warden of the Inner Sky when it already has enough counters, but you also need to consider the costs of using a four-mana card that only generates value if it's in your starting hand — whether it's betting on a more all-in plan that doesn't seem possible like in Pioneer without Ensoul Artifact, or having ways to discard the extra copies to draw more cards through looting effects.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!