Magic Foundations releases this Friday (8th November), and personally I think this one of the most important Magic Sets Wizards has released in a while! (In the interest of honesty, I was going to call this opinion piece Foundations: Make Standard Great Again, but as the US election is taking place at the time of writing I decided not to tempt fate too much! These might be famous last words, anyway…).
So why do I think it’s important, lets discuss…
What Is Magic Foundations?
Magic Foundations is the foundation (see what they did there!) for the Standard Format up until 2029. It has allowed Wizards to add a number of new cards as well as reprinting a number of staples to boost the card pool for Standard that don’t necessarily fit into any of the upcoming sets. This should allow WOTC designers to plan new sets without having to find places for cards such as Abrade, Llanowar Elves, Cancel, etc.
By adding to the card pool a range of cards that won’t be going anywhere for the next 5 years also offsets of the biggest complaints I hear about Standard – it rotates too quickly. Personally, I think the recent changes to rotation have offset some of this (cards are now good for 3 years, rather than 2 as they were previously). The fact that a good core of cards for a range of decks will now be fine for 5 years means that players should have the incentive to invest in the cards that they need and get a good value (of play) from them.
A New Player Experience!
One of the tings I’ve been most vocal about with Magic for the last few years is the lack of new player experience. Arena exists, but personally I don’t like it due to the lack of the Gathering part of Magic, plus for new players while it teaches the basics it misses the nuances and when people move to paper they need to learn again (Paper lands don’t tap themselves after all), without a paper new player product Magic was going to struggle. The introduction of starter kits in recent sets have helped but something was still missing, that’s where the 2 new Foundations Products, Starter Collection and Beginner Box, come in. These are designed for new players! I’m looking forward to seeing them in the flesh ( or should that be cardboard?) later this week, as I think these are key to getting new players into the game.
I’ve borrowed the official WOTC wording to explain both products.
“The Beginner Box is designed to be someone’s first experience with Magic. With ten Jumpstart decks that are specifically made to show new players how to play the game, it gives you everything you need to learn or teach Magic: The Gathering.”
“Once you’ve learned how to play, the Starter Collection is a great way to supercharge your collection of spells. This is a collection of over 350 cards and provides you with everything you need to start building your own decks. It even has some Commander staples like Sol Ring and Command Tower, letting you try out the most popular Constructed format.”
Jumpstart has also made it’s return. The 2025 Jumpstart looks good! Again, it’s a mix of new and reprint cards, but it’s built to allow players to quickly build a deck and play games. This is another perfect product for new players.
Standard! The Return of the King
The Standard format has been making a comeback and I really hope that Foundations aids in the Formats continued growth. Standard is the new player format (In my opinion Commandeer is not a new player friendly format, but I understand why the social aspect makes it so popular, it’s the format I play most after all!). The upcoming RCQ seasons also mean that competitive players who have previously stayed away from Standard are now encouraged to play the format. This is positive all round.
With the shakeup that Standard is about to have the time is now to try the deck building skills. There will always be high tier decks, but standard allows for people to brew and play ‘Matt Tier Decks’ (Matt Tier – playing cards you like in a deck that might not actually be good, but can still win a game if given half a chance…)
I personally looking forward to playing some horrific Jund concoction that will no doubt feature Liliana, Nissa, Chandra, and the new 7 Mana Eldrazi!
So, Back To Why Foundations Is Important…
The Foundations Set is the start of what WOTC are calling the ‘Foundations Era’, it’s a new time for Magic with WOTC making a number of changes and announcements (I’m not going to go into those here). The key for me is seeing Standard in a good place and the game overall beginning to look more healthy.
Now is the perfect time for new players (or Commander players who haven’t played 60 cards formats) to join the game and dive into Standard. Yes this might sound like a sales pitch in places but as a store I’m actually excited about Magic again, and if Magic is popular this is obviously positive for me in terms of events and community interaction. As part of the ‘Foundations Era’ we’ll be looking to run some specific new player events and linked events such as deck building etc.
So to sum up Standard is in a great place, Magic is doing well, the sky isn’t falling…
