Spoilers for MTG Foundations are now in full swing, and the set is shaping up to be a serious game-changer so far. Not only is the sheer quantity of new cards and reprints impressive, but their quality is too. Brewing for new Standard is going to be an involved process, that much is clear. Amid the juicy spoilers of the last few days lurks Koma, World-Eater, a new incarnation of an MTG Commander classic. While the original made most of its moves in multiplayer, I see this new Serpent slinking into Standard for sure.
Koma, World-Eater MTG
- Mana Value: 3GGUU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 8/12
- Card Text: This spell can’t be countered. Trample, Ward 4. Whenever Koma deals combat damage to a player, create four 3/3 blue Serpent creature tokens named Koma’s Coil.
Koma, World-Eater was actually one of the cards Mark Rosewater hinted at in his Foundations teasers article. “An 8/12 creature with Ward 4” sounded pretty scary on paper. Now that we can see the whole picture, it looks even scarier. Koma costs just seven mana, which is a lot less than you’d imagine such a statline going for. Granted it is heavy on the colored pips, but a dedicated Simic deck should have no problem getting it out.
There’s a lot more sauce on top of the stats, too. Koma can’t be countered, which makes it a Control deck’s worst nightmare. It’s always nice to know your seven mana investment won’t amount to nothing. In addition, Koma also comes with Trample and Ward 4. The latter is, functionally, pretty much Hexproof in most situations. Even in the cases where your opponent can kill Koma through Ward, they’ll need to invest their whole turn into doing so.
Trample is always good, but it’s doubly relevant here thanks to Koma’s last ability. When it deals combat damage to an opponent, you can create four 3/3 Serpent tokens. This puts its token production capabilities roughly on par with the original Koma in multiplayer, and far above them in one-on-one games.
I don’t think I need to tell you how good putting 12 power and toughness into play with every swing is. It’s trivial for Koma to deal combat damage, too, thanks to Trample and that hefty power. Basically, if Koma survives for a turn and gets an attack in the game is probably over. This makes it a frankly terrifying prospect in a format like Standard.
A Worthy Sequel?
Despite being a mere rare, I seriously think Koma, World-Eater could be one of the most impactful new MTG cards in Foundations for Standard. Big, dumb creatures don’t tend to do much in the format these days, but Koma has a lot of advantages over its peers. It’s uncounterable and close to untargetable, which makes it very difficult to deal with for most decks. It’s also coming into a Standard with plenty of ways to circumvent its tricky mana cost.
Even if you go down the ‘honorable’ route and ramp into Koma, there are still excellent tools in the format right now. Overlord of the Hauntwoods is the standout of course, but Heaped Harvest does something similar on the cheap. You only need to ramp/fix once or twice to get Koma out with ease; seven really isn’t that high of a cost right now. Bear in mind that Llanowar Elves is coming in Foundations too, so you can ramp into more ramp for an extremely early Koma.
If you’re feeling less honorable, there are also multiple on-color ways to cheat Koma out. Kona, Rescue Beastie doesn’t just have a suspiciously similar name to our serpentine friend; it’s also one of the best ways to cheat it out. You can tap it with the new Fishing Rod Equipment to avoid any combat-based risks, then drop a Koma as early as turn five. You can also throw an Omniscience into the mix, in case an 8/12 and an endless Serpent horde can’t get the job done.
In Commander, the new Koma is a lot less exciting than the original. Being able to interact with your opponents as well as protect itself makes Koma, Cosmos Serpent more attractive in multiplayer. In Standard, however, World-Eater takes it easily.